Review: CarPro Dlux & Full engine detail write up

[4u2nvinmtl]

Review: CarPro Dlux & Full engine detail write up

CarPro Dlux (Autopia store link) -> CarPro CQuartz DLux Plastic & Wheel Coating
CarPro Dlux (Autogeek store link) -> CQuartz DLux Plastic & Wheel Coating







Details:

After almost a year of procrastination, I decided it was time to crack open my CarPro Dlux (before it expires). It’s been around 10 months since I last detailed under my hood, so it was more than time.


Products used in this review:

• CarPro Dlux
• Rubber nitrile gloves
• Two buckets with grit guards
• Multiple microfiber wash mitts
• Assorted Microfiber towels
• Meguiar’s App Purpose cleaner (1:10 ratio)
• Meguiar’s Super Degreaser (1:4 ratio)
• Meguiar’s Hyper Wash (1oz in 3gal of warm water)
• ES Detail Brush

Inspection:

I started my assessing the level of dirt and grime that had accumulated over the 10 months since I last detailed my engine bay. I concluded it would take some aggressive cleaning to get it ready for CarPro Dlux. The photos below are the condition of my engine bay prior to starting.

















Wash process:

To thoroughly clean my engine bay I decided to use Meguiar’s Super Degreaser at 1:4 ratio and Meguiar’s All Propose Cleaner at 1:10 ratio.

1. Cover the alternator with plastic bags
2. Rinse down the engine bay with hot water
3. Spray liberally with degreaser and let dwell
4. Spray more degreaser and agitate with the EZ detail brush
5. Rinse
6. Spray liberally with APC and let dwell
7. Spray more APC and agitate with the EZ detail brush
8. Rinse
9. Two bucket washed everything
10. Rinse
11. Inspected (failed my quality control, so I repeated steps 3 to 8 until cleaned to my satisfaction)

It took 2 applications of APC and degreaser to get my engine bay clean enough for CarPro Dlux. I also wanted to note that I didn’t use a pressure washer just a hose with a spray gun. I went to town with the water (at least 50 gallons of water was used to rinse) and didn’t have any issues starting it up after.



First rinse:












Alternator all bagged up safely:




Ended up finding lots of nasty stuff stuck around the hinge:




Degreaser dwelling:








Hinges looking better:




Love the reach on this brush:




After first wash:










Hood before and after:










Engine bay finally cleaned and dried:













Alternator un-bagged and dry as a bone:

[4u2nvinmtl]

Application:

I found CarPro Dlux very easy to apply. I used the supplied foam block and micro suede applicator. The bottle has a little plastic insert that only allows the product to drip out one drop at a time (very user-friendly). The smell was terrible (strong solvents) and I recommend wearing a respirator or at the very least avoid fumes. Gloves are obligatory!

I started with 3 small drops across the micro suede and started application, on the cowl above the front grill. I noticed my application was a little uneven so I gave up on the foam block as there were a lot of nooks and cracks to cover. I found the product even easier to apply without the foam block as I could tuck the towel into very edge (folded twice). I also stepped up to 5 drops per second on the micro suede.

I worked as quickly as possible while maintaining full coverage as I noticed my towel was starting to get “crispy” (stiff feeling as the product starts to cure). I covered every inch I could reach including all the wiring and even the battery. I waited about 1 hour and started on the second layer to ensure total coverage.










I took off the covers and did those on both sides along with the packs beneath them with Dlux:



After two full applications I had less than half a bottle of Dlux left:



After the second coat it was starting to get dark:



The following morning:


Beading shots after the first rainfall (day after application):










About a week later:



















Up close I noticed some white around the textured part of the plastics (it’s ended up just being some minerals from the water drying):



Summery:
CarPro Dlux is easy to apply, works well, significantly darkened my plastics, and doesn’t really add shine or gloss (a good thing in my books). The product is clearly not meant to be inhaled so please don’t smell yours if you get it (my lymph nodes hurt the next day from intentionally inhaling the product). Just like other coatings I’ve tested it’s easily contaminated/clogged by organic material (after a few weeks the beading dropped off until I did an aggressive wash to decontaminate the coating).

I would defiantly recommend CarPro Dlux as it’s fairly well priced considering how much liquid coating you get. I really like the darkening and water beading. I recommend getting extra towels as they don’t supply enough.

Duration: 6-8 hours start to finish

[Jomax]

Did you wet your air filter?

[4u2nvinmtl]

Did you wet your air filter?

Yup, it was soaking wet, but I took it off and washed it before starting the car. It's a washable K&N filter.

To wash the filter you need to remove it. Once removed I used the K&N refill/reload kit that has a cleaner (like brake cleaner I guess) and an oil. I pressure washed the heck out of the filter until the water ran clear let it dry, reoiled and reinstalled once I was all done.

if it was a paper cone filter it would have to be wrapped (most paper filters sit in a dry charger -bag that keeps out water).

[Rsurfer]

Good job and nice write up.

[Avi@CarPro]

Great Review !, thank you for your time, engine room looks new!

[fly07sti]

Great job bud. Looks great. Dlux is a great product for sure.

[derass]

Great write-up! I just ordered some DLux for some other areas on my vehicle, but now it looks like I'll be using it under the hood too!

[Rsurfer]

4u2nvinmtl
I noticed my application was a little uneven


Was there a slit on the side of the block to tuck the suede applicator so it would not move around?

[Eldorado2k]

That was 1 hell of a post.


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