Mazda Miata Special Edition

[RickRack]

This car belongs to the father of my ex-boss and was done free of charge. It had a considerable amount of scratches and swirls from being stored outside for the winter under a car cover and had some acid rain etching as well. The owner lives in Boston, so it is hard for him to detail the car himself.

The color changes significantly and looks different depending on the lighting. It is a very deep blue with a purple hue to it with lots of metallic.

I started polishing the car out when I didn’t have my camera on me, so I only have before pictures of the drivers side door and rear quarter panel.

The following pictures will give you an idea of the condition it was in when it arrived at the shop.













Wetsanding was necessary to remove some of the deeper embedded scratches that were scattered over the car. I measured the paint thickness before starting and discovered that the top surfaces were very thin, so I decided not to do any wetsanding to these areas.

[RickRack]

Just about all of the scratches were able to be removed, except some of the deeper RIDS on the hood. I got thickness readings of around 3.5 mils, so I used extreme caution when polishing this area and was not able to remove all of the scratches.

Here are pictures of the end result:

[RickRack]

[RickRack]

The final process ended up being the following:

Hand wash

Extensive cleaning of wheels and wheel wells

Cleaned engine compartment

Claybar treatment

Rewashed

Wiped down complete exterior with a body solvent to remove any wax, silicone, oils, etc.

Measured paint thickness on all panels and inspected every panel for any areas of concern

Wetsanded deeper scratches with 2500 grit sandpaper

Buffed complete exterior with M105 using a blue Edge wool pad

Buffed complete exterior with #86 using a yellow foam Solo pad

Buffed complete exterior with Ultrafina using a blue UF foam pad

Alcohol wipedown

Carnauba Moose Wax by hand

FK-425 wipedown

Super Blue Dressing on tires and wheel wells

Clear Seal on wheels

Complete interior detail

[2000firebird]

sick job, that paint is a completely different color now.

[RickRack]

Thanks! It's a really nice color and changes significantly in different lighting

[steelwind101]

Great work and awesome car. The colour is really alive!

[gmblack3a]

Very nice work Rick especially on the polishing!

[RickRack]

steelwind101- Thanks!

[RickRack]

gmblack3a-Thanks Bryan! Good enough for a freebie

[Denzil]

Wow, amazing results Rick! Looks like the Pacific Ocean (not the coasts, LoL)! Out of curiosity, what brand wet sandpaper did you use? I was thinking of getting some Meg's wet sandpaper myself.

[RickRack]

Originally Posted by Denzil

Wow, amazing results Rick! Looks like the Pacific Ocean (not the coasts, LoL)! Out of curiosity, what brand wet sandpaper did you use? I was thinking of getting some Meg's wet sandpaper myself.

Thanks! I used Meguiar's Unigrit sandpaper