ilogikal1

Essentially what Stu said really. Only thing I might add is if you’ve got a steam cleaner that’s usually easier for stubborn dirt or tight areas. Use cheap micro fibre cloths, there’s nothing too delicate under the bonnet and you’re likely to ruin a few doing this. In terms of protection, for once (and pretty much only one) I would recommend AutoGlym Rubber and Vinyl is ideal - cheap, full of shiny silicones and it’s literally spray all over and walk away. No levelling, wiping or buffing, and cheap as... well AG - but 303 (Stu’s link) is better if you don’t just want to pop to Halfords (in at least 3 more weeks!). And don’t forget to give the underside of the bonnet a once over too to finish it all off.

Pitch it to Netflix. Netflix will make anything, so this would be better than at least 60% of the content!

Those cracks aren’t the result of UV damage (the hazing is though), so simply filling them with epoxy isn't going to address the underlying cause so it’s potentially a short term fix. Having said that, it could be a longer term fix so there’s no harm in trying it. Also just to note that the lenses are polycarbonate rather than plastic - no idea if this makes any difference to how the epoxy will bond or anything so just mentioning it. I’m very much not a fan of tinted wrap on lights by any means but seeing as the lights are coming off and getting fiddled with anyway is there any reason you’re not reapplying the clear topcoat? It would help to mask what the epoxy doesn’t fix a lot better and won’t reduce the light output like a tinted wrap would.

I haven’t seen any of the MCU films all the way through. I lost interest in catching up with them when Disney decided to release one every 12 minutes and never bothered with them.

IIRC Nissan stated the intention was to build something that someone could replicate for themselves with the potential of offering a home install kit, but they had no intention of manufacturing it as a complete car themselves, even then. I don’t see what could possibly have changed that stance into making it a production run over the last couple of years, especially now when they’re publicly stating that Nissan may be downscaling as a business.

If it's on your driveway then it's no different to mowing to lawn and I doubt PC Plod would be interested... but one "expert" says it's non-essential and therefore not allowed at all, aparently.

I mean, priorities and all that!

For some, a bigger concern is that a so-called expert has said that you shouldn’t be out washing your car(s)...

The FCA won’t force them to pay out for non-cover. There will be a massive mis-selling compensation scheme for that instead...

They will take a hit on R&D, production, tooling, marketing, etc, etc, so why would they do that for a car with proven minimal sales when they can just focus on a range that actually sells instead? Also, have you stopped to ask yourself why no one else offers manuals? Outside of US (which already has a significant automatic transmission culture that ain’t going to shift with a handful of youths being slightly more vocal about being able to stick shift yo) sales are only going one way. So again, why pander to the vast minority when you can produce something that will actually sell in worthwhile volumes instead? Not to mention the idea of selling a niche car at bargain basement price, who has done that recently?!

Great work! Get some wax/sealant on to protect all that work and you’re sorted.

Wash, rinse, clay, rinse, dry, polish - no point drying before claying and you will need to at least rinse (if not wipe down too) after claying. I always tend to stick to around 4.5-5.5 on the DAS6 for all polishing; you want to be working the polish enough to break down properly, the slower the machine is going the more passes you have to make, so you might want to do a few passes at a higher speed and then back it off a little for the last few to finish down, but there’s no set formula for this and will depend your technique and preference as well as the polish, pad, surface, ambient temperature, etc, etc. So long as you’re working the polish you can adapt the speed to suit your technique rather or vice versa. Im not a huge fan of liquid waxes to be honest, nor really applying LSP by machine - I prefer to apply wax by hand as I find it easier than by machine, so tend to stick to paste waxes. I would typically use the black pad for AIO or glazes when not looking to correct the paint instead myself. Having said that, I barely use that pad at all really. I wouldn’t be looking for a wax specifically to apply by machine to be honest. Find a wax (or several...) that you like and if you can apply by machine then give it a go, you probably won’t do that more than a handful of times though if you’re like most people (me very much included!) You can use the black (or white) pad to finish down, if you’re using V36 on either orange or green pad, you can then finish with V38 on black or white for great gloss. No worries on the questions, happy to share my experience.

@ZMANALEX might have some.

No problem at all, happy to help. Orange would be more useful than yellow for a Z; when I used Hex pads I would go for orange and green on a Z. Yeah, polished should be fine on the headlights (but you may find you don’t need to go that heavy, I usually use S30+ on mine which is equivalent to V38 for mine, however there’s much less risk on the headlights and it comes down to how the polish finishes down more than anything). They’ll be fine on herder paint too (typically German cars) if you do any others and want to use them - that’s likely when the yellow pad would come in handy too though. Cleaning pads is a horrible job that I hate doing! Water and liquid soap will work and then work the compound out by massaging the pad. A bit of degreaser works too to. You can shove them in the washing machine on a colder (30 degree) cycle too. You can get a pad cleaning machine which, having tried one a couple of times, is a tremendous bit of kit but pricey so I never got round to buying one myself - I ended up having 4-6 of each pad instead and took the opportunity to have a break when I ran out, haha.

