DFB's Garage

[DFB]

I always thought the need for wide mouth was overrated as I usually use a measuring cup to get right amount of product. Not hard to put water in either….. just didn’t really get it.

The ability to rinse out easier makes all the sense though.


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Same, I used to groan at all the people complaining and ruling out the MTM because of the bottle opening. As you and I have said, filling it with water first makes the difference.

But...................I do understand where they were coming from now, especially the rinse out at the end.

[DFB]

My sister's birthday gift this year, an exterior and interior detail on her nearly one-year-old Volvo XC60 B6.

This vehicle was last washed by me on Christmas Day last year, apart from a quick spray down after a road trip from Melbourne to Adelaid and back. Remarkably, the car was relatively clean, so Carpro Finest Reserve is doing its job.

Now, my sister loves cars, but more so in how they look and feel, not so much what is under the hood. Hence a slew of relatively tame naturally aspirated petrol 4's and sole diesel 4 in her back catalog. This Volvo with its turbocharged 2.0 putting out 220 kW and 420 Nm, combined with some mild hybrid assistance, is easily the most powerful car she has owned.

Her first comment to me after that road trip was, "wow, its great to have some power on the open road for overtaking and general ease of cruising"........................something I have ALWAY advocated for when recommending cars to people. I always get the usual "I'm not a racing driver" type of response. True, but the power is not necessarily there to drive like a maniac, but to make driving so much easier and effortless. This sentiment is more obvious these days now that we are not buying torquey Aussie made vehicles, their place taken by asthmatic diesel pickup trucks and gutless naturally aspirated hatchbacks.

Anyway, back to detailing.

The wheels were the dirtiest part of the car, typical euro-brake dust buildup. From dry, I sprayed them with NV Purge and allowed to react. I then rinsed, following with a contact wash using Gtechniq W4 Citrus Foam. The tyres were cleaned with Undressed, the wheels given a quick application of Wet Coat. I also hosed out the engine bay and topped up the windshield bottle with N-914 at 128:1.

I then went in with the same W4 Citrus on the paint for a pre-soak. Rinsed, we then switched to Carpro Reset for the contact wash. After being hit with the EGO blower, the drying aid of choice was again Carpro EliXir, which works brilliantly with the Carpro coating. Door jambs wiped with ECH20, wheels wiped down with NV Boost v1, tyres dressed with Carpro Darkside.

For the interior, it got a vac, the rubber floor mats cleaned with McKee's, the glass done with Invisible Glass, everything else got a wipe down with a damp towel. We (I) also decided to clean the front seats, steering wheel and armrests using ColourLock Mild Leather Cleaner, followed by another application of ColourLock Leather Shield. This is what clean, protected leather should look like..................





Back to spec and off home, my job was done.

[DFB]

Up with the sparrows to get out while it was still cool this morning. It's amazing how much weather effects the enjoyment or otherwise of a job, too hot or too cold/wet and I've had enough before even getting out of the car. So, the getting onto things before the heatwave continued its early Autumn tirade made things more bearable. It's been a week of 38 degree (100 f) and above temps, making up for the somewhat mild summer.

Getting home at about 12pm, it was then into the shade of the garage begin the wheel repairs on the Rover. To recap, I lost drive to the left wheel, which I briefly fixed with replacement of the drive gears and pawls. Shortly after, it again lost drive to the left wheel, which would engage and spin in the air, but not under load, in turn causing it to pull to the left. After pulling the wheels off (again), the left wheel would spin within the rim, but not the right-hand wheel.

Now, these particular wheels are geared to engage with the drive cog. There are two versions of this wheel, one for the ProCut 50 and one for the ProCut 560 that I have, neither are interchangeable. So, a very specific part for a very specific mower. After searching and reaching out to a past contact, it turns out these wheels are still available from Rover, so I ordered four of them! I get it now, these are not parts a retailer will have sitting on a shelf considering how expensive they are and only fitting one specific mower.

In this case, this is the 9-inch rear wheel as used on ProCut 560, Rover part 634-05015 or A10669 -

ROVER 22" 560 MOWER REAR DRIVE WHEEL A10669
– Power Mowers





Knowing one of the two was broken, I didn't know which. As soon as I opened the box, I knew what the problem was, the new wheels not spinning withing the "tyre" so to speak, meaning the left wheel had failed internally and was free spinning rather than locking and then engaging with the cog.

With the hub cap removed, the press-fit wheel retainer needs to levered off with a screwdriver. The old wheel simply slides off, the axle cleaned and a little marine grade grease applied for good measure, the new wheel is then slid onto the axle and a new retainer hammered onto the axle using an old socket to drive it home square.

Old wheel on the left, new on the right. It's at this point I remembered what had been done last time the wheels had been attended to. These are not the original wheels, the shop replacing both the left and then right on two separate occasions, the left-hand wheel being the oldest, somewhat explaining its failure. It also had less "tread" than the newer right side.





