Eidolon

Daiki Kasho - Day to Live

And if you can swing a V8... I apologize for the poor recording, but here's a quick snippet of my car taken with my cell phone with the windows down and the phone resting in the center console. That's 1-7/8" American Racing Headers long-tube headers, Magnaflow axlebacks, and a Vararam intake.

Can and will do/try. It is definitely less obvious already. It's just the rubber's obviously not as smooth as it once was. Better than splotchy, though!

I dunno if it would help or not. The trim isn't sticky at all. It's more like the chemical in the tape seeped into the trim and caused the rubber to expand. The surface of the trim is physically uneven. Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

So... I tried scrub-scrub-scrubbing with a utility towel and APC. I'm making progress, but I think I'm doing so only because the relative abrasiveness of the towel is actually taking off rubber. And it's still splotchy, unfortunately. Pics. For the heckuvit, I also tried some Goof Off and WD40. Of course, the Goof Off skipped removing the residue and went straight to removing the rubber. Meanwhile, the WD40 did NOSSINK. Anything else stronger I could try? Maybe actually chase it with some Revive, see if I couldn't intentionally take off the top layer of rubber? Otherwise I'm thinking I may have to break out the OEM chrome strips I've got and paint them like I did the trip above the windows, use double-sided trim tape to stick them in place, and consider these rubber-coated pieces as a write-off. Because of... tape. Somehow that almost seems ironic. I was wondering if someone would notice that. I have an appointment to get portions of the car rewrapped on Thursday. So the scoops are sitting on the table in my living room at the moment. No use putting them back in only to remove them again. That is, assuming the wrap guy wanted them removed.

Truth! It makes sense to have the tape seal more firmly when moistened with paint. That's the very time you don't want it coming loose. For my case, the thing that probably activated it and caused the splotchiness was actually the moisture from the generous spritzing with DS necessary to clay the car before polishing. I'd taped before I clayed in the hope that the tape would stick better if it got wet with DS rather than having to stick to trim that already had a layer of DS residue on it.

Thanks! About 11 hours on Saturday polishing, then 2 hours last night waxing with BG and Americana. There's still some slight spider-webbing on certain panels, so it's not perfect. But they're so slight the sun's reflection just about blinds me if I try to look for them. Hey, I'm glad you're right. It means I know what the issue is, how to avoid it next time, and hopefully it'll respond to the APC and come out of the pores. I just wish I'd known and hadn't used the wrong stuff! Which actually brings us to... By all means feel free to use them, no attribution needed, and let me know if I can get you any further information or shots of the trim. I'd prefer others not have this same issue. On that note, it's actually a darn good thing you guys now carry tape that is known safe.

Well... Crap. I double checked the roll after remembering that I have two rolls, one that's 0.5" in width and another that's 1.5" in width. I used the 1.5" on the door trim. Wouldn't you know it, it's #2093. Edge Lock. Lovely. I'd picked it up without knowing there was a difference. My 0.5" roll? Just regular tape. So if I'd used that, the trim would be fine. Anything that can be done to salvage the trim? It's unfortunately pretty noticeable in sunlight. Car otherwise looks good. Though there's still some tiny scratch marks beneath the door trim. Looks like I didn't spend enough time on it with FMP.

Will do. I'll double check the roll, too, make sure it is what I think it is.

Just the basic stuff, blue paper low-tack tape. No text printed on the tape itself.

I haven't, but it seems a good plan of attack. I can tape up the paint so as not to strip the wax, then try attacking the trim. You're referring to the black/gray utility towels, right? I've got a few I can break out. The rubber coating is still in place, but there's definitely a texture to it. I'm not sure which is the part that's been affected by the tape, though, and which part is just the trim. I don't have the car right in front of me, unfortunately. I'll have to go look at it again at lunchtime, get a better pic of it.

Yup, I tried some isopropyl. No effect. I'm hesitant to try Goo Gone on rubber. So near as I can tell - after trying a fingernail this morning - it's not a sticky film. I dunno what it is.

So for my G8 I purchased some OEM Holden trim to go atop the doors. It's metal with a rubberized coating so that it's a nice matte black. I'd taped up the trim to polish the car and pulled it when done so I could coat it with Super VRT. While so doing, I noticed the trim had become splotchy. I can only guess that this is the effect of the tape adhesive, as it appears that the trim has swollen from it. I used 3M blue painter's tape for this job. Any advice on how to correct this? Will it fix itself in time, is there anything I can do to hasten the recovery, or am I looking at replacing my trim?

