Review - McKee's 37 Multiple Products

[Jaretr1]

I was torn between writing multiple reviews or just one grand review, which is kinda more like a show and tell...so a Grand Review is what it is.

To preface this, this is a friends 2007 Jeep Patriot he bought used. He has had it for 2 years and thinks it might have been washed once during that time. It is actually his wife's vehicle. He asked me if I could make it shiny, and I said of course. My objective was not to get this car in show car condition, it was to try to restore some gloss to the paint, get the paint clean, and then use the new McKee's coating on it. Time was also a factor, I wanted to get this done as quickly as possible.

Here is what I started with:


First, start with the wheels.

I started with the Foaming Wheel Cleaner Gel. McKee's 37 Foaming Wheel Cleaner Gel



Initial Spray:

After it was on for a few minutes:

As you can see, there was no foaming. It definitely changed color somewhat. Normally I would let it dwell than just rinse it off, but these wheels were really dirty. So I took my wheel woolie and brushed them up. When I did rinse them off, they were completely clean. So maybe it did not foam up, but the end results were just fine.


Next up was the tires. McKee's 37 Tire & Rubber Rejuvenator, heavy duty tire cleaner, how to remove brown from tires While I didnt take any photos, this product seemed to work a lot like Bleche White which is what I have always used to clean tires. It started turning brown on contact, and got all foamy when I agitated it, and the tires came out clean!


Iron X at work.

After I washed the car, the paint was like sandpaper. Here is a photo of the clay after a section, and this was not even the worst of it:


The interesting thing about never washing a car is, it doesnt get a lot of swirls. Add to the fact this color seems to hide defects very well, the swirls were not that bad. What was bad were the rids. Lots of them on the hood and roof. I knew those were not going to come out. Keep in mind was goal was not perfection, just to bring some clarity back to the paint and get it clean.
Hood before:


On the hood, I used McKee's Fast Compound McKee's 37 Fast Compound For your dual action or rotary polisher.
With my Rupes LHR21 ES and a Lake Country ThinPro cutting pad.

Here are my thoughts on this compound. First off, it is definitely not as aggressive as say M105 or Wolfgang Uber Compound. The irony in its name is it has what seems to be an infinite work time. It never dried up while was working it. It did dust some, but nothing excessive. Wipe off was very easy. Once I was done working a section, I had a hard time seeing if there was any micro marring on this paint color in this condition. I was satisfied with the results after this one step.


For the sides I switched to a polishing pad and used only the Fast Polish McKee's 37 Fast Polish For your dual action or rotary polisher
My goal was to bring out some shine and clean the paint. Based on the discoloration of my pad after working the paint, I was achieving my goal. This polish is a lot thicker than say CarPro Reflect or M205. It has the same consistency of the compound. It also seemed to have a long work time and minimal to no dusting. Wipe off was a breeze. It was aggressive enough to remove water spots on all the windows.

For the roof, I switched to my PC7424 XP with a Lake Country Orange CCS Pad. I wanted the thicker CCS pad due to the ridges in the roof and those pads do not do as well with the long throw polishers. Again, no issue or change in the behavior of the compound for this application either.

Headlights. McKee's 37 All In One Headlight Restoring Polish, headlight restoration

Before.. I used this polish with a CCS Orange Pad, and while it restored some clarity and removed some oxidation, it really hardly made a dent to the worst damage. These probably needed a sanding at this point. This polish is probably best to repair lightly oxidated headlights, not heavily damaged ones.


Improved but it was much worse than the picture shows.

I did follow it up with McKee's 37 Headlight Protectant Spray

Next on to the coating. Before I applied the coating, I used WG Perfekt Finish Paint Prep Wolfgang Perfekt Finish Paint Prep
I did not want another polishing step, so I chose this wipe down method instead. Was quick and easy and seemed to work. This is one of those things where you have to assume its working, cant really see it.

Paint Coating, nano paint sealant, ceramic paint coating, nano paint coating

Next on to the paint coating. $30? Two years of protection? This might be a winner! This coating was as easy as any protection layer to apply. Easier than even Black Label Coating. It wipes on nice and easy, and high spots wiped away with ease. The paint felt nice and slick once it dried. I wont really be able to test the durability, but ease of application for a coating was super easy. There was not even a learning curve. Spritz, spread, wipe off excess. That easy. I will say the coating alone did not seem to add anything in the way of appearance initially. But often after these products cure, the gloss intensifies.






The tires were coated with McKee's 37 Tire Coating
McKee's 37 Tire Coating, long lasting tire shine



I didnt touch the interior, but my friend went to work using the Total Interior Cleanerhttp://www.autogeek.net/dp340.html and Interior Surface Protectant McKee's 37 Interior Surface Protectant is a multi-surface shield for your vehicle’s interior. In addition to protectants, McKee's 37 Interior Surface

The protectant he did say was kinda thick as it took a few squeezes on the trigger to get it flowing from the sprayer. It did also leave somewhat of a glossy finish to my eye. Again I only saw the results.

