New Car Detail, Part III

[xpditor]

After passing on the first Acura TL because the dealer didn't listen to me when I told him not to detail it, the next one came in untouched by human hands. I allowed them to remove the plastic and handwash it with a lamb's wool mit I brought them.



I took it home and spent 10 hours the next day detailing it to my standards, a Dawn wash followed by Zaino Car Wash and Zaino Clay bar got off the protective coatings and rail dust. I then did 4 coats of Z2 with Z6 inbetween. I used ZFX for faster cure on the Z2 but still gave it several hours in the garage in Florida to cure between coats.



I'm very pleased with the results. Nighthawk Black Pearl is a metallic paint with a black base color, blue flecks, then a clear coat. At a distance, it looks black. In direct sunlight, it looks dark blue.



Here's a pic of my new baby whom I have christened "Condolezza Ricer":

 

[Bucky]

Nice pic and kudos for refusing the first TL when the dealer did not listen to you. What if you tried to pay them $1000 less than the agreed upon price? Would they accept that? A deal is a deal even if they don't understand your reasons. I know it is hard to turn down a new car after waiting anxiously, but it is worth it in the end - especially when you are spending $30K+ and will have the car for a long time.



Bucky

 

[xpditor]

I was a little disappointed to see some orange peeling on the vertical surfaces of my new Acura TL. Today, I was parked in between a black Mercedes-Benze E500 and a black Cadillac CVS (or whatever you call it).



First observation was that the TL looked better to me than either of the other two. Second observation was that they both had orange peel paint more than the TL.



I wonder if this is because of the change over to water-borne paint that happened about 10 years ago (for environmental reasons, so they say).



Is the orange peel just in the clear coat? Can anything be done about it?



XP

 

[stilez]

xpditor: You are a crazy man...LoL



I've never heard of someone bringing a dealer a wash mitt. That's great though. Glad to see you grabbed a TL. I absolutely love those things.



Do you have any modifications planned?



Cool dog! What breed?

 

[xpditor]

Originally posted by GSRstilez

xpditor: You are a crazy man...LoL



I've never heard of someone bringing a dealer a wash mitt. That's great though. Glad to see you grabbed a TL. I absolutely love those things.



Do you have any modifications planned?

Very minor appearance mods. I replaced the incandescent bulbs in the front door courtesy lights with blue LEDs for a nice techno look. I painted the front disk brake caliper holders metallic gold. (They already are gold, but very pale. Now they look gold plated when they peek out from between the spokes. I only have 300 miles on it so I haven't begun to think about performance mods. Anyway, it's already very quick with 270 HP.)



Of course I will tint 35% when I can find a non-metallic tint that is of good quality with a good guarantee. I have a GPS antenna below the package shelf under the rear window and can't use metallic tint there.



I also need to install some "moleskin" on the inner window wiper of the doors so as not to scratch the tint. Both TL's and M-B's have a problem with close tolerances and hard wipers that try to peel the tint off thinking it's a foreign body. Not a big job. I have the material and will do it myself.

Cool dog! What breed?

I rescued him from Death Row at the Pound. I don't know what breed, but judging just from his appearance and behavior, I'd say his mother was a racoon and his father was a rooster.



XP

 

[stilez]

I rescued him from Death Row at the Pound. I don't know what breed, but judging just from his appearance and behavior, I'd say his mother was a racoon and his father was a rooster.

:LOLOL





Tell me more about this "moleskin". I'm interested to hear how it works and installs.

 

[shiny622]

Is the orange peel just in the clear coat? Can anything be done about it?



XP

From what I understand, orange peel has everything to do with the prep work when painting. I think it just depends on what procedures the different mfgs use. I had a buddy who worked at Meguire's who said that they always get their showcars repainted professionally, even if it's brand new, to take the orange peels out.



Someone feel free to correct me if I'm mistaken.



-sp

 

[xpditor]

:LOLOL





Tell me more about this "moleskin". I'm interested to hear how it works and installs.

You know what moleskin is. You just didn't know the name for it. Cars have used it for decades in the channel that the windows run up and down in. It is short, black, fuzzy stuff that the glass runs on. It serves as a low-friction seal and wiper when it is used across the slot in the door where the window goes when you put it down.



With the window down, you can feel it with your finger. The fuzzy part is more forgiving of foreign bodies that might drop down the slot. Most cars have it on both sides of the window and have for years. A little extra play is designed in so you can open and close them quickly.



BUT: The Acura (and Mercedes) have a hard rubber inside wiper without moleskin and apparently it is chewing into tint (not always- but often).



The moleskin comes in 1/2" strips and they have self adhesive under them.



End of STory

 

[jasonatv22]

Dog is great. Like the roofing material. Car is shiny, but it's not a ricer. Not close.

 

[xpditor]

...Like the roofing material...

Spanish barrel tiles. Or, technically, I guess they are half barrel tiles. They last a long time and all you have to do is pressure wash them once in a while.



XP

 

[maecrispy]

Hey xpditor, nice to see a fellow TL'er around here!



Pics of my SSM TL w/ Wolfgang x2 are here (before pics are with Ziebart Diamond Gloss which I stripped off):



http://homepage.mac.com/maecrispy/PhotoAlbum7.html



I too did the light mods (white's in domes, blue in doors.)



As far as tint, I've hear that Huber Optik is a possibilty if you're looking for cermaic tint. Suposed to be good at heat rejection but very expensive.



Anyway, congrats on the TL. Hope you love your TL as much as I do mine!