ilogikal1

I did mean to add "so what's the point" at the end of my last post but I think I got distracted. Probably by something shiny.

Doesn't have to be G4, but the screen needs to be completely clean and bare for the G1 to bond fully - the Megs will be fine but aferwards I'd do an IPA wipe-down before the G1 to be sure.

Or, if you're tight, you can buy a "sample size" for a few quid... no shark on that tin though.

I bought the PB Soft Paint kit (with the DAS-6) and it's been ideal for the Z's paint... In fact I still use it. I'd recommend chucking in a black glazing pad if you're likely to be adding glazes, sealants or waxes by machine - I've also got the yellow last step pad too but I've found I tend to only use the black pad instead. I'd also recommend chucking in the other Flexipads backing plate too, as I've found they do make a difference (you'll be all right with the standard backing plate, I just find these better). Other than that, it's a great kit and offers plenty of correction for the soft Nissan paint. The pads and backing plates are interchangeable to a degree - neither will fit the Rupes machines for example, and I don't think the backing plate will fit the Flex machines but the pads do (I think... maybe... helpful, I know!) but both will fit the Megs and the Das-6 Pro, for example.

Also check it's not the floor mat, mine's been moved backwards with people getting in/out before which was enough to disturb the connection under the seat and trigger the warning light.

Leather was part of the GT spec. IIRC Nowhereboy's isn't a GT either and as he mentioned above his was up for £5800 with less miles on.

Is this a GT though? There's nothing in the description to suggest that it is, there's no pictures of the interior and I can't even make out if the seats are leather or not from those "arty" (read on the p*ss) photos.

Wheel woolies and normal car shampoo, I've never really needed anything stronger except for badly neglected wheels that have years worth of baked on brake dust. Once they're clean, seal them with a decent coating and you shouldn't need anything more than a pressure washer to clean them again.

Yeah, I generally take manufacturers claims of longevity with a pinch of salt, which is why I like to try things for myself. I take much more stock in other people's reports of what they've actually gotten from a product, but even then I don't take it as gospel. Waxes aren't so much of a problem for me as I tend to want to try something else long before they wear off anyway.

Perhaps you're right, Downhuman, and I'm just expecting too much from C2. With claims of 6-8 months protection (admittedly on bare paint) I'd be happy to see 3 months from it to be honest. Will just have to wait and see what it actually offers though. I do agree about 1000P and 425 though, they are both excellent products.

http://www.350z-uk.com/topic/77681-350z-18-anniversary-wheels/

No problem, we all had to start somewhere. LSP - last stage product. Cherry Glaze is an AIO (all in one; polish, glaze and sealant). To be honest,I only used that because I was too lazy to do a full correction and wanted to mask some of the swirls I had inflicted by being too ham-fisted with a new clay bar. C2 can be used over a wax but that might affect durability, because it's bonding to the wax rather than the paint it'll depend entirely on how well/long the wax bonds to the paint. Personally, I tend to use either a sealant OR a wax rather than both... unless I'm experimenting then all bets are off. ISP? Do you mean IPA? It'll offer the best durability laid onto bare paint but G|Techniq state it can be used on top of other products too. I accept that I won't get the best out of it on top of a glaze, but as above I couldn't be a*sed to do a proper 2 stage polish at the time. It'll be interesting (to me at least) to see just how the durability differs between the panels with Cherry Glaze and the section with nothing under the C2 though.

