Brad4rdHay

Ok, so you've likely spent many hours now on your baby, but you not done yet, here's where the fun begins, where you separate a clean car from a detailed one. So what does this involve. Well just a buch of easy little things.

First, walk around the exterior inspecting it. Have a microfiber (or cotton) towel with you and clean up any wax/sealent residue ini the seams, and around that beautiful 350z emblem. Sometimes, a VERY old, VERY soft toothbrush will work if your having trouble with a cloth or q-tip. Its sometimes easier to prop the hood/door to clean the the seams free of residue. While the doors are open, detail the door jams. Clean up any water spots with a "quick detailer spray" and to make the paint shine, and use a little vinyl/rubber protectant (such as 303) on the plastic kick plates.

Rub the tires down with a vinyl and rubber protectant (303, Vinylex, Meguiars #40 ect). NEVER dress the tread part of the tire. Dont wipe it yet.

After youve cleaned up all of the seams and dressed the tires, its time to use your vinyl and rubber protectant to dress up any platic or rubber trim exposed. Lightly spray the corner of a folded up towel and rub it onto the trim, careful not to get any on the paint. Let it set 5-10 min, then buff dry. One of my favorite finishing touches is to sray a little of the protectant into clean wheel wells to dress them up nicely. Dark black wells look much nicer than bright tan ones. Remember any plastic that may be where the front wipers reside. And don't forget the front grille area.

Wipe down the exhaust tips with some quick detailer, or metal polish if needed.

Clean the windows with either a "quick detailer" or a non-amonia based window cleaner. My favorite is Stoners Invisible Glass with a crumpled up news paper. The ink in the paper acts as a mild polish. Works great. Inspect for streeaks afterwards.

INTERIOR: Make sure all the trim is clean and shiny, and all the pedals are clean. NEVER treat rubber pedals with a protectant, they tend to make the surface more slipery. Make sure the volumer control is at a reasonable volume before turning on the car.

NOW, after youve done everything else, come back to the tires and buff them dry with a paper towel. This gives the protectant ample time to really soak into the tire.


Now your Z is clean and protected. DON'T be intimidated by the amount of time it takes to FULLY detail the car (i.e., the first time you work on it). While this may take a full 4-7 hours, with a little maitenance here an there, you will never have to spend this amount of time again. If you keep the car cleaned by washing often AND safley, you wont have to prep and polish the paint as much. In fact, I plan on doing the full ABC wash every six months and don't plan on polishing ever...unless the real world catches up with my finish. If you paint is clean, a few months down the road when its time to renu the protection, you can just wax right after washing. Every other week, wipe the tires down with some protectant, and they will never dry out and brown. Keep the interior vacumed, and you wont have to shampoo stains out of the carpet as often. Well, I hope you apreciated the detailing sessions, and I hope to see alot of very shiny Zs out there.

Brad4rdHay

Hey, no problem. My only hope is that the Z gains a reputation for being a well kept car (much like the Corvette)

GaryM05

Thanks for all the great info, Brad. I've never thought twice about cleaning any car I've ever owned beyond driving them through a brushless wash. But now that I've received my Z, my attitude has definitely changed. Your advice and product guidance has given me and my Z a world of help. I'll do my part to make it a well-kept car.

Thanks again!!!

Gary
Silverstone Performance 6-MT

Brad4rdHay

Sure, any questions just PM me. As extensive as these are I think that they are quite incomplete, theres just so many things one can say in a post. And I tried, beyond not recomending certian types of products, not to go into specific product reviews, but will be happy to help anyone out on products through the PMs On another note, brushless cawashes are better than the brush ones, but to get all the dirt off w/o friction, they use strong detergents which will strip your wax/sealant right away.

Dr Bonz

iTrader: (1)

Thanks Brad. As someone who has always been pretty meticulous about keeping cars clean (I'm 40 and have had only three cars my entire life...Z will be #4), I still found quite a few valuable tips in your posts that I had never thought of.

Thanks again!

Zoro

That seems like a incredible low amount of cars to own for your age. You sure you didn't forget about a couple?
I'm 10 years your senior and just jotted down a list of the cars I can remember owning and the Z will be number 30, also have owned 4 motorcycles. So what were the first two cars you owned, I already know about the stealth. btw did you find a buyer for it yet?

mike952

Yikes, I am 27 and this is my 4th too!!!

ksj

I'm on 3, 6 & 7 myself. ('74 SuperBeetle, '98 Path, and the most exciting - the '03 Z).

4 & 5 were Pathfinders as well ('88 and '94).

I'm also in Doc's age range.

The only major work out of the bunch, other than the bug but major is a different issue there, was a leaking rear axel seal in my current Path. Good 4Xdrive machine.