Joely P

That's a tasty looking Z you've created there matey, good job [emoji106] Not normally a fan of smoothing the swage lines but that looks great.

I can't watch it as I'm currently on my phone! But I had the same problem with a GoPro video which turned out to be the soundtrack I used in the video and copyright issues.

As Stephen says, the rear camber is adjustable using the eccentric bolts. You don't have excessive camber on that car so I think it's unlikely a camber issue causing that wear. I would take it to a reputable alignment company with a decent system like a Hunter and have it checked. Don't use the places that just hang a reflector over the rear wheels and laser from the front. I would also suggest a quick dig for the original alignment settings to take with you as alot of these systems don't have the car listed, or have incorrect figures stored. How many mm of tread are remaining on the outer section? The tyres look fairly well worn, were they fitted when you purchased the car or have you had them fitted since?

You should probably remove me from that equation as I was limping through the Gorge with a butchered coolant hose, on my last credit, driving like everything was 100%! Since that trip though, I replaced the hoses, flushed the system and purchased a new OEM clutch, fan and rad cap (which i suspect was the cause of my issue, holding too much pressure, along with a 23 year old rubber pipe!).

It seems the organisers have postponed this until 27th August. I'm not sure why but as the organisation seems very sketchy/slow and the fact I'm working that day, I'm out! The link on Facebook still exists for those still interested.

Not seen the black rings installed before, will make a nice change. Put a pic up when they're fitted [emoji106]

Mine probably has some white dots on it, there's fricking polish everywhere!

Gary, you've been around long enough to know the coolant temp gauge doesn't work like that! When the needle drives up to "H" then it's overheating (likely followed by a catastrophic failure!), that position will be the normal operating temp for that gauge (they all vary slightly).

Welcome to the club buddy [emoji106]

Bare with him Ian, it really is worth it and eventually you'll appreciate his humour/character. (Maybe [emoji1])

The coolant temp will likely not change at all in normal conditions and everything will be fine and dandy but the position of the thermostat for the same conditions will probably be different. This will change the cooling potential of the system to continue working efficiently in extreme conditions such as track use or heavy traffic on a hot summers day. I like to call it a buffer zone and as Andrew suggests, it may be too late by the time you realise you have exceeded that buffer! If you find the CFM and science of the cooling system boring, what reason do you have to fit an electric fan, what's your motive to experiment?

Ok, I'll have a play around. I just thought with the white pad being the finest cut and the 205 being the finest cutting compound, combining the 2 should give the best possible finish?

I've noticed after my final pass with a white pad/205 that there are still remanence of tiny swirls. You have to get really quite close to spot them and they're difficult to pick up on a video but I managed to capture it in the video below. (The swirly section I move into for contrast is an area prepped by the orange pad/105 and is as expected for a cutting finish) https://vimeo.com/167252754 It's worth noting that after the final white pad pass and initial buffing of the area yesterday, these swirls were practically invisible. However, it seems that as soon as I prepare the surface for sealing with a light spritz of IPA (I've also tried QD), once I've very gently wiped it off with a waffle weave, it uncovers more swirls. My question is: - do you think it's possible that I've reached the limitation of the 205 on my paint type (it seems remarkably soft - I witnessed putting in fine scratches with the eagle edgeless trying to remove a stubborn polish mark! - or do I simply need to continue until these (possibly just deeper) swirls have gone and make sure my technique is on point?

Stick with the stock, shrouded viscous fan. A properly working viscous can shift upwards of 6000CFM on max chat. Sure it will zap a bit of power at that speed but it'll keep your engine comfortable. If you have viscous issues, a brand new replacement item is a worthwhile investment.

Look forward to seeing the pipes, what outlets have you gone for, quads?

Haha, great find [emoji106]

Im sure there several different combos and methods but to avoid confusion I strictly followed the technique in the Junkman guides. This taught me to use the 105 with the orange pad for a bigger cut and finish with the 205 on a white pad. With experience I'm sure I'll learn other tricks but this simple technique is effective enough for a novice like me I think.

Update: I had a good 5 hours go at this today and finally lost my machine polishing virginity! I gave the bonnet a good claying and tested it with a baggie. For photographic effect, I decided to mask off my starting area. Here's a quick reminder of what I'm working with: https://vimeo.com/167169979 After my first pass with a white pad primed with M205, this was the result: https://vimeo.com/167170053 It still has a fair amount of swirl damage remaining, but for 1 pass the difference is significant. I gave it another couple of passes and it was looking a lot better but I wasn't happy as it left a few of the small, deeper swirls behind. Result of 3 white passes shown on the right here with the untouched finish on the left: I then decided to break out the orange pad as I thought 4+ passes over the whole car would be excessive (the paint condition is very similar all over). I made an executive decision at this point to break the Junkman rules by moving onto the area next to where I had been working; the reason for this was simply so I could experience and compare cut-rates between 1 pass of orange with M105 to 3 passes of white with M205. With 1 pass of the orange pad primed with M105 on a fresh area (working a bit more on a couple of concentrated, deeper scratches), the finish had slightly less swirls than the 3 white/205 passes area. Happy with that, I gave the first area a quick breeze over with the orange/105 to even the finish. This was the result: https://vimeo.com/167173061 I finished it off with a couple of white/205 passes over the 2 areas (separately) and was happy with the finish. I removed the "non-residue" masking tape (that left a residue!) and wow, what a difference: https://vimeo.com/167173863 Time had flown by and the kids were home from school so I sprayed my pads with a 10:1 solution of Megs APC from a foaming sprayer and left them to dwell whilst I tidied up cleaning them afterwards as per the pad cleaning video (worked a treat). I followed the Junkman's guides to the letter and I think it was a very successful start to this project and my introduction into machine polishing. By the end I had a good feel for the speed and general use of the Das6, I will hopefully get another few hours to do some more tomorrow, probably quite a bit more now I'm more familiar. A big recommendation from me if anyone is considering taking the plunge and tackling this job themselves using the Junkman's technique. It's likely I will not update the thread for a while as it will just be more of the same (and it's a pain to keep stopping to take pictures!) so I'll keep plodding along with this over the coming weeks/months. Joel.

Could be blue!

Funky "plastic tyre" Simon better not put that horrible stuff on my tyres again!

Thanks for your advice again matey. Always nice to hear different opinions and experiences, one thing I have learnt in this game is that, with the vast array of products on the market, there are many conflicting and strong opinions as to the right or wrong way of doing things! As for sealant, I've only ever used AG EGP so far but that powermaxed stuff looks easier to work with being able to spray on glass and rubber [emoji106] Will have to get me a bottle of that, I had my eye on the CarPro Reload next. It feels like my detailing chemical stash is getting out of control, this picture doesn't include a cupboard and shelf full of other chemicals...

Great advice thank you. Does it matter what order wax and sealant is applied? I've always thought that sealant has to be applied before wax as the sealant doesn't bond properly onto wax.

What uses do you have for IPA? What does it do differently to the likes of an APC like G101? Do you clean the paint with neat IPA or a dilution? Would you recommend using a wax and a sealant on top of each other?

FYI: They are the pipes to your carbon canister.