ronmart

I busted my rear this weekend trying to get my 997 back into top shape. Due to a foul up at the dealership it had swirls on it when I took delivery, and when I got the dealership to pay $250 for a "VIP" detail from Bradley's Detail here locally, they got WATER SPOTS ON IT!!!! What's worse, they used some Blue Coral sealant crud that gave the car a milky look.

I had done a good job of covering it up, but this weekend I was hell bent on fixing it all after I picked up some minor damage at the track. Here's the results:

http://autopia.org/forum/showthread.php?p=769854

mastiffdog

And the dealer no doubt thought they did a "good thing" for you! Dealers destroy paint more than anyone else, a real shame. Glad you were able to bring it back. Saw the photos Autopia - looks awesome!

icon

looks great ron!
but they're bitching about you not reviewing the products at autopia!
bumper damaged at the track??? whadya do?

jeff

ronmart

I just wrote a huge product review. I just didn't have time to do it with the first post.

The bumper damage was superficial. I was doing a breaking on a turn exercise with cones and it was setup for you to go in at 50, hit the brakes hard and come through the 100 degree turn to a stop at the end of the cones. I did that in my car and was at a complete stop by the 2nd set of cones (god that thing brakes fast!!!!). I kept kicking it up faster until I got to 70. I make a great turn but my bumper and rear wheel clipped a couple of cones. The instructors said that for the speed I was going, I took the correct arc, but the exercise was never built for that speed (even though they encouraged me to speed up to see if I could make it). You can see the damage before and after in the pics - no serious harm done.

ronmart

Yeah, they botched it with the quicky wash and then I botched it by choosing a bad place to do the detail. I really wanted to tell them to just give me the $250 for supplies and I'd do it myself, but they wanted to do it themselves so we met in the middle and had a 3rd party do it. What losers!

Yeah, I'm glad I could finally bring it back. It had been bugging me for quite some time.

Rave

Great work. It was a good job you've got a rag top or else it would have taken 20+ hours. How did you patch up the fender scratches?

ronmart

Ha, ha, ha! Yeah, I was saying that EXACT thing myself!

The fender, bumper, and various other scratches were buffed out using Griots Garage Machine Polish 2. Some are still there because they are down to the primer, but they are VERY hard to see now.

On the front bumper and rear wheel I also had some grey/black crud which came off easily with 3M Adhesive Remover. If you don't have some of this stuff get it, because it works magic and is totally safe (even though it smells toxic).

Holli82

Thanks for sharing. I'm not sure I will ever be able to put together 17 hours to clean my car, but I am glad you could do it. Great job on the bumper too.

ronmart

Thanks!

Hey, I'm married with 2 kids so it is VERY rare for me to get a couple hours of free time on the weekend.

My beautiful wife was really good and gave me the weekend to do what I wanted to do. The other good thing is that I could watch the kids while they were outside while I worked on my car, so she could do errands.

You'll appreciate the fruit of your labor if you do it! My car looks better now than when it did when I took delivery (despite its nicks here and there)

fluid15

Ron - great write up!! I rarely have the time (and currently no P-car), but love to give my car a dedicated detail once in a while. Last time I had that chance I just waited for my wife to go see her family and spent fri/sat detailing ... and then driving on Sunday!

ronmart

You don't need a p-car to enjoy detailing. When I was younger I treated my Oldsmobile Calias the same way, and took nearly as many pictures (although it was more expensive since it was before digital cameras).

Deanski

Very nice shots and can't wait for those others your friend took!

Yep, the fist application can be the most time consuming way to apply a sealant, however, once on, maintenance is simple.

You're correct on Z8. Finish has to be very cool. You'll also find that Z6 has a bit more cleaning ability. Perfect for daily QD work.

I've switch to one of those MF dusters that look like a California duster but w/o waxes. A good shake and rubbing of the mop, then a very fine mist of Z6 and it's perfect for light dust (not sandy road dirt) to be removed. Any fingermarks, a few Z6 wipes with a MF towel is all you need. Top with Z8 and WOW!

Washing become easy, rain also beads very well.

Every so often, I'll apply more Z2 Pro. As long as it's still marring free.

As of now, it's time to re-polish the finish on my black. When I get time, I'll re-polish with Menzerna P085RD and then re-Zaino. One of my neighbors has my PC so I normally use a rotary anyway, but now I have to mask off the paint protection film so I do not wack it.

Glad to hear you're enjoying the finish! Metallics just pop after Zaino! Years ago, Zaino was best for indoor car shows under MV lamps or MH lamps due to the color spectrum it highlights. In the sunshine back then, Zaino looked awful! Now, with the newer formulas, WAAAAY better! Silver metallic looks so insane with Zaino in the sunshine!

Regards,
Deanski

JFScheck

Nice Work!!!

ronmart

Thanks guys!

Deanski - you can find the pics at https://rennlist.com/forums/997-forum/292609-cool-997-photoshoot-pics-from-this-weekend.html

I'm still having serious problems with Z8. I let the car cool over 24 hours. The outside temp was in the 50's, garage temp was in the 60's. The Z8 had been in the garage cabinet so i suspect its temp was in the 70's. I sprayed it on and from in the garage with bad lighting it looked fine. When I saw it in the daylight yesterday I was horrified of all of the mess I saw on my hood. It looked like I smeared honey around.

Here's how I used it - the car was 100% cool (hadn't been driven in over 24 hours). I shook the Z8 bottle up, held it about 2 feet above the Porsche crest on the hood, pointed it to the windsheild, and then gave it one full trigger squeeze. This caused a light mist to rain down on the the hood. I assumed this would be sufficent, so I used my blue Sonus microfiber towel and spread it around as I would do Z8, until the surface appeared to be dry. It seemed about the same as Z2 in the garage, but I was just happy it didn't appear to smear like honey the first time I used it.

What's going on? I'm wanting a refund at this point beacuse I'm pretty annoyed with this stuff! I had to re-clean the hood this morning to get that crap off.

robbonds

z8 is a finishing spray - light mist and immediatley wipe off - gives the car a great glossy shine...its similar to the z6 spray