ilogikal1

I quite like the all colours in isolation. However, those wheels look tiny with that arch gap, both of which is just exaggerated by the colour drawing the eye to them, and also makes the entirely pointless tyre stretch look even more out of place too. As mentioned there's too many colours going on there and none really compliment any of the others, it just doesn't work. That colour could work, but this combination is definitely not for me.

Ironically, you just might...

I have a DI filter for the final rinse, so a bit of all three usually. Although the Z isn’t currently wearing coating, so I just haven’t washed it in 4 months instead.

With the caveat that I haven’t used this particular towel, and have actually moved away from towel drying altogether actually, but generally; Patting is usually conducive to less risk of marring given the soft Nissan paint. Always use damp (not wet), it’ll be safer as well as more efficient once damp. After care is always the same; heat kills microfibres so avoid tumble drying, or if you must tumble dry use as low a heat as you can. Machine wash is fine, again low heat (30 or less wherever possible) and use liquid soaps - never use powders, never use fabric softeners! A drop of white vinegar in the wash keeps them soft and fluffy, or there’s dedicated microfibre wash’s available, many are better than just normal washing soaps but can be pricey. It’s arguable whether they’re better than using white vinegar, personally I prefer using Gyeon Towel Wash (which is great) but others disagree that the price difference is worth it.

Firstly, what a horrid website. Secondy, what a ridiculous headline and strapline for the article that folows; hints abouts it's future? The only thing that article says about the future is literally; What a shame they ruined a perfectly good piece on the history of the Z by pretending it was anything else.

If only there were 49 other states nearby which had considerably less restrictions...

Of course, after all the man exists purely to lavish attention on himself, and this stunt has definitely got him back in the headlines again.

Train a large, rabid, hungry, angry bear to answer your door for you. That'd be a deterrent. Also could act as a butler for when not answering the door, so there's no possible downsides really.

The good news is that the beer breaks can fit in at any stage. It'll probably be best to keep your existing p/w for now if you're looking at buying a lot of stuff already - citrus pre-wash will do as a good alternative for snow foam and lance for the time being. You could look to get a foam lance later on. A DAS6 polisher will set you back the better part of £100 on it's own (or £150+ for a kit which will combine most of your polishing needs). To be honest, if you're polishing then you need to focus on the prep, so I'd focus more on the wash & decontamination products for now and just go for a decent cheap (and effective) wax for your LSP, which you can always change later on down the line. Invest in a decent shampoo & wash mitt/pad, fallout remover & clay cloth. Anything else is a bonus but you can work around for the time being and build up over time. Waxes, FK1000P (technically a sealant hybrid) is cheap as chips (even the "sample" will last a fair while) and relatively durable for a wax, or Poorboys Natty's Blue are good options and easy to use, just top it up every 4-6 weeks and you'll be good for a while.

Without knowing your budget or what you already have, if anything, I'm just going to throw everything at you. Personally, I'd do a pre-wash: Assuming you have pressure washer; Snow Foam lance (there are considerably cheaper versions available, they're all the same so find the cheapest source you trust). Snow foam - it's important that you get 4-8% solution hitting the panel so you'll need to measure the flow rate through your lance and do some maths. I posted a guide somewhere on how to do that if you can search it out. Foam on a dry car, leave to dwell for a few minutes and rinse thoroughly with the pressure washer. OR if you don't have a pressure washer, citrus pre-wash would be better but don't expect miracles without a p/w. Personally I prefer to do the wheels first (with its own dedicated wheel bucket) but others prefer to do them last or as they do the rest of the car. My deep clean process on the wheels is the same as the rest of the car (more details for each follows, but in summary - foam, rinse, wash using these, rinse, de-tar, rinse, fallout remover, rinse, clay, polish, protect). For deep cleans I also prefer to remove the wheels to attack them properly rather than leavingthem on the car. Wash: Car Chem 1900:1 shampoo, 2 buckets and a proper mitt, pad or sponge (yes, I said sponge!). Rinse. Degrease/APC - attack all plastic trim with an appropriate brush at this point. When doing the wheels, use this to properly clean your tyres using a more appropriate brush. Rinse. Tar remover. Rinse. Fallout remover. Rinse. Clay - either use shampoo and hot water with a cloth or get a Bilt Hamber clay bar to save of needing a dedicated lubricant. Rinse. Dry. Beer. Paint cleaner. Polish - Scholl S20 for heavier cut if needed, Scholl S30+ for single stage or jewelling. If polishing by machine: Lake Country Hydrotech - tangerine for heavier cut or crimson for single stage or finishing, both 5.5" and 4" pads with an appropriate backing plate (I use Flexipads plates) are recommended for a Z - are my current go-to's but I'm told by a trusted source that Scholl Spider pads are better still, although yet to confirm this for myself. If polishing by hand: you'd benefit from using appropriate pads still (medium or light cut), but you'll get limited results by hand (and sore arms), so don't expect miracles again but do consider using a filler glaze and a wax to finish (more on this later). Work in small areas and always check your work with appropriate lighting and a proper panel wipe down/IPA wipe down to remove any remaining oils. Glass "polish" (this is just a deep cleaner, not a polish by any means). Glass cleaner. More beer. Protect - the optons here almost endless here; For glass, coatings are worth the effort and difficult to get wrong but can be pricey. Sealants are cheaper, a little easier to apply but don't last as long. For trim, coatings are worth the effort and difficult to get wrong but can be pricey. Sealants are cheaper, no easier to apply and don't last as long. For wheels, it's really not worth considering anything other coatings. It's just not. For metalwork (exhaust) use your wheel coating. For tyres, this. For the paintwork - wax is easy to apply but shorter durabilty, acrylic sealants are about as easy to apply and about as durable these days, spray sealants can vary from very easy to apply to a pain in the arse and fall off instantly to last a few months, and then you've got various coating options in a similar vein - typically the more involved it is to apply, the longer it'll last. There are so many options, I've not linked ot anything... yet. As mentioned earlier if you're polishing by hand and/or you've still got swirls/RDS you want to mask, use a filler glaze and a decent paste wax - the oilier the better (within reason) for this. If your paintwork is immaculate by this point, you've got a garage and you're confident to apply it then a ceramic coating is always a good option and can last a couple of years, but is a higher outlay. If you let us know your budget (which no doubt I've just blown on the above), and preferences I'm sure we can offer some specific products for just about everything. Also if you want some guidence on some of the stuff I've mentioned that you don't have already, I'm happy to expand on anything. And then once you've done the exterior, there's the interior to think about too....

