New to Toyota - 2005 Corolla Sportivo!

[Squalled]

Weather has been pretty spot on lately, decided to give the beast a maintenance wash since I had some free time last weekend.

Decided this time around to use 'Yellow Snow' since I haven't used this foam for a little while. Was mostly curious to see how well it would clean the initial dust and grime off on the new HydrO2 coating. After allowing the foam to dwell for well over 5 minutes I rinsed it off and pleasantly surprised to find that literally 95%+ of the dirt and grime had come off with the foam rinse. I had a good look around and still decided to wash the car properly seeing as there was still some bits of grime around. Was honestly one of the easiest washed I've done in a long time, had to use very little effort to remove the remaining crud and it was one of the quickest washes too.

After the wash I found the coating to still feel nice and slick and beading fairly well on all the panels. I know it's only been 2 weeks since I applied the coating so we'll see in the long run if it can last to the 4-6 months I've seen around the internet.

Overall pretty happy well the car presents these days. I think I'll eventually do a de-con wash and apply another coating of some sort when I have more time but with the HydrO2 coating currently, I couldn't recommend it more. I've seen some mixed things about it online but personally I quite like it so it's worth a try. If you're up for trying it, there are smaller bottles available at least so it's not to hard on the wallet.

Stay tuned.

[Tony Prodigy]

12 hours ago, Squalled said:

Was mostly curious to see how well it would clean the initial dust and grime off on the new HydrO2 coating. After allowing the foam to dwell for well over 5 minutes I rinsed it off and pleasantly surprised to find that literally 95%+ of the dirt and grime had come off with the foam rinse. I had a good look around and still decided to wash the car properly seeing as there was still some bits of grime around. Was honestly one of the easiest washed I've done in a long time, had to use very little effort to remove the remaining crud and it was one of the quickest washes too.

That's the beauty of having a slick coating. Makes maintenance washing a breeze, especially when using a snow foam pre soak. If you have the time and discipline, you could make it a fortnightly routine to keep it from getting too soiled and simply breeze through it. Unlike myself, who's a glutton for punishment, much to the tyranny of a hectic lifestyle both on the work and home fronts, I sometimes don't get around to doing mine in a timely manner. At the very least I take comfort knowing that my cars are coated and even though they're dirty, thy still have protection of sorts. A good pre soak and pressure wash will solve that. 

I have both my Aurion and the Colorado to do soon as they have been neglected for a few months already.

Car looks great as always mate. Nice work 

[charlizetivo]

Nice man looking sexy as always haha

[Squalled]

Not much to add this time around, recently filled up with petrol after over a month of not having to given the lack of driving I do these days and the distance I go.

Over the last few weeks or so it's been quite windy and we've also had rain here and there so I decided to give the car a maintenance wash.

The car was covered a nice layer of dust and little bits of road grime here and there. It hasn't been this dusty in quite a while so I thought it would be good to see how well the snow foam removes the dust.

Left the foam to sit for over 5 minutes to get the dust off and loosen the road grime. After washing it off I was pleasantly surprised to find that all the dust was gone and 90% of the road grime had gone. The HydrO2 coating still seems to be working quite well even after a month since it was applied making the dust and grime a lot easier to remove compared to previous years where I found the dust on uncoated painted quite annoying to remove.

Car was all nice and clean again which proved to be pointless as the wind just put more dust and rubbish on the car but of course, it's supposed to rain either today or tomorrow. Oh well what can I do 😅

Really looking forward to having more freedom soon, really looking forward to taking the beast for some long drives to the twisties again. It's being a long time!

Stay tuned.

[Tony Prodigy]

Nice work mate. Having a nice slick coating on it certainly makes it easier to wash and reduce the possibility of wash induced marring.

Similar situation here for me. I hadn't washed washed our Aurion since posting my last thread entitled "My Epic Detailing Weekend".

I used Turtlewax Hybrid Solutions Ceramic Spray coating wax. I put two layers on the bonnet and one coat everywhere else. It was pretty much dead on the roof and boot lid except the bonnet and sides, which were somewhat depleted but still had some sheeting ability despite close to zero beeding. Not bad for around 4 months with no maintenence wash or top up sealant. The car sits outside everyday.

