Black Cherry?

MacCool

In the two years I've had my Black Cherry Z, I've found that it will go toward the red end of the color if the finish lacks depth and if there is any significant swirling or marring in the clear coat. When I polish it up as per Junkman/Adams and slap on a good paste wax like Americana, it gets a deeper and richer color and goes more toward black.

Akmcmahon

Great pics! Now that's the deep, rich look we're talking about. Hard to argue with shots like that. Simply beautiful.

MacCool

Thank you. Having had black cars in the past, I knew when I got Black Cherry that it would take a lot more work to keep it looking good. They look beautiful if you get a lot of depth to the finish, but IMHO, swirling and micromarring on those very dark colors just really impairs it's appearance, more so than on lighter colors like white or silver and wax alone just is not going to do it. My wife has a Murano Platinum in Sapphire Black. Same deal, and the reason I upgraded my Porter Cable to a Flex polisher. Wax alone will just not give the depth of finish that a dark color needs to look good. Has to be polished IMHO.

The OP's car is apparently new. Most dealer pre-delivery "detailing" is a joke. There is tons of railroad or road contaminants or acid contaminants on the finish from sitting outside (needs claying) as well as only the most superficial of paint prep. They typically run it through their machine car wash, wipe it down with an old bath towel, throw on a coat of some kind of Walmart paste wax and call it good. When you go to pick it up, they have it in their "delivery area" with carefully arranged lighting. As soon as you get it out into the sunlight, the car doesn't look nearly so good. IMHO that is NOT the recipe for an optimal appearance, especially of a dark color. If the OP bought the car used, then maybe that explains the lack of depth in his photo. IMHO, one shouldn't judge appearance of a dark car until it's been paint-prepped according to optimal paint care standards.

I will say that finish upkeep of a dark color can be laborious, but most people know that and definitely should take it into account before buying that particular color. It takes me a good 6 hours to wash, clay, polish with Porter Cable, apply sealant, glaze, then Americana (hopefully less with the Flex polisher). Fortunately, once polished, you don't need to do it again for awhile if you take good care of the finish (two-bucket wash, blow dry...IOW prevent micromarring). If you can keep the clear coat swirl-free, it's usually just some glaze and Americana every few weeks and the Porter Cable only has to come out twice a year. I do find that machine polishing the nose and front is the best way to get rid of bug damage.

Akmcmahon

The dealer I bought mine from unfortunately left me with a spiderweb of swirls in the paint. Car also had some permanent paint damage where the chains in the freight truck had apparently rubbed or smacked it. I've tried to get the swirls out, but some are just too deep unfortunately. Can still get it to look really good with lots of depth, but some angles make me cry.

psibrr

3 color blindness quotes:

Q1: Some 10 million American men—fully 7 percent of the male population—either cannot distinguish red from green, or see red and green differently from most people.

Q2: Evidence from opticians is that about 10% of the male population who have been tested have been found to have some kind of defect in their ability to distinguish between colors, but the percentage is much lower among females.

In some cases the defect is caused by a defect in the function of the person's eye rods or cones of his retina, and in others a defect in the nerve cells in his brain. Full color blindness, where everything appears monochromatic is extremely rare, believed to affect less than 0.1% of humans.

Q3:
Red-green (Caucasians) 8%
Red-green (Asians) 5%
Red-green (Africans) 4%
EQ
~ ~ ~

So, lets filter out color attitudes first by color perception issues.

Next, remove from consideration those with fears of others that represent the opinions of ignorant, provincial, dogmatic, biased, prejudiced, and or the juvenile. Course, if one has to work or associate with such, there is risk of vandalism, ostracism, beatings, ridicule, bullying etc., the 'deliverance' syndrome; that's too bad but you gotta do what you gotta do to survive the zombies, I guess.

Finally, consider the psychological; some abhor complexity. I was at dealer for oil change and a woman was buying another nissan; she stated she didn't like BC because it had no definite color; actually said something like 'I don't don't what color it's trying to be', or, 'I don't know what it is' ..

Some have a need for simple, basic primary colors: Red Yellow Blue ..
Others will accept some of the complementary Orange, Green,

Now purple, which in an earlier posting I indicated that the dominant color is a purple based on a plant used in a traditional, medieval, pre-synthetic industrial chemistry age, is also not a spectral color, it does not appear in the colors produced by the sun going through a prism. Purple is not indigo, nor violet.

After one year with the BC 370z sp, I think that for the BC, more than most colors, needs to be polished and clean, and have dark tinted windows, more so than (mag) black, which I had in previous 350z for 4 years.

I have had the darkest legal tint applied several months ago: 17% rear, 28% side, 90% on windshield with a 17% vlt 5" top strip, and it makes the color stand out more, more contrast than the light green plastic layer (safety element) in the stock laminate windows, naturally. ( Cooler inside too, as IR and UV are blocked to a large degree with these newer materials. )

Personally, I like gunmetal gray, brilliant silver, and the midnight blue overall, but at the time of purchase noticed how the BC does look black in shade ( and gray days) but glints in sun with the deep purple shades. Due all the curvature on the Z, one won't usually see much of the body 'light up', just small areas, which makes them stand out. Remember too, sunrise/set color is warmer -more red,orange- than high noon, thereby moving the color hue around the color wheel and adding more complexity.

Most people, even neighbors and co-workers, didn't notice the 'new car', some took a month or two to realize it was not black! The policewoman who ticketed me around 7.30pm EST DST some weeks back in town -I was ill, exhausted too after 15 hour day and a bit heavy on the pedal- denoted car as black, too.

So, give BC a break, admit all color is an aesthetic privilege for those with working eyes and un-corrupted attitudes, though many colors are special, all have their preferences which change -at least- with each car buy.

I enjoy seeing any clean, polished, and detailed car, especially cruising at 135+.

Take your color test here:
Ishihara Test for Color Blindness | Color Blindness

Haboob

Was able to pass each plate on that test. Def. not color blind!

Mark1010

Def red-green colorblind, still bought black cherry.

MacCool

Have you tried machine polishing using a standard compound progression, such as what Adams Detailing (for example) recommends?

Akmcmahon

I haven't tried that yet. I do everything by hand, don't own a Porter Cable or machine polisher. Horror stories from the past. Probably much better now. I also used Zaino Bros. Did 4 coats of their swirl remover before finishing with 2 coats of their finishing polish. Zaino Bros always worked wonders for me in the past and I still have product, so I haven't switched to Adams yet. Might do that soon though.

MacCool

Here's my take, FWIW. I don't work for Adams, just an enthusiastic customer that appreciates their products, their videos, and their customer service. I'm sure there are other such systems that work well too (Meguairs comes to mind).

If you don't remove the swirling in the clear coat, the only thing that wax, or systems like Zaino's can do is fill in those microscratches. Now you're relying on the longevity and durability of the product to keep the paint in a swirl-free condition. Won't last long. Probably better than just hardware store wax alone, but not as good as actually removing the swirls and scratches.

You absolutely cannot hurt your car's finish with a Porter Cable and a quality product like Adams or similar. The only way a Porter Cable could possibly damage your car is if you dropped it on it. It simply will not damage your paint in any way. Look at the videos on Adam's website. Or, watch the Junkman's videos on Youtube (AJ is more entertaining than Adam). Also note that a lot of these companies put on detailing clinics around the country. Maybe you can find one close to you.

Vaughanabe13

I don't care what anyone says - that is pure sex. Fantastic shots.

__________________
2009 Nissan 370Z Touring, w/sport, 6MT, chicane yellow/black.

brn5150

Holy crap is that thing insane.... I have a BC Roadster I am just trying to clean up the swirls. That is stunning!