Hey guys.. finally snapped some pictures of my 2008 350z after i did my weekend detail on it. Pictures didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped,.. but I hand washed it, clay barred it, rotary polished it with XMT #3, then polished with a finishing XMT #1,.. then put NXT 2.0 Synthetic Wax.

Can't tell from pics, but the paint now feels like it should,.. smooth, like glass.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/111739693@N04/11415440674/
For more pics:

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjP7F6qS

I absolutely love this car!

 

Pics are still pretty big.. But "fixed".

 

Nice. That's what my Z looked like a little over a year ago :P

 

pyshin -- Thanks for updating the pics.. though they don't load on my firefox browser.. haven't tried another.

I uploaded them in their native size from my phone.. they are large,.. but with anyone using a 20" or larger desktop monitor.. or even a 15-17" laptop monitor it should fit fairly reasonably. I do understand anyone with bandwidth issues.. or using their phone to view the images (although most phones will resize the images automatically).

Again appreciated.

Bmurrary350z -- Haha.. yeah,.. that was after a lot of effort. The car needed 8 hours of labor clay/rotary/wax etc.. to get it back into acceptable paint finish and to protect it.

But after the initial back breaking job.. It's fairly easy to maintain it.. I usually just have to wash every so often.. then re-apply the NXT 2.0 wax every 6 months and it keeps on looking like it does in the pics.

Believe it or not.. the car looks better than those pics. The Iphone camera.. or the sunset/lighting didn't show the real polished rotary shine that I brought out of it luckily.. But still looks clean for a 2008.

 

oh yeah i was referring to the stock form lol. i keep my z clean, trust me!

 

I originally took that as your car was cleaner a year ago -- But,.. now thinking of it maybe you mean my car is stock.. and yours was a year ago,.. but no longer is stock and looks a lot different.

 

Haha we were typing the same response at the same time! I see..

Good to know.. always pains me to see massively dirty Z on the road.. I shake my head.. like why, oh why?

 

Your Z looking clean man. What do you use for tire shine?

 

Thanks! Still have the engine compartment to do, and some odds and ends on the interior. (I don't spray the engine with water ) -- It's all by hand.

I'm big into detailing,.. got into it in 2008, and learned a TON on products -- how and why Armor-All "can" be damaging.. how to polish , with what.. why not to use carwashes that "touch" your car blah blah.

Anyhow.. the tire product (and works for other surfaces as well) I use and is used in these pics is Optimum Tire shine.. I buy it here:

http://www.autogeek.net/opt500.html

 

Chromatic, looking good man. Car looks like it's glowing. I have a 2005 and no one that sees it in person believes it cause it's always so clean. How do you like the XMT products? I have tried a ton of stuff lately, so far fusion is my go to topper wax. Both fusion and nxt have great smells. I recently opti coated the car so I prob won't have to wax it for a few years. Have you considered any surface coatings?

 

Dirty Z's? coughcough...I would never do that.

Hey, why would I wash it when I know it's going to rain! lol.
Your car looks great. I really need to give my car a good detail but I'm waiting till I add the last few exterior parts. Since you sound like you know a lot about detailing, Im curious, about how often would you recommend waxing a car? (daily driven one)

 

My 2 K&N Air Filters came in today.. so I decided I'd tackle the Pinestraw, Dirt, and Leave ridden engine compartment.. never vacuumed so many leaves out of an engine bay in my life lol.. Nothing special here.. just stock with the K&N's.. cleaned up,.. would look impressive if I had taken a before and after .

http://www.flickr.com/photos/111739693@N04/11431077846/

 

First, thanks Willie.. I take pride in my work,.. I spend more time than most .. ie: I spent near 4 hours just clay barring the car... and a little over 3 hours with the rotary polishing it. A bit excessive and more time than a non "enthusiast" on detailing their paint would spend. But, all in all.. the cost of the products is minimal, the real thing with detailing comes down to learning what to use and how.. and even more importantly how patient and how much time you are willing to put into doing it right.

I love the XMT products, I've been through dozens of different polishes, had manufacturers send me samples as I've been on other forums with other vehicles and people would always ask me questions after seeing the results of taking an early 90's car and making it look brand new (providing it still had enough clear coat left on it).

I personally use XMT #3 and XMT #1 then the NXT (hand wash, and clay bar before that of course).

But, .. you can get away with just using one of the two XMT products. If your paint is in excellent condition with little to no swirl marks.. then XMT #1 is all you would need to apply. I just like to use a little stronger polish with the #3 (even though it can be used as a final polish technically).. then finish up with XMT #1.

Opti Coat is great stuff. I personally haven't used it.. but it's worth the money for sure.. at $60-70 bucks for 2 applications worth (on smaller vehicles.. and 1 application on larger vehicles).

Opti Coat is really a permanent (some could technically call it semi-permanent) -- but once you put Opti on and let it cure.. it's not coming off. Which is the whole idea of the product!

I may use it in the future.. but there's a few things I don't like about Opti..

Primarily,.. it's permanence..(which is a PRO really).. but,.. also cars I've handled that have been Opti Coated don't feel smooth. This isn't a fault of the product, it's how the product bonds to the paint.

The good part -- You CAN wax on top of Opti coat, for that smoothness.. but that defeats part of the purpose to *me*.

Opti Coat is something I'd love to use on brand new car.. to lock in the pristine paint/clear coat.

On anything more than a year old,.. it gets a little tricky.

As with Opti Coat you are also locking in any scratches, swirl marks,.. paint chips, rock marks on the front bumper and so on.