I gave it a nice soak like you did and got it cleaned up properly and this time I applied two coats of the Graphene infused Flex Wax. I'll try not leave it for another four months this time and see how it compares to the Ceramin Spray Coat Wax. I can say with certainty that the Flex Wax definitely has a slicker feel.

We're expecting rain here in Sydney this week (you see. I made it rain again !!, damn it), and I'll see how it resists road grime etc. 

 

[Squalled]

21 hours ago, Tony Prodigy said:

Nice work mate. Having a nice slick coating on it certainly makes it easier to wash and reduce the possibility of wash induced marring.

Similar situation here for me. I hadn't washed washed our Aurion since posting my last thread entitled "My Epic Detailing Weekend".

I used Turtlewax Hybrid Solutions Ceramic Spray coating wax. I put two layers on the bonnet and one coat everywhere else. It was pretty much dead on the roof and boot lid except the bonnet and sides, which were somewhat depleted but still had some sheeting ability despite close to zero beeding. Not bad for around 4 months with no maintenence wash or top up sealant. The car sits outside everyday.

I gave it a nice soak like you did and got it cleaned up properly and this time I applied two coats of the Graphene infused Flex Wax. I'll try not leave it for another four months this time and see how it compares to the Ceramin Spray Coat Wax. I can say with certainty that the Flex Wax definitely has a slicker feel.

We're expecting rain here in Sydney this week (you see. I made it rain again !!, damn it), and I'll see how it resists road grime etc. 

 

Well as always, it rained last night but checking this morning the coating still seems to be beading quite stronly on the roof, bonnet and rear bumper so I'm pretty happy with it so far.

I'm thinking of doing a decon wash before we get into summer so if I do, I'll be documenting it for sure!

[Squalled]

Another year of owning the Sportivo today. 6 years ago after crashing my Honda Prelude I bought it with no real intentions of keeping it for all too long but after the modifying bug bit me harder than ever before, the Sportivo has being far to good to let go.

From the moment I had the accident, I was looking at replacing the car. Deep down, I had a bad feeling that I wasn't going to be able to keep it and repair it. I began looking for another 5th generation Prelude but at the time, there was really nothing around that was worth looking at. The only one's I did find, despite having lower kms than my one looked to be poorer condition. Although I was close to moving into a silver 1998 model Prelude, I decided to explore my other options to try something different.

Initially I was looking into DC5 Integra Type S' as I thought it was a more modern alternative to a Prelude and in doing so, I also began looking into Sportivo's as well as they were from roughly the same vintage (2003-2005). After doing some calculations on the running costs, I found the Sportivo was much easier to find in my price range, cheaper to insure and run as a daily driver compared to the DC5. After looking around on Carsales and Gumtree for a Sportivo, I had my eye set on a silver 2005 model as I'd decided initially at the time, I wasn't the biggest fan of the pre facelift.

Here's how I saw it listed online, basically a completely stock standard Sportivo with then, under 150000 kms (had 1449xx kms at the time) which is what I was after. Other than minor things such as a stubby antenna, window tint and visors it was as stock as rock even down to the airbox and headunit. This was the first and only Sportivo I looked at and after inspecting it, taking for a drive and getting some of the cons from the owner who was a super honest bloke, we settled on a price, much less than what he wanted originally but he was quite happy as there were some minor problems I found along the way that reflected the price drop.

Did all the usual paper work and handover while chatting to the owner about his time with the car as he was only the 2nd owner and had owned it for well over 5 years at the time and like most Sportivo owners, he was quite gutted he had to sell it. I popped my p plates on and off I went with my mate back home to do the usual show off to your mates on your new car.

Here's how it arrived home 6 years ago. From this day I began quite a journey to get the car to a state where I'm genuinely proud to own it. I've been through the ups and downs of ownership experiencing gearbox and clutch issues, wearing out engine mounts and losing guard liners (which I should really replace by now 😂) but I wouldn't change a thing. It's being a part of my life even from the early days when I met my partner and even she knows I'll never be able to bring myself to part ways with it.

