1999 Formula Red NSX Perfected!

[imported_d00t]

This was a long one.. spent a little over 30 hours on the car, including wetsanding. I cleaned/conditioned as much of the vehicle as possible, trying to restore it to better than new condition. The car used to be well taken care of, but when the owner moved to downtown SF, he wasn`t able to wash it on his own, so it frequented the "down the sreet" washes :cry:



Upon inspection of the car 3 stories below the ground, it was in really good shape. Exterior barely having any fallout, looking decent (considering the rains we`ve had lately). The interior was immaculate minus the dirt on the floor mats. After taking the car home, and storing it for the night I was ready bright and early on Tuesday. I woke up to pouring rain. Even though I could have washed the car inside.. I wanted to do as much of a thorough degreasing as possible, so it was all done outside.. in the rain. Even with snowboard pants, and a rain coat, I was still soaked! At least it wasn`t snow, huh? ;). Sorry I look a little ridiculous.. I was more concerned about staying dry!



First things first was a thorough pressure rinse on the outside:



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01652.jpg



After this I turned my attention to the wheels. Per standard procedure the tires were soaked in P21S TAW, and the wheels received P21S Wheel Gel.



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01653.jpg



And then agitated with various brushes:



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01654.jpg



After the wheels were finished, I moved on to the initial foaming of the car. Because the car wasn`t super soiled (for a change) I foamed it with Chemical Guys` Citrus Wash and Clear, and then washed with the 2BM and Citrus Wash and Gloss.



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01655.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01656.jpg

(my baby in the very background getting DRENCHED :( ).



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01657.jpg



And then the car was pressure rinsed one more time before being brought inside where I blew it dry. Yes, INSIDE! It was raining so hard.. it wasn`t even worth trying to dry, let alone blow dry outside. So I did it in the garage with very good results.. just a little bit of water ;).



After it was dried. I continued on with decontamination. The car was clayed with CG Blue Mild clay, and Luber as clay lube:



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01659.jpg



..And the wheels:



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01660.jpg



....Annnd the Door Jambs:



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01662.jpg



And the deck lid/hood and jambs:



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01663.jpg



After this I turned my attention to the spare tire. It was rinsed, then cleaned with P21S TAW and Wheel gel + Swissvax Wheel Brush/Megs Slidelock Brush:



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01664.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01666.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01667.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01668.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01669.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01670.jpg



My attention was then turned to was was UNDER the spare tire. The area where the engine compartment usually is.



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01672.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01675.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01676.jpg



Certain soiled areas were carefully saturated in P21S TAW and let sit before agitating away and wiping clean.



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01679.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01681.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01682.jpg



I then turned my attention to what was under the boot lid.. AN ENGINE! Everything was thoroughly degreased with P21S TAW, SW Wheel Brush, Q-Tips, and a lot of elbow grease. Then wiped clean.



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01684.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01686.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01689.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01690.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01691.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01692.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01696.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01697.jpg

[imported_d00t]

Towards the end of day one a big scratch was found, and I decided to relevel it to make it less apparent.



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01698.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01699.jpg



So it began..



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01701.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01702.jpg



Then I called it a night.. to sleep on when I just did :thud:. The next two and a half days (20 hours total) was spent on the paint correction. Here`s a slew of befores:



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01703.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01704.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01706.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01707.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01714.jpg



Then the sun decided to show for some 50/50s! These shots show the test panel which was corrected with the KB Method of Foam compounding: m105+cutting pad w/ primed pad @1200rpm, then finished with m205+finishing pad with pad primed at 1200-800rpm. As you can see.. slight hologramming still shows and it was brought back in for more testing of polish/pad combos after I saw this.



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01715.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01716.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01717.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01719.jpg



After seeing this the car was brought back in, and I settled on this combo. 3M UK Green+SIP @ 1200-1800-1500, then 3M Yellow+106fa @ 1200-1600-1400, and lastly 3M UK Blue+Ultrafina @ 1200-1500-1200-900. Overall the results were about 95%. There were some deep RIDS that the owner and I decided I wouldn`t chase because of the notorious thin Honda clear, and also we still want to be able to finish polish the car if need be down the road. I especially enjoyed the Formula Red tint on my pads from the Tri-Clear paint on the Formula Red hondas!! These were the results:



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01725.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01727.jpg



All of the black trim got the same attention, taking special care with extra taping as to not catch any edges..