On this new 350z I have.. I'd only use the Opti Coat if I had all the minor scratches and mainly small chip marks on the front bumper (lower and middle) sprayed again.. then a proper clear coat put on. THEN, I'd wait 6 months in good temps to let the new paint cure. Then,.. the key to Opti Coat is proper Prep. Clay the car,... polish it.. then make sure NO product is left on the surface before you put the Opti Coat on.

At that point it is perfect. You can choose to wax it for more shine and smoothness.. or just leave it and wash it. You can run it through machine washes, whatever you want. It puts a few microns on the surface so nothing is going to damage it (aside from someone keying your car, acid, etc..).

They make some True "Semi-permanent" products like CQuartz (IIRC).. that take 2-3 years to wear off.. similar to Opti, but designed to wear off over time.. I would probably go that route first personally. Though it would be nice to be done with the whole polishing and waxing of a car.. and just wash it.. I just spent 8+ hours on this thing.. and it's worth it in the end, but that's a ton of labor

 

Hahah.. Drummergirl (Hey I'm a Drummer too.. what kind of kit do you play?)

That's a fairly easy question. The straight answer -- Every 6 months with a quality wax. (None of this spray on liquid hot wax from a carwash, etc.. ) A proper hand wax job.. wait 15mins or so minimum to let it cure.. then put some elbow grease into buffing the wax off. Any good wax will stay solid for 6 months minimum, even if car isn't garaged.

Most people aren't going to buy a Rotary or any such device.. But I do recommend once you get ready -- to invest $20 into a Meguires or Mother's Clay bar kit. They come with lubricant spray and 2 , 60gram clay bars. The directions are on the box/bottle and it's a very, very simple process.. you really can't do it wrong -- just keep the surface well lubricated with the spray and you can't do it wrong. Whether you spend 30 minutes claying your car or 3+ hours like I did is just how particular you are.. and how gritty your paint is. Most of this stuff you can't see with the eye well, once you start using the bar you will see it in the clay,... And after you clay bar a car one time, then feel the difference you'll keep it in your arsenal!

You don't have to polish a car after claying it. Simply clay bar it,.. then put a good Wax on it (I like NXT 2.0 .. but there are many others as good or better .. it's personal preference.).

But again.. Basically once every 6 months/Twice a year for wax!

Take care,

 

Hey chromatic, thanks for the response. I hear you on your opti-coat concerns. I actually had gtechniq c1 on the car for a short while but got bored one day and polished it off. Then the following weekend I did the opti coat. I def know how long and tedious it can become to get rid of every imperfection. I see it as self therapy lol. Regarding the opti-coat, it is sticky/tacky at first. Give it a little time to cure and it becomes slicker. Then top it off w some optimum spray wax every so often and you should feel nice and slick.

On my z I currently have opti-coat except for the front and rear bumpers. I will be doing those when it warms up. On my odyssey I have opti-coat as well. And on my mdx I currently have g-technique exo v1. The exo in my opinion provides the best shine of about 4 different surface coatings I have but it doesn't even last 1 year. Come this spring I am removing exo v1 completely from the mdx and trying out another coating, not sure which. What I am super excited about is my sonax perfect finish 4/6. I can't wait for a decent weather day. In the past week we have been snowed on twice so it gets tough to detail in the winter .

Oh, and no matter what, none of my cars ever go through car washes. If I don't do it I let them stay dirty. Even in the winter, when it cracks 32 degrees I wash the cars if they r dirty. But never a car wash

 

Hey drummer girl. Don't mean to hijack OPs thread but be warned, once you get into detailing it becomes addictive and expensive quickly. But it's still cheaper than seeing a shrink .

 

my car is nasty dirty right now, since we had all the ice and they put sand down my black car looks gray. i was going to wash her but it is supposed to get cold and rain again Friday

 

i wouldnt bother polishing a silver car, they never shine !

 

Yeah.. I suppose it could serve some therapeutical benefit lol.. You are 'usually' by yourself for hours on end. It definitely is exercise.. I'm not an old man but I have some back/neck issues so it can be particularly tough on me in my early 30's.. but it's always worth it.

Last year, like an idiot.. I had music going while using the rotary,.. earbuds plugged to the iphone... about an hour in or so.. I totally forget I have a wire running from my pocket to my ears. Sure enough, the rotary catches those wires and within a split second it had pulled them out of the ears (no pain there).. and slashed them across my thigh what seemed like 1000 times in .5 seconds. I was like, oh man.. this could look ugly.. I sighed, pulled down to look at my leg and it was thrashed,.. but nothing that needed stitches,.. I was just more shaking my head at my stupidity.. could have been really hurt there..

As for the Opti -- Sounds good.. I may still go that route on this car even with the imperfections.. because the ultimate goal is preservation of what you've got right now. You clar, polish and so on till you can get the paint to look as good as it can.. then at that point it's not going to look any better .. so locking/sealing it in wouldn't be a big deal unless you had future plans on painting SECTIONS of the car.. then it could get a little tricky for the paint guy.

Tell me about it. I don't bring my cars through washes either.. I MAY every once in a blue moon take it quickly through a "touchless" wash that literally just sprays a high pressure hose/water at your car... Anything else is just asking for your car's paint to looks worse AFTER you went in. Most people don't realize just about every carwash is actually damaging their paint job =( -- Then again, a good majority of them could care less! (Or should I say, they could care more!... hehe)

 

Weather Ughh.. I'm thankful I'm able to garage my car. But it's a small one.. Still thankful. But, we've been having TONS of rain here.. and forecast has the weekend with 3 inches of rain (which would be 30 inches of snow if the temp was low enough).. I hate even getting the car out in it... heck, I hate getting the car out on the roads while they are still wet! But, such is life.