Along the way I've met a heap of new people I'm now lucky enough to call mates and without them and my already existing group of mates it probably wouldn't be where's it's at today. So I have a big thank you as always to all the people that have helped and done the hard work to help me.

Here's the guise it was in for the longest period before reaching the point where it is today, at 258xxx kms below.

Here's to another year of ownership!

[Squalled]

Decided to give the beast a wash finally since the weather looked to be pretty good. Of course, it had to rain over night but the coating I applied seemed to repel most if not all the water and I can barely see any water marks on panels. Also decided to give my muffler a polish and it seems to be a lot shinier than before along with repelling the water much better now.

Here's the final clean result before the rain hit late last night. Weather looked bad but the radar said otherwise.

Got out and about in the evening before the rain eventually came.

[Tony Prodigy]

14 hours ago, Squalled said:

Of course, it had to rain over night

Haha, I had the same thought when I woke up yesterday morning. Speaking of course of my Colorado, which I had given a very decent going over the previous week then adding two generous coats of Turtle Wax's Flex Wax. A very nice slick coating it provided and throughout the week I was able to keep it clean with a spritz of O.N.R., a gentle wipe over then a good rinse and towel dry. The overnight rain on Saturday night just gave it another rinse for me and so I was just able to wipe it over with my microfiber towel, after a quick rinse with the hose first. There is some joy in having a slick coating as you mentioned, making it much easier to keep clean.

As some may know I don't have a car port or any such protection from the elements where I live and so my cars have to live outside. I try my best to keep them both as clean as possible, but the weather is a forboding adversary. Construction of a carport has just begun mind you, having erected all the posts just yesterday with the help of awesome Dad. At last I will have some shelter, something I've been procrastinating about for the last ten years lol...

No more frosty, dew, hot sun, bird poo etc to deal with. Bird poo is the biggest annoyance. It's funny how birds know where the "just washed" cars are parked, because almost always, after having done an epic wash, I come ouside later for an inspection and surely enough, there are dozens of those small poop spots everywhere, Arrrgghh !!!.  Rant over 😜

Anyways, your car looks great as always mate. It has a nice healthy glow. 

Edited September 26, 2021 by Tony Prodigy

[Squalled]

Update time.

With the storm that rolled through this week I was very very fortunate despite the hail and the size of some of the hail stones I spotted while my car was parked at work in the open, that my car didn't get any damage what so ever other than my already broken antenna being knocked out of it's place. After going over the car at least half a dozen times I've found no additional marks or dents from the storm. I count myself pretty lucky because I've seen what damage did happen to other people.

After the rain came through again yesterday it was quite a short and dirty storm leaving horrid dirty water marks everywhere. I ended up going for a quick drive last night to get back into the swing of living normally once again and all I can say is missed driving a lot! Despite only going for a quick drive it was so good to finally stretch the Sportivo's legs after only doing such short trips over the last 3-4 months.

Thankfully the weather was clear today despite it being windy and it should be clear for a few days at least so I got in a wash and protection top up this morning.

I once again used CarPro's HydrO2 finishing foam, this time also using a microfiber sponge to make sure the product was spread evenly over the panels before rinsing off. Once again, I was left with a super slick surface and awesome beading on practically every panel that I applied product to.

Waited a few hours for the car to dry a bit before heading out for another short drive to get some photo's because you know, why not!

And one last one when the sun came out again.

Can really see the hints of champagne/gold through the silver in the sunlight.

Anyway not much too new other than that but, stay tuned for more.

Edited October 18, 2021 by Squalled

[Tony Prodigy]

I had just got home that afternoon and sat down at my desk when I heard the first few bangs. Then I looked outside and see hail coming down and thought NOOOOO !!!!. Not only was I was worried about my Colorado but the two skylights I have on my roof. The rear of the Colorado was protruding from the side wall of our house and the stones were coming in a Westerly direction. I cringed for the longest five minutes as I helplessly watched and waited for it to pass. I watched the Colorado get hammered by the hail and then as the hail stopped, we had a period of torrential rain. My thoughts then turned to my Aurion. Turns out my wife was on her way home and was caught up in it too. It got hammered by the hail and she was a little worried about my reaction when she told me about it. I couldn't bear to look at either car that afternoon, so I waited till the morning for the bad news. I just had this sinking feeling that they both sustained some kind of damage. I was getting ready to call my insurance too..

