Me vs. my black Infiniti G35.

[imported_Picus]

Hola! So, I just recently started detailing via a PC. Hilariously enough (well, not so much) I`ve managed to do 4 or 5 other cars before I got around to mine and have had awesome results. I don`t really have the perfect setup for a wash/clay/polish job since I live in a loft style building with community underground parking. In any event I got to it Tuesday outside but didn`t make much progress due to the heat. Big thanks go out to JDookie and toml who helped me in this thread after Tuesdays failure:



http://autopia.org/forum/showthread.php?t=60958



Anyway I got back to it today. 10 hours later here I am. I honestly don`t know how you pro detailers do it. It`s incredibly time consuming, detail oriented, and laborious work. I don`t have any befores handy because as you`ll see the light in the garage is terrible. I will have some befores from previous outside adventures soon, though. The paint was heavily swirled and had a lot of random marring from road debris, and a few good scratches. The previous owner put a lot of miles on in one year all on the highway, and it showed. The paint looked almost grey-ish because of all the swirls. :( There is also one spots on the rear drivers side fender that had been re-painted, so a lot of overspray came off. OK so here`s what I did today.



Wash with Zaino Z7

Clay with Z16 clay

Wash again with Z7, dry

PC with SSR2.5 on LC orange cutting pad x3

PC with SSR2.5 on white LC polishing pad x1

PC with SSR1 on black LC finishing pad x1 (this wasn`t really necessary, but hey why not)

I was going to glaze after this, but Zaino doesn`t like bonding to a glaze, so I moved right to it.

Z5x2 with ZFX

Z2prox2 with ZFX



Tires got Zaino tire dressing, wheel wells and plasting trim got 303. Interior got Z10, but was in great shape already. Sorry, no pics of the interior atm, it`s black leather and I`m sure you`ve all seen that a million times.



Engine bay was done with 3:1 soylent green...er, simple green mist, wait 10 minutes then wipe down. It wasn`t that dirty.



Sorry for the poor light. I`ll add some befores and some better lit afters as soon as I can. I do admit to adjusting the brightness/contrast of the pictures. The light was so bad I took like 50 shots and came away with almost no good ones without post processing them a bit. I am extremely happy with the results. There is literally no swirling left at all. Some of the deeper scratches still remain but they are so few and far between the car looks brand new.



http://kbhamill.com/pics/g35/detail2.jpg



http://kbhamill.com/pics/g35/detail1.jpg



Mmmm, wet. Can`t wait to put some Natty`s on it.



http://kbhamill.com/pics/g35/detail5.jpg



A 2003 BMW 330xi looks on in the background. My car and it are eachothers nemesis` :D



http://kbhamill.com/pics/g35/detail4.jpg



http://kbhamill.com/pics/g35/detail6.jpg



Hi! This angle was like one of those circus mirrors. I look all stumpy. I love it!



http://kbhamill.com/pics/g35/detail3.jpg



I think as soon as I get some more Optimum polish I am going to give the car a pass with it then some Clearkote RMG, then seal it with PB`s EX-P, followed by Natty`s blue and some CMW 24 hours later. Not that I dislike Zaino, I love it`s durabilty, but I like the look of real wax on black cars.

[Pats300zx]

Outstanding... :woot: :woot:

[JasonD]

Wow, now *that`s* a great job. Congrats! :2thumbs:

[imported_Picus]

Thanks guys! Jdookie, I couldn`t have done it without your input. Patience really did pay off in this case. I didn`t even have to crack out the SSR3 like I was on Tuesday. SSR2.5 with a cutting pad really went to work when I just layed off the pressure and moved at a glacial pace to let the product do it`s job.



Now I just need better light for better pictures. :D

[jimtriz]

Very nice job Picus!!! Excellent work, the black looks beautiful!!

[Scottwax]

Really nice work! I`d love to see some pics of the car outside too, parking garages really don`t do good detail work justice. ;)

[imported_Picus]

I know! It took all my will-power not to get in it and drive it outside to get some shots, luckily for me it`s absolutely pouring rain, so there`s no way I`m going out. I will be out tomorrow though and will try to get some better shots.



Oh I forgot to add one more thing - Meg`s PlasticX did a heck of a job on my lights. The rears were pretty scratched up and the fronts, well, forget it - they were so cloudy from rock chips it was a joke. The rears cleaned up wonderfully and the fronts are definitely *much* better.

[stilez]

Looks AWESOME!





Love your choice of vehicle :).

[BillyBarou]

Very wet. :bow

[imported_series1]

Very nice car and outstanding job!

[imported_Picus]

Here are some more pictures I took today outside. The sun isn`t out at all but it`s still better than my parking garage. I`m even more happy now having seen it outside. Even my wife said "Damn, that looks good" and let me take pictures in a grocery store parking lot. :D I love the looks on people faces, haha.



http://kbhamill.com/pics/g35/4.jpg



Yay, orange peel. :cry: Oh well, Nissan paint, right?



http://kbhamill.com/pics/g35/3.jpg



http://kbhamill.com/pics/g35/2.jpg



http://kbhamill.com/pics/g35/1.jpg



http://kbhamill.com/pics/g35/6.jpg



OK, I feel like a whore so I will stop bumping my own thread. Thanks again everyone. If I manage to scan some befores I will post them in the original thread.

[03k20a2]

looks very good even on a very cloudy dull day

[Glossmaster]

Very nice work! There`s nothing like a finely detailed black vehicle! Top that baby with some Z8 to kick it up a notch!!!! ( BAM!!!! ANOTHER NOTCH!! )

[RCBuddha]

Looks very nice! I really like the way Infiniti has been styling their vehicles.

[imported_Picus]

OOo, don`t even get me thinking about Z8. :D I just finished my bottle of Z6 and am trying not to buy more products. I have a full 32oz bottle of Megs Final Inspection here so I am going to try the RMG/EX-P/Natty`s combo (with FI as a booster) on it soon. Hopefully that will satiate my need to buy some Z8!