dsms detail - Subby STi Limited 238/800

dsms · 03-22-09, 06:18

Finished this little rocket this morning. Booked for a 1 step correction detail and a late winter seal.

On with the detail...

Arrival

This STi is kept in excellent condition, some recent snow however dirtied the car up before the detail but it was really nothing major.

Wheels first, some very classy Volk CE28's were throughly pressure washed before cleaning. The process was as follows:

-Gloss It wheel gel using the EZ and swissvax brushes
-APC 3:1 for tires
-Stoners Tarminator (tires again)
-Autosmart Tardis to dissolve some light tar spots on the inners

Before

Before

Next I did a quick foam with maxi suds while preparing 2 buckets with CG CWG.

While washing I felt a ton of friction between the sponge and the paint, lots of bonded contamination:gasp:

Although I felt I would have done better using an aggressive clay bar I opted for the Megs mild blue clay once again. Since the car was only booked for a 1 step correction and I planed on using a super mild combo when polishing I figured it would be best to use a mild clay bar as to not induce any extra marring. Luckily the paint was already is excellent condition with the exception of the bonded stuff, see below

After drivers door panel...

After trunk area...

Far from the worst clay job I have seen but it was strange how the contaminants were heavy on every single panel high and low.

After claying another quick wash with the remaining CWG was done and the car was PW'ed throughly once more before drying.

The owner seemed very picky about his car and asked for me to remove the swirls he found, even in direct sunlight I found it very very difficult to spot the swirls because they were very faint. I brought the car in and re-checked it with standing halogens and the Fenix LED...again only fine spider webbing was found.

My original plan of using a medium grade polish with a polishing pad went out the window and I decided to go for a really fine finishing combo to work out the defects and bring up the gloss. Paint readings were very consistent at 5.5-6.0 mils

Weapon of choice, flex 3403 w/ Gloss It 5" BP

I went with Menzerna PO85rd and the GI beveled blue finishing pad. Th 85rd had enough bite to take out the light swirls and leave a great finish as well.

I used GI EVP pad primer on the GI finish pad as well, this help extend the work time of 85rd considerably so I could jewel it down very well.

Here is the hood after polishing and a quick IPA, no LSP (I opened up the cabinets in hopes to get some colorful reflection shots)

When working on light metallic paints I find turing all the lights off in my garage helps to spot swirls or check your work. Here is the hood under the Fenix LED after correction.

I worked my way around the car smoothly, I really enjoyed working on this paint. My main focus was really jeweling it to a high gloss as I knew the defects would come out right away. Heres a quick shot after finish the front fender and door, I was able to clearly distinguish between the polished and unpolished panels as the 85rd left behind great clarity.

I spent a little extra time working the bumber area as I found most cars have excess scratches right in that area (mostly from loading things in and out of the trunk)

Me in my "concentrated polishing mindset" :waiting:

After polishing

Couple more trunk area shots post polishing and post IPA

I liked this shot, completely unnecessary but I thought it would make for a cool photo:hippie:

After correction

Nice thing about this model STi is its more boxed shaped panels, even down low it was smooth polishing

dsms · 03-22-09, 06:21

Under the Fenix

With the paint correction finished I did a last thorough IPA wipedown before going to LSP.

This being a fair colored metallic I found that it would benefit from a synthetic treatment, so I brought out the Werkstat Twins.

I first applied JW Acrylic prime to the paint with a gold ccs hand applicator and let it cure for about 45minutes, while that was happening I tended to the trim work.

STi's even stock sound pretty throaty (boxer rumble) but this one had a little extra buzz withca Greddy exhaust.

Before

During w/ Adams metal polish and #0000 steel wool

After

Also polished the entire exhaust underneath the car
50/50

The window and glass trim needed some attention as they were fairly worn. I used the GI T.R.V dressing with my own makeshift applicator ( a cut up piece of a red CSS pad) which actually worked much better than an MF applicator pad.

Before

After TRV

Before

After

Front lip

I did not do a full engine detail on this one but as per the owners request I tidied up the engine bay

dsms · 03-22-09, 06:22

The STi Limited had a production run of only 800, this car being number 238 I believe. Only the Limiteds got leather seats as the standard versions had blue alcantara. I know this car pretty well as I was about to buy one about 6 months ago

The interior was kept in good condition

Some vacuuming

I cleaned the leather and plastics with P & S express interior cleaner, very nice product which is very mild and does not streak.

The leather was later conditioned and dressed with GI satin leather polish, the results

Defi Gauges FTW

During the interior work I applied the first coat of Werkstat Acrylic Jett Trigger, and in 45minute intervals thereafter 2 more coats were a applied separately.

I finished day 1 at around 1:30AM, I just got into a groove and ran with it! This why I worked so late but in actuality I was ahead of schedule and had plenty of time the next morning to finish the rest of the car. In retrospect i should have called it quits earlier and just got a good nights sleep:shrug:

At the end of day 1 a total of 3 coats of JW AJT were applied over the base coat of JW prime. I planned on a 4th coat to be applied but decided to let the first 3 cure overnight before adding 1 more.

All finished this morning...

I was really aiming for a wet gloss and think it came out to what I was looking for

I turned the lights off to get some last halogen shots and found it makes for some cool pics so here ya go

The wheels were sealed with Rekex for durability and the tires recieved 3 separate coats of Gloss It signature tire gloss which was buffed off to a satin shine. Undercarriage was treated with Adams

Last one inside

I waited for the sun to come out but the clouds were toying with me so I got a mixture of sun and cloudy pics

You get a better idea in daylight of how the tire dressing came out

As always thanks for letting me share