Upon checking both cars thoroughly, you would not believe it, neither car had a single ding despite the stones being quite sizeable. Wow, what a massive relief. The Gods were watching over me somehow, because I just knew it was going to be bad from the way the stones were striking. Then I had a thought.. Perhaps the slick coating may have had something to do with it, not sure, but there were reports of cars that got damaged. How my cars survived is nothing short of a miracle. Trust it to happen while I have my carport under construction too. The timing couldn't have been more perfect. 🙄

So now the cars are both covered in dust spots and need a decent wash. Hopefully next weekend.

Edited October 17, 2021 by Tony Prodigy

[Squalled]

4 hours ago, Tony Prodigy said:

I had just got home that aftyernoon and sat down at my desk when I heard the first few bangs. Then I looked outside and see hail coming down and thought NOOOOO !!!!. Not only was I was worried about my Colorado but the two skylights I have on my roof. The rear of the Colorado was protruding from the side wall of our house and the stones were coming in a Westerly direction. I cringed for the longest five minutes as I helplessly watched and waited for it to pass. I watched the Colorado get hammered by the hail and then as the hail stopped, we had a period of torrential rain. My thoughts then turned to my Aurion. Turns out my wife was on her way home and was caught up in it too. It got hammered by the hail and she was a little worried about my reaction when she told about it. I couldn't bear to look at either car that afternoon, so I waited till the morning for the bad news. I just had this sinking feeling that they both sustained some kind of damage. I was getting ready to call my insurance too..

Upon checking both cars thoroughly, you would not believe it, neither car had a single ding despite the stones being quite sizeable. Wow, what a massive relief. The Gods were watching over me somehow, because I just knew it was going to be bad from the way the stones were striking. Then I had a thought.. Perhaps the slick coating may have had something to do with it, not sure, but there were reports of cars that got damaged. How my cars survived is nothing short of a miracle. Trust it to happen while I have my carport under construction too. The timing couldn't have been more perfect. 🙄

So now the cars are both covered in dust spots and need a decent wash. Hopefully next weekend.

My thoughts exactly Tony! Where I was, we were getting anything from about 20 cent sized to around golf ball size consistently. It was a huge relief not having major damage and having to go through insurance. Another bonus was that my parents house wasn't damaged as well considering the last major hail storm we had back in 2015 caused all sorts of issues.

[Squalled]

Long time no updates. Honestly not much to really update as of recently. Have had a lot going on with life and work (positive things at least) and haven't had anything major to really add.

Gave the car a wash last week only for it to rain ever so lightly about 30 minutes later after I was done even though my local weather said it would only be overcast but, oh well. It did need a good clean after all the rain anyways.

During this time I found that my roof was sadly impacted by the hail storm not too long ago and I found roughly 20-30 small - maybe 50 cent sized dents all over the roof and maybe one or two on the bonnet. It must've been the right lighting since I'd never seen it prior and I only notice it at certain angles so I may end up getting a dent paintless dent removal done at some point but would need to look into it a bit more.

Suspension maintenance is ony my to-do list and I'm likely going to look at replacing the sway bar endlinks and lower control arms as I've got quite a bit of squeaking going on at the front but I'm also going to look into a coilover rebuild as I've done well over 100000 kms since I've installed them and they're also a bit noisy these days.

Stay tuned.

[Tony Prodigy]

54 minutes ago, Squalled said:

During this time I found that my roof was sadly impacted by the hail storm not too long ago and I found roughly 20-30 small - maybe 50 cent sized dents all over the roof and maybe one or two on the bonnet. It must've been the right lighting since I'd never seen it prior and I only notice it at certain angles so I may end up getting a dent paintless dent removal done at some point but would need to look into it a bit more.

