Street Dreams: Lexus winter prep

T

THERUSE

New member
well, i got my zaino ( z1, z2, z5, z6) this thursday.



right away i pulled parents cars out of the garage., put a basment dehumidifier in the garage and ran it at 50% RH. (it was a rainy weekend here in Plainville, CT)!



parked my ride in there (94 toyota camry v6, it's not special but it is what i have!).



dawned it to get all the meguiars waxes off it.



the car was clayed 3 weeks ago, so that wasn't necessesary.



z1 the whole thing, in every nook and crany.



z5 at 8pm, let sit till 10 wiped off



in the morning on friday i z6'd the car. got a ride to work.



z5'd again at around 8 pm on friday, let sit overnight.



wiped off sat morn.



z6'd sat night.



z2'd sat night.



z6'd sun morn.



i cannot wait to show my car off to my buddies at school on monday.



it looks absotudolutely amazing. no hairline scratches in the wax, like i get with meguiars or anything. i'm gonna z2, again in a while, i guess i have a lot of layers on so i'll let them cure.



my car looks golden at dawn. it's the dark green color with sparkle in it (metalic i think), and it looks pearlish in direct sunlight. it looks agsolutely gorgeous.



you guys kick ass for directing me towards zaino.



later
 
HI tomciob -- thank for the thanks. You are more than welcome.

You did some smart things, things some new converts might not have picked up on. Keeping the car in the garage was smart. And, running the dehumidifier was good thinking and helped with the drying of the Z.

Leaving the Z on for two hours (if you have the paint protected from atmospheric fallout, like you did), gives it time to cure. You also picked up on our rising concern for letting enough time go by for a full cure, hence your decision to wait a few days before doing another cycle. You are showing the kind of attention to the principles that allows one to think correctly and figure out the best solutions.

If you normally have to keep your car outside, I would strongly recommend a car cover. It will, in the long run, save both your paint, your trim, and your interior. The sun, even when the air is cold, beats the heck out of <em class='bbc'>everything[/i] in the long run. Plus, the cover will protect the paint from bird bombs, industrial fallout, dust and dirt, and it will keep you car looking great better washes (and will reduce the number of washes necessary, which reduces the number of incidents of rubbing the paint, which is good over all).

Glad you liked the results. Amazing, huh? Let us know if the car appears to get better over the next few days.
 
i appreciate the reply darbh,



just to let you know, zaino restored a lot of my outside trim to new conditions. :bounce WHOOHOOOOO. :bounce





i will consider a cover for my next car, this car has 144k miles on it and it's a 94



runs with no problems, but i'm planning on getting rid of it after winter (2002 jetta vr6 is on the list, Galactic blue, tan leather interior) i'm only a sophmore in college i can't get anyting better.



later,
 
Nothing fancy, winter prep on an IS300

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Crusty trim juice :wizard:

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Salty fenders

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With the the freezing weather the car got ONR'd without debate, a 5minute pre soak on the lower panels I felt necessary... it was a quick 5 minutes, I was a wee bit chilly :o

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I did the ONR wash indoors with the heat on, first I let the car defrost...

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Once I thawed the car with ONR and clayed it I dried everything. Wheels treated with a few coats of opti seal

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Cleaned, sealed and dressed

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Trim before

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During (wearing my serial killer nitrile gloves of course :devil:)

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Finished

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Tidied up the ebmlems

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303'd widow trim

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Machined on 3 coats of sealant

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Done.

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How lovely, my car got and ice bath while this car get some spa treatment :StarWars:

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This is clear film installed by Phil and his crew from DetailersDomain a few months prior... hands down some of the best film work I have seen... notice the lack of orange peel?

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Total time: 39.62 hours.... I estimated :wizard:

Nah this one went quickly, thanks for looking.
 
Beautiful as usual David :clap:

It looks like you were working in the 20's before defrosting it indoors. Did you use 303 on the plastic for the windshield?
 
Awesome job, David !! What did you use to polish and seal??

It looks beautiful !! Sorry you have to work out in that weather - note to self - next time if I am fortunate to be able to buy a house again, try to get a drain installed in the garage, along with the big laundry sink with hot/cold wata' ! :)

That looks like a very nice Audi out there getting the ice-treatment !! :)

Thanks for sharing, you are da' MAN !!

Dan F
 
Once again David, you did a great job. I feel your pain as I am doing regular ONR washings here in NJ. Unfortunately, I don't have a garage that I can use, so mine is done outside......brrrrrrrrrrr

Hey David, you need to give your car some love too.:rockon:
 
bmw5541 said:
Once again David, you did a great job. I feel your pain as I am doing regular ONR washings here in NJ. Unfortunately, I don't have a garage that I can use, so mine is done outside......brrrrrrrrrrr

Hey David, you need to give your car some love too.:rockon:
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same here. but i did find a car wash that just uses soap and high pressure water to wash and no brushes. did a wipedown and z6 treatment afterwards. came out pretty nice. but if i had a garage it would never stay dirty long.
 
good quickie job and write-up. I have also found the kitchen type of big rubber gloves to be a big help in cold weather when it comes to wheels and initial cleaning.
 
I got cold just looking at those first few pics!!! I can't imagine the conditions you guys up north have to detail in. My hats off to you all. We've had below freezing mornings down here in sunny FLA for the past 2 weeks or so and one morning my hose froze and I had to leave it in the sun for about an hour before I could get any flow. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about the temps but it reminded me of you guys up north who do this work all freakin' winter long and I can appreciate that effort.

Great results David.
 
Hey David... lookin' good! Great attention to detail!;)

Are you using the G110V2? If so, how do you like it in comparison to the 7424 XP for power, torque, correction ability?
 
Luster said:
Hey David... lookin' good! Great attention to detail!;)

Are you using the G110V2? If so, how do you like it in comparison to the 7424 XP for power, torque, correction ability?
Click to expand...

Personally I just think its a more professional tool. More direct, more dialed in.... I do like it.
 
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