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Old Mar 10, 2009 | 10:06 PM
  #11  
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my most recent work, 1992 NSX



I did my best to make this as informative and educational as possible

This is a 1992 NSX I detailed last week, the car was detailed over the course of 3 days.

I thought some members would enjoy seeing the transformation of this Japanese gem. I did my best to explain why I did certain things for those who are not so keen in the area of proper auto detailing,maybe you could pic up some tips.

On with detail ...

Upon arrival the car appeared to be fairly clean, even still the usual wash process was carried out routinely.

First up a thick foaming of Maxi Suds was sprayed onto the car with the pressure washer. I make it a point to pressure wash the paint, wheels and trim throughly before moving on to any form of washing. If there is any surface dirt on the car it usually will be taken write off with the initial high pressure rinse, that way the foam can do a better jpb of breaking down or at least loosening up some of the tougher dirt and grime.



I let the foam sit and began working on the wheels and tires. The pre-foaming of the car helps loosen up dirt and grime, the idea is to get the finish as clean as possible before using any mechanical washing methods (such as hand washing with mitts or sponges) Any prior dirty left on the paint with make for very easy swirling and scratching!

I used the Gloss It (GI) wheel gel with the EZ , boars hair, Swissvax and DD spoke brushes. I like using a few different brushes to make for easier cleaning of every part on the wheel, in this case the Volks were not very dirty to begin with but nonetheless they needed to be spotless from every angle. The brake calipers, behind the spokes and lug nuts were all thoroughly cleaned.

Me on the racatac rolling creeper, this is a great little seat for wheel cleaning and polishing down low.



Using the DD spoke brush to agitate the inner wheel in the above pic^^.

The tires were cleaned with Megs APC 3:1 as well as the wheel wells. After the tires were pre cleaned with the APC I used Stoners Tarminator, yes TARminator to clean the tires again. I learned this trick from a good friend and fellow detailer and forum member Bob from AutoConcerige. Basically the mild solvent based Tarminator helps to further breakdown the grime really trapped in the rubber.

You would be surprised at the excess dirt which is pulled off the tires even after cleaning with strong APC (All purpose cleaner) or degreaser.

After the wheels were in order, I Pressure washed the paint once more before the hand wash.

I used a strong citrus based shampoo because the NSX was wearing some form of protection (wax or sealant) as the paint was beading pretty well during all the rinsing. I used a heavy mix of citrus shampoo to help strip away at the current wax or sealant on the paint which was applied by the owner. If you choose to polish the paint its always a good idea to strip off the prior wax, a lot of times wax will hide some slight imperfections in the paint and its important to see the paint in its true state to determine what level of correction it needs.

I used a blue wash sponge to wash the paint, the cubed pores in this sponge retain a lot of shampoo, this makes for a very sudys and slick washing process.



I snapped some sun shots of the paint defects before pulling the NSX inside, didnt seem to terrible with the exception of some deep RIDS. Sunlight is usually best to inspect the defects on a paint finish.



A-pillars were pretty hacked





The wash process took about 2 hours, that is just wheels and washing alone. Before drying the car I gave it 1 last final rinse using fully De-ionized water. What de-ionized water is, is water that has all the minerals taken out of it through a filtration process using resin bags. When you rinse or wash a car with de-ionized water it will not spot, even if left un-dried sitting in sunlight! I do this so I a spot is missed when drying the car I wont get any hard water spots, and NJ water is very hard water

I used a fine green claybar in conjunction with a slick lubricant to further decontaminate the paint. Very little contaminants were picked up on the bar.

The nose of the car was covered in a clear bra and had some residual rubber marks from the track (this NSX is a bonafied track car)

Heres the rubber marks on the bra'd nose, most likely from a piece of tires kicked up off the track.





These were taken out using Tarminator (again) and a lot of elbow greeese.

Now onto the fun part, paint correction .

I took tons of paint readings and found the car to be very very inconsistant. Some panels averaged 7mils and other up to 14mils. Measuing the paint with an electronic paint thickness gauge is a must when you machine polish. If there is not enough clearcoat on the car you can easily burn right through it... and there is no way to fix burnt clearcoat other than a re-paint.

