ilogikal1

I recognise that story. I thought the same thing when one of my calliper's decided it didn't like the rest of the car any more, so spent big on a lovely AP Racing big brake kit... and then some wheels to fit over them too. Then That happened to mine too. I threw all my money at API for a new engine build with a few bits, chucked on an uprated clutch but only had the flywheel skimmed at the time as it turned out the radiator had rotted away and needed replacing too. 8 months later the flywheel sh*t itself by which time I resented spending more money on it. It's still sat in the garage actually, I keep telling myself I'll turn it into a track pig but never actually done anything about it.

It depends how deep it is. If it catches on your nail it'll probably need paint, otherwise you should be able to polish it out. To be honest I wouldn't want to remove too much paint without a paint depth reading on it, but a PDG (gauge) isn't cheap.

So does it have the Ilogikal approval? Not yet. I've got a "CarPro Polyshave Decontamination Clay Towel" (or something like that - same idea but on a microfibre cloth rather than a mitt) to try/test/compare to a regular clay bar. I'll post up a review when I've tried it though.

You simply wash it out regularly in a bucket of water & shampoo.

They are currently very coating orientated, and by all accounts their coatings are up there with the best but I've not ventured into coatings yet. I like to change the LSP too often. Their tyre stuff is very good, not overly glossy (just how I like it) and lasts weeks. Iron's pretty good too, even compared to Iron X - I'll be doing a fallout remover test at some point, I just need to get some more Iron X. They've got some tar remover and leather protector on the way too, so they're branching out in terms of what they offer. They seem to be sticking with SiO2 based products, so durability (where applicable) is a high priority with their products.

And so is my wife.

Yeah, mine nearly made me destitute keeping it on the road and mine wasn't even that heavily modified either. I certainly don't miss the bills! I still go weak at the knees when I hear the burble though, every time. Sorry, I've taken this thread a bit

Saxo's are built from tinfoil, so the damage may exaggerate the impact somewhat. Glad you're okay though Paddy. Whilst it's an absolute ballache for you, at least the damage to the Z doesn't appear to be to extensive.

It's gonna rain Will That's always true in this country.

That's true. I still have a backlog of LSP's to try from as far back as the Christmas Waxybox. I need more cars, that's the solution!

Apparently it's even better when topped with Illusion, I've not tried this myself so let me know how you get on with that.

Yeah, Bathe+ is an awesome shampoo. The normal Bathe is just as good but without the protection aspect - it's a very good 'pure' shampoo. To be honest I've not yet tried a Gyeon product that I don't like. I still have no idea how to pronounce it, but their products are pretty impressive to say the least. They've got a few more coming out soon too, so that's even more of my money gone before I've earned it.

Lies, there are always more products to try... (at least that's what it seems like)

Those bits are readily available in the retail world, for example; http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/pro-39-8-pce-tx-tamper-proof-bit-set Should be able to pick up a set easily enough, unless someone close to you has one they can lend you.

Clive's launch on that video makes me miss my Impreza. Granby's makes me want a Monaro next all the more though.

Meh, everywhere delivers these days, just never leave the house again. Job jobbed...

All girls are female, not all females are girls.

Either that or she owns the best girl... Congrats on winning though Maybe it's just me, but does it not bug anyone else that the certificate states "best girl owner" and the trophy "best female owner"? Oh, and what Ekona said too.

Just out of interest, have you been using it over something else or on bare paint?

Good point... now if only there were a way I could make money out of this... As I said; 10 different people, 10 different recommendations... I'm sure the other 6 will be along shortly. I just like spending your money for you really though...

Yes, Strong is the better cleaner of the two - Carnauba is a very good cleaner (I'd personally rate it over LPL for cleaning) but Strong is simply exceptional even compared to Carnauba. They can both be used by DA.

You do realise you're not getting paid for all these referrals, right? To the OP, the first thing you need to know is detailing is very subjective. If you ask 10 different people for recommendations, chances are you'll get 10 different answers. So in the spirit of that I'm going to disagree with everything GM said. Alright, not quite, but I will offer some different products though. Wash Mitt - I actually prefer this to the mitt, but they do a mitt too. Both excellent and mine has already outlasted my last lambswool mitt and is still going strong. Shampoo and conditioner - AF Lather is very good, and currently on offer from Amazon. Clay and quick detailer - The Megs kit you mentioned is foolproof and a decent starter kit. A paint cleaner won't remove swirls. Some of them contain fillers which will mask them but they'll come back sooner or later, to remove the swirls you'll need to polish. This can be done either by hand or by machine. You'll get far greater results by machine and may even be able to tackle the deeper scratches. It is possible to get good results by hand but you simply won't get the level of correction you can by hand. Polish - If you're working by hand, I'd recommend G Techniq P1 with one of these pads (with polishing, always start with the least abrasive and work your way up until you're getting the level of correction you require) followed by a filler glaze to hide what you can't correct (Poorboys Black Hole for a black car would be my choice). If you're confident enough to machine polish, I'd recommend a DA rather than a rotary both for a newbie and for the soft Nissan paint - the Kestrel DAS-6 is a great starter machine and all you'll ever need for the Z. That and the AF kit will see you right. Purely down to personal preference. Liquid waxes tend to be more difficult to get a thin layer with because it's just so easy to slap them on. Personally, I prefer hard waxes for this reason alone. As a starter wax, look no further than Poorboys Natty's Paste wax - there's three colours, Blue gives a nice deep, wet look, Red gives a slightly wetter look and White is a little more crisp and not quite as wet. Alternatively, there's a growing number of manufacturers now who offer sample sizes - Dodo Juice as you mentioned do these (called panel pots but they'll do several full cars easily), they're usually a decent buy if you want to try a few different waxes from time to time. Foam or microfibre applicators for the paint cleaner depending on what you prefer. I tend to use the foam applicators. Polish is applied via the applicators linked above or by the DA pad if machine polishing. I tend to only use microfibre cloths to buff, quick detailer and interior cleaning. A lot of it will come down to technique as much as the products, get yourself a cup of coffee and a packet of biscuits and give this lot a read. There's some great adivce in there on both technique and on what you're looking for each product to actually do for you. There's no such thing as a stupid question, so feel free to ask on here and I'm sure someone will be able to help you out, or at least point you in the right direction.

1st class arrived on Friday, 2nd class should be arriving either today or Monday I believe.

For outright cleaner, Werkstat Prime (Acrylic for sealants or Carnauba for waxes) is hard to beat. Except for Prime Strong, which is better. None have any filling/correcting abilities though, whereas LPL contains fillers, but if you've got PB WD you can use that to fill or just straight to wax over any of them - it'll bond best to either Carnauba or a quick IPA wipedown before will give you a bare base again. Polymer sealants will go straight over either Acrylic or Strong.