Waxoyl Clear or Black

[MichaelSB]

Can anyone tell me in plain English the pro's or con's of clear or black waxoyl?

Also I want to get my car waxoyled by someone who would know an XJS and how best to rust proof it, can anyone recommend a reliable firm, I had hoped to use Alan Proctor but he cannot do it until the new year.

[masterb]

Get the paint brush out and spray can Michael, you know you want too.
I did my car and what fun it was, by the way i will have to drop in your way on way back from newport next time, to settle account and have a few jars.

[MichaelSB]

A couple of jars sounds good to me, not sure about the DIY waxoyl though

[steveww]

I have been told that Dinitrol www.dinitrol.co.uk is better.

You can buy a kit from them with everything you need including a guide as to where to put the stuff. You will need a compressor though. Every good workshop should have one of these anyway

If you do not feel up to DIY here then they have treatment centres around the country.

I have purchased their kit and will be doing mine this winter. I will post up progress on www.steveww.org if you want to follow my progress.

[MichaelSB]

Thanks Steve I will watch how you get on

[FELIX456]

hi guys
all my cars get waxoyled. black SEEMS to give a better finish as is seems slightly thinner, but clear is just as good. My hubby just did my mg midget (sorry!) underside black, but did the wheels arches clear so there was no accidental transferance of black from touching.
my xj-sc has been done in clear but my xkr was done in black-which now looks really tidy underneath.
but is it very good stuff, the midget mentioned above has been in a resto and the bits that were waxoyled in 1991 were perfect, it was the bits I missed that rotted away!
It can be done at home, but is better on a proper ramp with a compressor and a mask. our local garage does a car for about £30.
hope this helps
Ta
Tara

[MichaelSB]

Hi Tara

Very helpful info, I have my own 4 post ramp but what concerns me is how much to put and where when it comes to cavities such as inside the sills.

If I put too much I may block the drainage trapping water inside, too little and it may not work well enough.

Oh decisions decisions

[Brakebuster]

the general theory is...

put it in until it runs out of the drain holes,

then go round a few hours later to clear any drains that may ( probably not ) be blocked

the treatment is a quite runny liquid...

and you may even find it running out on very hot days even years later

but thats better than a rusting car

another bit of advice.....dont do it in the winter, moisture is naturally trapped within the car, only do it in the summer or in a car that has been in a drying oven for a few hours, etc

BB

[MichaelSB]

My wife won't let me put my car in her new oven but I do have a garage with central heating

What about drilling holes in top of door sills plugging the exit then filling and pulling out the plug, good or bad plan?

[PaulE]

See www.before-'n-after.co.uk for an entertaining look into the rustproofing topic. They are now relocated to Warwickshire but still running the very thorough service previously near Newbury. They lend you a car for a run round the county attractions . Had my car done in '04 and it still looks well sealed underneath. Goo was oozing from every available orifice for a while afterwards so they seem to have penetrated the most inaccessible nooks and crannies by the use of their specially developed wands. You may need patience though - my car finally emerged at 10pm and we had to make do with a sandwich dinner at the hotel . They used to advertise in the Jaguar press but not seen an ad recently. Paul.

[MichaelSB]

Well it would seem you can only use clear in the waxoyl 360 spray and not the black so black outside clear inside.

I think I am going down the DIY route so any advise on what cavities to fill, where to drill hole and where NOT to drill holes would be very helpful.

Thanks again

Michael

[franrca]

Just a footnote re Before-n-After - I had my car waxoyled by Clarkes (who are the Sussex based XJS people) just prior to purchasing. They felt that a company can't waxoyl a car within a day as they would be sealing in water that remained from the deep cleaning part of the operation just prior to the application. Clarkes reckoned they leave the car for a couple of days between cleaning and waxoyling to ensure all components are completely dry.

Have to say that I did use before-n-after for application with a previous facelift XJS and was messed around by the very nice but quite ditzy chap who works there. The first time we travelled the long trip the machine wasn't working (although he didn't let us know by phone) and the second time he was really overdue preferring to work on a land rover he'd double booked. I had waxoyl pouring out through every orifice inside including my speakers in the back, fingerprints on the chairs etc and it took me some effort to get it cleaned up. Clarkes told me that he'd had loads of complaints and wasn't being advertised so extensively (allegedly)...just one of my 'moany' thoughts and experiences I thought I would share .

