What's In DFB's Cabinet?

[50ALM]

I'm going to assume this is for the new Mustang.

You mean the new Mustang that wasn't going to be ceramic coated?

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[DFB5.0]

Leave Project 2 - Sell, Sell, Sell!

As mentioned in the previous post, the Bushranger and Stihl HS 45 are on the chopping block and will be put up for sale. Both have seen little to no use and have been taking up room in the back of my garden shed. These machines owe me nothing, both having paid for themselves long ago.

First up, the Bushranger. I bought this mower in September 2020, but it has sat idle since I bought the Victa Commercial 21 back in February this year. The first job here was to make sure it was running, so I drained the fuel out of the tank and carburetor bowl, then put fresh fuel in the tank and gave the cord a yank, it started on the second pull. Nice.

Next, I replaced the air filter with a brand new one, then an inspection of the blades. I didn't anticipate needing to replace the blades, but they were too dicey to put up for sale, so I dropped the disk and replaced them with some I had in stock. I won't be needing Honda air filters or this blade set in the future, so I may as well send them off with the machine, I'll factor this into the asking price anyway. The oil was still golden, so I left it be.

So, running and with some new parts, it was time for a clean. Like yesterday, I used Wise Guy, followed by a coat of Hydr02 and Hyper Dressing for the plastics.

Ready for sale...................

I'll miss that engine, everything about it screamed quality, in a way that the similar looking Kohler could never hope to achieve. It was responsive, easy to work on, smooth running, the low idle tick-over delightful, and backed up by fuel efficiency the big-block Briggs could only dream of. Everything about this mower was heavy duty, it felt un-killable. But............its time to move it on.

Next, the Stihl HS 45 Hedge Trimmer............................

As you can see, this thing was looking very sad! This machine was sidelined in November 2018 after getting a battery powered HSA 56. Originally, I decided to keep the petrol powered HS 45 as a backup as I wasn't completely sold on battery power at that stage. I remember the first hedge-job (I know, that sounds rude) I took the battery powered HSA 56 on, I actually took the petrol unit with me just in case I ran out of battery. Well, the petrol HS 45 sat in the truck all day................and was NEVER used again. So, it really should have left my company long ago.

Having sat for the better part of 6 years, I fully expected to be doing some sort of carburetor work on this machine. But first, I needed it clean to work on. Again, Wise Guy, Hydr02 and Hyper Dressing to the rescue..............

Now clean, I opened the fuel tank to see what I was dealing with. I committed the cardinal 2-stroke sin with this machine in that I stored it with fuel in the tank, fuel lines and carburetor. The fuel had actually evaporated long ago and left a slimy oil reside in the bottom of the tank. To remedy this, I splashed some fuel into the tank, shook it up and then dumped it into the waste oil drum.

Next, I splashed some fresh 2-stroke in the tank and pushed the primer, as expected, it crumbled under the pressure of my finger. So, on with the choke and several pulls of the rope until it finally gave a slight splutter, I knew then it would run. A few more pulls and I had it idling but bogging under throttle. I've done this enough now to know it would eventually clear as it burnt off old fuel, I could smell it too. After about a minute of working the throttle with gentle blips, the thing cleared its throat and was running HARD. To have sat for so long with absolutely no preparation beforehand, I couldn't believe it! I have a suspicion that after the fuel evaporated, the 2-stroke oil it left behind kept the diaphragms in the carb pliable.

So, I was expecting to have to pull the carb and replace all the fuel lines, but all I'm up for is a purge bulb, which is a simple replacement. The local Stihl dealer stocks them, so I'll run down and grab one tomorrow and it too will be ready for sale.

Giving the engine a good workout, including several restarts to make sure it was running and starting properly, I was reminded why I stopped using this machine. First, its frigging noisy, especially when you end up having the engine so close to your ears when working. You also end up with the exhaust blowing smoke all over your body, so at the end of the day you stink like a 2-stroke engine. I would also say a battery machine is safer as there is no wind down of the blades, they stop when the motor stops. And its heavy compared to a battery powered machine, which in turn puts strain on your shoulders and upper body. Lastly, there is no anti-vibration on this model, so you end up with pins and needles after extended use.

And so, this is one area where I'm 100% committed to battery power, and therefore not sorry to see this machine depart.

 

[DFB5.0]

After yesterday's mini road trip, the Ranger needed a wash!

Trust me, it looked worse in person, the windscreen in particular. After washing the wheels with foamed Brake Buster, I soaked down the whole vehicle with Gyeon Foam and allowed it to dwell. The rinse that followed removed the bugs easily, ceramic coating for the win here. It was then time for the contact wash.....................

Soap of choice today was Meguiar's NXT Car Wash, a product that I used extensively for many years, mainly on my FG XR6. Thinking back, I remember NXT being a champion of suds, so I wondered how it would foam.........................Very well as it turned out. Actually, more than well!