As mentioned, go light first and only step up the cut if needed, so you can go with more cut, I'd be tempted to step up the pad before stepping up the compound myself too, V36 should be adequate for getting out most RDS (random deep scratches) but you can step up the compound should you still need to. With going higher you're much more likely to need to go a 2 stage polish to finish down the higher cut compound, which is fine so long as you don't expect a perfect finish from a higher cutting compound alone. Assuming the respray was done professionally (that is, not with rattle can lacquer) it'll be fine to treat it the same as the rest of the car - just be conscious that without a paint depth gauge you don't really know how thick any of the paint is on the car, so a little caution is advised, but that applies across old and new paint. Don't just assume that because it's fresher paint that it'll be thicker, that's not always the case. The underlying message to be aware of is that the more abbrassive the combination, the more of your top coat you are removing and there's only ever a finite amount of top coat on any section of the car. Priming the pad can either be a spritz of quick detailer so that the surface of the pad is damp, or I prefer to use the compund to prime - apply the polish to the pad and then spread it over the surface of the pad before touching the paint with it (or at least before starting the machine). The purpose is to avoid a dry pad having any contact with the paint without any lubrication, so whichever method works best for you really (but yes, QD will be absolutely fine).

Try @ZMANALEX

When polishing, always start with the least aggressive combination and only step up if you need to. Nissan paint is incredibly soft, so I doubt you'll ever need to go higher than V36 for RDS or V38 for swirls and minor marring to be honest. CG have over done the grades with their hex logic pads in particular; black and white are more or less the same pad (neither offer any cut themselves), yellow is likely going to be too heavy for soft Nissan paint. The green pad is your friend here, however once corrected you could use V38 on a white pad semi-regularly to keep on top of it, but do remember that you only have a finite amount of top coat to play with so not too often - a filler glaze/AIO one the black pad would be good in the interim if you want to get use out of the kit. For correction, start with V38 on the green pad at 4.5-5 on your DAS6 (after an initial pass or two at 1.5-2), making sure you work the polish fully, give it an IPA wipedown and check your work, if you've still got some RDS or heavier marring step it up to V36 on a (clean) green pad - don't forget to prime the pad first each time though.

Ah, that’s a completely different kettle of cod then. BMW paint is the opposite of Nissan paint and is hard, so your main concern with going too aggressive is cutting through the new paint - aerosol goes on super thin, so you might not have much at all to work with, so bare that in mind. That said I wouldn’t be to concerned going at it with Megs UC on a foam pad. SRP is more filler than anything else, on the scale it’s barely be a 1 with the pad doing almost all of the work, to be honest. It’s really more glaze than polish. Have a crack at it with the Megs and see how you go, it does finish down on its own reasonably well so it should do you for your needs, but feel free to report back and we can suggest next steps if not.

On a Z, I’d always stick with foam pads unless wet sanding, even then I’d try heavy cut foam pads before stepping up to wool pads. in terms of cut, it also depends on the pad; on a moderate cut pad (say Lake Country tangerine pad, for example), I’d say S30+ is a 3, Megs 105 (Ultra Cut Compound) is about a 8 - about the same as Scholl S20 Black. Megs 205 (Ultra Finishing Polish) is about a 4. Those numbers would drop down one each on a Crimson pad though as that itself has a lighter cut. To simplify matters, my recommended 2 stage polish on a neglected Z would typically be S20 on Tangerine pad for heaviest cut (I would never see the need to go any higher than this without severe paint defects) down to S30+ on a Tangerine pad for finishing - but S30 on Tangerine or S20 on Crimson for a mid-way level of cut. So for fresh rattle can paint that just needs to be polished up, I’d suggest starting with S30+ or 205 on a Lake Country Hydrotech Crimson pad, worked thoroughly with sufficient passes, wiped down to check the finish. If there’s little to no improveKent, step up to S20/105 on a (fresh/clean) Crimson pad and repeat. If you still need to, then step up the pad to Tangerine and repeat. Definitely should have asked this sooner, but I’ve just realised I had assumed! Did you use rattle can lacquer or 2k?

Depends how bad it is really. If you’ve got reasonable results with G3 it doesn’t sound too bad, but pictures would help. As a rule, after any paint I’d recommend claying (for overspray) before polishing anyway. Worst case scenario, wet sand (but carefully as aerosol lacquer will be horribly thin) with 2500 (or finer) and then a 2 stage polish with something medium-to-heavy cut finishing with a light cut compound on foam pads. Best case, lightest cut polish/pad combo possible to get the job done. Scholl polishes are my go-to, with S30+ being a great finishing polish. Wool pads are heavy cut so I would always go with foam and only step up if you absolutely need to. I’d always advise an IPA wipe down after polishing to check actual results, which will remove any fillers or oils masking any remaining issues.

I would recommend pre-wash and wash stages before decontamination stage. Claying alone can inflict marring, let alone claying on a dirty panel! Also tar and fallout removers will work more effectively on cleaner panels as these are designed for deeper cleaning. Don’t expect miracles from Magifoam though, it’s not great and you really need a pressure washer to get the best out of pre-washes - especially with Magifoam to be honest.

Scholl S20 & S30 on lake country tangerine and crimson pads. Should make relatively short work of swirls.

Are you polishing by machine or by hand?

Always start with the least aggressive combination and work up only if you need to.