ilogikal1

You'll definitely need some protection on it. The yellowing is caused by UV damage, the lights have a protective layer on from the factory which naturally breaks down over time anyway, but anything that was left has now been removed with the sanding. Most waxes and sealants will offer adequate protection, but obviously wax will need topping up or re-applying more often than a sealant - what LSP do you use on the paint? That should be okay to use and just include the headlights whenever you do the paintwork in future.

Yep, Tardis will remove it quickly... whether you want it to or not as I found out once!

I know you said you're happy with your current pads (I don't blame you, I'm a big fan of those pads myself) but have tried or considered the LC Hydro-Tech pads? They're better suited for hard paint and they're still LC pads. And as above, a rotary would be more suitable for this too.

If it makes you feel any better, my other half couldn't figure out how to get it back in despite taking it out moments before. She felt like an idiot when I showed her how to do it. And just to pre-empt those on here; yes, yes I am aware of the numerous double entendres. I'm also aware she actually is an idiot purely for her taste in men, I've informed her of this but she thought I was joking or something.

Strange, I would have expected it to be the other way around.

As the sun decided to take the weekend off I gave the car another clean today so there's a few updates to report. As this post was longer than I intended it to be, so here's a short version; PB Wheel Sealant; lasts about 2 months. Sonax QD; just don't bother. Prima Slick; I approve. G5 or PIAA; G5 currently has the upper hand... whilst it hasn't rained Nanolex Trim Rejuvenater and C2; going strong still. And for anyone who can be arsed to read it, the longer version; The PB Wheel Sealant is starting to fail now, both on the spoiler and on the wheel. - the latter required some agitation with a detailing brush to clean completely rather than just the pressure washer. I had another play around with the Sonax QD and found it works best by spraying onto a microfibre and spreading rather than spraying directly onto the paint. Better still if the paint is still wet too as it seems to stop it from being too grabby. It was still very streaky regardless of how I used it, but I found the longer you leave it the easier it is to buff. I've decided it's not really worth the effort on the Z and I probably won't buy it again - it's currently being demoted to wheels and bathroom duties. Also, the Sonax wasted my snow foam... it just would not stick long enough to dwell. I did also try Prima Slick from one of the Waxyboxes, which I quite liked. It added the slick finish back which the Sonax removes and did a much better job of removing the fresh water spots that the Sonax just didn't touch. Rob, the G5 is still going strong. There's a noticeable difference now between that and the PIAA - there was only a few drops of water left on the G5 treated glass by the time I'd gone to fetch my drying towel, whereas the PIAA still had more water on but woth both the snow foam and the rinse there wasn't much difference in the sheeting between the two - if anything the G5 sheeted slightly quicker but it was marginal. There's no noticeable difference on the windscreen between the wiped & non-wiped areas, so it seems to be holding up well there. I also didn't need to use a glass cleaner - the few bug splatters that had stuck were easily removed with a snow foam and/or pressure washer rinse. Although it should be noted that the PIAA is still working, it's just dropped off slightly - to be honest, I probably wouldn't have noticed that much if wasn't side-by-side with the G5 - and due to the lack of rain recently, this is just when the car was washed, and thus stationary. I'll let you know of any differences on the road when the rain arrives (let's be honest, it's only a matter of time! ) So in summary, there's not a lot between the two when they're first applied, but G5 seems to perform that bit better for longer. Oh, and in the name of fairness, both PIAA and G5 wasted my snow foam too. The Nanolex is showing no signs of giving up yet, neither is the C2. I'm particularly impressed with the Nanolex, the trim hasn't shown any sings of fading at all (although it wasn't actually that bad to begin with) and it's still beading water exceptionally well. The C2 continues to live upto my expectations, beading well and still looks great, considering it's not even been topped-up with anything at all for two months now. For my next test I'm thinking of putting the Sonax QD up against the PB Wheel Sealant, FK1000P & Chemical Guys Wheel Guard (if my sample ever shows up) on the wheels, however I've decided on C5 when they've been refurbed so that'll depend on when the refurb is likely to occur.