[MichaelSB]

Interesting!

Twice I have tried to do business with Clarkes, the first time I drove by appointment from Worcestershire to Sussex to view there cars, I selected a white convertible at 18k I think and offered them 10K plus my XJS they promised to get back to me but never did.

I have now bought a nice convertible and emailed them to ask for a price on a set of wheels they advertise on there website, they receipted my email but no reply.

I can understand if they have taken a dislike to me, some days I don't even like myself but they have been so un-business like and there setup is a little shall we say eccentric I now would not consider them a business worth contacting.

Good manners cost very little.

[franrca]

To be honest Michael that sort of confirms my experience with Clarkes - I emailed them advising that I was interested in a 91/92 facelift manual - had they any in stock and received no response which as you say is quite unprofessional.

I had the XJS-itch after 3 years-ish of non-ownership and viewed a rust bucket being sold privately in Sussex. Whilst in the area I chanced visiting Clarkes and was blinded by the dazzling array of cars. I told them I was interested in the black 92 manual model that was being advertised on their website (and still is) and was told that "oh, we don't bother to update the website, that was sold months ago"...have to say I bought a car from them ('95 Topaz auto...oh well) and have been very happy with it.

I have a healthy scepticism re anyone in the car trade and I'm always prepared to be let down sooner or later and I'm not sure I'd recommend Clarkes, but I can't exactly put my finger on why - whilst they sell reasonably risk free XJS' (i.e they won't sell a dog), you certainly pay a premium for your car. I was prepared to pay my money and make my choice and am not moaning about that (makes a change).

I would however moan about Before-n-After due to the hassles involved.

[ptjs1]

Michael,

As we all know, rustproofing can be a horribly messy business and I admire anyone who wants to do it for a living. I've used Before 'n' After both for my Range Rover as well as my XJS and was happy with the outcome although I accept that delays etc seem somewhat inevitable. Personally, I was happy that the car was finished late rather than being bothered about how long it took. As regards getting it dry, I watched him for a couple of hours on both occasions and he used both air blowers as well as a water-displacement spray as apparently used on aircraft engines to dry the car after pressure-washing.

As you seem to be going down the DIY route and knowing the quality of your garage setup, I would certainly invest in a compressor. It will be so much easier using a compressor and purpose-designed wax sprayer than using the proprietary waxoyl sprayer. Don't even go there with the plastic sprayer wand and the nail in the end of the tube! You can get an air-driven sprayer with various nozzles and a better 360 degree extension for about £65. I bought one about 10 years ago and can't believe it how it changed things for me compared to the hand pump waxoyl equipment!

As regards the compressor, the price war that happened about 10 years ago on compressors made good quality equipment very affordable. If I was you, I'd go for the biggest one you can afford - you can never have too much air! Have a look at something like a 3hp belt-driven one with a 50 litre tank. You should be able to get that for just over £200. Once you've got a compressor in the garage, you'll wonder how you ever managed without it.

When it comes to the rustproofing, invest in a number of different-paintbrushes (which will never be used for anything else again!). Also buy some very large sheets of plastic, the full length of the car - waxoyl or similar gets everywhere! And also a few sets of disposable overalls, plenty of white spirit, rags and paper towels.

You don't need to do the whole car in one session. However, I would do the underside in one hit. You also might consider thinning it down a little with white spirit before doing some of the box and hidden sections to encourage full coverage without blockage.

Take out all the boot trim if you can, as it's easy for it to get stained when you do the bootlid, inner rear wings etc. Also remove the door trims as the water cheaters may well be damaged already. And cover the seats and as much of the interior as possible as the fine spray can get everywhere.

As BB alluded, I'd just get the stuff everywhere and then see if you need to unblock door drains etc. In my experience, they tend to unblock themselves when the wax warms up and drains out.

An XJS convertible is relatively easy as most sections are accessible. Remember when you do the sills that you have a full-length round tube running the length of the sill. So you need to spray outside the tube in the main cavity of the sill as well inside the tube. I would insert the lance above the tube and below the tube to get full coverage in the main sill cavity.

Good luck, Michael. In a couple of weeks time you are either going to love or hate the smell of waxoyl, depending how your efforts go! How about doing an article for me with pics for inclusion in the mag?

Paul