Nissan gave us an amzing opportunity to own a sports car for half the price of a Porsche. The paint quality will not be there (ie orange peel, swirls) that is found on a Benz. In any situation outside of extreme close-ups an SB can look stunning when waxed.

YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.

 

OK so the next experiment will run me another $120.

Yellow, white, and (new experiment) a hi-gloss red pad, and five new microfiber towels.

Meguiar's number 9 swirl remover, number 7 show car glaze, and 3M perfect-it rubbing compound (not applied in that order )

I'm going to try out Menzerna FMJ "super wax" which properautocare.com is pitching "In our opinion, the best paint sealant in the world".

(and all this is way cheaper than my other hobbies )

 

My wife has an '03 VW GTI (black) and has been beating her head against the wall since she got it trying to keep it clean with a deep shine. She has bugged people on the "other" z site trying to pick there brains. So my question to you Paul350z is, since you have gone pretty in depth with this (were impressed!) considering the time it takes, what is a good balance between quality and time spent?! I'm glad I have a SS not a SB!!!!!

 

I love #7.

 

Paul nice work. I haven't seen you post in a while? Did you just move out to riverside? I'll help you wash n wax my car too, it needs it. We should meet up sometime.

 

You are the man Paul! nice comparo!

 

Cleaning is the most important part as if you do it wrong you're adding swirls.

I use a Mr. Clean system just for the de-ionized water. The thing filters out all the chemicals and minerials to give you water that when it drys leaves very little if any spots. The thing mists the car with a light spray and I attempt to sheet off any dirt that might be on the car. I use bottle car wash soap by either company then mist off the suds with the Mr. Clean spray gun. I claybar a couple of times a year so far - and wash it with water about every other month. Most of the time I just use a spray cleaner with microfiber towels - either the spray detailer or Z-6/Z-8 sprays.

Once the car is clean I would say the most bang for the buck and time is going to be a synthetic wax and the NXT is cheaper by a few bucks a bottle. Both brands are easy to put on and take off and layer well. I've just done mine so I can't say which will last longer but I don't drive the car in rain, it's kept garaged, and isn't a daily driver - the stuff could last years with that silk glove treatment. The Zaino does smell better.

I never let the car get too dirty before cleaning it and typically spray clean the thing every week top to bottom using four or five microfiber towels during the effort. I always wipe up and down on the vertical panels and fore and aft on the horizontal ones.

www.properautocare.com has a great FAQ and "Ask the doctor" site with some excellent advice.

 

I lived in Corona ten years ago, moved to Everett Washington for a few, came back to Riverside and now MoValley. I've been to a few of the get togethers just not lately as I'm working a second job (UC Riverside) to help pay the bills on this thing

 

Am I understanding you correctly?

You wipe the car w/ spray cleaner w/o washing it first? No wonder you have so many swirl marks. That's the worst advice I've ever heard/seen.

 

Holy crap man. I admire your efforts but....don't you have a life?

 

Well where does the dirt come from? I garage it with a cover. I don't drive it in the rain and I rarely take it off road and never through the mud. The cleaning is to remove the pollen and light dust that comes from living in the desert. We're not talking about more than a gram of crap a month possibly. I have just put 2075 miles on it in 14 months.

Are you saying that this would cause swirls? That's amazing to me.

I know that when the dealer wiped it with a dirty cotton rag he swirled it but since then it's only seen microfiber towels run fore and aft on horizontal surfaces and up and down on vertical ones. Where the dealer didn't clean there are no swirl marks - think of everything above knee level.

 

I've always used Meg's and have seen similar results with it compared to Zaino. I'm just waiting for a week of sunshine so I can finally use my Dual Action Polisher for the first time ...

 

Okay Paul, you have just proven to me that my NXT product is legit. Do you have any recomendations for hiding swirl marks? Would you prefer NXT or another product?

 

OC attend one of the Meg's open house meets...I set up a thread for it did you sign up

 

Hey Ed,

Whats the link? I'm really interested in going! Kinda like a meet and greet type of thing!

 

oops double post!

 

right here David but YOU MUST SIGN UP AT THE MEG forum to attend
https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....light=meguiars

 

Thanks Ed!

I am signed up for that site and i'm the 30th one one the list! Lucky you told me about that! I want to bring my friend, he has to pay $30 right?

 

Well not sure on that but just put yourself down and ask on the forum if he has to pay or tell Mike Phillips he is your roomate or something.

 

Ah, I see thanks for the heads up on this. I really need to get the swirls out of my SB.

Hopefully I wont be jet lagged from the trip to the Asia. I'm coming back on the 22nd of June!