Good work.

You probably shouldn't look at the price of SV Crystal Rock then... let alone their expensive waxes!

Natty's blue on top of Black Hole gives a great finish. I've seen great glossy finish with Blackfire Midnight Sun on black paint too. And Raceglaze Signature Black Label gives a great wet look. It depends on your budget.

I generally don't. I stick it in the garage until my drive is in the shade and it'll get washed then. Fixed that for you.

Fair enough. Then, yes, it would appear so.

Yep, you can have whatever you like. Whether you can legally display them on a car is another matter though.

Or imports...

Okay, Regulation 14 refers to the link Modd1uk posted up earlier. Criteria 1 satisfies Seat and Land Rover, and other European marketed cars. However, it is criteria 2 specifically that I have been referring to all this time. All information courtesy of DTLR.

I will never ignore somebody unless they were a complete ass. But if you do find some official documentation please feel free to post it, i mean if i'm wrong i would like to know so i can make humble apologies You can't argue with the permitted layouts though, that's as clear as day it shows a square plate lol. Well, I'm not sure about complete, but the other bit might apply. I absolutely agree that square plates are a permitted format, I think I already said that, but it may not be a blanket "help yourself to this" type format. Unless I'm wrong. Which is perfectly possible. And Seat differ from the Land Rover or Mitsubishi examples I already quoted how exactly? The grey area (if I'm right, which I admit is in doubt) is the definition of "suitable space", or more accurately the lack thereof.

Yeah, I'd believe what you've found over me too... even if I did have a link to back me up. I'd read that document more as "assuming you have this plate, set it out as such, if you have this one do this" rather than "you can set it out as either this, this or this". But either way, if the rectangular mount is coming off anyway then it shouldn't ever be an issue regardless. If I find some ar*sed to search out where I read that above, I'll post it up. Until then, feel free to ignore me (I'm used to that these days anyway).

Apologies if I'm wrong on this, but that relates to character spacing more than plate shape. Whilst square plates are permitted (I'm not denying that, btw) I'm sure there is something (which I accept may have assumed to be law) that states something along the lines of (I can't remember the exact wording and I can't be ar*sed to look it up ) that if there's a "suitable space" for a rectangular plate then it must be rectangular. Certain cars - such as Land Rovers, Evos, etc, (with regards to taxi's, it's more specifically the lack of space for the required information to be displayed along with the plate leads to the lack of space) - don't offer a "suitable space" to mount a rectangular plate and so comply; hence my comment regarding the rectangular mount. Not meaning to be argumentative here or anything, but I'm adamant there is something along those lines in place. If this is the case, and as I tried to make out in my last post, you'd be incredibly unlucky for it ever to be an issue providing you remove the rectangular mount... which would just look stupid with a square plate anyway in fairness.

Lexx is right, it is technically illegal. However the only way you're likely to get pulled by the police for it is if you still have the rectangular mount fitted. A particularly mardy MOT tester could fail it, if you happen to catch him on the wrong day, but that's also unlikely.

He has just about everything, ever.

You still need to declare it as a claim when your renewing your insurance as it goes down a no fault claim.... My windscreen claim shows up as non-fault claim.... That just seems unfair. So if you got a crack in your window from a brick flying from a lorry that goes down as a not at fault claim? I thought windows were outside of affecting no claim bonuses. It depends largely on the insurer. Generally speaking, most will allow 2 window claims within 12 months where a third would result in it being recorded as such.

Ah, the Goldilocks temp.

There's an argument that hot water shifts dirt better/easier than cold water (hence why washing machines, dishwashers, etc. use hot water), however I only have a cold water tap outside thus my pressure washer stage is all cold water. I do prefer warm water in the buckets though... but that's because it's preferable to sticking my hands in freezing cold water more than anything.

They really suit the car, Chris, looks good.

Lots of colours? Could Smudgeon get purple? Yeah, but probably not the right shade...