took a quick 2hrs to wash and detail as i dried the Z.

also swapped a license plate screw on the GE that was rusting for some reason. all others were not rusting. hummm.... anyway, looks good again. these small details really make a car look good or crap.

 

about the beading water in the previous page... let me mention this before a smartarse novice detailer tells me i want the paint to sheet water.

actually no... on a car like my hobby car it is preferred to bead water as i dont usually wash the car, rather just QD (quick detailer spray like SpeedShine) it after a drive on a dry day. which means i dont want the QD to run off the paint when i mist. i want it to stay there and bead so that my towel has maximum lubricity when i wipe off the dust.

you want sealants that sheet water on dd's. that' because most folks (including me) do not QD their dailydrivers and just wash it. dd's are also prone to rain/water sprinklers, etc and sun beating on it so you WANT the water to run off the paint.

there is a reason why i want the water to bead on my Z's paint. on the GE and G35C, different story...i want it to sheet off so i use polymer sealants on them.

 

not much action today car wise.. and got rain in the forecast for a few days. im glad i got gas during my lunch cause i hate getting gas in the first place but + rain, even worse.

 

the other day i made the mistake of cleaning the G's glass on the outside using Prima Clarity. what happens is Clarity is a very effective glass cleaner... so effective my wiper blades bounce when it wipes the glass. lol i never have this problem using other cleaners such as my griot's WindowCleaner.

so after the drive in the rain i put some RainX on the glass to give it the nice water repellant and lubricant to prevent wiper bounce.

here's a quick and easy way to apply RainX:
1. clean your glass.
2. spray RainX into a paper towel and apply onto the glass in a circular motion. Do not get on any of the seals as it will make them turn white.

3. after the glass has a nice haze, spray some distilled water onto the glass.

4. using a MF towel for glass (very short weave) wipe off the water and haze.

no smears on the glass and end result is a very even layer of RainX.

 

looks like weather's holding up so im thinking about washing my G tonight after work.

should be a quick 15-20min wash and dry.

to aid my drying process i use my shopvac in blower mode to get water out of the nooks before i blot dry the car. this way i dont have to worry about endless water dripping out from side mirrors, trims, etc. hahaha. also with 3pcs wheels i like to get the water out from the inner rim channel area as well.

 

so i managed to make some time to wash my G last night and everything went real smooth. car was perfectly shaded from the house so no issue with rushing to dry the car. lol

i ordered up this ProClip holder thingie for my droidx and will be clipping that on hopefully before the weekend. my cars are MT so i dont like fumbling with the phone...sit, clip the phone, and forget about it. i can manage to drive with only my legs chances are i will need my hands to dodge stupid idiots not paying attention to the road.

im thinking about getting something similar for the wife so she can clip her bb on the GE when needed as well.

 

got my tracking number for my droidx bracket. hope to have it in my hands soon.

i noticed they started making a headrest bracket for the ipad (kinda like the rear-seat entertainment setup you see on lux sedans/suv's) . im not a ipod/iphone user but have been a pretty big fan of macs for my music stuff. once the price comes down on these tablets i'll get one of those headrest brackets for my cars as well. this way kids can watch avi movies while in the GE on longer trips.

 

drove my GE to the homedepot yesterday to pickup a 3-pole light switch gut for our kitchen's ceiling light. the one in the wall was intermittently cutting out so before any electrical fires, wanted to replace it.

the Fit is great for these short errand trips.

while i was at homedepot i picked up a few other items and a can of Plasti-Dip. some lexus folks and z folks were using it to blacken their emblems. appeared like a super easy thing to do, just mask off the general area and spray the emblem, after it dries just peel back the surrounding area you didnt want around the emblem. it turned out great. ... but it gave my Z a cheap look so i removed it. worked great as everyone mentioned...

but here's wat happened next.

the thing about this spray is that unlike regular spraypaint it's like a spray adhesive. the dust particles in the overspray has adhesive so my entire car was covered in this thin sticky layer of plasti-dip. this was the first time using this product so i didnt know. i mean, i read the instructions and it said to use in a well ventilated area with non-breezy conditions so thought my garage would be perfect. doesnt warn about sticky overspray dust just casually says to cover surroundings from overspray like any other spray paint.

i paint car bits in my garage often and have never had issues with overspray dust actually STICKING to things so didnt think too much of it while i sprayed 4 coats.

anyway, it was a huge pita to clean off my cars cause you guys know i keep my cars cleaner than most showroom cars. not to mention my G was also in the garage, my tool case, my detailing cart, mobile cart, etc. was basically a big waste of time.

if you ever end up in this same situation here's a list of products i used to remove this crap:

1. claybar and detailer spray.
2. RC car motor spray (or RC nitro engine cleaner) into a MF towel.

the RC car motor spray worked very well in the worst areas. it removes wax while cleaning so i just SprayOn Wax'ed the entire car when i was done.

for very mild contaminated areas i used my usual Griot's yellow super soft claybar. it's a gooey messy bar but very gentle on the paint.

needless to say... not going to use this product ever again for sure in my garage. lol

 

weather was real nice yesterday and also nice again today. upper 60F's in the am, about 80F mid-day. perfect weather for me. drove my G to work with window down and just enjoyed the short cruise.

i tried out the Proclip thingie for my DroidX this am. not bad. it's kinda close to my shifter when im in 1st gear but i'll get use to it. the bracket is solid and does not feel cheap at all. kinda pricy for wat it is (like $80 for the bracket and swivel holder) but well worth it.

i might get one down the road for my Z. yesterday i launched the car pretty hard on a empty backroad and my phone slipped out of my pants pocket down under the seat rails. lol had to step out of the car to find it. hahaha. LOL

as for the rest of the can of PlastiDip, i think im going to use it to coat the electronics in my RC car...especially my off-roader. this way i can do a mist&wipe after playing with the trucks in the dirt. hahaha.