I later came to find out the car had areas re-sprayed because the hood and drivers side were the original formula red single stage paint and the trunk and passenger side panels were re-sprayed and no longer single stage. My guess would be the re-spray was done a very long time ago as the defects were the same around the entire car. I couldnt tell by eye the car was re-sprayed, hence a fine job color matching.

Heres the headlight under the Fenix LED light, this light helps to show even the finest of swirl marks and scratches.... here is what the passenger side headlight looked like



Little worse here as there are far more scratches than I initially thought

 
Old Mar 10, 2009 | 10:07 PM
  #12  
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I did a test spot of polsihing to find the best combo and landed on 3 polishes for correcting the swirls and scracthes. I thought a 2 step polishing process would be sufficient to correct and finish the paint but in order to get a 100% perfect or as close to that as possible I found using a 3 step did the trick far better.

I started my first stage of correction with GI extreme cut compound and a GI pre polymer white cutting pad on the flex rotary. This knocked down the deeper rids and swirls, I worked the extreme cut at 1900rpm to achieve maximum correction before backing down to 1400rpm and then 1100rpm, I did the same with the second step of correction with Gloss It evolution cut and a yellow GI pre polymer med. polishing pad.

Using the 4inch yellow med. polish pad with evolution cut and EVP (pad primer)



Here is the hood after stage 2 of correction (2 polishing steps down, 1 to go) all the big defects were knocked out. This is under the infratech CM5300 another spectrum of light helps to better inspect your work. Some paints may look perfect under halogen lights but under LED lighting you may still find swirls. I inspect paint with 2 types of halogen lights, LED lights and when its around ...sunlight




Close up of the defects



After finishing with a 5.5inch red ccs pad and a super fine micro polish at about 1400rpm jeweled down to 1100rpm (used the micro polish with GI EVP to extend the working time) As with every step prior, I used an IPA wipedown to check my work.

I use the term "jeweling" to refer to finely polishing the paint. Jewleling was the third step in the paint polishing process, it helps to refine the finish and bring out that last bit of gloss and clarity.

95% of the final finish achieved on this car came from the extensive polishing process, the last wax or sealant used adds only a bit of depth and wetness but they do not account for the overall look of the paint.

As with anything the final finish lies always in the prep work



A split middle shot



Just a camera flash (another spectrum of lighting to finding swirls)



Now under the Fenix LED light before the micro polish, some light trails need to be cleaned up still. This is where that last step helps, any last minute trails or fine swirls on the paint are taken out with a very very fine polish during the jeweling process.



Center all finished



The left side headlight cover was in a little worse condition, here it is under the fenix LED



After correction



50/50 on the clearbra which has slightly less defect than the hood itself

The right side is unpolished..



The final shots of the hood after jewling under a few spectrums of light (halogen, LED and a camera flash)

LED and camera flash together




Heres a video under the Fenix TK10 LED after correction



Some sun came out finally so I rushed the car outside to take some shots of the hood and to better inspect my work. When the paint is popping in sunlight and you CANT see any swirls that is when you know you achieved 100% correction and that the finish is flawless.

no wax or sealant yet, still had the rest of the car to correct hwell:



little closer up






 
Old Mar 10, 2009 | 10:07 PM
  #13  
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[B][COLOR="DarkRed"][SIZE="2"]Now that I was confident that the right steps were taken to correct the finish I moved onto the rest of the car using the same process

As I said before the hood and driver side of the car was single stage (no clearcoat), I took a break from my gummed up pads and went right for the black roof and A-pillar

I used the 4inch GI pads and 3inch GI backing plate on the flex rotary

split shots





Before



After



The door handle itself was rather tough to correct so I worked at a lower RPM to ensure I did not damage the edges at all. Polishing near edges can be tricky, be sure to always know where the pad is spinning and never keep it in one area for too long. Always keep your polisher moving at a fluid pace.

before





after jeweling and an IPA wipedown, the IPA stands for Isopropyl alcohol. When you mix IPA and distilled water you get a ver fine cleaning agent. When you spray it on the car it helps to remove any polishing oils. Sometimes polishes can fill in or hide defects without you knowing, when you do an IPA wipedown you see the true finish unmasked of oils from prior polishing or waxing.



