Ekona

Good fair write-up

I haven't gotten round to doing the exhaust yet, that's next week too I taped up the nose badge but tbh it was a huge faff and my tape isn't brilliant, which coupled with my lack of patience meant that I couldn't be arsed to tape anything else up! I was just careful with the DA and did the odds and sods by hand. I did get a fair bit of product on some of the black trim which will need some black gel to sort out, but for me that's quicker than using tape. The DA is fine to use on plastic bumpers, and also (and I was a bit wary over this) on the paintshield by the rear wheel arches too apparently!

Tell them to contact the DVLA for proof of ownership details. Don't say anything else, just that.

Yup, used the DA for the Black Hole too, gave a much deeper shine than the bits I had to do by hand. Waxing was all done by hand though using the Swissvax applicator pad and an AG polishing microfibre.

Apparently the site (either my hosting or here) throws a hissy fit with this many pics, a refresh usually sorts it @D4XNY: Not all waxes seem to need such a long cure time, certainly the DJ Purple Haze I've got goes off a lot quicker than the Swissvax does.

I treated myself to a DA this week (a DAS-6 from cleanyourcar.co.uk) and have spent the day playing with it. I thought it might be fun to post up my incredibly amateur efforts here for us all to have a giggle at! Right, here we go... Started at 9am this morning with a keen heart and plenty of energy! Before any washing, the car looked like this: One clean later with two buckets, one lambs wool washmitt and some DJ Born To Be Mild shampoo and I ended up with this: It certainly looks clean from a distance, and even standing next to it it's okay, but it wasn't long ago that I clayed and waxed it so I didn't expect it to look too bad. Time to tape up the bonnet: After a quick clay, this is how much crap I removed from one quarter of the bonnet: Yeah, naff all, so the wax has clearly done it's job well in the past. In these next few pics, the lower LHS is the one I've worked on, and the lower RHS is the comparison side I don't touch. After claying: If you look towards the lower half of the section you can see the stone chips, loads of little white flecks. Ah, the brilliance that is a low front on a black car! Time to get serious... The polishing pad, the DAS-6, and the bottle of Ultimate Compound. After one pass, I ended up with this: Not bad, but still a few chips left, so I went for another pass and was a bit more aggressive with the machine: Pretty happy with the result there, and I wasn't really going to get much more out with the compound and machine I've got. Next up is the Black Hole glaze, which is designed for dark cars and hides all the small scratches that need serious correction work. Wow! Awesome stuff, it really made a huge difference, check out the next few pics, which also give a good idea of just how bad the stone chips are: Quite a difference, I think you'll agree. On to the really posh (and expensive!) wax: Not a huge difference in the pictures, and I'll show you why a bit later. Pics with the tape removed: With the tape removed I repeated the process on the rest of the bonnet: Some shots of the car after going over it with the Ultimate Compound: Now after using the Black Hole glaze: And after the wax: These next set of pics were taken whilst I was doing a couple of other bits like the glass, tyres and the interior, and you can see the car take on a noticeable better shine as the wax takes to the paintwork more. This is why in the earlier photo the wax doesn't appear to make too much difference, as it really needs a couple of hours before you can see just how good it is: And that's it! Total work time was 8 hours and I'm knackered, I still need to give it a coat of DJ Red Mist Tropical to really seal the wax in but the wax needs 24 hours to cure first, so I'll do that next week. Sadly the sun was against me today so you can't really see in the pics just how much difference the work has made to the paint, but it's almost swirl-free now and looks beautiful. A black car may take a lot of work to keep clean, but I honestly think it's worth it when it comes out like this. Oh, and as a treat for hanging around and reading the whole thread, I also did this today: 9.2kg saved, GT3 style

Because if the car park is that empty, then why on earth would you need to take up two spaces? Just take one and park well away from everyone else, and if someone does park next to you then suck it up, they probably didn't park right next to you just to dent your car. Anything else is selfish. Do you sit in the middle lane on the motorway too? After all, there's loads of space in the other two lanes and nobody's getting hurt... My Dad manages to park his Hummer H2 within one car parking bay, and that's somewhat wider than the Zed.

Anyone who takes up two spaces in a car park deserves to get their car knocked. It's rude and selfish and completely pointless, the Zed isn't that bloody wide for god's sake! Parking at the other end of the car park is common sense though, I tend to do that even when in the work's truck.

Next time wave back you miserable sod, instead of chasing down the silver Boxster in front of you

Most of the ones round here either flash at you long before you actually enter the 30 zone, or flash at you even if you're doing bang-on or just-below the speed limit. Now that breeds contempt.

It's as good as any other octane booster, but increase RON by 7 points? No chance. It'll take 95 to 97 (so emergency use) or 98 to 100 (so for tuning max power), but nothing else. Personally I'd use Wynns octane booster, about £5 from anywhere decent and having used it extensively on previous turbocharged car builds, I can say that it really can make a difference.

+1 I've never seen the pikey council estate versions and never intend to. It's the full fat editions or nothing for me!

The IoM seems to work quite nicely. Much like Germany, no-one ever speeds in the towns during the 20 and 30 zones because the cops will come down on you like a ton of bricks, and rightly so. Being able to drive some of the greatest roads on the planet at speeds that would get you banned for years over here was one of the most liberating experiences of my life, and because I was able to fully concentrate on the road ahead instead of looking at the speedo I'd argue that I was safer because of it. For me, the IoM is a better place to drive than the 'Ring could ever be. Food's better, too!

I think I just have

Just for you Chris... Clicky

Honestly? No chance on either account I reckon. The dealer will blame the potholes, and unless you've got photos and dates & times of the pothole damage you'll struggle with the council. I feel desperately sorry for you mate, I really do, but if you were planning on new wheels anyway then all you can do is bring that plan forward a bit.

I can see what Chris is saying though, and he's actually spot-on: They don't need or want money at all. At present most donation/aid ideas for Japan are actually for the Red Cross, who then turn your contributions into actual things that people need like food, shelter, lighting, heat etc and then distribute that independently of (but in coordination with) the Japanese authorities. Whether that is what is going to happen with the proceeds from the wristband sales here is still to be decided, however now it's been brought up I'm sure the Team will discuss it and make a decision.

With RE050As on the front still, I wonder why...

Noooooooo! I hate rap music with a passion, but for some reason Regulate has always been one of my favourite songs ever. Damn shame, Nate Dogg was cool as hell.

I want that more than anything. It's a proper super car in every possible way.

I don't think you should run a 225 tyre on a 9.5" wide wheel, it's out of spec.

I'm very surprised that a used Nissan bought from a main dealer doesn't come with at least 1 year's warranty, and I've never heard of any main dealer for any brand offering a car for sale with less. That said, it's all down to what it says on the paperwork you signed I guess. £1100 is a rip-off though, even if they're doing both slave and master (while you're there, I certainly would) I would expect a bill of around £800 at the most. Go and speak with the guys in Chester, they seem far more clued up and willing to help.

Right, you're more on about TVR/MG flip paint than a pearlescent? Personally I can't stand it as it looks really dated, but if it's attention you're after you'll certainly get it! I don't think so, a decent pink on the right car can look awesome (Sumo Power comes to mind).

Kinda my point

I think those photos tell you exactly why not Sorry mate, really not for me as they look very stuck-on, but as long as you're happy then that's all that matters