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01732.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01733.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01738.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01746.jpg



Results:



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01740.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01741.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01743.jpg



Moved up to the roof..



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01747.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01749.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01750.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01754.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01758.jpg

(those scratches in this pic are these: http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01700.jpg)



I then opened the garage door and got a few quick sun pics:



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01759.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01761.jpg



While making my way around the car I took the time to polish out the tail lights with 2x SIP+Green and 1x UF+Blue:



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01763.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01764.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01768.jpg

[imported_d00t]

The I continued with the rear bumper with said process in the beginning..



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01771.jpg



The importance of taping. The $5 roll of tape is a $1000+ insurance. This would have meant a new bumper+repaint if the tape wasn`t there..



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01776.jpg



B-pillar before:



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01777.jpg



After:



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01778.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01782.jpg



Fender corrected, door not:



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01783.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01785.jpg



The importance of taping!



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01789.jpg



Under the wing:



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01790.jpg



Going after it with a Orange CCS Foam Finger Pad+M105:



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01791.jpg



And where the "diffuser" is:



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01793.jpg



ZAIO+White CCS Foam Finger pad in the door jambs:



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01796.jpg



And under the hood:



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01797.jpg



After these minor details were finished I was done!! Brought it outside to give it a thorough pressure rinse that was filtered with DI water to get rid of all the polishing dust:



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01798.jpg



Before any LSP:



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01799.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01801.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01802.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01806.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01808.jpg



After all the rinsing. It was brought in for a "two stage" lsp. The first of which was Danase Wet Glaze applied with a dampened Blackfire Gold CCS Pad:



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01809.jpg



My back that is in as good a condition as a 60 year-old (threw it out years ago, and it`s never been the same since, and polishing for 8 hours straight), was aching so I took a rest from bending over/lsp application and paid attention to the wheels. For thise, I removed as much oxidation from the cleared lips as possible with Mothers Mag&Aluminum polish. Then I polished them with Werkstat Prime Strong, Acrylic Jett, and the Acrylic Glos.



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01810.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01811.jpg



Before:



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01815.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01816.jpg



After:



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01828.jpg



Then I turned to the interior. I just wiped down the leather part of the dash, and applied Leather Masters Protection cream. All of the vynil got 303 Protecant. The seats were treated with Leather Masters Trio. I`m horrible with interior before/afters so there aren`t any. But I did take pictures of the floor mats! They were vacuumed with metro vac`n`blow and then cleaned with CG Citrus Carpet Cleaner and SW Leather Brush.



Before



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01818.jpg



After:



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01819.jpg



Before:



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01820.jpg



After:



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01821.jpg

(excuse the lack of prison stripes on the other mat, they were added after this pic).



Then I moved on to the LSP. It received Swissvax Concorso:



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01824.jpg

(pic taken after it was applied/removed).



"Detailers Best Insurance":



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01825.jpg



And the afters. Sorry for the lack of pictures, I didn`t finish until late last night, and when I delivered it today, we were in the middle of the street :P. So no afters of the engine bay/hood area which I spend 6 hours total on :shead: . And none of the interior area.

[imported_d00t]

But I *DID* get the most important parts.. the body of the car!



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01827.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01829.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01830.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01831.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01832.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01833.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01834.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01835.jpg



http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo177/justwaxed/99%20NSX/DSC01836.jpg

(the owner and my gf in the background).



Done!!



C/C Always Welcome!



Aaron

[pampos]

AMAZING JOB,GREAT WRITING AND I AM OFFICIALLY JEALOUS YOU : )

This is my dream car mate....Lucky you.....

Great job again mate....

[BoxsterCharlie]

Just awesome. Looks like the owner is holding his stomach in shock for the improvement!

[BobD]

Nice work! I love those cars.

[steelwind101]

AWESOME WORK!! :goodjob



One thing i saw on this detail and previous ones you have done is that you wash the car with water before foaming. If you foam before you wet the car it will acutally dwell for longer and do a better job at softening more dirt. Not that it mattered to much with the rain in that write up!



Cant wait to see you next detail and write up, keep up the good work!

