Today is Tax Day. Yesterday, we could've either detailed a Porsche Boxster or done our taxes. We don't know what others would have chosen, but we picked the Boxster. Not that we didn't WANT to do our taxes, but the recent flooding in Massachusetts gave everyone in its federally-declared disaster-area counties an additional month to file (with no need for an extension, either).
The warm weather in early April allowed us to swap out the snow tires. Every time we swap tires we are reminded of how much of a pleasure it is to have the Tire Totes. The tires are stored in the basement. Getting them out of storage and carrying them up and down the basement stairs used to be a MAJOR hassle. The TireTote handles are beefy and make the tires easy to handle. The wide side covering means protection for the wheels and no brake dust on our clothes. With the Tire Totes, one person can actually carry two tires in one trip up the stairs.
We also took the opportunity to take the hard top off. This, of course, is the official sign of the start of Spring. The hard top is stored in the basement using a wall mount. The wall mount gets the top off the floor, out of the way, and away from possible damage. It also gives us room to store the associated gear (JNC Air, hydralic jack) beneath it.
Spring prep is not just about removing the top and swapping tires. It is also time to vacuum the carpet, treat the leather, and get the Winter grime off the glass. With the hard top off, it was also a chance to clean the rear window and re-weatherproof the top.
We have used a lot of different products over the years. Plexus and RaggTop are the two that have consistently made the cut and have been invited back year after year. Two new items we are trying this year are Stoner's InvisibleGlass and Weiman's Leather Wipes. We have heard good things about InvisibleGlass, enough to make us want to take a look for ourselves. Our experience with Weiman has been with their Stainless Steel cleaning products. They make really good ones, which is why we were eager to give their Leather Cleaner a try.
We used the Weiman Leather wipes on every interior surface we could reach. The two largest were the seats. They were quite dull before the treatment., but the Weiman Wipes gave them back a warm shiny glow. Many of the smaller pieces in the car were also covered in leather, but a number of them were plastic, rubber, or painted metal. The wipes appeared to work great on them as well.
We also used the leather wipes on the rubber trims and some external plastic pieces. While definitely not on the Weiman's list of recommended uses, the Leather Wipes appeared to work quite nicely on the sun-faded trim. Check out the "before/after" and the close-up pics.
For cleaning the glass, the product we used was Stoner's InvisibleGlass. We were quite impressed with the InvisibleGlass and found it to be much better than the usual ammonia-based cleaner. We arrived at this conclusion by first cleaning the windshield with Windex, then cleaning it again using the InvisibleGlass. It got the dirt off the glass that the Windex left behind and left a streak-free shine the likes of which we have never seen on the car before. The InvisibleGlass was also pretty impressive on the side mirrors and windows.
We have found two new additions (InvisibleGlass, Weiman Leather Wipes) to our "cleaning kit." The windows and mirrors are now clear, the leather rejuvenated, and carpets vacuumed. Our next tasks are to wax the car and to take care of some of the nicks and dings. There are some interior touch-up work which we may tackle. We might also decide that the Boxster is good enough as it is and just go for a long drive! [Permalink] -Boxster Spring Prep
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