Okay, some of you may recall that Waxybox had a sample of C2v3 in about 5 or 6 boxes ago now I think. Well, I chose to keep hold of mine to use as winter protection on the Z this year, which I finally applied about 3 weeks ago now. Now, bear with me here, you may be aware that I like to "experiment" with and test detailing products so although C2 is my primary LSP, it may not surprise everyone that, that's not true of the whole car. On the other car in the household I'm trialling Finish Kare products for the winter - namely #303 followed by #2180 and all topped with 1000P (or variations thereof on certain panels). Back to the Z, as the DE bonnet is handily separated into 3 sections I'm testing durability and how FK1000P and C2v3 play together. So on one side I've got a layer of FK topped with C2, the middle section has just C2 and the other side has C2 topped with a layer of FK. The rather soggy weather we've had pretty much since applying, on the one hand, demonstrated some good beading but on the other hand has prevented me from cleaning the car until today. So when I set about giving it a wash all was well and good until I got to the final rinse which is when I noticed something a bit odd... namely, the middle section of the bonnet was sheeting considerably slower than either side. This struck me as odd as I'd expect the side with FK on top to differ (if at all) as two thirds of the bonnet were topped with C2, however I did notice the sheeting was similarly slow over the rest of the car either which is wearing Cherry Glaze topped with C2. There's clearly plenty of protection left on the whole car as it's still beading just as strongly as 3 weeks ago consistently across the bonnet regardless of which LSP/section (yeah, it rained again just after I finished washing the car!) and it is still sheeting, albeit slowly. My only thought is that maybe the C2 hasn't bonded well with 1000P under it so that's worn off already leaving the 1000P as the LSP on that side too, I'm guessing if this is the case then protection on both sides of the bonnet will start to deteriorate at a similar rate as the 1000P starts to fail (so I could be in for a long wait to find out ). Anybody else have an explanation or opinion on this?

I was left less than impressed by the PIAA stuff too, preferred it to Rain-X but that's about it. The cleaner is awful though, I've only used that once and not touched the bottle since.

Currently using G5 on mine, it's similar application to the PIAA stuff but a thicker liquid so it takes a bit more buffing once dried too so if Ghost Rider gives similar or better durability I'll be looking at that next. Unless someone perfects a 'pour on' product before then...

That's going to the extreme, buying a coating just to use the sample.

G1 is quoted to last up to 2 years (although 1 is much more realistic), Ghost Rider seems to be much more comparable to G5 than G1. From Downhuman's description Ghost Rider would appear to be easier to apply than G5 so I'll be interested to see how it lasts compared to that rather than compared to G1.

Taken from the Gyeon blurb for Cure; Which seems to suggest that it can be used as a stand alone product. However, I've not used it yet either, and probably wont do until after winter at the earliest but I might do a test/comparison against some other sealants in the spring. Or I might just add it to the collection and forget all about it.

Mine "leaked". By which I mean the air freshener didn't have a cap on, so it's sprayed inside the bag. Luckily it must have been only once or twice because there's barely anything used from the sample. The other samples in the bag were a little soggy, but it dried up okay so no harm done. I am somewhat glad mine was a "treat" box rather than one of the "trick" boxes, I wouldn't have been happy if everything smelt eggy when I opened it. If anyone else's leaked and they faired worse than I did, apparently Richard's going to add the labels from all the samples onto the website at some point so you can still get the info.

1) Car bodywork shampoo - Poorboys Super Slick & Suds 2) Polish - by hand I usually use a glaze or AIO instead to make do until I can machine polish. By DA, I currently use Menz polishes. 3) Paintwork sealer - G|Techniq C2v3, Werkstatt Acrylic or FK1000P - I only tend to use sealants for winter though. 4) Wax - Poorboys Natty's Paste Wax or any Dodo Juice for a quality "budget" wax. 5) Wheel cleaner (really mild) - I don't use anything, they're clean when using normal car shampoo (or even just snow foam sometimes). 6) Tyre dressing - Megs Endurance 7) Leather cleaner/conditioner - Raceglaze Leather Cleaner/Balm respectively. 8) Car mat shampoo - Finish Kare 121 (interior cleaner) 9) Glass cleaner - G|Techniq G6, closely followed by Hellshine Pain 10) Engine bay dresser - 303 Aerospace Protectant 11) Paintwork tar/ contaminant remover - Autosmart Tardis/Wolfs Decon Gel respectively.

My wallet hates you...

An issue that is so prevalent that Pistonheads have this warning all over the classified section; Together with a link to this.

I concur with this (given the minor edit). I've not used the Mer stuff, but I have used a few others and absolutely everything I've used was notably and considerably better than RainX. However, for the sake of £3 you might as well at least try it for yourself. And for the sake of impartiality all those others that I've tried have cost more (some considerably more) than £3.

You know that doesn't count as washing your car don't you?! Says who?!