Edit: S2000* not 200* Being an owner myself--you'd think I'd catch this! I guess that's what I get for posting at 1am!
Sorry this one has taken me so long to write up. I did this car early last week, and every time I went to do the write-up, my computer would crash. About half way through each time. Since then, I've just been putting it off :sorry: .
Anyways! To the detail! I first have to give a HUGE thanks to Ken (911fanatic) and Denzil (..Denzil) for helping me through this detail. I called Ken on a Sunday not really expecting him to answer his phone, but when he did he was very helpful with my odd experience I was having correcting the car. Also to Denzil for letting me borrow his PC as well as throwing ideas out there to get the car done.
And on to the car: a Berlina Black 2009 S2000 with only 2700 miles on it! When I got the car, I was really looking forward to the detail, as it's been 8 or so months since I've done a proper S2000 detailing, and on black none-the-less! The car was fairly hammered, with a lot of wash induced marring, and stupid stealership idiots who decided to remove the white shipping tape on new cars with BOX CUTTERS. As there were hairline scratches down both doors, quarter panels, by the
headlights/tail lights, and mirrors :thud: .
When I first started the car Friday afternoon:
(notice the white line right below the reflection of the sun--that's a box cutter scratch, not a reflection)
Another one:
(tree sap etching)
(hard water spots)
The first thing up were the wheels. To start off with the faces weren't too dirty, but the barrels could use some love after almost 3k miles.
First thing to do was to pressure rinse them down. After that was complete I sprayed the wheels with Autoglym custom wheel cleaner, and the tires and arches were degreased with P21S TAW.
Why I love CWC is that it just CLINGS to the wheel faces, as opposed to just dripping down the rim:
After that was complete I moved on to the wash. First the car was foamed with Chemical Guys Citrus Wash/Clear, and then the two bucket wash with more Citrus Wash/Clear was performed.
As I was rinsing the car down, I noticed the convertible top was beading white water. So I call the owner out of curiosity and said "Say, you don't happen to use 303 on your top, do you?" And he responded with an "Of course!" It was quickly followed with an explanation on how to use it more sparingly. So I first deep cleaned the top with 303 Convertible Top Cleaner before applying a thin coat of 303 Protectant.
After the top was cleaned, the car was rinsed down one more time before being brought inside for claying. It wasn't too contaminated as this piece of riccardo yellow shows after a whole fender and half a hood:
AFter the claying was complete the car was taped up for surgery:
Defects under brinkman while I was taping:
The door jambs, trunk jambs, and hood jambs were all prepped with DG Aqua Wax as they weren't dirty at all.
After:
Getting ready for polishing and inspecting paint:
Here is a 50/50 of the first combo I tried. It was 106fa on a Black Pad with the
flex 3401:
In the sun:
So here is where the problems start. By this time it's around 10am Sunday morning. This weekend (the weekend of the 27th) was one of the hottest weekends of the year. It was around 90*F in my garage at 10am, and by about noon or one, most likely above 100. What had happened on the top of the hood was the whole polish would haze over before it was breaking down, and I wouldn't be able to remove it unless I went more aggressive, and on the super soft berlina paint, it would just holo the paint, and I spent way too long chasing the holo's away. I ended up cursing a lot and called Ken. What it ended up coming down to after about 8 different combos was two things: the heat, and the polisher/polsih/pad combo I was using. What I needed was a pad/polish with a fair amount of mechanical cut, with a polisher that wouldn't be powerful enough to severely mar the paint. Unfortunately I didn't have a PC, but thanks to Denzil for coming through for me once again, I was able to use the PC to correct the car.
The combo I landed on: LC Orange flat pad both 4" and 5" with PowerFinish for two passes, and then finish up with LC Black Flat Pad and PO85rd.
After Orange/PF:
After 85rd/Black:
Before:
After:
i here you on the weather, it's been close to a 100 degrees (the past few days) and in my garage it isn't that much cooler... 
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