Give it a deep clean with something something like AF Ragtop Cleaner or APC and a stiff brush - rinse thoroughly and repeat until you’re happy that it’s clean. Then protect with A303 or Gyeon FabricCoat for awesomeness.

Someone’s had a (poor) go at filling the damage in the fourth picture. That and the stone chips will need paint, there’s no amount of detailing will fix that. If you’re confident, you can have a bash at it yourself, but if you’re not it’ll be better living with it as is until you can get to a body shop rather than making it worse. Third picture (assuming you mean the three spots - I’m on my phone so the pictures are a bit small!) looks like someone’s had a better stab at filling chops previously but not quite finished the job. If they’re standing proud of the surface (and it looks like they are) your need to wet sand level then polish up. However it doesn’t look like a good colour match, so they’ll always stand out. If you’re getting paint anyway it might be an idea to get that panel seen to at the same time.

Centre caps should always match the wheels for me.

As it's now April, as promised.... ...something changed, so the only update is that the car is sat some 200 miles away from all my detailing stuff covered in half an inch of dust. Also this makes ilogikal1 very grumpy. Further updates are pending post-apocalypse lockdown release. Maybe August. Maybe not this August... Except for the glass sealant. It's looking much more likely that I would run out of that within the next 30 years than not given that it seemed to give up prior to lockdown. However in the spirit of fairness, it could just have required as wash to revive it (which will still be checked whenever I'm able to), but on current evidence it would suggest that about 2 months is what I got out of it by applying in a manner that is very much against the manufacturers instructions.

Case in point.

Yep, As Headphones says, C1, C4 & C5 are all the same product..GTechniq are open about too; they release it as multiple products because generally people can't cope with the idea that one product can do it all well (jack of all trades, master of none is very much the archetype it's trying to avoid) so release it under products.

Let's just assume that we all accept that one of those is the best for carrying people, for the purposes of this example.... No, I'd avoid other people specifically not to instead.

Making something look as pretty as can be is one thing, one I have a passion for myself actually, but choosing something as vital as tyres on how they look is just vacuous.

I’m submitting this thread as evidence that lockdown is adversely affecting the mental health of the nation. I can overlook davey’s obsession with “pretty” tyres being the most important factor, but when other people agree with him... No, it’s too much. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to choose a set of brake pads based on how they smell.

It’s probably a bit pointless, to be honest, I can’t see it adding anything however I don’t foresee any adverse effects of doing so either as the wrap will sit over it just fine. If you want to try it and you’ve got spare C4, go for it.

Haha, don't get too disheartened, so long as you like them - it's your car after all. I'm not really a fan of light tints either, but I really (really) hate eyelids on any car myself. I just don't "get" them at all.

First thing I’d do? Get rid of the tacky plastic tat glued to the headlights. The clicking on turning could just be a brake shield on the front; determine which side it’s coming from and simply bend the shield back away from the brake disc a little bit. Common issue on these.

Pretty much just taken a new Supra, stuck a bit of the new Griffith on the (very) front end and done a little bit of colouring in from what I can see. I have noticed that not one source has (yet) posted the same renderings as whatever other source they've copy & pasted the words from in the 4-5 years these rumours have persisted though. At least someone is getting some work out of it.

Any cheap and cheerful steam cleaner will do, try to get one with a few different nozzles if you can as that'll determine what it's practical to use it on, but essentially any will do really. Water isn't necessary and you wont really need to rinse afterwards; you can wipe down any chemicals used if preferred. However the only things to avoid with water (if you're not using a pressure washer) is exposed battery terminals and the air intake - both of which are pretty well protected on a Z - everything else should be fine under your avarage tap water pressure (or less), using an open ended hose. A watering can will be absolutely fine.

FTFY.