Joshs2013MSAltimaSL
12-02-2012, 11:49 AM
Hey guys!
I recently traded in my 370 for a “family car” because my wife and I are expecting. A few weeks ago we picked up a 2013 Nissan Altima 2.5 SL. The dealer did their version of a “dealer prep” when we got it, which we all know isn’t all that good. The first weekend I had it, I ended up washing it myself and giving it a coat of Fuzion just for protection until I could give it a proper detail. This proper detail started Friday morning at 9am, and ended at 5:30pm, and was completely finished on Saturday night. The only big thing I had left to finish on Saturday was to give it a good IPA wipe down and apply wax. Unfortunately, the wax I ordered earlier in the week (Rubbish Boy’s Original Edition), hadn’t come in yet. I was hoping it would come in on Friday or Saturday so I could try it out. Unfortunately it did not arrive, so I went with Dodo Juice Supernatural as the LSP.
So anyways…on with the details of the detail lol. I decided on a two step approach; I wasn’t going after complete perfection, but wanted to clean up a few blemishes here and there and add some gloss.
Products Used:
-Meg`s Gold Class shampoo
-Meg`s white clay with ONR as lube
-M105 via white LC CCS pad (some spots required an orange pad)
-M205 via blue LC CCS pad
-Dewalt Rotary
-PC 7424XP to polish head and tail lights
-IPA wipe downs
-Dodo Juice Supernatural
-Optimum Opti-Bond to dress the tires
-Rain X applied to all windows
Sorry I don’t have any before shots of the car; it wasn’t all that dirty. I started first with a good foaming mixture of Zep Citrus (thanks Richy!) and Dawn. While that sat on the car, I cleaned up the badges:
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/006-10.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/007-9.jpg
After that, I hand washed the car with Meg’s Gold Class soap and a grout sponge. After the wash, I air dried the car and clayed using Meg’s white clay and ONR as lube. After I clayed, I pulled the car out in the sun to capture the condition of the paint. As you can see, it’s not in horrible condition, but could definitely use a good polish:
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/005-15.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/008-7.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/009-7.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/010-6.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/011-6.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/012-5.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/013-7.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/014-5.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/015-5.jpg
As you can see, I didn’t need to be too aggressive. The first step consisted of M105 via a white LC CCS pad and Dewalt rotary. I hit most sections a couple times to get the finish I was looking for. This turned out to be a really great combo. It had decent correction abilities, and finished down without a ton a holograms or marring. On a couple spots, I had to use an orange LC CCS pad because the scratches were a bit deeper and needed something more aggressive. Where do scratches come from on a brand new car you ask? Well, first, they probably came from the brush they used to clean my car with lol; second, they probably came from the tool the “detailer” used to remove the pin stripe that was on the car. Here’s one of the scratches I was able to capture where the pin stripe was:
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/016-6.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/017-5.jpg
This is after hitting it a couple times with M105 and an orange pad:
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/019-7.jpg
There were a few other spots similar to that that I was able to either buff out completely, or at least make it look less noticeable. I was surprised to find out that a decent number of them caught my fingernail. Because of that, I knew I wouldn’t be able to buff it out completely and didn`t want to risk the integrity of the clear coat this early in the life of the car.
This is after the full correction stage:
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/022-5.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/023-6.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/024-5.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/025-6.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/026-4.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/027-3.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/028-3.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/029-2.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/030-2.jpg
I finished up with M205 and a blue LC CCS pad via the rotary to really bring out the gloss and make the metallic flake pop. Here are a few photos of the results using various light sources. This is prior to an IPA wipe down by the way. By this point, I had been at it for about 8 straight hours and my wife wanted to go eat lol:
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/031-3.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/032-3.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/033-3.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/034-3.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/035-2.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/036-5.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/037-2.jpg
These few were taken after the sun went down and after the second foam wash. This wash consisted of a Dawn and Zep Citrus mixture to remove the excess polishing oils:
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/038-2.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/039-3.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/040-5.jpg
As you can see…not 100% perfect, but definitely a solid improvement and I’d say around 90% blemish free.
So Saturday went by and by 6pm and still no wax, I decided to go out and apply a coat of Dodo Juice Supernatural.
