wstar's Journal

wstar · 07-29-2009, 07:12 PM

Laser tester linked above came in today, I like it. Very simple unit, 9V battery and one button, runs through four styles of laser-speed-gun pulsing in sequence when you hold down the button, roughly $50. It's no substitute for actual testing with a police laser gun at range, but sure is a nice measure of reassurance that things are basically functioning correctly. Both my V1 and my Blinder went off as expected.

semtex · 07-30-2009, 12:19 PM

I tested my Blinder the old fashioned way -- been hit by cops twice already with laser.

I just love it when they keep trying and trying and trying, and I see the puzzled look their faces as I drive by. It never gets old.

wstar · 07-30-2009, 01:17 PM

Laser is rarer here. It used to be practically non-existent, but lately I see them from time to time. They generally sit in the fast-lane shoulder, out of the car with the gun propped on the door. Of course I haven't hit one yet since I put the Blinder in. Next up in my laser countermeasures is to apply Veil paint to the front headlights and chrome badge, hopefully today sometime.

LiquidZ · 07-30-2009, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by semtex

I tested my Blinder the old fashioned way -- been hit by cops twice already with laser.

I just love it when they keep trying and trying and trying, and I see the puzzled look their faces as I drive by. It never gets old.

Better hope they don't catch on!

As far as Ohio goes, I haven't seen a cop with laser... ever.

semtex · 07-30-2009, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LiquidZ

Better hope they don't catch on!

As far as Ohio goes, I haven't seen a cop with laser... ever.

Why? They can't do anything about it. The device is perfectly legal in GA. I guess they could huff and puff at me and be generally obnoxious. That's why even though I know they can't read my speed, I slow down vs. blowing past them like some arrogant SOB tempting fate.

wstar · 07-30-2009, 06:16 PM

That's my plan, too. I'm still gonna shut the speed down ASAP when I notice a cop, like I always do. If I have the presence of mind to do so, I'll even flick off the blinder once I reach ~5-10 miles over, just to give them a shot at a late reading so they're less suspicious. But it's perfectly legal, so that's all just to avoid any kind of hassle with a cop who's pissed off about being jammed and decides to be a **** about it.

wstar · 07-30-2009, 11:21 PM

Just painted on the Veil coating. I did the front headlights and the front chrome Nissan logo. A few random pics:

The Veil can as it comes in the mail:

The contents (3 cheapo brushes that tend to fall apart, 1 small can paint, instructions):

Masking off the areas to be worked on (PITA with all the curves). I used Frogtape painter's tape:

After that, read the instructions and put on your painter's hat. When spread extremely thin, it looks fairly clear to the naked eye. Even a small thick droplet appears purple though, and thicker amounts are black.

It's about as thin as water, and tends to run and collect itself a lot as its being applied. They instruct you to wait for ideal weather conditions (not too hot, not too cold, not too humid), but that's simply impossible here, it's always hot and humid, so I don't know how that affected my experience getting it to apply smoothly. Use the smallest brush they give you, and just barely touch the tip to the paint to wet it, it's very easy to get too much paint on the brush for an entire headlight. Then stroke it around with the brush and try to get any glops and streaks smoothed over and let it dry. It tends to smooth out a bit and de-streak (and clear up) as it dries anyways, so it doesn't have to be perfect.

One can of this stuff could probably paint up the headlights of 50 cars, it's enough to last a lifetime. Going to wait to remove the masking till tomorrow and then check it out in the bright sunlight to see how I did.

wstar · 07-31-2009, 11:58 AM

Update on the Veil paint: apparently being so thin, it leaks through seams and underneath masking tape. I've got some lovely purple stains on my bumper now, some of which are quite bold. They recommend rubbing alcohol and some scrubbing to remove the stuff. That lightened the purple a little bit, but apparently the stain goes all the way into the paint. I went ahead and tried to scrub it out, and went through the factory paint on the bumper before the stain went away

So the moral of this story is: the risk of staining your paint is too high to apply this stuff on the car, imho. Remove the headlight units and the chrome badge from the car completely and paint them separate. I guess I'll see if I can get a dealer to fix these spots on my bumper/fender paint next week.

