Gave my Z a bath before night night (Winter)

[ntwillie1]

Hi guys. My paint is in pretty good shape so I didn't need to do any polishing or paint correction this go around. I applied a coat of Opti-Gloss 2 years ago and its still holding up well since the car is garage kept. I just wanted to give it a little extra protection before the winter kicks in and I can no longer drive/wash it.

Car:

2005 Nissan 350z Enthusiast Edition - Had it since mile 3 :)
6speed, rear wheel drive. Did some work to it, but its still Naturally Aspirated. I have two other cars that are turbo'd. I like the Z just the way it is.
Osiris Tune, intake, cat back, high flow cats, plenum spacer
Suspension work includes Tein lowering springs, Hotchkis sway bars front and rear, SPL links, Cusco Strut Tower Bar
Full JL Audio sound system (components and 2 x 10" subs)w a Pioneer Premier Head unit.
Ordered the leather seat covers online and installed myself. Replaced the original cloth seats. Took several days but I love them. They have been on the car for 4 years now. My son picked the colors. He wanted them to match the Brembo brakes.


Here's a list of the tools and products I used:

Foam Wash Gun
Iron-X
Meguiar's Yellow Clay Bar
Yellow Car Wash Foam Sponge from Auto Parts Store
Chemical Guys Maxi Suds II Super Suds Shampoo
Griots Garage Brilliant Finish Car Wash
SpeedMaster Wheel Brush
OptiCoat OptiSeal
Cobra Micro-Fiber Towels - variety
Apple iPhone 6S Plus - too lazy to whip out the Nikon, plus didn't want to get it wet



Step 1. - Loosened surface dirt by washing car with Foam Gun and Chemical Guys Maxi Suds II Super Suds Shampoo. I don't have a pressure washer so I have to rely on the pressure of my regular water hose for this step. It doesn't foam up as nice as I wish it did but it does the job. I took some pictures before I started washing to show you guys how the water beads 2 years after applying the Opti-Gloss.

Hood water beading shot 2 years after Opti-Gloss
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Roof water beading shot 2 years after Opti-Gloss
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Car getting washed using foam gun and MAXI SUDS II - Profile
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Washing the wheels using Speed Master Wheel Brush and Griots Garage Brilliant Finish Car Wash. I didn't buy a wheel specific product. I did use Iron-X on them and on the paint and then rinsed off again. Paint didn't produce much purple drip, but the wheels did. Sorry I forgot to take a picture of the purple drip.
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Step 2. - After rinsing the car, I washed it with Griots Garage Brilliant Finish Car Wash using a yellow foam sponge I purchased at a local auto parts store. I keep several of these handy and always open a new one for washing the Z. I did some minor claying on spots that needed it, but it was very minimal.

Step 3. - Dried the car using my Echo Leaf Blower. I use that thing every chance I get. We have a lot of trees in our neighborhood and I'm sure my neighbors think I'm crazy because I'm always out there going after the leaves, LoL. Here are some pictures of the reflections on the car after just washing it.

Hood Reflections
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Rear Quarter Panel - Drivers Side
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Drivers Side - Profile
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Roof
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Step 4 - Applied Opti-Seal. I didn't quite follow the instructions here. On my other cars I have applied it using a foam applicator. Here I applied it by spraying directly on the paint and then wiping with a yellow plush micro fiber towel. On my other cars I used the foam applicator and wiped away high spots 5 minutes later. Here I was trying something different. I think it came out ok. Here are the after shots. Even if it didn't add any additional depth to my paint I know that it added a bit of protection.

Hood Shot - after Opti-Seal
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Roof Shot after Opti-Seal
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Front of car after Opti-Seal
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Profile shot after Opti-Seal
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Interior Shot - wiped down the interior and all windows inside with Opti-Seal
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Hebi-Bebi Shift Knob
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Reflection in my garage
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Well, thats all for this detail. In a week or so, if the weather cooperates, I may add a coat of Collonite 845 but not sure its needed. Could just be that I enjoy doing this too much. Thanks for looking.

W

[Ebg18t]

Looks good. Getting it ready for hibernation?

[ntwillie1]

Looks good. Getting it ready for hibernation?

Thanks Ebg18t. Yeah, once the winter hits the car is no good here in NJ. It's rear wheel drive so it gets put away now and doesn't come out again until march or April. My driveway is also on a grade so the car would'nt make it up the driveway even if I tried if there is even a hint of snow or ice, it'll just sit there and fish tail.

[BryanH]

Very nice Z. :) I like the offset of the wheels, gives the car a nice stance. And the seats came out great!

- From an owner of an '03 Base and an '07 Enthusiast.

[coles_paint_correction]

Nice z and great job, reminds me of my cousins he had, there quite fast cars
and egg shape interiors i liked them.

[PA DETAILER]

Would love a new NIZMO Z!

[ntwillie1]

Thanks for all the compliments guys.

I'm noticing that for some reason the pictures uploaded low resolution. The car and paint really do look better than these pictures show.

Bryan, the seats came out like a factory finish. The leather fits really tight and it's not all loose and wrinkly. I paid a little extra for the better leather and for the inserts to be perforated and the stitching to be orange so it really stands out.

I'm going to try and upload a higher res picture in the sun in the near future. I don't feel the pics I posted are doing my baby justice.

Bigry, it's a quick car for sure. But after driving my CLS I now have a different definition of what fast is :)

W