These are post two IPA wipe downs, but no LSP yet:
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/001-12.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/002-14.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/003-11.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/004-9.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/005-16.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/006-11.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/007-10.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/008-8.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/009-8.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/010-7.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/011-7.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/012-6.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/013-8.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/014-6.jpg
That isn`t a scratch...it`s the roof line of my neighbor`s house lol:
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/015-6.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/016-7.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/017-6.jpg
I recently traded in my 370 for a “family car” because my wife and I are expecting. A few weeks ago we picked up a 2013 Nissan Altima 2.5 SL. The dealer did their version of a “dealer prep” when we got it, which we all know isn’t all that good. The first weekend I had it, I ended up washing it myself and giving it a coat of Fuzion just for protection until I could give it a proper detail. This proper detail started Friday morning at 9am, and ended at 5:30pm, and was completely finished on Saturday night. The only big thing I had left to finish on Saturday was to give it a good IPA wipe down and apply wax. Unfortunately, the wax I ordered earlier in the week (Rubbish Boy’s Original Edition), hadn’t come in yet. I was hoping it would come in on Friday or Saturday so I could try it out. Unfortunately it did not arrive, so I went with Dodo Juice Supernatural as the LSP.
So anyways…on with the details of the detail lol. I decided on a two step approach; I wasn’t going after complete perfection, but wanted to clean up a few blemishes here and there and add some gloss.
Products Used:
-Meg`s Gold Class shampoo
-Meg`s white clay with ONR as lube
-M105 via white LC CCS pad (some spots required an orange pad)
-M205 via blue LC CCS pad
-Dewalt Rotary
-PC 7424XP to polish head and tail lights
-IPA wipe downs
-Dodo Juice Supernatural
-Optimum Opti-Bond to dress the tires
-Rain X applied to all windows
Sorry I don’t have any before shots of the car; it wasn’t all that dirty. I started first with a good foaming mixture of Zep Citrus (thanks Richy!) and Dawn. While that sat on the car, I cleaned up the badges:
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/006-10.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/007-9.jpg
After that, I hand washed the car with Meg’s Gold Class soap and a grout sponge. After the wash, I air dried the car and clayed using Meg’s white clay and ONR as lube. After I clayed, I pulled the car out in the sun to capture the condition of the paint. As you can see, it’s not in horrible condition, but could definitely use a good polish:
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/005-15.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/008-7.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/009-7.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/010-6.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/011-6.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/012-5.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/013-7.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/014-5.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/015-5.jpg
As you can see, I didn’t need to be too aggressive. The first step consisted of M105 via a white LC CCS pad and Dewalt rotary. I hit most sections a couple times to get the finish I was looking for. This turned out to be a really great combo. It had decent correction abilities, and finished down without a ton a holograms or marring. On a couple spots, I had to use an orange LC CCS pad because the scratches were a bit deeper and needed something more aggressive. Where do scratches come from on a brand new car you ask? Well, first, they probably came from the brush they used to clean my car with lol; second, they probably came from the tool the “detailer” used to remove the pin stripe that was on the car. Here’s one of the scratches I was able to capture where the pin stripe was:
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/016-6.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/017-5.jpg
This is after hitting it a couple times with M105 and an orange pad:
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/019-7.jpg
There were a few other spots similar to that that I was able to either buff out completely, or at least make it look less noticeable. I was surprised to find out that a decent number of them caught my fingernail. Because of that, I knew I wouldn’t be able to buff it out completely and didn`t want to risk the integrity of the clear coat this early in the life of the car.
This is after the full correction stage:
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/022-5.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/023-6.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/024-5.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/025-6.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/026-4.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/027-3.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/028-3.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/029-2.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/030-2.jpg
I finished up with M205 and a blue LC CCS pad via the rotary to really bring out the gloss and make the metallic flake pop. Here are a few photos of the results using various light sources. This is prior to an IPA wipe down by the way. By this point, I had been at it for about 8 straight hours and my wife wanted to go eat lol:
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/031-3.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/032-3.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/033-3.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/034-3.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/035-2.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/036-5.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/037-2.jpg
These few were taken after the sun went down and after the second foam wash. This wash consisted of a Dawn and Zep Citrus mixture to remove the excess polishing oils:
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/038-2.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/039-3.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/040-5.jpg
As you can see…not 100% perfect, but definitely a solid improvement and I’d say around 90% blemish free.
So Saturday went by and by 6pm and still no wax, I decided to go out and apply a coat of Dodo Juice Supernatural.
These are post two IPA wipe downs, but no LSP yet:
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/001-12.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/002-14.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/003-11.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/004-9.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/005-16.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/006-11.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/007-10.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/008-8.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/009-8.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/010-7.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/011-7.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/012-6.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/013-8.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/014-6.jpg
That isn`t a scratch...it`s the roof line of my neighbor`s house lol:
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/015-6.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/016-7.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/jar05g/017-6.jpg