NIZMOZ · 07-31-2009, 12:39 PM

^^ Yea I recall on Radarguys forum that they said do not get that stuff on your paint. Guess you proved what they meant by that.

wstar · 07-31-2009, 12:46 PM

Yeah I was expecting something thicker, like actual paint. I should have realized the problem when I saw how thin and watery this stuff is. The spots aren't big though, I imagine a good paint repair guy can fix them up pretty easily.

semtex · 07-31-2009, 01:09 PM

Dude, that sucks. Sorry.

wstar · 07-31-2009, 01:35 PM

Well, **** happens, it's all a learning experience

Mostly it's just 4-5 little spots like these first two pics (you can see where I rubbed through the clear coat on one of these trying a method of removal):

And this is the only really bad spot, in front of the passenger headlight, where I went ahead and tried harder and went through paint in a tiny spot without doing any good:

theDreamer · 07-31-2009, 01:41 PM

Wow, that really sucks man, I guess it is a live and learn situation. I hope you can get it fixed and paint matched.

CrownR426 · 07-31-2009, 02:08 PM

Never do something unless your confident!
Especially on a nice car like that...
Hope you learned your lesson!

wstar · 07-31-2009, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrownR426

Never do something unless your confident!
Especially on a nice car like that...
Hope you learned your lesson!

Haha

In case you haven't noticed by Page 17, my motto in life is do everything anyways even if you're not confident, and learn from it. That's how my first oil change went years ago, and that's how the IR paint went today. Actually that's how I got my first Unix job too when I was 18. Lied on the interview about age/experience, winged it, figured it out pretty well within the first few months.

So yeah, I learned my lesson, which is don't trust masking tape, not to avoid doing things I'm not confident about

07-29-2009, 07:12 PM	#241 (permalink)
wstar A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 4,024 Drives: too slow Rep Power: 3594	Laser tester linked above came in today, I like it. Very simple unit, 9V battery and one button, runs through four styles of laser-speed-gun pulsing in sequence when you hold down the button, roughly $50. It's no substitute for actual testing with a police laser gun at range, but sure is a nice measure of reassurance that things are basically functioning correctly. Both my V1 and my Blinder went off as expected. __________________ 7AT Track Car! Journal thread / Car setup details

07-30-2009, 12:19 PM	#242 (permalink)
semtex A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Behind enemy lines Age: 54 Posts: 5,995 Drives: People to drink Rep Power: 32	I tested my Blinder the old fashioned way -- been hit by cops twice already with laser. I just love it when they keep trying and trying and trying, and I see the puzzled look their faces as I drive by. It never gets old. __________________ "There are no small accidents on this circuit." -- Ayrton Senna 316.8whp & 248 ft/lbs (Dyno Dynamics) \| 319whp & 256 ft/lbs (DynoJet) (04/23/10) Stillen G3 CAI, CBE, Pulley / F.I. LTH / GTSpec Ladder Brace / Setrab Oil Cooler / UpRev-tuned by Forged Perf.

07-30-2009, 01:17 PM	#243 (permalink)
wstar A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 4,024 Drives: too slow Rep Power: 3594	Laser is rarer here. It used to be practically non-existent, but lately I see them from time to time. They generally sit in the fast-lane shoulder, out of the car with the gun propped on the door. Of course I haven't hit one yet since I put the Blinder in. Next up in my laser countermeasures is to apply Veil paint to the front headlights and chrome badge, hopefully today sometime. __________________ 7AT Track Car! Journal thread / Car setup details

07-30-2009, 06:16 PM	#246 (permalink)
wstar A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 4,024 Drives: too slow Rep Power: 3594	That's my plan, too. I'm still gonna shut the speed down ASAP when I notice a cop, like I always do. If I have the presence of mind to do so, I'll even flick off the blinder once I reach ~5-10 miles over, just to give them a shot at a late reading so they're less suspicious. But it's perfectly legal, so that's all just to avoid any kind of hassle with a cop who's pissed off about being jammed and decides to be a **** about it. __________________ 7AT Track Car! Journal thread / Car setup details