Sorry to hear that mate. My Colorado was in my driveway at the time of that hail storm and although the left side of the car was protected mostly by the house wall and roof eave, I did spot one small ding on top of the passenger door and nowhere else despite the stones being quite large. It somehow survived ok.

I'd definitely look into the PDR treatment. Do you have insurance ? They could offer to have the car PDR'd rather than have it sit in a panel shop and get a mismatched paint job. That colour looks like a hard colour to paint match too, being a kind of silver metallic.

Hope it works out ok for you mate.

[Squalled]

22 hours ago, Tony Prodigy said:

Sorry to hear that mate. My Colorado was in my driveway at the time of that hail storm and although the left side of the car was protected mostly by the house wall and roof eave, I did spot one small ding on top of the passenger door and nowhere else despite the stones being quite large. It somehow survived ok.

I'd definitely look into the PDR treatment. Do you have insurance ? They could offer to have the car PDR'd rather than have it sit in a panel shop and get a mismatched paint job. That colour looks like a hard colour to paint match too, being a kind of silver metallic.

Hope it works out ok for you mate.

Yeah I thought I got lucky since it was out in the open during the storm.

Sure do, I had the same thought. The colour is silver metallic and has a bit of a gold/champagne mix through it as well so it's a bit of a pain to colour match. I'll see how I go but in all honesty the dents are quite small and there isn't 100s of them either so I think it'll work out fine 🤞

[Squalled]

Finally got around to doing my oil change over the weekend. Have been super busy lately and the weather hasn't helped either since I can only really do it outside.

This time I got it all done in relatively quick time since I actually decided to turn the filter the correct way to remove it. It had been just a tad over 6 months since my last oil change and I had not even reached 5000 kms yet mostly due to lockdown but the oil was still quite black but in saying that, it still doesn't burn a huge amount of oil considering it's done over 260000 kms now and runs 5W-30 full synthetic.

Not much new coming for remainder of the year at this stage but I'll keep the thread updated.

[campbeam]

8 hours ago, Squalled said:

It had been just a tad over 6 months since my last oil change and I had not even reached 5000 kms yet mostly due to lockdown but the oil was still quite black

Oil being quite black in colour is a sign of high level of contamination and overdue for a change. Hopefully time and weather will provide you with an earlier opportunity for the next oil change.

[Squalled]

13 hours ago, campbeam said:

Oil being quite black in colour is a sign of high level of contamination and overdue for a change. Hopefully time and weather will provide you with an earlier opportunity for the next oil change.

Interesting, I mean this is probably the longest I have left it since it had been a tad over 6 months since I did the last oil change back in mid May. For the most part, each time I've done a change on time in the past it's usually a golden brown colour.

Luckily enough for me I'm in the process of moving house where I'll be able to do oil changes in my garage no matter what the weather is, so happy days!

[campbeam]

4 hours ago, Squalled said:

Interesting, I mean this is probably the longest I have left it since it had been a tad over 6 months since I did the last oil change back in mid May. For the most part, each time I've done a change on time in the past it's usually a golden brown colour.

Luckily enough for me I'm in the process of moving house where I'll be able to do oil changes in my garage no matter what the weather is, so happy days!

It is your own experience with your own vehicle that really matters. Happy days going forward so you can keep the oil change interval in that golden brown colour range

[Squalled]

Finally after what felt like an eternity I finally made my way back to Nasho. Caught up with Adam finally to have a run through with lockdowns stopping us earlier this year and of course the last few weeks of rubbish weather made it well and truly annoying to organise.

Took it fairly easy through and gave the car some juice through some of the tighter sections to stretch it's legs and my god I missed going for drives. I have a huge urge to go again but with double demerits fast approaching I don't think it's worth going through again until the new year.

While I was with Adam, he corrected a setting on the ECU so now my temperature gauge reads spot on as it did prior to the installation. As usual, it was literally a check box that needed to be unchecked that fixed the problem.

Adam also gave some new goodies for the interior as well. Earlier this year I received a prototype spring loaded cup holder that I had used rather successfully throughout the year but since I had received it, the design had been re-done and the spring loading removed.