First of all, the grape scent of NXT took me back to my early 20's, much the same as the ArmorAll stuff did a few weeks ago. Mixed into the foam cannon, NXT produces medium to thick foam and felt very nice under the wash pad. At this point I was impressed, but it wasn't until I started to rinse the soap off the car did it finally click, this is Meguiar's BEST SOAP! Up until the rinse, I was thinking NXT was very similar to Hyper Wash, if not quite as foamy. But the way it instantly rinsed from the vehicle set it apart, Hyper Wash in comparison requires significantly more effort to fully rinse off the car.

The only drawback to NXT is the ultra-thick consistency, the key reason I chose to move away from it. However, now that we have wide-mouth foam cannons, this aspect is less relevant as you don't have to dribble a thick soap into a narrow foam cannon bottle. But still, I think this is a killer soap!

For the rest of the detail, I used OG Drying Aid on the paint, Gyeon Quick Detailer on the door jambs and tray, glass attended to with KCx Speed Glass, interior wiped over with ADS Pilot. To finish, the wheels got a quick wipe with ADS Amplify, tires dressed with ADS Tire+.

 

[50ALM]

Well, I caved.....................

Deyon, what changed your mind?

I was on the fence about ceramic coating myself.
I'm not sure whether it's snake oil or what.

In the last few months I've been using Bead Maker as apart of my new washing regime.
(The RAV4 has been the practice mule leading up to acquiring the S650)
Very happy with the ease of application, slickness, gloss, and water beading ability of BM.

Excluding longevity, could products such as Bead Maker be considered as a poor mans ceramic coating?
Or is there more to it, above my current pay grade?

 

[DFB5.0]

Deyon, what changed your mind?

I was on the fence about ceramic coating myself.
I'm not sure whether it's snake oil or what.

Ceramic coatings have been around long enough now that I wouldn't call them snake oil.

For the most part, if you were simply comparing gloss, then there is not a lot of difference between a wax/polymer sealant and a proper resin delivered ceramic coating. And if you were comparing slickness, most of the time a wax/sealant will be superior.

What you are paying for with a ceramic coating is longevity and a much higher resistance to chemicals. Now, that doesn't mean you can go and douse your vehicle in chemicals for no reason, but it does mean that you can use stronger cleaning products without damaging or removing your protection.

So why did I change my mind (again)? After seeing and reading a review from someone I trust, I decided the ADS Quartz was going to meet my requirements. The deciding factory being a natural slickness to the coating, something that is missing from a lot of coatings on the market and requires either a secondary coating such as EXO on top of CSL, or Gliss on top of Cquartz UK 3.0, or relies on regular toppers to produce slickness.

I know slickness doesn't have much to do with the protection aspect, but it's certainly high on my list for tactility aspect.

Excluding longevity, could products such as Bead Maker be considered as a poor mans ceramic coating?

Or is there more to it, above my current pay grade?

Bead Maker is a polymer sealant with the tiniest amount of ceramic in it, so no, it's not a poor-man's ceramic. That's not dissing Bead Maker though.

I would consider more substantial Si02-based spray sealants to be closer to a poor-man's ceramic. Those would include Carpro Reload 2.0, ADS Ceramic Spray Sealant, KCx S0.02, Gtechniq C2v3, NV Boost v2 and Gyeon Cure.

Actually, you could also consider Gyeon CanCoat and ADS PHOBIC as poor-man's ceramics, but then, there is nothing poor about the way they behave.

 

[rcald]

Well, I caved.....................

Well, I caved.....................

Well, I caved.....................

Applied this last week, can’t wait to hear your thoughts and comments.

 

[WD Pro]

I found the easiest way to apply Perl, you lot are defo missing a trick …

Just take the tyres off, and let them soak …

WD

 

[DFB5.0]

Despite my neck giving me gyp again, and dealing with nuff nuff's on Facebook Marketplace, nothing is going to take me down today!

First, probably the easiest repair I have ever done, replacement of the HS 45's primer bulb.

This is as simple as it gets, four small Phillips head screws, prize the plate away from the carb, push out the old perished primer cap, then push in the new one. Put the plate back in place and reinstall the screws and the job is done. A working primer the result!

Next, it was off with the new Rover's rear wheels to sort out why it wouldn't "free wheel". As mentioned the other day, the cogs looked ok through the inspection port, but I decided to replace the cog and pawls as I had them in stock. Removal of the wheels was difficult, those tension washers are a bastard to remove, then there were burs on the wheel shaft which I needed to file down to remove the wheel.

On the first side, nothing looked out of spec, in fact the cogs looked perfectly serviceable, still, I replaced them and lubricated the outlet of the driveshaft as it was squeaking. With that wheel put back together, I moved to the other side and immediately discovered the problem.................

In this case, the pawl (the thin piece of metal that slots into the driveshaft) was frozen in place, which prevented it from moving out of the way to allow free movement without the drive engaged. After cleaning the shaft, which also required some abrasion in the slot of the driveshaft to remove some rust build up, everything went back together for a test run. Success! She is driving smoothly and will free wheel and not lock-up when making turns. Again, I can't believe I have a basically new Rover ProCut!

 

[DFB5.0]

Next on the agenda, the Ranger's headlights were bugging me!

