New 2007 350Z, first detail!

T

Tarik

New member
3 weeks ago I purchased my new 350Z and asked them to leave the car wrapped in plastic. They had never done this before and thought I was simply crazy, but I insisted. I drove it home, plastic flapping in the wind.

I worked on the car the following day - it was a mess, to say the least. I can't imagine why new cars arrive in such poor shape, but I got to work and stuck with it for 8 hours.

This is what it looks like/process I used (I skipped using the glaze, but I think it turned out pretty good):

1. Wash and dry.

2. Clay, wipe down, Wax Cleaner.

3. Menzerna Final Polish 2, 1 coat.

4. Menzerna Full Molecular Jacket (FMJ), 1 coat.

5. No Touch on the tires.

6. Griots spray-on wax on the wheels.



I'm really happy with the results :)



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did people looked at you strange when they see you driving your car wrapped with plastics? :) anyway, thats a very nice/clean car. love that wheels in there.
 
Looks great. My new ride (Fusion) was in tough shape as well. It was made in Mexico, and the build date was last Sept. I hit it with DG101. I should have clayed.



I bought a new Mariner last Fall. It was in nice condition. Of course the assembly plant is only 30 miles away from the dealer.
 
It was at night, but driving down the freeway with plastic flapping all over the place must have looked seriously wrong.

I shopped several other sports cars, including the 996 and M3, but $ for $, I couldn't pass up a new Z. So far I'm very impressed with the car :)

Hey, btw - does anyone recommend those California Dusters? I'd like to keep the dust off this car now without having to wash it every 3 days! Lol!
 
Congrats on the new car. absolutely beautiful.



I love the Z's and would get one if it had a back seat.



When I bought my last car I just could not get the salesman to comprehend that I did not want them to detail the car before I picked it up. He just could not understand why I would not want a free wash.
 
Congrats and great job!! I did the same thing with my 997 TT. I did let them remove the plastic so I could see if there was anything wrong - I did have a 10 hour drive home so would have been tough make that trip to find a problem.



Just think how many cars your dealer got out in the time it took you to detail yours!



BTW, my car was in pretty good shape. I clayed it but it was pretty good.
 
Tarik said:
Hey, btw - does anyone recommend those California Dusters? I'd like to keep the dust off this car now without having to wash it every 3 days! Lol!
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I'd stay away from the duster. A lot of the "dust" you see might be pollen and pollen will scratch your paint if you drag that duster over it.
 
Z K said:
I'd stay away from the duster. A lot of the "dust" you see might be pollen and pollen will scratch your paint if you drag that duster over it.
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That's exactly what I thought. Thanks!

cte500 - I saw your post (INCREDIBLE car btw...so jealous!). I know someone else who purchased a 997TT from Portland and drove it down to LA. Pretty cool.

By requesting the vehicle with it's plastic/no detail, I saved them time/money - funny thing is when I have called them a couple times about the loan/parts, they don't remember me at all. I made the initial call, was in/out all within 2 hours. Fastest deal they ever made, I'm sure, so I was forgotten, lol.

The Z got a little makeover this year with the 2007 - new hood, headlights, interior trim, but most of all a new engine. Twin intakes, individual throttle bodies, 306hp, whopper torque. I test drove damn near every sports car out there, including several 996's, E46 M3's, Caymans...I was truly shocked at the value/performance on this Z, so I opted to save $ and buy a new Z (almost pulled the trigger on a Porsche 996 a week before). It's also new, so I'm loving that new car smell :)

I don't think the Z is going to change much anytime soon. A spy photo I saw from Germany (testing on the 'ring) hints at a slightly different hatch and wing (mine is wingless) - verrrry small changes and that's good.
 
Im confused on steps 2 and 3.



2. You applied a cleaner wax and then polished?



3. What do you mean by "coat", FPII is a polish, there is nothing to coat.
 
Tarik said:
Hey, btw - does anyone recommend those California Dusters? I'd like to keep the dust off this car now without having to wash it every 3 days! Lol!
Click to expand...



If you use your head when using a CCD they are perfectly safe and will not scatch. The trick is to use just the ends of the threads, and not applying any pressure. With a CCD, you don't need to apply any pressure to remove the dust and pollen. I am talking about about one of the big CCD's with like a 30 inch reach, the little ones are great for the interior but I would not want to use one on the exterior. If you go to any custom car show, you will find most of the guys there using a CCD on thier cars, and most of them probably have A LOT of money tied up in just the paint job. Just use your head, don't use the CCD to "scrub" the dust off and you will be fine!!!! I have used one for 2 years now and have not had a problem with scratching or marring.
 
hardrockTLS said:
If you use your head when using a CCD they are perfectly safe and will not scatch. The trick is to use just the ends of the threads, and not applying any pressure. With a CCD, you don't need to apply any pressure to remove the dust and pollen. I am talking about about one of the big CCD's with like a 30 inch reach, the little ones are great for the interior but I would not want to use one on the exterior. If you go to any custom car show, you will find most of the guys there using a CCD on thier cars, and most of them probably have A LOT of money tied up in just the paint job. Just use your head, don't use the CCD to "scrub" the dust off and you will be fine!!!! I have used one for 2 years now and have not had a problem with scratching or marring.
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Thats not true, every car show i have gone to 99% of all the cars there have horrid paint.
 
nice Z. i've got an 03 and wish i had known enough about detailing back then to not have the dealer wash it!



anyway, it seems those pics from the ring are possibly testing a smaller two seater that nissan is planning (new version of the 240 perhaps). it seems the doors/roof/sideskirts are all cut, so the prototype looks like a Z, but has a smaller wheel base and is overall smaller in size.
 
frickin' beautiful! glad you got it with the plastic on before they were able to induce any marring/scratching... :heelclick



p.s. i'm surprised they let you take it home without taking the plastic off in front of you to make sure there wasn't any damage...
 
Z K said:
I'd stay away from the duster. A lot of the "dust" you see might be pollen and pollen will scratch your paint if you drag that duster over it.
Click to expand...





with your color I fully back the duster. I have a diamond graphite G35 and I use the duster almost daily and have NO issue. The key is to "dust" the car off once it's totally cooled off and don't use any pressure when dusting. Just let the strings hanging down do their thing and don't go too fast. I have several layers of Zaino Z-2 on the car so once the car is cooled off, the dust slides right off and again no scratches. The problem is most people don't use them correctly IMO. Now get some wheels and drop it a bit and the car will be even more smokin!
 
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