The roof itself had some deeper scratches an required 2 passes with the GI extreme cut to fully correct, here the extreme cut working with EVP.



After the finishing polish



I like to use the flex overhead handle when working on open flat areas like hoods and door panels but for tighter spaces I take the overhead handle off so I can manuver the machine better

example



Driver side rear fender before



After



Finishing out the rear bumper with the GI pre polymer finishing pad, yes even the rear bumper top and bottom were fully polished



Before





The trunk area is where the car was resprayed on, no more single stage paint so the defects were a little more difficult to polish out and needed the use of a lambswool light cutting pad from GI



After the second step of correction I moved onto jeweling with micro polish and a red 5.5inch css once again, heres a short video of me jeweling the paint at low speed. People often think of buffing as a quick process using a big huge pad when in reality (if its done correctly) it is a very slow and tedious process.



The sun came in through the garage so I snapped a pic after polishing, again that same sunburst effect is seen on the paint and no swirls remain. Its not rocket science, you just need the right technique and patience to go the extra mile and strive for that perfect finish.



Onto jeweling the rest of the car



Please note

I dont wear the ear protection to look like a nerd, for anyone who owns the Flex 3403 you will know that it has a considerably louder drone compared to a makita rotary polisher. After endless hours of paint correction that constant high decibel drone can cause some damage to your hearing. I learned from a fellow detailer that after years of exposure such noise as the whine of a polisher can cause damage to your hearing, permanently. Im young and will continue to do this for a while so I figured its better to be safe than sorry.
 
Old Mar 10, 2009 | 10:08 PM
  #14  
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Back to the detail

This is the passenger side roof under the LED, pretty nasty



Now after polishing,



That part of the roof was particularly sticky, meaning the buffing pad was hoping around the paint quite a bit, after changing to some newer pads I was able to polish smoothly again.

After correction I rinsed the car inside with De Ionized water in a pressurized hand pump sprayer

. I find this helps to blast away some of the polish splatter caught in between the trim of the car. I lightly dried it with a waffle weave microfiber towel and did one last IPA wipedown to prep the finish for LSP (last step protection aka wax or sealant. I also dressed the tires..

here is the NSX after correction no wax is on the car, this is after polishing only.



Now that the grueling paint correction was finished I went to work on the interior, shouldnt be a problem after all its a 2 seater track car :doh:

Well this car unfortunately has a little incident at the track as I was informed by the owner. He was doing about 90mph and went off the track onto the dirt... BOTH WINDOWS were open at the time if the mishap and dirt, sand and dust flew in both sides of the car from the windows.

The result of the off track accident...



I took the seats out to better clean the interior and get into all the cracks and crecvices







A good 1/2lb of sand made its way into the trunk jambs..



After some vacuuming I agitated the area with APC and a brush



Here the drivers side after



Back to the lovely interior



The sand was un-escapable :tightlipped:

 
Old Mar 10, 2009 | 10:09 PM
  #15  
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My plan of attack was intially to wipedown all that I could with a damp microfiber towel. There is no need to waste leather cleaner on surface dust and sand. I wiped away and vacuumed out all that I could before actually cleaning and conditioning the leather and plastic





With the seats out i had some extra space to fit in the racatac rolling seat..



Most tighter dust filled areas need the attention of a Q-tip or detail swab



I took out whatever vents I could to better clean them, some dust and sand was way down in there



Wiping down the cloth stripping by the doors with a damp MF to lift some of the dirt from the fibers before vacuuming


Everywhere I looked there it was...sand and dust





little brushes helped get out the dirt from the crevices



Before



After


 
Old Mar 10, 2009 | 10:10 PM
  #16  
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I moved onto the seats next







I used some DI water to help brush off the dirt, obviously nothing too serious just a very tedious process of finding and cleaning out all the dirt I could



After



Once all the leather in the car was pre-cleaned it was time to really clean the leather itself, meaning using a dedicated leather cleaner to open up the pores followed by a nice coating of conditioner.