I've covered these dam things many times now, the horizontally exposed surfaces succumbing to UV damage from very early in the car's life. Replacement requires the removal of the bumper, which I can't be bothered doing. The same thing is happening to my father's newer PX III Wildtrak. I've been polishing them out every now and then, followed by a sealant, last time I put Gyeon Pure EVO on them. I even tried my hand at putting PPF on one of them before cracking the sh.ts in frustration................I don't have the patience for that sort of thing.

So, here we are again polishing them out, Rupes DA Coarse on a microfiber pad, followed by Rupes DA Fine on a yellow foam pad. Note, they looked worse in person, the camera hides the haze.

This time, I lashed out on a headlight specific coating to see if this will give me better results. Optimum Opti-Lens Coating is an advanced polymer coating that was designed specifically for headlight lenses..................

"This hybrid resin is a combination of Opti-Coat 2.0 ceramic resin and an acrylic resin for maximum bonding and protection of acrylic and polycarbonate lenses.

Additionally, Optimum Opti-Lens Coating contains high levels of UV absorbers to minimize discoloration and fading of automotive headlight lenses."

Optimum Opti-Lens Headlight Coating - Detailing Shed

That small 10ml syringe of product is supposed to coat 5 - 6 sets of headlights, so like any coating, a little goes a long way. Once the headlight is polished and wiped down with IPA, the coating is applied and allowed to sit for about 5 min, any remaining high spots are then leveled with a towel.

I have no idea if this will give me a longer lasting result, Optimum suggest the bond is permanent and can only be removed with abrasion. I've seen claims of up to 12 months or more. We shall see. In the meantime, I'll also apply it to the old man's Wildtrak and see how it goes. Otherwise, I'll bite the bullet and pull the bumper off and replace them.

 

[DFB5.0]

So, my day actually started with me feeling sore and sorry for myself, I didn't sleep very well, and my neck is giving me grief again. After breakfast and a strong coffee, I got in the car for a trip to the bank, the Stihl dealer and then off to the Ford dealer to leave my number plates and touch base again, in that order.

In actual fact, I had only ever spoken in person with my salesman twice, first was on the 21st of September 2022 when I put down a deposit for a new Mustang. I then sat with him on the 30th of October 2023 when Ford released pricing for the new Mustang. All other correspondence has been by phone, text message or email, which suits me just fine.

Standing in the bank to be served was an exercise in frustration, always is. On my way out of the bank and the Stihl dealer next on the agenda, I took a glance at my phone and spotted something that took my breath away!

 

[DFB5.0]

 

[DFB5.0]

That picture was taken seconds after delivery. If I had gone to the dealer first instead of the bank, I would have seen the car being driven off the truck! Safe to say, I didn't go to the Stihl dealer next! I messaged back and said I would be arriving in a few minutes!

As I walked into the showroom, I spotted the car sitting in the delivery bay, the salesman collecting all of the build sheets and window sticker. As he walked towards me, I started to choke up and was nearly brought to tears................................after 765 days, or 2 years and 25 days, my new car landed at my local Ford dealer!

The car is dirty, as expected, but oh so sweet in person. As others have noted, pictures don't do the S650 justice. Compared to the S550, this new Mustang is sharper and tauter looking. Those blacked out headlights are soooo good, especially comparing to the non-black pack Mustang that was also delivered today. I still hate the wheels, they block the view to the red Brembo calipers that come standard with Magneride.

I also got the opportunity to fire up the engine for the first time, and a few cheeky blips of the throttle with the exhaust in track mode. Compared to my S550, its a little tame, so I may end up swapping out the suitcase resonator for an X-Pipe, I actually love the standard angled exhaust tips.

After an extended chat and walk around the car, I also got to meet the detailer in person to go over what I wanted and to show him over the Flow number plate brackets. They will wash the car as normal, I want it presentable and any issues noticed/sorted before delivery. I know a lot of guys say "DONT TOUCH IT", but I would rather anything wrong noticed before I hand over the cheque. There will be no polishing either, which he understood after I explained my background. I feel like I'm in safe hands.

Being mid-week and the detailer away on Friday, I was happy to have the car delivered next Tuesday, I want it done right. There is probably more to say but I'm so wired at the moment!

I can't believe this is actually happening!

 

[DFB5.0]

As mentioned, the salesman grabbed the window sticker and production line papers before they went in the bin. I mean, they are meaningless to most and only the very die-hard car guys would get a kick out of this, but its nice to have. I'll be making copies of the S550 versions and will send the originals with the car for the new owner.

 

[Bulutt]

Congratulations.

 

[kilobravo]

CONGRATULATIONS DEYON! While reading the intro, I had a feeling you might be saying it arrived and it DID! YAYYYYYYyyyyyyyy!

BUT, I can't BELIEVE you let them wash the car but if you believe you're in good hands, so be it. <smile>

Man, we're gonna have LOTS of posts coming from Down Under over the next couple of months, just think of all the work that's in store. <BIG grin>

Couldn't be happier my friend and I hope this little bit of news helps with the Blues.

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