 

thinking about getting a PLX Kiwi BT module + Torque app for android down the road for my Z. i dont really need it but just looks like a fun gadget to have.... and not too expensive. proclips also makes the holders for the Z so it should come in handy.

id like to mainly monitor coolant temp, ATI, MAF, something else. my car already has a oil temp and battery (and water). should be fun.

but first i want to buy those $20 gift creditcards before i use it to buy apps directly from my phone. i dont trust the security on the android platform...especially those input apps cause it tracks wat you type including your creditcard number, expiration date, security code, etc.

lately been working a lot on my music side so no new picts or car things. stuff like drum loops, vst instruments, etc. just screwing around wat my mac offers.

that plasti-dip ordeal took a good chunk of my time and energy so resting now. hahaahha

 

man this award notification thing at fitfreak is ANNOYING! wish they would stop this crap. i dont care wat award i have. i'll post when i can.

anywayz.... not much car action today. need to get more gas in the G. since about 4yrs ago a lot of pumps have a super sensitive spill-proof gas disengagement lock that it prevents my G from getting a full tank of gas each time. some pumps are better than others but on my G especially, there is only one station around my area that i know of that can pump all the way full. it seems it has to do with the angle of the pump's nozzle. the sharper the angle the more gas my G can fill.

the car has a 20gallon tank. which means when my fuel gauge shows ~1/4 full she should be able to take 14-15gallons. last time i could only get about 9 gallons. the pump would shut-off if i tried forcing more in so i dont do it cause it looks like some geezer trying to fill is buick all the way to the very lip. hahaha.

so, going to take the car to the known station tonight.... im tired of pumping gas every week.

i did some more digging on the wireless BT module for the OBD2 scanner + app for my DroidX. i think i will get the kiwi transmitter (great reviews) and Torque app when im ready.

 

facepalm last night when i made the wrong turn going out of our office parking lot forgetting i had to stop by 'the' Mobil that can fillup my G to the brim. lol i just said f- it and went to another mobil most convenient. dont have time for this kind of crap.

seems like my G likes Mobil better. lol. anyway, going to enjoy my drive home tonight.

havent done any photoshoots lately but if it's going to rain over the weekend i think im going to take some shots of my Z's interior in my garage and play with taking some shots of my tamiya plastic models i made long time ago. probably start with my mclaren honda.

 

Running my GE for a quick errand this am. Car's doing great. Still no wrench on the dash LCD for the next oil change. 30 oil life left. Near 24.5k miles.

 

How have I not ever seen this thread?

I'm so jealous of your Z, it looks so aggressive! Life's not fair.

 

hey, how's it going vanct!

thanks on the Z. the car is pretty much everything id want in a street driven sports car. it's fast but not super fast so keeping things fun, its small but not too small keeping things very stable at any speed, its firm yet very forgiving ride, MT, RWD, etc. all while being very affordable for a dad like me with 2 kids, 2 other cars, a house, kids' college funds to save up for, retirement, etc.

i too agree life's not fair. there are so many things i want that i can't even buy... i just live with wat i got to the max.

 

I agree, it seems like a very well rounded, fun car. If I could afford it, I would have either that or a GTR.

Do you still have your GD3? I notice it's not in your sig. If not, how come you got rid of it?

 

Vanct- i was actually looking at getting the GTR before release... but as soon as i heard it only comes in AT (electronic clutch) i decided not to pursue it. it'd be on the high-end for me but it wasn't out of the question.

my roads here are mostly straight so a fast AT car would just make it too stable and boring to drive. honestly it'll just become a bragging conversation piece for me which i dont really care for... if they ever release a MT one and if im still interested in spending that kind of money on one, i'll get one for sure.

for now my Z's plenty fast for me and does wat it needs to do... which is to give me an engaging drive and excitement when i see her. if i can do this with all the bits for around 35K, why not just keep the car and use the other 60K+ on other things like saving up for retirement, my other hobbies, college funds for kids, etc. that's where im at right now.

yah, GD's gone. the thing about the GD for me was it was only intended to be my temporary dd anyway while my 2nd kid got big enough to get in/out of my G35C. it was too much of a hassle with a toddler and a baby + stroller to carry. the G has almost no cargo space... i call it the rear glove box. now that both of them can get in/out on their own (and no more stroller) i use my G on a daily basis. wife uses the GE during the weekdays i use it sometimes at night to go shopping.

the only thing i really hate about my GE is its AT. but wife can't drive MT so i have to live with this. its not terrible as a AT, i just cant stand the disconnected feel of the torque converter.

 

moved the GE from the right side of the driveway to the left side of the driveway today. woo, wat excitement..! basically i needed to get it out of the way for tomorrow. i dont drive my G on the weekends and use my GE so i have my wife park the GE behind the G every friday night. funny, i just realized my GE is my weekend car. lol

motored my Z today and had a good time. i made sure to place my droidx in the cupholder in preparation for sudden g-force. hahaha... didnt fly out of my pocket today.

 

not much car action today.... was nice and cool this am and was a joy to drive my G to work. looking forward to my drive home.

did some chores and home re-arranging projects yesterday and i believe the GE's going to be used again sometime this week for a quick trip to homedepot.

now that it's getting a tad cooler im going to schedule my painting at home. i think im going to start with the garage ceiling first. it's been 2yrs since the roof was repaired for a small (but major) leak, no sign of any further leaking so im going to paint the ceiling now. then im going to paint the kitchen and breakfast area.

 

I understand this feeling completely, mine is an AT and I keep wishing I had gotten an MT. I now drive solely in S mode with the paddles to eke out every bit of control and power that I can. Unless paddles/ATs get better, I think I will be getting an MT next time around.