[longdx]

Fantastic job on what is in my opinion a neo-classic. The NSX didn`t rely of super HP numbers for motivation, rather a judicious use of super lightweight materials (even the tire jack is titanium), perfect balance, and ease of use to the driver. This is a car that makes you a better driver (user friendly)rather than punishing you for making a mistake (no offense to rear engine Porsche owners). Sorry about the ramblings...big fanboy of the NSX.

[imported_JoshVette]

Wow, excellent work and a great write up as well.



Nice job, this thread really takes me back to that black one I did a year or so ago. Lots of work but well worth it, they are stunning to polish and have excellent paint clearity that really shows after a job like you put on that one.



Keep it up.:goodjob



Josh

[imported_d00t]

AMAZING JOB,GREAT WRITING AND I AM OFFICIALLY JEALOUS YOU : )

This is my dream car mate....Lucky you.....

Great job again mate....



Thanks again!




Just awesome. Looks like the owner is holding his stomach in shock for the improvement!



Hahaa it does, doesn`t it!! Thank you :).




Nice work! I love those cars.



Thanks! I do too.. a little weird to drive for some reason though.. dunno what it was.




AWESOME WORK!! :goodjob



One thing i saw on this detail and previous ones you have done is that you wash the car with water before foaming. If you foam before you wet the car it will acutally dwell for longer and do a better job at softening more dirt. Not that it mattered to much with the rain in that write up!



Cant wait to see you next detail and write up, keep up the good work!



I`ll take that in to consideration on this weekends detail! Thanks for the tip!




Fantastic job on what is in my opinion a neo-classic. The NSX didn`t rely of super HP numbers for motivation, rather a judicious use of super lightweight materials (even the tire jack is titanium), perfect balance, and ease of use to the driver. This is a car that makes you a better driver (user friendly)rather than punishing you for making a mistake (no offense to rear engine Porsche owners). Sorry about the ramblings...big fanboy of the NSX.



Thanks! I agree it`s going to be (if not already) a classic for sure.




Wow, excellent work and a great write up as well.



Nice job, this thread really takes me back to that black one I did a year or so ago. Lots of work but well worth it, they are stunning to polish and have excellent paint clearity that really shows after a job like you put on that one.



Keep it up.:goodjob



Josh



Thanks Josh!! But, this was no treat my any means. I found it quite difficult to correct.. dunno why. I think it has to do with my pad choice (stiff eurofoam pads, and tons of sharp angles=bad news). I looked to your recent thread about the NSX you just did for guidance, but it just wouldn`t correct with SIP+White :(.



Thanks again, I appreciate it coming from you!

[Barry Theal]

very nice work man! great job there!!! a few ?`s for ya how do you like that swissvax? and what is doot? i was always curious and had to ask!! great work man!

[WhiteStripes]

Looks great man. This is the first I`ve actually ever seen of claying the door jambs. Good Idea.



Those wheels definitely do nothing for that car though. A nice car like that needs some nice HRE`s or CCW`s

[imported_d00t]

very nice work man! great job there!!! a few ?`s for ya how do you like that swissvax? and what is doot? i was always curious and had to ask!! great work man!



Thanks!! I LOVE it.. and it`s only "mid grade". It`s so easy to apply/remove I can`t believe it... I got rid of my ezyme because it was so difficult to remove. The shine is second to none on gloss colors.



Funny about d00t. It actually means nothing. It`s a login I`ve been using for various things for over 10 years and it`s just kinda stuck (even though it`s a bit childish). I derived it from "w00t" but it has no connection :P. My first official car forum login was "espelirs2k" on s2ki.com. When I had my first s2000, I thought it would be too childish for "d00t" on that forum.. and I wanted something to do with the parts on my original s2000, and since it had mostly Espelir parts on the car.. that`s where it came from. I realized about 6 months later it was a ridiculous forum name.. so I just kept it standardized at d00t for every forum ;). There`s the history for you!!




Looks great man. This is the first I`ve actually ever seen of claying the door jambs. Good Idea.



Those wheels definitely do nothing for that car though. A nice car like that needs some nice HRE`s or CCW`s



I agree.. but according do a post on DB, they are actually rare wheels.. still not my taste though!. Thanks again!

[Flawless Image]

sweet job man.. i hope to be that good one day.. if i may ask, how much did you charge for that full job?