07-30-2009, 11:21 PM	#247 (permalink)
wstar A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 4,024 Drives: too slow Rep Power: 3594	Just painted on the Veil coating. I did the front headlights and the front chrome Nissan logo. A few random pics: The Veil can as it comes in the mail: The contents (3 cheapo brushes that tend to fall apart, 1 small can paint, instructions): Masking off the areas to be worked on (PITA with all the curves). I used Frogtape painter's tape: After that, read the instructions and put on your painter's hat. When spread extremely thin, it looks fairly clear to the naked eye. Even a small thick droplet appears purple though, and thicker amounts are black. It's about as thin as water, and tends to run and collect itself a lot as its being applied. They instruct you to wait for ideal weather conditions (not too hot, not too cold, not too humid), but that's simply impossible here, it's always hot and humid, so I don't know how that affected my experience getting it to apply smoothly. Use the smallest brush they give you, and just barely touch the tip to the paint to wet it, it's very easy to get too much paint on the brush for an entire headlight. Then stroke it around with the brush and try to get any glops and streaks smoothed over and let it dry. It tends to smooth out a bit and de-streak (and clear up) as it dries anyways, so it doesn't have to be perfect. One can of this stuff could probably paint up the headlights of 50 cars, it's enough to last a lifetime. Going to wait to remove the masking till tomorrow and then check it out in the bright sunlight to see how I did. __________________ 7AT Track Car! Journal thread / Car setup details

07-31-2009, 11:58 AM	#248 (permalink)
wstar A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 4,024 Drives: too slow Rep Power: 3594	Update on the Veil paint: apparently being so thin, it leaks through seams and underneath masking tape. I've got some lovely purple stains on my bumper now, some of which are quite bold. They recommend rubbing alcohol and some scrubbing to remove the stuff. That lightened the purple a little bit, but apparently the stain goes all the way into the paint. I went ahead and tried to scrub it out, and went through the factory paint on the bumper before the stain went away So the moral of this story is: the risk of staining your paint is too high to apply this stuff on the car, imho. Remove the headlight units and the chrome badge from the car completely and paint them separate. I guess I'll see if I can get a dealer to fix these spots on my bumper/fender paint next week. __________________ 7AT Track Car! Journal thread / Car setup details

07-31-2009, 12:39 PM	#249 (permalink)
NIZMOZ Track Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: San Antonio, TX Posts: 634 Drives: 07 NISMO 350Z SA M6 Rep Power: 491	^^ Yea I recall on Radarguys forum that they said do not get that stuff on your paint. Guess you proved what they meant by that. __________________ SOLD: 2007 NISMO 350Z #0044 Silver Alloy New DD: 2010 Titan Pro4X CC

07-31-2009, 12:46 PM	#250 (permalink)
wstar A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 4,024 Drives: too slow Rep Power: 3594	Yeah I was expecting something thicker, like actual paint. I should have realized the problem when I saw how thin and watery this stuff is. The spots aren't big though, I imagine a good paint repair guy can fix them up pretty easily. __________________ 7AT Track Car! Journal thread / Car setup details

07-31-2009, 01:09 PM	#251 (permalink)
semtex A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Behind enemy lines Age: 54 Posts: 5,995 Drives: People to drink Rep Power: 32	Dude, that sucks. Sorry. __________________ "There are no small accidents on this circuit." -- Ayrton Senna 316.8whp & 248 ft/lbs (Dyno Dynamics) \| 319whp & 256 ft/lbs (DynoJet) (04/23/10) Stillen G3 CAI, CBE, Pulley / F.I. LTH / GTSpec Ladder Brace / Setrab Oil Cooler / UpRev-tuned by Forged Perf.

07-31-2009, 01:35 PM	#252 (permalink)
wstar A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 4,024 Drives: too slow Rep Power: 3594	Well, **** happens, it's all a learning experience Mostly it's just 4-5 little spots like these first two pics (you can see where I rubbed through the clear coat on one of these trying a method of removal): And this is the only really bad spot, in front of the passenger headlight, where I went ahead and tried harder and went through paint in a tiny spot without doing any good: __________________ 7AT Track Car! Journal thread / Car setup details

07-31-2009, 01:41 PM	#253 (permalink)
theDreamer A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Texas Posts: 30,879 Drives: 370z Rep Power: 4210	Wow, that really sucks man, I guess it is a live and learn situation. I hope you can get it fixed and paint matched. __________________ theDreamer's Z // Fast Intentions // Uprev // GTM // HKS // TEIN theDreamer's Silvia // URAS // GREDDY Houston Zs // Facebook // Twitter // Instagram

07-31-2009, 02:08 PM	#254 (permalink)
CrownR426 A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: South Korea Posts: 4,676 Drives: Manual Rep Power: 848	Never do something unless your confident! Especially on a nice car like that... Hope you learned your lesson! __________________ Love + Hardwork + Passion RIP SVTRacer

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