I'm sure there's a similar thread to this somewhere, but I wasn't able to find it. Right now, major mods are out of the budget. Soooo I need other things to do to give my car a "clean" appearance while still mostly stock. What sort of things can I do to make my Z appear more "clean" without spending too much money? Mind you, NOT CHEAP MODS, but little details that will improve the overall vehicle appearance and freshen it up. Here are some examples of what I'd like to do.

-Polish exhaust
-Touch up some rock chips
-I need new rotors anyway, so I'm thinking better quality and cross-drilled so they look less worn and stand out a bit more.
-Paint calipers black
-Reseat the rear turn signal to the clips on the bumper. It looks like it popped into the bumper a bit.
-Detail my engine bay and car once spring rolls around
-Flush all of my fluids


Any tips on these things or suggestions? Like I said, I want to focus on simple things I can do to my car to improve the overall cleanliness/newness look of it rather than modding it for right now.Thanks for any help Z community, and I'm sure there will be a little flaming as always ha...

 

Learn how to thoroughly detail the **** outta your car and you're good haha. And keep up with maintenance

 

Stick to blank rotors

 

I'll fully admit that I'm a bit ignorant and new to the car stuff. I know there is an argument about whether drilled/slotted rotors are better, the same, or worse than blank rotors. Even if I went with a higher quality brand, would I still be better off with the blanks? Any particular brand that might be better or more resistant to the rust/grime that makes mine so glaringly dirty?

 

Where do u live? I've heard that drilled rotors are terrible if you live by salt water or drive on salty roads. If your gonna get new rotors just get a set of slotted rotors with like hawk or ebc pads.

With what said above tho, detail the **** out of your car and wax it 1-2 times a month and your good.

 

I am going to take a stab at this, but I think he lives in Nebraska.

 

I just detailed my TC engine bay yesterday and it only took 10 mins with p21s citrus cleaner and a small brush I bought from Detailed Image. Stuff works fantastic and the detailed image has everything you need.

 

Get some klasse all in one sealant. Its great for plastics under the hood and everywhere else, and before waxing.

 

Brillant

 

LOL.

Hey I appreciate all of those inputs. Never heard of a detailed image,but I'm sure I can find the citrus cleaning spray.

 

The cheapest blanks will perform equal to an expensive set of drilled. You will not know the difference aside from your wallet being lighter.

 

They are sponsor (if I am not mistaken) here and they have threads with products and Q/A about detailing. The citrus spray is great, gets most of the oil/grime off with ease. But I could tell where the dealership spills oil from the filler neck and it trickles down to the bottom of the engine. My Scion has been through the ringer with multiple Trd S/C kits and the engine has never been cleaner in over 6 years.

 

Holy god what a sales pitch! you must have stock in the company?

 

Nah man, I just been detailing my own cars for years using and wasting money on products that rarely work and what they sell is products that actually work as advertised. But I use to work in machinery sales .

 

Wiper delete. Cheap, easy.

 

Wash, wax, and get your tires nice and black.

 

The tires black definitely help. Is there anything specific I can do? Scrub the sidewalls with something that'll take off the seemingly permanent layer of grime?

 

Use a hard bristle brush, soapy water, and some elbow grease and you should be set.

 

APC (all purpose cleaner) simple green, etc... and tire brush
I'm a detailer go research autopia.com forums you will learn a wealth of knowledge.

 

Hey NebraskaZ, if you're in the Omaha/Lincoln area check out www.zcarsofnebraska.com . They have some nice Z33's. Oh, and plan to attend www.bransonzfest.com the weeekend following Memorial Day.