I dunno, just feelin alot of pride in my Z lately.

Just under 75K miles, I think I've maintained it pretty well.

Clayed it a couple weeks ago followed by 4 coats of Z2 and 2 coats of Z5 today.

Did a rough chop below to simulate shaving the radio antenna. Figure to do that by spring.

 

Very clean. It's definitely been well maintained. Wish my Z looked as clean, not even 30k on it and its already beat to hell

 

so sexy!

 

Finally someone mentions miles. Exceptional work. I almost forgot how beautiful a stock 350Z can be.

 

You should lace that thing up with some 370Z sport wheels! It would continue your super-cleanesque look because you'd still be keeping the hamburger centercaps, but you would sitting a lot wider and looking mean....


...in a mild way.

 

wow that's clean. Im in long beach too!

 

Looks really good! Was it hard doing the clear strip in the headlights? I've wanted to do that to mine for a while now but always thought that I'd mess it up and hate myself.

 

Yeah, it can be unnerving but it's not terribly hard. The key is to cut through the strands of sealant as the lense is pulled off after being heated up.
The sealant gets stringy and the strands will land wherever when they separate so the key is to control that by cutting through them as the pieces are pulled apart.

Its pretty easy getting the seal to be good afterwards too. There are physical alignments that, if matched up, the seal will be good.

I have a very detailed DIY for it, if you want it, PM me with your email address and I'll send it. I never got around to posting it. Maybe will do that this weekend.

 

very nice

 

Looks great. I used Zaino for about 2 years when I first got my Z and have been experimenting with different products for almost 2 years. I ordered more Zaino last week and plan to use it exclusively again.

How long did you leave each coat? You used the accerlerant right?

 

soo clean

 

Nice and shiny! Good work!

 

I only use the accelerant (Zfx) when doing more than one coat in a day. The first coat, after the claybar, I did not use the Zfx cuz I knew I would not have enough time to do a second coat.

The second week, same thing, I only did one coat. The third week though, I did two coats and used it. That was last week.

This weekend, I went up from the Z2 (good for reducing swirls) to the Z5 and since I had time for 2 coats I used the Zfx.

They say to leave it on 15 minutes but I just work my way around the whole car applying and then I take it off with a 100% cotton towel. I figure since it's not in hot sun, should not be a problem.

After that I use the Z8 spray.

Then I touch up all the black trim with tire-wet.

 

Firsat of all I would like to say that your car looks great and you have definately kept it up. Good job.

Your process above, the only thing I would change is using tire wet on exterior trim. I say this because tire dressings are usually heavily oil based and while it will make the surface look great when first applied, when it sits in the sun, the oil in the dressing actually bakes the trim and causes it to become dull much more quickly. I would suggest using something with a UV blocker in it like 303 Aerospace protectant to keep from speeding up the deterioration of the trim.

Just my .02

 

Fantastic car. I just have a few questions for you, if I may. How long did it take you to clay your car? Also, I don't know how much pressure to apply to the clay while I rub. I know if you clay wrong, you risk scratching the paint. I do NOT want that! So how fast and how hard do you press down while claying your car? I'm estimating that if you're totally noob to procedures like this such as myself (but I promise you all I'm VERY careful, hence the questioning on the boards), it will take probably an hour and a half or more just to clay the car. I'm just imagining doing the hood alone - that beast alone might take me 20 minutes! haha.


Thank you for the responses in advance and I hope I can share my car with you all soon! I want it to be nice and shiny before posting

 

MikeBit --- the amount of time it takes to clay a car depends on the amount of fallout on the paint. If you are experienced and there are minimal contaminants, claying can be done in 30 mins. It has never taken me longer than 1.5hours though to clay the nastiest of cars. Hope that gives you an idea.

Pressure, I apply very little pressure when using clay, the idea is to let the CLAY do the work in removing the fallout instead of scrubbing it off. A good all-around clay to use for a noob is the mothers clay kit. I take and wash the car first. Then i empty the wash water and put in new, very soapy water into a clean bucket and use that for claying. Dip your mit into the bucket and put soapy water on a panel, then flatten the clay, using the soapy water as lube, clay the car. I will do a panel at a time. After the surface is clayed, wash it with the soapy water, rinse, inspect and move on or continue claying.

Hope that helps.

 

Hey shaun, thank you so much! That gives me a perfect idea. Now I know what to expect, and also thanks for the tip on the soapy water because I think I read somewhere else that people use "quick detailer" as a form of lube. I don't think I would have liked to use that.

Appreciated

 

Yes please post up your version of the "how to" in the DIY section....

car looks great!
-J