Flex, SHR, FMP, MSS. Tomorrow it's glaze and wax. Then the tape can come off. Things that irk me about polishing! Tape-up. Of course, taping up the plastics on the car to protect them from polish work and especially from waxes. But it appears that Adams products have done their job keeping the plastics from drying out because tape just will NOT stick securely to the plastics and rubber on this car! I even specifically avoided treating with VRT beforehand! Yargh! Exhaustion. 11 hours of work, pressing a polisher up against the car, sitting down and standing up repeatedly, means my body wears out, and by the end of the ordeal I'm struggling to stand up, maintain my balance, and control the polisher because my muscles are just tired. So by the end of the ordeal, I'm spending as much time swearing at my own body as I am at the polisher and my cantankerous halogen work lights (the cinches on the stand don't hold so it tends to collapse to its shortest position)! Buffing off wax and praying a piece of dirt didn't get caught in your buffing cloth that will put a few marks in your paint and make you break out the polish aaaaall over again.

Pondering a G8? The answer is yes. Especially when maintained with Adams.

I'm trying the Flex today, and I gotta say I love it so far. It's definitely quiet enough to not annoy, and it feels hefty in your hands. Hit the trigger all the way and it actually automatically ramps the speed up. It's got some electronic intelligence built in! The handle on it is also TERRIFIC, and makes it easy to hold onto and control. The handle on the PC is off to the side, which makes no sense whatsoever because you hold it near the cord with one hand and use the handle with the other, which means you're actually applying pressure off-center on the pad. So you end up not using the handle and just resting your hand on the housing, which just about vibrates your hand off. The Flex is smooth, and the handle lets you line up both hands to ensure the pressure is centered on the pad. Perfect!

So this made me laugh, and I'm posting this both to help others and to double check that what I'm thinking is happening is probably what's happening. Car sits in the garage most of the time these days, it's been months since the last waxing, and the car's probably been washed two or three times since then and driven probably 1000 to 2000 miles. Maaaybe 3000. But I didn't believe there would be any wax left on the car, since some swirling was visible (year and a half since the last polishing, after all), so I didn't wash it with Dawn to try to strip it. Car was washed and clayed first. Brand new Flex, brand new Gen4 pads, three pea-sized dollops of FMP, and a shot of detail spray just like in the latest video. After running the Flex starting with the white pad and FMP, speed on 5, I pulled the pad and wiped the car clean with a double soft towel only to discover what I could best describe as "ghosting" on the surface of the paint. Detail spray would not remove it. Here are two example shots. You can see what I'm talking about "below" the lights reflected on the hood, which is directionally to the right in the actual photograph. They look like hazy banding on the paint. Hopped on the forums and found a thread about stripping the car before polishing. Huh. The ghosting did look kind of like wax hazing. I had a bottle of isopropyl/water mix in the garage, so I went back out, sprayed some of that on, and... the ghosting started slowly coming off. That's what got me laughing. Adams waxes are just too good! They stick! So I'm pretty sure this is left over wax that I just didn't remove before starting to polish. So I'll hit the panels with isopropyl and a great white towel to remove the wax before I continue polishing. Sound like a good analysis/fair course of action?

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Good grief, I have no idea how some of you afford these places! I'm a single computer engineer employed in the telecom industry with a Masters degree, but looking at some of these places makes me feel downright poor! I'm currently a renter. I was hoping to buy my first place later this year, but that might get pushed out a bit to allow more savings, less penny pinching, and more certainty on my part about location. I'll be looking at under $200k, though. Probably closer to $160k. ... And no, the Adams products are not helping with the savings. Good grief, do I want a Flex. Of course, I haven't even touched the Gen III pads for my PC that I ordered a few months back. Car's in need of some serious love.

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That's good to hear because I was just looking around at such options last night. I'll have to give one of them a call.

Any status on this, by the way? I'm looking at trying to fix up one of my wheels as well.

A darn good suggestion. I picked up a few of the brushes myself, at Lowes, last week. Haven't had a chance to use them yet. The 50/50 VRT mix was suggested in a video for the engine bay, but using it on the grille is a brilliant idea. Thanks for the idea!

I unfortunately literally do not have the time. It's just not an option. I'll have to clay it again next time.

Well, thanks all for the tips. In the end, I have good news and bad news. First, the bad news. I didn't have time to hit the car again with the Fine Machine Polish and then the superwax. So, unfortunately, all it's got at the moment is a wash, clay, and then FMP/SHR mixed polish job. The good news? It looks GOOD. I used VRT on the tires, buffed the polish off with the super plush towel, and then went the extra mile afterward and used the leather conditioner to treat the interior. The car looks ... amazing. Pictures! Obviously there's still some spots I will, unfortunately, have to go back and hit later. The swirls are gone, but there are some deeper scratches remaining here and there that could use the attention. It still looks better now, though, than it has since I first brought it home. So I'll be taking this thing on a 600 mile road trip to Tennessee tomorrow, so I REALLY wish I'd had the time to get the wax on it. That said, what do you guys recommend I do to it next chance I get? This is a clay and polish job. Would I be clear to move on to a wash, fine polish, and finally a wax next time?