Fastbird

I live in a townhouse development, and am on an end unit. Two doors down I lives a guy who INSISTS on using one of those fountain type sprinklers on his and my immediate neighbors front yard. Problem is that he turns it up so high that he gets the vehicles in MY driveway wet.

I car pooled to work with a buddy yesterday, so the Vette sat in the driveway. I come home to an amazing mass of water spots all down the right side of the car. The treat though is that everything wiped right off. I had recently introduced the car to this nifty wax called Zaino (and it was my first usage of it too). I was simply amazed that I only had to grab a bottle of Z6 and a towel and off the spots came. Just shocking.

And as for the neighbor, he just put their house up for sale. Only a little while longer......

Chicago

Wait 'til dark, sneak over and cut their hose! Or just smash the sprinkler with a sledge hammer.

2K14C7

Have a polite but firm talk with you neighbor and let him know you do NOT want him watering YOUR property.

bugman

it's good that he's moving.

Don't count on Zaino or any other sealant to really make you impervious to water spot damage. Nothing can really protect you if there are lots of minerals in the water and the spots get baked in the hot sun.

REALLY try to keep the car inside, or parked elswhere out of the water. I think you're lucky you just had the side panels this time. If he gets your hood and you're baked in, it will be REAL trouble. Don't underestimate the damage that water causes, as all the other guys here will attest.

Fastbird

Oh, I don't underestimate it by any means. That's why I was immediately out there with the Z6 when I saw it. I will say that Zaino did help because the car got the spots in the AM when the guy waters the lawn, it was freaking hot all day, and I got home at 6 PM. It was sitting on the tail and top of the passenger fender all day and still came right off. Had it been our other car I'd have been torqued a little more because they would have been a **** to get out (no Zaino on it.....yet).

Sadly, no can do on keeping the car inside or anywhere else. Inside isn't an option as I have a project/comatose car (no motor) in the one car garage and the only other places to park outside are all on the street and there's absolutely NO WAY that's happening. Hopefully I'll break down and get a 4 post lift and then keep the Vette inside, but that's a little far fetched at this point.

hcvone

Sprinklers are the worst for water spots, if you get them right away you are fine, if allowed to bake on the car you will need clay, and many times an abrasive paint cleaner, we used to get these problems at our shops, and usually it was sprinkler related.

bugman

yep - I feel your pain, Fastbird.
I have a one-car garage, and a black SUV that stays out all year long, getting sprinkled. I've also found that some good Z2 helps, then when I see spotting, some z6 ASAP with a very soft cloth.

I can't get a quicklift because my garage ceiling is only about 6 feet tall

agentf1

You would be fine with a Kwiklift, it is the 4 post lift that won't fit due to low ceiling. I love my Kwiklift, it is great for detailing and oil changes. Didn't mean to hijack this thread but.... Back to the water spots...

mrosa65

My garage ceiling is 8' 5" and there's enough room for the kwik lift and the car. I can even open the hood while it's on the lift if needed.

bugman - wanted to say thanks for the info on the race deck tiles. I called earlier in the week and ordered them. I got a pretty good deal, or at least I think I did. The tiles, edge trim and shipping came out to 2.95 a SF. Now I just need to clean out the garage so I can put them down next week when they arrive.

bugman

1 - what's that gadget that lifts the car up so you can park another one underneath it? Well, that thingy probably won't work for me.

I guess the kwiklift just lifts one car up enough to do engine work and detailing, right? I'm still the new guy yere

2. Mrosa -- you did GREAT on that price ! wow -- you'll spend much less than I did. Don't know how long I've had the racedeck -- 6 months maybe? well, it's holding up GREAT -- I'm more thrilled with it than I even expected. Have jacked the car 10 times, dropped lots of heavy stuff, and no visible damage to the floor. Also, stays looking brand new: when really bad grease and goo is on it, I get a wet mop and spray Glass Plus on the floor and do a quick mopping -- gets all the red and white tiles right back to new brightness and shine.

I think you'll be happy

Z06-JIM

Where did you buy the Race Deck tiles at?..

mrosa65

Scott- You're correct, the kwik-lift is just a ramp type lift that's great for working on the car. You would need a 4 post lift so you could lift one vehicle and park the other one under it. My ceiling wasn't high enough for that either. Thought about raising the ceiling in the garage, but I decided against it.

Z06-Jim - I ordered it directly from Race Deck. The customer service reps name is Shawna. I told her some of my friends from CF may be calling since she gave me such an awesome price. I got the tiles down to 2.69 per SF, she gave me the 18 ft of trim tiles for free and knocked the shipping down to 121. I was really happy with that price considiring they were originally 2.99 per SF. I did a lot of research on other tiles and found out why some companies sell them cheaper. They're cheap copies made over seas and don't come with their 10 year warranty. For the few extra dollars I decided on Race Deck.

Correction - I just checked their web site. Seems they changed the 10 year warranty to a 15 year warranty which is even better.

JGB

How timely.

Drove my car to work yesterday, parked it near the edge of the parking lot. For some reason, the sprinklers that normally run at night ran in the morning. The back end of my car got soaked and was left to sit in the sun all day!

Unfortunately, I haven't waxed it yet so it was not protected at all! (I know, I feel ashamed).

Now I'm just kicking myself because I can't get the spots out. Washed it this morning to no avail. Then tried Meguiar's cleaner. Nothing. Tried polish, too. Even tried vinegar. Nothing seems to work.

I don't have any clay, but getting some has been on my "to-do" list. (Main reason I haven't waxed the car yet is because I wanted to clay it first.)

Will clay solve my problem?

wildcatter

Wow. Your neighbor must be related to mine. When I got my Corvette my Supercrew had to cease living in the garage and live in the driveway next to my neighbor's yard. I am trying to keep the truck clean and waxed which is a real chore. Waxing the 'Vette takes place in the blink of an eye compared to the time it takes to wax the 'Screw. I had just given it the full treatment and the next day my neighbor watered it for a few hours. ********.

I kept my cool. While cleaning up my truck again he came out into the yard and I asked him as politely as possible if he could let me know when he wanted to water his yard and I would be happy to move my vehicle. He had just put a for sale sign in his yard a few days earlier. He then said "I'll bet the day that for sale sign went up was the happiest day of your life wasn't it?". It wasn't (I was thinking the first time I had sex would rank considerabkly higher) but it wasn't the WORST day of my life either.

Anyway, he moved out about three weeks ago and the new neighbor has been very considerate so far.