So after dealing with the last 3 weeks up here in the Pacific Northwest, and the snow storms, week long power outages, wind storms and layers of snow and ice, we finally broke into the mid 40's this weekend. (Keep in mind that up here, mid 40's and sunny is rare in January). And since today is my birthday, what more would I want to do than take care of my car.

So I had planned to change my oil today to get ready for spring and was going to do the tranny and diff as well. But I was running out daylight so decided to wash it instead.

I have had the car since August, and all I have really used is Meguires NXT car wash. I bought some other things since owning the car, but mostly stuff for the interior.

Details: MY00. Silverstone. ~60K miles.

So here is the bead test as it sits right now...pre wash.




I didn't wash the top this time, as I had put Vinyles on it prior to putting it away for the winter. But I still sprayed a little water on it to see if it was still on there.





Post wash:



Neighbor's truck on the hood


House reflection on hood


Very minimal headlight haze.

 

So...after washing, I did the plastic bag test. I did a small sample of each panel...about a 1'x1' area. It defenitly needs to be clayed. Here are some of the issues that I found.

Chip in the hood...near the window



Difficult to see, but it looks like someone tried to open the hood with the wipers up. This is on both sides.


Surface scratches on the rear bumper. Should be easy to get out.


There are a few other scratches and rock chips. I don't know what I'm going to do about those. The front bumper is pretty messed up. There use to be the factory lip on it, and when they took it off, they took out a nice chunck of paint. I think I will probably end up doing an AP2 front bumper, so I'm not too worried about it.

Interior. My interior is in pretty good shape, however the drivers seat has a weird texture to it. It's difficult to see in the picture, but in the mid to lower section on the side/rear of the seat it isn't as smooth as you would think leather would be. I don't know how to explain it, but it feels like a fine grit sandpaper. And suggestions?





I didn't use the PC yet, because I don't have any pads of polishes or waxes yet. But here is my test vehicle when I get that stuff.

 

Alos...one thing that is a minor irritant to me is the rusty rotor look. I know that it pretty much goes away after driving, but I would like to have less of it. Any rotor suggestions?





And...I'm a W&W wacko at heart. This was my previous car that I babied also. I didn't think that I could baby a car as much as I did that one. Then I got the S.

 

"I didn't wash the top this time, as I had put Lexol on it prior to putting it away for the winter."

You put Lexol on the Roof? Although I don't think that would harm it, I can't understand why. Lexol isn't a solar protectant. It's leather conditioner and the top is vinyl.

Please fill me in if I'm wrong.

 

Ooops. Sorry. I meant Vinylex.

 

nice job!!
pm me for your badge- this post earned it...

vinylex is fine on the top.

for rotor suggestions, my solution was to change them to drilled & slotted cad plated

like this:






btw, which auburn are you in? (which state)

 

I'm in Washington. And I'm not quite up the the wacko stage that a few people are in here, but I'm working up to it.

Thanks for the suggestion about the brake rotors. I'll probably do that. My parents gave me some money today for my birthday, and I saw a review of the edge pads by Mikey. So I'll be buying that kit shortly.

 

...and in response to your pm, your badge has been hooked up-

 

This reply may or may not be what you're after, but here goes.

To reduce the 'rusty rotor' look, you can use a rinse-less washing system such as that of Optimum: No-Rinse-wash. I wouldn't switch systems just because of rusty rotors, but if it bothers you THAT much, that's a viable option.

Also, I would HIGHLY recommend you get a PC, as you've never seen great looking paint, until you've properly prepped it--- it'll be a night and day difference!

Let us know when you're about to drop some coin on a PC, I'm sure the fellow OCD-gurus and I will be more than able to help you pick out products!

Good luck!

 

Thanks!

I actually just got a PC for Christmas. I'm in the process of figureing out what pads to get and what wax/polish and stuff like that to get.

As for the rotors, it's nothing a quick drive around the block doesn't cure. Plus, the car has been sitting in the garage for about 3.5 months. I'll probably end up getting new rotors eventually, so that should help.

Thanks again everyone. I'm happy to be part of the wacko family.