Surf City-- Maximum Metal in action

[budman3]

Hey Everyone

I was given the opportunity to sample and test four products from AGs newest vendor, Surf City. Today I got to initally test the Maximum Metal Perfect Polish. This is a lightly abrasive metal polish which is designed for stainless steel. It says on the bottle that it can also be used on chrome and aluminum. I'll be testing it on aluminum wheels in the future... (I've been looking for a final polish to use on aluminum that'll finish nice... this is looking good :)). The directions state to shake the bottle, rub the polish in circular motions and remove. Pretty simple :). It has a sweet smell... nothing invasive. As I said above, I can feel very light abrasives and the consistency is fairly liquidy but not too bad. I tested the product on the exhaust pipe on our '05 Tacoma which for some reason or another, hasn't gotten much love over the past two years... so it was overly due. Sorry this isn't a formal review... this is my first experience with this product so I haven't made any conclusions on it.

Pictures:

Products used (botlle factory sealed, a plus):
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p39/kmford8/Surf%20City/product.jpg

Before:
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p39/kmford8/Surf%20City/before.jpg

After:
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p39/kmford8/Surf%20City/after.jpg

Edited- I decided to try some Maximum Metal and 0000 steel wool:
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p39/kmford8/Surf%20City/HPIM1133Medium.jpg

I guess I need to spend a little more time on the bottom of the pipe... talk about an akward position. But as you can see, the product cleaned the metal up very nicely. I find it to be pretty impressive that it cleaned up this well without using harsh metal abrasives or a thick metal polish. I find that other metal polishes don't finish down nicely and leave marring (on aluminum). Surf City Maximum Metal looks to be a strong cleaner and polish yet gentle enough to use on chrome and aluminum. So far so good :D.

[ScottB]

use some fine grit sandpaper and that polish, you'll likely end up with a super reflective finish.

[Mike T]

Nice, thanks for the review.

[budman3]

I didn't even think of that Killr... I have some steel wool that I'll go try out and I'll update this thread... thanks.

[Surf_City_Garage_Tech]

I didn't even think of that Killr... I have some steel wool that I'll go try out and I'll update this thread... thanks.
Hey budman3 -- don't know if this applies to your situation, but here's what we do at our restoration shop.

1) we saturate the tailpipe with WD-40 which serves as a lubricant for 0000 steel wool;
2) polish the tailpipe with 0000 steel wool to remove the majority of the built-up rust and tarnish;
3) wipe it down with a dry towel to remove the WD-40;
4) polish as normal with Maximum Metal

Now, if the tailpipe's in pretty good shape, then just go straight to the Maximum Metal.

Good luck! -- Steven

[D]

Yeah, I think sparkie uses the steel wool a lot.

[budman3]

Hey budman3 -- don't know if this applies to your situation, but here's what we do at our restoration shop.

1) we saturate the tailpipe with WD-40 which serves as a lubricant for 0000 steel wool;
2) polish the tailpipe with 0000 steel wool to remove the majority of the built-up rust and tarnish;
3) wipe it down with a dry towel to remove the WD-40;
4) polish as normal with Maximum Metal

Now, if the tailpipe's in pretty good shape, then just go straight to the Maximum Metal.

Good luck! -- Steven

Thanks for the tips Steven. Since I just did the polishing on the dirty pipe, I took out some 0000 steel wool, applied a penny sized amount of product and rubbed it in. Very good results. The only thing I noticed this time around is that the bottle cap leaks. When I shake the product, the polish leaks around the opening. I thought I didn't close it all the way but it was closed...

[Surf_City_Garage_Tech]

Thanks for the tips Steven. Since I just did the polishing on the dirty pipe, I took out some 0000 steel wool, applied a penny sized amount of product and rubbed it in. Very good results. The only thing I noticed this time around is that the bottle cap leaks. When I shake the product, the polish leaks around the opening. I thought I didn't close it all the way but it was closed...
Hey budman3 -- we're happy about the results, but sorry to hear that about the leak. We haven't seen that problem before. Fortunately, our unconditional guarantee even covers bottle caps:D We will contact AG and have them send you a new bottle of Maximum Metal no charge, no shipping.

[ScottB]

always great to see a vendor take full responsibility no matter the issue, kudos !

[Truls]

Try it with a Mother polishing ball, that did marvels for me (not a SSG produckt i used) but that speeds things up quickly, and will probably work with SSG maximum metal PP, but you dont get the same (as good) result as the WD40, steel wool comb + SSG Max metal PP i guess...

Nice tip/test Budman3.

[budman3]

The difference in the before and afters in real life are like night and day. The steel wool pictures were taken at night so they aren't directly comparable to the others because it has a very nice shine to it now. It's just a stock piece of exhaust tubing... pretty good results for that. I'll keep playing with the product and combos to see if I can get better results, not that its needed.

As for the leaky top, here is what I'm talking about:
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p39/kmford8/Surf%20City/HPIM1144Small.jpg

After shaking:
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p39/kmford8/Surf%20City/HPIM1149Small.jpg


It's nothing major, just something I found and figured I'd pass it along. I may be worth looking into if others have similar experiences though. Steven, you have a PM.

[FMINUS]

Be careful with 000 wool, that stuff can get in ur eyes!

A wiseman taught me to use 0000 wool with some Klasse AIO on glass. WORKS GREAT!!