New wheel against the old hub cap does things to my OCD...............



I also decided to order new front wheels. These are relatively easy to find and are considerably cheaper. Again, there are two sizes available, the 7.5-inch for ProCut 50 and the 8-inch ProCut 560. Actually, I was a bit confused what front wheels I needed. Measuring the old ones, it came in at 7.5-inch, which Rover sell under A10621. But the part number on the old wheels was indeed the larger 8-inch A10622. I guess I have lost 0.5-inch of tread in the 10 years I've had this unit.

https://powermowers.com.au/collectio...r-wheel-a10622





Again, the same process here, removal of the hub cap and the stupid axle retainer, which is part number A03092 for those wondering. Those retainers can be re-used if you are careful during removal, sometimes they snap, sometimes not.

https://powermowers.com.au/products/...e&_ss=e&_v=1.0



A quick startup, the wheels both turning in the air was a good first sign. Under load on the pavement and grass, we have two wheel drive again!

I now have two of those rear wheels brand-new, joining the good used one. The failed rear and both fronts went in the recycling bin! This will have the Rover in working order should I need it. I'm just waiting for the that bloody Krohler to blow up and then I can put a real engine on it...........a Briggs 850!

However, with how the Victa Commercial is going, I may have finally found the Rover's replacement! As I had planned, I'm trying to get some content out there on this mower, there just isn't much available, be that images or video. The below is pretty primitive, but it's a start...................

[Big Dave]

I mowed my lawn today, with my trusty Victa Mustang, with the Honda GCV160 engine. Then I watched your video, now I feel like an idiot pushing it around under my own power. You did inspire me though, I was going to take a quick picture of it, but I thought no, not looking like that, so I blew all the stray grass off, then, for the first, gave it a wipe down with ONR. I guess I have a dedicated mower cleaning cloth now. Cleanest it's been in awhile, notice the obligatory cracked hub cap.

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[DFB]

I mowed my lawn today, with my trusty Victa Mustang, with the Honda GCV160 engine. Then I watched your video, now I feel like an idiot pushing it around under my own power. You did inspire me though, I was going to take a quick picture of it, but I thought no, not looking like that, so I blew all the stray grass off, then, for the first, gave it a wipe down with ONR. I guess I have a dedicated mower cleaning cloth now. Cleanest it's been in awhile, notice the obligatory cracked hub cap.

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The classic Victa Mustang, the pinnacle of the range. In its current 19-inch format, I've had 5 of these cast alloy deck mowers. Not only is the deck more durable than steel, the axles are bolted rather than press fit clips, so you don't wear out bushings as quickly. 4 of them have had Briggs & Stratton engines (190cc side valve, 161cc DOV, 190cc 850 OHV, 163cc 750iS) and 1 has been the 160cc VEX 2-stroke.

The first was waaay back in 2006, although it was called the Razor, but it used the Mustang chassis. I loved the unique handle bar design it had with an integrated drink bottle holder (excellent on long, hot days). This one had the 6.0 hp XTS60 side valve Briggs, which was a thirsty beast. I basically run that mower into the ground, trading it on a lemon Honda Buffalo Buck. Apart from their excellent engines, I have never bought another Honda mower, junk. I would love to find another one of these, but there aren't many around now.





The second had the then new DOV engine. Instead of pushrods, these engines have lever arms that are bumped by a crankshaft mounted camshaft. I never liked that engine, it lacked torque and was quite clattery, probably the unique valve train. I traded it one on another Mustang, this time with the 850-engine.



The 850 engine is such a beast. I actually lent it out when I was on extended sick leave, the first comment on its return was how much grunt it had.



Mustang number 4 being the 2-stroke which I bought as a keepsake. This was shortly after Victa said they would stop making that engine due to emissions. I love this mower!





The latest being the battery start Mustang 750iS. I bought this for smaller jobs during winter.





I that sort of shows what I think of these Victa's, they are easily the best lawn mower for domestic use, and they are so good that they can easily take commercial use. They also make them with self propel now Dave. There is a 19-inch Commercial in push and SP, but you end up paying for the heavy-duty handles, height adjuster, fabric catcher and double ball-bearing wheels. There are two SP Mustang's, one with the 163cc Briggs, one with the V170 engine. DO NOT buy the V170 "Victa" engine, those engines are pure junk made in a single Chinese factory and sold to manufacturers wanting a house brand engine. From what I have seen, they are built cheap and nasty with questionable longevity.

https://www.victa.com/au/en_au/produ...sp-725exi.html
https://www.victa.com/au/en_au/produ...es-engine.html

[Klasse Act]

Rims make or break a vehicle, more proof Deyon

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[DFB]

Wash day for the Ranger and Jaaaaag, and a chance to try a product that had a few had been gently recommending I try.