I used GI satin leather cleaner and the satin leather polish, both products worked beautifully to clean and condition the leather. I found a nice finish left behind, no streaking either. The best way to get your leather clean without streaking is to use a little bit of product and work it in to the pores of the leather very well. Once that is done go over the leather with a dry cloth to prevent unsightly streaks.












I started with this...



Finished with this...




After the seats were back in and carpets were all cleaned up using folex and a wet/dry vacuum to shampoo and dry the carpets





I moved onto the engine compartment next

Vacuumed and treated with 303 fabric protectant



 
Old Mar 10, 2009 | 10:10 PM
  #17  
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Engine all cleaned up, there were some etched water spots on the plastic trim which could not be fully removed unfortunately



The plastic trim by the engine bay was cleaned as well, there really was no dressing that would leave a streak free finish on the slick plastic by the engine bay so I simply cleaned it with a mild plastic cleaner. If you try to dress trim on a car that cant be dressed you will have a very tough time getting it off.



Exhaust before



During polishing w/ steel wool and Noxon metal polish. A very very fine grade steel wool helps to abrade away at the caked in soot left on the inside of the exhaust.



After





Front lower lip before being dressed with a trim dressing



After dressing. All little areas such as this make a big difference in the final outcome. That lower lip (dull and fade) would look very out on place on a freshly detailed car.




Before applying the sealant for protection I also sealant the wheels and glass for protection.

The tires were dressed with a water based tire dressing that dries to a deep matte finish, if there is 1 thing I hate its greasy armor all tire dressing.


To add the last bit of depth, gloss and protection I used 3 different products layered atop one another. I am not a big fan of carnauba wax, for the most part a good wax looks very nice but it doesnt give you a full spectrum look. Sometimes the paint with look really deep but lack the wetness or clarity.

I also am a fan of sealants because of the durability they provide for the paint finish.

1st- I used pure acrylic glaze as a base coat. I find the acrylic glaze gives a nice wet glow to the paint and on this red (which is pretty deep by nature) it really added a little pop to the finish. The glaze I used has no cleaners or fillers and is fine to be layered over

2nd- I used Gloss It Gloss Finish sealant for the protection, this product has rivaled ZFX'd Zaino in every situation from extreme summer heat to ice cold winters. It leaves that same Zaino clarity just with some added depth and gloss. As far as sealants go gloss it it top of the food chain in quality and looks.

3rd- My final and favorite product used was Gloss It Cocourso Gloss. This product is purely for looks, on its own it has a bit of protection but when layered over your sealant of choice it just takes the finish to a deeper wetter level.

All 3 LSP products were applied by hand with the 100ppi gold CCS hand applicator pads, these pads are very soft and buff very smoothly.

Using a super fine pad is a must when applying any wax or sealant. If you use an aggressive pad you may end up putting some kind of fine swirls in the paint, or at least some form of marring. Now that the NSX was polished and has Zero defects in it I want to make sure it stays that way for as long as possible.



Now some final shots, tried to get as many sun shots as possible.






















 
Old Mar 10, 2009 | 10:11 PM
  #18  
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This car has no cats and a full ARK exhaust, it sounds incredible









After the final gloss enhancer wipedown before being delivered. Doing a final wipedown of the paint with a slick quick detail spray is usually a smart idea. If there was any smearing left from the wax or sealant this will usually clean it up right away. Be sure to always use fine microfiber towels, especially when buffing off a wax or sealant.
















Total time for the interior and exterior was around 36hours. Yes it was a ton of work but in the end I found it was worth it and so did the owner. He wanted his car restored to its original state and I did everything I could to get it there.

17 years later she still looks sharp

Thank you for letting me share, if anybody has any questions regarding detailing their own car LMK and I will do my best to help you out.
[/B]
 
Old Mar 13, 2009 | 01:25 AM
  #19  
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Nice work, and great pictures.
 
Old Mar 18, 2009 | 11:06 PM
  #20  
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Not my best but most of my images are watermarked so I dont want to post any of them if I am not allowed.

Mercedes CLS 500
Before:














Swirls Everywhere!!

After:








 
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