It's a really neat and simple design that works really well. Each end piece has different sizes depending on the drink you have with one side allowing a bigger drink and the other allowing for a smaller drink. So far I've set both of the holders to the biggest size and it fit a 600ML water bottle perfectly. 

I also received another goodie from Adam. For a number of months he had been tooling with getting a gauge holder to work on the dash without using the aftermarket holder that most gauges come with. Since the ECU install, I had used the pod that had come with the gauge and mounted it to my dash near my A pillar.

And now here's the new mount (ignore the bolt as I need to get a shorter grub screw soon)

So now I have a gauge pod that's moulded into the demister vent and fits in so well with the interior. The angle of the gauge sits in the perfect spot and also sits a lot lower than my original aftermarket pod as well. Soon I will pull some of the trim off to tuck the cables away as I hadn't done this earlier in preparation for the new gauge pod so that may be one of the little jobs to do over Christmas or in the new year.

Stay tuned.

 

[Squalled]

Well that's 2021 wrapping up.

Managed to get a wash done a day or so ago since I have some time off work after another busy Christmas. Decided to apply the HydrO2 coating once again since I felt it was starting to get a bit weak but it was actually still holding on quite well as I noticed it beaded rather well during the rain. From memory I last applied it in October so it lasted well over 2 months and it still seemed to bead but I am doubtful of the 6 months they advertised on the packaging.

Pretty happy with how it turned it considering how dirty it ended up from all the on and off rain we've had. Also managed to get some black grub screws so I'll be installing one to hold my gauge in instead of the oversized bolt I have currently.

Hope you all have a great New Year and I'll update the thread in 2022.

[Squalled]

Long time no updates but here we are now, first update of 2022.

Nothing new in terms of modifications yet. I do have some mods in mind, mostly just replacement parts for worn down items that I've never had the chance to replace before. I've been super busy with work and life lately especially starting a new job last year and buying a home and moving out left me with not a lot of time to do all too much with the Sportivo. All of this couple with rubbish weather meant the car was in a pretty dirty state for most of January and most of this month too until yesterday when I managed to get a nice bit of clear weather and a free 2 hours to give the car a good clean.

Used some wheel cleaner which I don't use every wash and got a pretty good reaction on the front wheels. The rear wheels not so much so I saved it just for the tyres on the rear really.

First time snow foaming at the new house. I think I did get a few odd looks here and there from people driving in and out of the street 😂

And the final product! Was really pleased to see the HydrO2 coating still going strong, not so much on the rear bumper but the rest of the car still had a nice strong beading effect albeit, it may not be as smooth as it would normally be. I'm hoping this year I'll be able to steam clean and coat my Recaro seats along with doing a decomtamination wash to really cleanse the paint.

Other than that, stay tuned.

Edited February 14, 2022 by Squalled

[Tony Prodigy]

10 hours ago, Squalled said:

I've been super busy with work and life lately especially starting a new job last year and buying a home and moving out left me with not a lot of time to do all too much with the Sportivo. All of this couple with rubbish weather meant the car was in a pretty dirty state for most of January and most of this month too until yesterday when I managed to get a nice bit of clear weather and a free 2 hours to give the car a good clean.

Hey Bud, Congrats on the new house and job mate. Big move buying and moving house especially in this insane market. I hope you got a good deal. 

Yes indeed, busy. You would be after all that. Welcome to my world of "not a lot of time". I've got so much going on in my life right now, I've had zero time to dedicate to anything car related, especially detailing. In a nut shell, I'm in the process of building my ultimate man cave Workshop/Shed and trying to manage that project with my day job, family life, house maintenance etc, it gets a bit long in the tooth. I'll have to do a write up about it when it's done. Don't want to jinx it now, lol..