Now, in the past I have sampled a few of the overcomplicated Chemical Guys range. Nothing really grabbed me, although I did enjoy using VRP dressing. But, this was before I learnt more of the brand and their approach to covering every conceivable gap in the market, sometimes multiple times. As such, trying to make sense of the range is difficult because they have so many overlapping products. I remember going through their product range and counting something like 15 different tyre dressings, and unless you buy and try every single one of those, how do you know which is the best?

Until now, I have ignored the Chemical Guys offerings. Trying Honeydew Snow Foam comes after a few guys swearing by it, guys who have the means to buy and try any product they want on their very nice cars. And yet, they keep coming back to this soap. So, after resisting the urge, I finally caved and ordered a bottle to try.

Now, one of the key drawcards to this soap is the low cost, but not in Australia unless on heavy discount. Supercheap don't sell the smaller 473ml bottle, only the 1.9-liter for $59.95 RRP. For context, I can get double that volume in the form of a 4-liter bottle of NV Snow for only $18 more. Roughly speaking, that works out at about $5.15 per 100ml wash for Honeydew, or $1.95 per 100 ml wash for NV Snow.

Now onto the product itself. This is a pH neutral maintenance soap, which is nicely thin in consistency to make dispensing easy. Foaming ability is fantastic, the scent pleasingly fresh but not a standout like GSF, Incredible Suds or Reset. Lubrication is nice, but not to GSF levels.

Compared to some of the garbage within the wider Chemical Guys product range, Honeydew is actually quite nice to use. But it's a middle of the road soap for me. In the US, the performance vs price is extremely favorable. But it just doesn't perform like the premium soaps that its competing with on price in Australia.

[DFB]

Feeling pretty exhausted after a busy week, it was a day for tinkering.

The Ranger was covered in road grime after rain last week, but I just didn't want to get everything out for a full bucket wash. Instead, I foamed the car with Gtechniq W4 and allowed it soak while I prepped for a rinse-less wash.





After a thorough rinse, I moved into the garage and used DIY Rinse-less Wash to finish off. The car was then dried with the assistance of DIY Ceramic Gloss. This is a great combo, not as slick and glossy as P&S Absolute/Bead Maker, but satisfying nonetheless.

I then wiped down the tray using a beater towel soaked with the rinse-less solution, the wheels and door jambs wiped down with ECH20. The interior was wiped with DIY Interior Clean and Protect, windows with Invisible Glass. Tyres dressed with OG Tire Dressing, my current favorite.

I also didn't have the energy to address the old man's filthy Wildtrak, which was covered in dust, road grime and bugs from driving all over Victoria in the last two weeks. The perfect candidate to further experiment with Bilt Hamber Touchless.

I've had a rocky start with Touchless, to the point where I've been hesitant to use it. My initial usages were not successful, which was a source of frustration. I then realized the 10 LPM (2.65 GPM) flow rate of my pressure washer was overdiluting the chemical. I have since had better results from using it neat in the foam cannon bottle, which dilutes just enough without compromising it's "touchless" ability.



In this case, it was rather remarkable how effective Touchless was in removing the majority of crap from the car. Yes, it would've benefited from a follow up contact wash, but that wasn't the aim today. I simply wanted to see what I would get from a simple foam, rinse and blow dry. The result buys the car another week before getting a more thorough clean.

Speaking of foam cannons, I am so far liking these newly updated MTM PF22.2's. The repurposed Kwazar weighted filter is also working very well, helping the cannon to continue drawing soap no matter the fluid level or bottle angle.



Unrelated to detailing, I also had to replace one of the plastic hinges on the garage door. These things have a habit of snapping and causing noisy operation. Each hinge is numbered, so you need to have the correspondingly numbered hinge. I had one in stock, but not the number 2 I needed. So, I ordered one of each number to have in stock. Replaced, its working much nicer now.

Steel line nylon hinge 2 for garage door - Wholesalegaragedoors.com.au

I also got onto greasing the gearboxes on my line and hedge trimmers. For some reason, while I seem to remember to change the oil and clean out the air filters on my lawn mowers, I always forget to re-grease these things. The handy thing with the Stihl grease is that the tube will screw into the filler plug thread, allowing you to inject grease into the gearbox without making a mess.

(Not my image/video)

https://www.stihl.com.au/en/ap/heavy...lubricant-1068

[Klasse Act]

Deyon, glad you got Touchless figured out, such a GREAT product

Also Ceramic Gloss vs. The P&S combo, not even close! Maybe not as slick but gloss and durability...DIY wins by a TKO️

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[DFB]

Picked up a quick release chuck for my Milwaukee inflator. These just screw onto the OEM threaded chuck and prevent losing too much air when removing from the valve stem.

https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B09TKMP...t_details&th=1

Much better now.......................