At the end of the day, this line is all about value, and it seems the value proposition and ease of use with this new line is excellent. I wish I could see how long the coating lasts, because that is really a great and easy to use protective product.

Feel free to ask any questions.

Jaret

[Nick McKees37]

Great review Jaret!

As you can see, there was no foaming. It definitely changed color somewhat. Normally I would let it dwell than just rinse it off, but these wheels were really dirty. So I took my wheel woolie and brushed them up. When I did rinse them off, they were completely clean. So maybe it did not foam up, but the end results were just fine.

Foaming Wheel Cleaner Gel isn't foamy when you spray it, but rather when you agitate it with a wet/damp brush. The wetness/dampness of the brush and the action of scrubbing the wheel activates the suds (kind of like when you add soap to a bucket of water, and then blast it with the nozzle).

Because I'm a fast typist I'll explain why it was formulated this way: The last 3 vehicles I've owned have had painted wheels that were either black or dark gray. My Civic Si had black wheels (with a machined face), my wife's Outback (her current daily driver) has metallic black wheels (with a machined face) and my WRX (*drool* - my current daily driver) has dark gray wheels.

Dark colored wheels show wash-induced marks more than light colored wheels (ie: painted silver, clear coated aluminum, etc.) so I demanded that our chemists develop a thick, lubricious wheel cleaner that not only dissolves iron particles, but creates a thick layer of lubricating foam when it's agitated with a damp brush. This thick layer of lubrication ensures the dark colored painted wheels on my vehicles remain free of any wash-induced marks. And, as you would imagine, it worked!

That's how McKee's 37 Foaming Wheel Cleaner Gel came to be!

[Jaretr1]

Great review Jaret!



Foaming Wheel Cleaner Gel isn't foamy when you spray it, but rather when you agitate it with a wet/damp brush. The wetness/dampness of the brush and the action of scrubbing the wheel activates the suds (kind of like when you add soap to a bucket of water, and then blast it with the nozzle).

Because I'm a fast typist I'll explain why it was formulated this way: The last 3 vehicles I've owned have had painted wheels that were either black or dark gray. My Civic Si had black wheels (with a machined face), my wife's Outback (her current daily driver) has metallic black wheels (with a machined face) and my WRX (*drool* - my current daily driver) has dark gray wheels.

Dark colored wheels show wash-induced marks more than light colored wheels (ie: painted silver, clear coated aluminum, etc.) so I demanded that our chemists develop a thick, lubricious wheel cleaner that not only dissolves iron particles, but creates a thick layer of lubricating foam when it's agitated with a damp brush. This thick layer of lubrication ensures the dark colored painted wheels on my vehicles remain free of any wash-induced marks. And, as you would imagine, it worked!

That's how McKee's 37 Foaming Wheel Cleaner Gel came to be!

Makes sense. Now that I think of it, when I was working it with the brush, it did get all foamy. I guess I was expecting it to foam up on contact.

You and your dark wheels!!

[Priyaka]

Great work! Thanks for sharing the pictures and review.

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Nice multiple product review Jaret.

[PA DETAILER]

Thanks. WOW the wheel cleaner looks like a clear winner!

[FrankS]

Great job and nice review Jaret!

[WRAPT C5Z06]

Great review Jaret!



Foaming Wheel Cleaner Gel isn't foamy when you spray it, but rather when you agitate it with a wet/damp brush. The wetness/dampness of the brush and the action of scrubbing the wheel activates the suds (kind of like when you add soap to a bucket of water, and then blast it with the nozzle).

Because I'm a fast typist I'll explain why it was formulated this way: The last 3 vehicles I've owned have had painted wheels that were either black or dark gray. My Civic Si had black wheels (with a machined face), my wife's Outback (her current daily driver) has metallic black wheels (with a machined face) and my WRX (*drool* - my current daily driver) has dark gray wheels.

Dark colored wheels show wash-induced marks more than light colored wheels (ie: painted silver, clear coated aluminum, etc.) so I demanded that our chemists develop a thick, lubricious wheel cleaner that not only dissolves iron particles, but creates a thick layer of lubricating foam when it's agitated with a damp brush. This thick layer of lubrication ensures the dark colored painted wheels on my vehicles remain free of any wash-induced marks. And, as you would imagine, it worked!

That's how McKee's 37 Foaming Wheel Cleaner Gel came to be!

It's never really talked about, but you bring up a great point that I've always wondered about. Most do not rinse wheels prior to cleaning, so all that dirt is getting grinded against the finish when agitating. The fact you took lubrication into consideration of this wheel cleaner is very smart.

[EVOlved]

Need to update this with some beading pics of that coating. But great work all around!

[Cruzscarwash]

How is the paint coating holding up?