The fact you managed to find a spare couple hrs to wash your car after all that, I applaud you haha. Nice to see that soapy emulsion doing its thing. Very satisfying to watch as the clumps of soap fall off the sides. Surprisingly, the wheels weren't too bad considering,  but wheel cleaner definitely helps when they're heavily soiled. I've even had to resort to using wheel cleaner on the bottom half of the sides, because that area cops a hammering from fall out. Try it and see for yourself. Use that colour changing stuff to see all the iron deposits down the side. The sealant will take a small hit but that's ok because you'll be going over it as a drying aid anyway, so it top itself back up. Or you can just use a ceramic infused car wash soap, like Mother's for example. There are others too.

Weather has been very crazy too. It's very hard to keep your car clean these days with this La Nina weather system going on. Wash it one day, then it rains for the next three days. Wash it again, and it rains the same day... I'm glad I never bothered to wash any of my cars because that would've been me. I'm simply relying on the coatings to keep them relatively clean despite not having washed either cars for a few months. (I know, shock horror !!) Won't take much to bring either back, just need one free weekend. Wish me luck hahaha...

Look forward to the updates.

Cheers
Tony  

[Squalled]

10 hours ago, Tony Prodigy said:

Hey Bud, Congrats on the new house and job mate. Big move buying and moving house especially in this insane market. I hope you got a good deal. 

Yes indeed, busy. You would be after all that. Welcome to my world of "not a lot of time". I've got so much going on in my life right now, I've had zero time to dedicate to anything car related, especially detailing. In a nut shell, I'm in the process of building my ultimate man cave Workshop/Shed and trying to manage that project with my day job, family life, house maintenance etc, it gets a bit long in the tooth. I'll have to do a write up about it when it's done. Don't want to jinx it now, lol..

The fact you managed to find a spare couple hrs to wash your car after all that, I applaud you haha. Nice to see that soapy emulsion doing its thing. Very satisfying to watch as the clumps of soap fall off the sides. Surprisingly, the wheels weren't too bad considering,  but wheel cleaner definitely helps when they're heavily soiled. I've even had to resort to using wheel cleaner on the bottom half of the sides, because that area cops a hammering from fall out. Try it and see for yourself. Use that colour changing stuff to see all the iron deposits down the side. The sealant will take a small hit but that's ok because you'll be going over it as a drying aid anyway, so it top itself back up. Or you can just use a ceramic infused car wash soap, like Mother's for example. There are others too.

Weather has been very crazy too. It's very hard to keep your car clean these days with this La Nina weather system going on. Wash it one day, then it rains for the next three days. Wash it again, and it rains the same day... I'm glad I never bothered to wash any of my cars because that would've been me. I'm simply relying on the coatings to keep them relatively clean despite not having washed either cars for a few months. (I know, shock horror !!) Won't take much to bring either back, just need one free weekend. Wish me luck hahaha...

Look forward to the updates.

Cheers
Tony  

Thanks a lot Tony! We feel we got a pretty good deal all things considered. It is an older place but it's in really great shape and doesn't need any major structural work or anything and has heap of great features that we fell in love with.

Ah nice! I managed to secure one of our spare rooms as my hobby room/man cave so I was more than happy with that. It's in a horrid state at the moment but hopefully over the next few weeks it'll be all nicely setup.

Yeap I was pretty chuffed too seeing as I'd had a busy weekend already and the weather cleared for long enough and at the right time to squeeze it in. I've never thought to use the wheel cleaner there but I'll definitely give it a go next time I give it a wash.

[Squalled]

Not much to update. Weather has been super rubbish lately along with adjusting to home ownership hasn't left me with too much time to clean or work on the car. I did however complete a recent trip up to the Hunter not long ago and had no major issues what so ever having done roughly 300kms or so within 2 days which has been the most I've done in a long time.

With all the recent rain, both of the headlights have once again started to show signs that the seal is split so I've got the sealant ready to go this weekend if the weather holds off to take the lights out again and check for any gaps. The drivers side is currently the worst and seems to be long the entire bottom edge and the left hand side of the light and the passenger side seems to be fine but I have seen some condensation appearing in small spots. Oddly enough it's been fine through a heap of the rain earlier in the year but I guess with this much rain it cried enough so I'll get it fixed asap to make sure the lenses remain in the best condition.

Here are some photos that pretty much sum up the last few weeks. Stay tuned.