Newbie at detailing. Evo X from NY

[Malves85]

Hey all

I was recently at the BBQ Detailers Domain hosted this past weekend and learned about this forum. Who knew there was a whole forum dedicated to detailing. But then again this is the web so there is a forum for everything.



First lets give a shoutout to the guys at Detailers Domain in Norwood, NJ. Great guys that really know their stuff. I learned a heck of a lot at the BBQ and glad to know there is someone local that actually gives two damns about my car. I've been getting my car detailed at a place right by me and havent been happy at all. They do claybar and wax and shampoo but thats it. They dont mask anything off so the half of my car that is plastic turns white. Detailers Domain takes their time and masks everything off and has a whole aresenol of high end products. They did a demo at the BBQ so I saw their work first hand and was very impressed and shocked with how much I dont know.



I own a 2008 Mitsubishi Evo. It is driven all 4 seasons here in NY and sees some road course and autocross events during the summer...the paint gets beat up quite a bit. I've always thought I kept great care of my car but then I went to the BBQ and realized there is a whole world of detailing. I wash my car every other weekend, even during the winter. I clay bar and wax it in the fall and have it detailed at a shop in the spring. Thats it. haha. I use cheap sponges from target and whatever car wash is on sale. I do use microfiber towels so I guess that is something. I plan on keeping this car forever so I need to step it up and do some research in the detailing department.



Lets start with a few questions.

1)I was told that NJ has to use water based paints but NY still has another year or two before they have to stop using lead based paints. Is this true? If so would it be worth having my car repainted with the lead based paint? The cheap paint Mitsubishi uses is chipping like crazy and the touch up pen makes it look worse.

2) In one of the pics below is a sticker above my headlight. Its not a normal vinyl sticker. Its raised letters and it looks like glitter. I put it on over a year ago and its flaking apart. I have a spare that I will be putting on when/if I get my car repainted. Is there something I can put over the sticker to protect it? If I get the car repainted I'll have the guys put the sticker on before putting the clear coat down but if not I want to do something to prevent it flaking.



All threads are better with pics so here are a few. Sorry no hot girls to go with them.

 

[David Fermani]

Welcome to Autopia. Very nice EVO you have. Great pics too. Glad you joined and you're lucky to have been part of Phil's outing.

1)I was told that NJ has to use water based paints but NY still has another year or two before they have to stop using lead based paints. Is this true? If so would it be worth having my car repainted with the lead based paint? The cheap paint Mitsubishi uses is chipping like crazy and the touch up pen makes it look worse.

Don't know exactly when WB will be mandatory in NJ, but it should have any bearing on your decision to paint your car. One of the biggest appearance advantages with using WB is better color matching potential. But, because your car looks like it's solid black it should be an issue either. Go for it whenever.

2) In one of the pics below is a sticker above my headlight. Its not a normal vinyl sticker. Its raised letters and it looks like glitter. I put it on over a year ago and its flaking apart. I have a spare that I will be putting on when/if I get my car repainted. Is there something I can put over the sticker to protect it? If I get the car repainted I'll have the guys put the sticker on before putting the clear coat down but if not I want to do something to prevent it flaking.

The sticker is toast. Unless you apply a clear bra over it, it's going to keep on breaking down.



DON'T PAINT OVER THAT DECAL!!!! It's way too high and the paint (clearcoat) will end up failing and chipping apart. You might want to have someone re-do the artwork with flatter text with better results.



Keep in mind that this is the Welcome & Greeting sub-section and it usually doesn't get the desired traffic these questions deserve like a dedicated sub-forum would.

 

[Malves85]

Thanks for the info.

The color of my car is called phantom black. Its black/purple with gold flakes in it. Very unique and looks great when clean but once its a bit dirty it looks like plain old black.

Good idea on the sticker. Whenever the car is painted I'll have someone stencil the font with paint instead of trying another sticker. The sticker represents Mitsubishi's rally racing division so I definitely want it to be a part of the car and not some cheap looking faded sticker.



Dont worry. I have dozens of questions. Just wanted to add 2 to my intro as a teaser I guess. haha.

Thanks for the help.

 

[J S]

I have to say your skin is very flawless looking. I would skip foundation and tinted moisturizer all together because that stuff just clogs up your pores causing breakouts. And you have amazing skin so I do not want that to get ruined. I had flawless skin before maybe a breakout or two and I got into make up-foundation and powder first, wow my skin had a horrible reaction...still dealing with it....