Black `93 ZR-1. My first post with photos

**Nth Degree** · 10-15-2011, 01:02 AM

I haven`t posted photos of my work on forums for various reasons. I finally decided to take the time and do so. Enjoy.

Before:

Products used:

Chemical Guys Citrus Wash

Clay Magic Blue Clay with my own mix of CGMS2 & ONR for lube

P21s Wheel Gel

La Awesome full strength for tires

105/D300 combo with LC yellow with PC

Menzerna Power Finish

Menzerna Final Polish II

Blackfire Wet Diamond

This was a blind date. I had met the owner at a car club meeting where he had one of his other cars. He had seen my work on another black car and wanted this one brought to the same level. A little research revealed that there were 448 of these cars made in 1993, of which 54 were made in black. This is a very low mileage car at only 8790.

I traveled about an hour each way for this car and due to the availability of myself and the owner I had planned to complete the work in one day. Without seeing the car or even discussing exactly what the goal was with the owner I prepared to spend between 10-14 hours on it.

Upon my arrival I was pleasantly surprised to find there werenâ€™t any major surprises. Here are a few more before photos. It was a cloudy day so I was unable to get any sun shots before starting.

The car had typical wash-induced swirls...

...as well as lots of wax residue in the trim and crevices.

After discussing with the owner the options a 2 stage correction was decided upon. This would fall right in line with my estimated 12 hours. So I got started with the wash, clay and strip of the existing wax so I would have a pure surface to work with.

Once inside I did a closer inspection. There were some RIDS. Most, like this one, didnâ€™t pose much problem. A few others were beyond total correction as youâ€™ll see later.

The next step was to tape the trim pieces, crevices and raised edges to avoid polish residue getting into difficult to reach places.

Here is a 50/50 test spot of the correction.

I was told there was some suspicion that the hood had been repainted. As I was going along with the correction I happened to notice this:

There was a big difference in the orange peel between the hood and the driverâ€™s door. The passenger door matched the hood, but not the rear quarter panel indicating it was repainted at the same time.

I was already at 11+ hours in and planned to cruise through the finishing polish. My normal go-to finishing polish for black cars is Menzerna PO85rd. It gives a great finish, has a long work time and is a very consistent performer on all types of paint and in all types of conditions. Unfortunately this was the rare case when it didnâ€™t. I spent about an hour trying different combinations of pads, speed and removal mediums and methods and could not avoid causing light marring.

I did finally find a solution that would give me the desired result but it would have required significantly more time. Since I was already 12+ hours:buffing: into the job and had lost an hour to this problem I knew there was little chance of me finishing before 3 a.m. I was hot, tired and frustrated, so the decision was made to postpone until the next available day almost a week later.

**Nth Degree** · 10-15-2011, 01:04 AM

Fast forward one week:

I have done some research on the paint and am ready for round 2. I gave the PO85rd another shot. It worked a little better in the lower temperature, but I still wasnâ€™t happy with the result. Since I had committed the day to finishing the car I decided the best result would be achieved by doing an intermediate stage. This turned it into a 3 stage correction. While it was not my original plan I wanted to make the second trip worth it. So I used Menzerna Power Finish with a Lake Country white foam pad and followed up with Menzerna Final Polish II on a Lake Country black foam pad. While the customer may have been very happy with just the 2 stages, I take pride in my work and was really enjoying the process. It really is a Zen experience to create great results. Blackfire Wet Diamond All Finish Protection was the sealant of choice. A total of about 21 hours were put in.

Okay, now the real reason you are reading; The Sun Shots:

Some Before and After comparison shots:

One of the scratches too deep to correct:

Hereâ€™s one more scratch that could not be completely removed, but definitely improved.

Thanks for Looking.

**autoaesthetica** · 10-15-2011, 01:55 AM

Excellent job Chris. Heck of a car too - I remember reading and dreaming about these when they first came out.

**mikenap** · 10-15-2011, 06:42 AM

Great first write-up Chris! Glad you decided to share it with us, and an outstanding car to use for your first write-up too. Before and afters look great and really highlight the improvements, without having to scroll back through the post to see the original pics.:clap2: