HEADPHONES

You'll need a warning light on the dash for "LUDICROUS SPEED" Definitely will be looking forward to video footage of you joining around in that

The right hand side of the black Range Rover was done by hand with the Scratch Clear Wax and the left untouched showing the damage created when he drove along shrubs and bushes. On my orange zed I used a cheap random orbital polished I had along with an Orange Menzerna polishing pad which feels quite firm. Next time I'll see how it goes using a really soft pad from this set on my cordless drill and minimal pressure. This pad set was under £7 from Amazon! I mainly use it to apply my SRP/Amigo or polish my headlights. It'll tell me whether it's the fillers doit most of the job or whether it's the physical abrasion from the pad and polish

As for using a filler type product. I've had good results with Soft99 Scratch Clear Wax on a very badly swirled Range Rover and my zeds rear where my fingers have induced light swirls on popping the boot open over the years. Click the below to see video of my results.

Only just saw this thread after answering your questions on mopping. I can see you're already pampering your gorgeous zed and rims so apologies for implying anything else in my other post Over the past 10 years or so I have used a few different things but now my goto products are. Powermaxed Jetwash and Wax prewash. Simoniz wash and wax shampoo. Costco Kirkland Signature MF coated wash sponge. Kent car care MF drying towel. 50:50 mix of Chemical Guys Hybrid V07 spray sealant and Sonax Brilliant shine detailer as a drying aid. Optimum Optiseal wipe on and walk away on the rims after washing them. Autoglym instant tyre dressing Meguires Metal Polysh for tailpipes. Occasionally I'll use Carpro IronX fallout remover. ValetPro tar remover. Farecla Clay Mitt. Autoglym SRP or Prima Amigo paint cleanser/glaze Soft99 Fusso wax. Gtechniq C5 on rims once a year. Gtechniq C4 on plastic trim when needed and every year or two on the headlights after polishing them. Dr Leather wipes for the seats. RainX for glass (awaits to be ridiculed ) Got a bunch of other stuff that I rarely use but do similar jobs to what I have above.

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=392589&highlight=Porsche&page=2 Shows what kind of damage poor washing can do and what transformationed can be achieved with machine polishing or "mopping"

Basically you are being told to use a machine to polish the paint using abrasive pads and polishes. You can check out www.detailingworld.com and spend the next few years reading up on all the different machines, pads and polishes. It truly is a science and an art. Get it wrong as a DIY job and you're looking at another respray as you burn or strike through your paint. Get it right and marvel at the mirror finish you have achieved. Personally I'd either get a pro to do it or spend alot of time practicing on a scrap panel first. You could always use a safer less aggressive approach for now and use a heavy filler type polish by hand or dual action machine machine (with a very soft pad) to mask the defect temporarily, sealing the gloss enhancing fillers in under a coat of wax. This would last a good few months and be much less risky as a first DIY job than using a more powerful machine with more abrasive pads and polishes to mechanically remove the imperfections in the surface thus thinning the clear top coat down. ........and after all that you'll be needing to read up on the various "safe" ways to wash, dry and wax your car to maintain the glossy finish and not dull it with washing induced fine scratches. Sounds a bit OTT but it's a bit of a MATRIX BLUE PILL RED PILL moment. Part of you will wish you remained uneducated in the science of car detailing and could blissfully continue to just wash your car with a bucket and sponge or go to the local car wash. Then on the other hand you'll discover a whole new "scene" of detailing being able to see the true levels of gloss that can be achieved in your paint

Welcome to the OC As mentioned above wait at least a few hours before checking oil level. Preferably overnight. It's about 1 litre between the low and high markers on the dipstick. Run it on 98/99 Ron fuel only. Using standard unleaded can lead to detonation at higher rpm. Ok in emergency as long as you keep the revs down (not sure exactly what the limit is) say about 3000rpm. Now the weather is getting colder the boot struts may struggle to keep the boot open and the boot can slam shut unexpectedly. CAUTION when loading your boot. My tailgate has almost beheaded me once! Check the engine belts at the front of the engine. With such low mileage they may not have been changed yet and may be cracking. But above all enjoy the car and the forum

Want massive rims. Fed up with heavy unsprung weight. Fed up with expensive rims and rubber. Fed up with harsh ride. Well.....think outside the box. ......TADA!

Happy birthday mate. ^ check to make sure you have a return ticket and not just an outward one wayer

Was yours the Nismo for £30k? If so......a true bargain! I actually had to haggle the price DOWN to 30. 350 coupe GT with Nismo Aero kit and STANDARD touring rims came to £31500! Wanted an extra £3.5k for the 19' LMGT4 rims which I couldn't stretch to at the time. Got them in 07 from a trader new for a bargain £1200 via US

Really nicely kept long termers there peeps. Although not the pinnacle of performance cars, the zed is still fun to drive, looks good and rare enough to to make it feel special. Couple that to the fact that depreciation gives all these old examples a book value of only a few thousand pounds makes it harder and harder to justify selling them on. Especially as we've kept and pampered them so many years truly knowing the cars history and reliability. For example, if I was looking for a track Zed with FI and Zmanalex was selling, his chariot would be my first choice. Where else would you find such a car with 13 years proven history! Lets see if we're still here for the "who's owned their zed for 15-20 years" thread

My zed has been my daily for 13 years now. Loved every moment of ownership. Thankfully my commute is quite congestion free and I get at least one good 45min drive a week in the evening with hardly any traffic. Apart from brake pads and tyres she's not really needed much. Still on original clutch and exhaust. Starting to squeek from the rear suspension now and I had to touch up the driver's seat bolster this year. Not many cars I can think of that I would still find as desirable after 13 years and 60k miles that I could have bought for £30k back in '05 How have you other long-term owners been finding your zeds and are you now tempted to upgrade?

Every 1-2 years or so my sensors will throw a wobbler and the engine light will come on. Happened first in my 2 nd year of ownership from new under warranty and Nissan just reset it and said don't worry as long as it doesn't come back. Got this a few years back For a tenner it saved alot of faffing with the pedal dance tonight when the EML came on. Same ol same ol.......O2 sensors again if I'm not mistaken. A quick reset and a spirited 30 min drive home and the light hasn't come back. Anyone else have this code pop up every couple years?

Wow.....even the W brace looks new. Bagged yourself a good example there for sure

Still amazes me how these "secret handshake" procedures work

.......with mine it turned out to be a sensor behind the steering wheel that went faulty. Clock spring I think. About £100 on eBay 2nd hand if it is

If it keeps reappearing check the connectors beneath your seat in case a stray object like a bottle of water etc has knocked them loose

Got these from Amazon for about £6 https://www.amazon.co.uk/WINOMO-Polishing-Sponge-Buffing-Adapter/dp/B071LFWJ3Y Used the hardest orange pads twice now to correct headlights and the black softest ones twice to apply a paint cleanser to the bodywork before waxing. The orange pad made light work of correcting yellowing headlights. Mine weren't terrible as they had been done every 1-2 years for a while now. The pads washed up as good as new in some fairy liquid showing no sign of wear after 2 washes. Not used them for paint correction though but for £6 to do the headlights and for glazes etc I think they're good value. At first I thought they'd fall apart and disintegrate but they've proved me wrong.

Years ago the tailgate and rear plastic bumper on my wife's car got caved in. The body shop used filler on the bumper and then a textured black paint. The finish was pretty good. Bit after 5 years it had gone a chalky white, similar to 20yr old faded trim. Gtechniq C4 had no effect. Rather than use those ghastly sticky back to black dressings which streak and run in the rain, I remembered SuperStu's write up on Solution Finish paint. The bottle was ordered and arrived. It was so tiny you'd struggle to cram 2 Rolos in it Alas Stuff did say a little goes a long way so I wasn't too worried. The stuff was amazing. Dabbed a bit onto a MF and wiped on. Blended into the surrounding couple of inches and the colour match is PERFECT. The only evidence is the slight change in surface texture from the repair beneath. the pics below are after 3 months. No maintenance or top ups and I still have over 90% left in the bottle. ......and not so noticeable standing back So a big to Stu for the heads up

Welcome to the OC

That's a mighty fine zed You could sit in a deck chair next to it and just gaze at it all weekend! I remember when I goty zed I parked it on the drive and sat at the dinner table looking out the window at my zed at breakfast. Breakfast lasted about 3 hours that morning

Got some cheap £6 eBay tripods to raise my worklight! Just gave the zed a wash incorporating the Aldi light and the 2 little tripods The Aldi light is the one at the passenger rear wheel with the eBay one just visible at the passenger front. Smaller cob worklight on their new tripods

Saw you stuck in school traffic as I crossed the road. Didn't come up to wave as it would probably look like a random odd man chasing you down

A mighty fine chariot there

Nice to see another sunset orange zed has found a good home. Welcome to the OC