alright, tried out my new Makita. very good. popped in a few aluminum rivets in my R's diffuser without lifting the car.

 

Also did car work today. Spent four hours washing/cutting/polishing/sealing on my friend's NA Miata. Car looks something around 100% better, still far from perfect but shiny & a lot less swirly/scratched.

Virtual cockpit is LCD gauge cluster, satnav & backup camera even show up in the gauge cluster, its wild.

 

you do detailing work huh? so you are a handy guy!

 

happy friday! been waiting for this day since late Sunday night.

did a quick visual inspection on my GTI yesterday while i had the hood open to clean the bay and add some washer fluid. been monitoring brake fluid level since early spring since it has been sitting 3-4mm under the Max line. seems to be no leaks and holding. and engine oil has not dropped one bit since the last oil change so i'm happy to see that as well.

on the menu today, just a relaxing drive to and from work in my GTI, going to try to make it a super laid back work day and just go home on time. got a new portable BT speaker coming to me today to use in my master bedroom. will be playing with that later pm.

 

I can do it.

But I do hate it.

My arms & back get sore too quick

 

Ah thats cool the backup camera is in the cluster.

Yeah detail work is tedious but for me its somewhat therapeutic. Several hours of nothing but me and my car.

You got a orbital? If so, which one do you use? Im in the market.

 

I have a porter cable 7424XP.

Coworker & I both drove our Miatas today.

 

loled at miata's. looks good!!

i use the Griots random orbital. both the 6" and 3". it does well.
very easy system too. just orange and red pads and i only use ScratchX as polish.
been doing detailing for a while now and i tried all sorts of products but keep it simple was my solution. at the end i only have a few key products i use.

 

on new cars like mine, care while washing and frequent QD on the hobby cars go a very long way without needing the RO's. it's like i need to rid the dealer installed swirls first.. and that's about the only time i really use it... other times just spot polishing is plenty.. and some clay

 

alright..got home, messed with my new BT speaker, did a few chores. now relaxing watching TV.

 

on the menu today.. pulling out my R for a nice relaxing drive this am, followed by going out for lunch with the wife, work on a few more furniture pieces, and most of all..just relax.

have a good weekend everyone!!

 

Ah cool.

You leave your S2k parked with the top down? There are too many seagulls/pigeons at my work and the exterior gets bombarded depending where you park. I'd be asking for a nice "mess" in my interior if I parked with the top down.

I'll check those RO's out. Think the civic needs a clay/polish just to get the rail dust and dealer provided swirls out. Fortunately white hides them pretty well. But if I plan to get a clear bra on the front end they'll need a good surface to work with. Figure a clear bra would be worthwhile since white doesnt really hide rock chips. My front end could look like chocolate chip ice cream if I'm not careful.

Yesterday was spent going up and down a 32' tall ladder to do some house repairs. Needless to say I was exhaust after going up and down it for the better part of 3 hours.

Today is installing my replacement Visor, yup the ebay seller came thru. Removing my Kicker door speaker to send in for warranty....tweeter decided to "pop" during some light listening (lame). Maybe wash the cars...depending on weather...seems risky lol.

 

yah, i too kinda worry about people that park their verts open.. even in garage structures cause there are birds flying around at times haha

shinjari- you can go without an RO but it just makes the work that much faster to do. and good call on the clearbra. it's a very good investment if you plan on keeping your car for a while. you can buy pre-cut ones online and install them yourself i u want to save money.
it's not super difficult to do but time consuming. just keep your fingers wet at all times while handling the adhesive side. over white, some accidental over stretching you might induce will hide very well.

good deal on the replacement visor. cool that ur seller came through. very good. yah, im not washing my GTI this weekend either. i just dusted and vac'ed the interior and dressed up the tires.

 

motored my R this am, had a great time. i luv the fact noone bugs me while im in my R. a few vdub fans giving me a thumbsup here and there is about all the attention i get.

spot QD'ed to remove bugs.. inspected the diffuser rivets. they are holding well as they should. re-torqued the lugs one last time. all is good. i luv the car. will take her out again tomorrow am.

 

Yeah due to the curves on the front end, not sure I want to tackle a clear bra.

Either of you guys familiar with ceramic paint coatings?

Firstly gonna get quotes for the front end bra and maybe roof wrap.

Installed driver visor. Gotta pay attention on how to install it. You have to be very particular with how you install this. If you bend it one way (compress/trying to make visor have a sharper angle) it'll curve away from the window. But if you bend it away (tension/trying to straighten the visor) it'll curve towards the window.

I got about 1/8-1/4" space between visor and window...so lets hope heat/sun doesnt warp it or whatever. Time will tell.

Also installed my non-illuminated door sill protectors.


Ordered on September 1st and arrived 2 weeks later on September 15th all the way from China to Cali.




Easy to install. Just had to space them out properly on each side.

 

cool sills! definitely makes the door jam look nicer.

dressup those plastic door panels before they scuff further! i use Prima Nero but Aerospace303 is good too. 50/50 with distilled water is all you need.

ceramic paint coating.. like opticoat or watever? i dont bother. i use polymer sealants.

 

probably ask why? right? cause ceramic coating still swirls.

prevention goes a much longer way. like using the right tools and techniques to wash a car..and keeping the surface clean from contaminants. also having a dd for ur hobby car (biggest meaningful tool).

another is the lets be real factor.. if it's ur dd, swirls and haze are probably one of the last things to worry about. you got dumbfak door dingers, stupid landrapers blowing rocks at ur ride while parked, rocks and debris flying into your bumper while driving, people bumping into your ride with their bags, getting keyed, or getting rubbed by their car bumpers, etc. etc etc ceramic coating doesnt do much besides maybe buying u more time when a bird decides to do a post-tacohell explosion on ur paint.

best protection for ur beloved rides is having a dd and keeping ur ride garaged.

for dd, clearbra and washing frequently using the right techniques, using sealants frequently is the best way to protect ur ride.

 

Put 300 miles on the S2000 today. Took an architecture tour, had lunch with friends I hadn't seen in way too long & paid respects to a friend who would've turned 28 yesterday. Great day of motoring & life in general.



Is this the new Fitfreak chat thread for the few of us left from the good days? Lol.

 

cool picture, mike! RIP to ur friend, im sure he is very happy u stopped by.
sounds like you had a great motoring day too.

yep, been here since 2007.. haha almost 10yrs!

 

Congrats on your almost 10-year anniversary here, ken!