2005 Subaru STi - Corrected & Protected

[zmcgovern45]

This car belongs to a member of a local forum that I sponsor. `The car was in need of some cleaning, both inside and out. `The paint did not appear too bad upon initial inspection (that is one of the perks of owning a light colored vehicle) but once it was thoroughly cleaned and placed under the unforgiving halogen lights - all was revealed. `The car had your typical swirls and scratches throughout the entire surface, but a one-step correction did wonders to restore the gloss and clarity back to this worn out paint. `The engine was not terrible, but it had a nice layer of dirt and dust that had built up overtime. `It was carefully cleaned and dressed (SORRY, I forgot to get an after pic... but I will be honest, it was nothing spectacular to look at. `Just a clean engine. `No nicely painted engine covers or anything like that which can be found on most luxury vehicles that clean up so nicely.) `The interior had also seen it`s fair share of use, but it was nothing that a thorough vacuuming, wipe down, and dressing couldn`t cure... again, sorry, no interior pics.
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<span style="font-size:18px;"><span>Process
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<span>Exterior
- Wheels: CG Diablo Gel (4:1) agitated with various brushes and wheel woolies`
- Tires: Tuf Shine Tire Cleaner and Tuf Shine Tire Brush
- Foam Pre-Soak: CG Citrus Wash and Gloss`
- Bug Removal: CG Bug Bugger & Tar Remover
- Tar Removal: Stoner`s Tarminator
- Wash: CG Citrus Wash and Gloss with Sheep Skin Wash Mitt (2 bucket method w/ grit guards)
- Iron Removal: Iron X
- Dry: Waffle Weave Drying Towels & Leaf Blower
- Clay: Medium Grade Clay with NanoSkin Glide for Lube (7:1)
- Paint Thickness Readings Taken: CM8801FN Paint Thickness Gauge
- Tape: 3M Blue Painters Tape
- Polish: Meguiar`s M205 on LC White 5.5: Polishing Pad via Rupes LHR21ES & PC7424XP for 3" and 4" Pads
- Glaze: CG EZ Creme Glaze on LC Black Pad via PC7424XP
- Sealant: Menzerna Power Lock on LC Blue Pad via PC7424XP
- Tire Dressing: Optimum Opti-Bond (2 Coats)
- Exhaust: CG Metal Shine (Polish + Protection) by hand with microfiber towel
- Glass: Stoner`s Invisible Glass
- Final Wipe Down: CG Hybrid V7 (done just before customer pickup)
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<span>Interior
- Vacuum: Vacmaster Wall Mounted Shop Vac
- Cleaning: Wipe down with Meguiar`s D103 APC (10:1)
- Dressing/Protection: 303
- Glass: Stoner`s Invisible Glass
- Lightly Scented with CG Stripper Scent
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<span>Engine
- Clean: Meguiar`s D103 APC (10:1) agitated with various brushes and microfiber mitt
- Carefully rinsed
- Plastic Trim: Dressed with 303
- Metal: Polished with CG Metal Shine
- Rubber Hoses: CG Black on Black
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Total Time: Approximately 10 Hours
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<span style="font-size:24px;"><span>Before
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Some sap spots on the paint

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Mud flaps doing their job... but they get quite dirty. You can also see how dirty the brake calipers were.`

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Wheels were VERY dirty. `Performance brakes and daily driving lead to a lot of build up on your wheels. `Front wheels were very heavily covered in brake dust and rear wheels were covered with a nice layer of dirt. `Calipers were filthy as well.

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There were small tar deposits around the car.

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The trim had some weird staining/discoloration.

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Engine was not in bad shape. Just a layer of dust and dirt covering everything.

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<span><span style="font-size:12px;">During
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As always, I began with the wheels and tires. `There was some nasty stuff coming off of them.

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After the car was foamed, bugs and tar were removed, next the car was washed with a heavy dilution of Citrus Wash, and then I treated it with Iron X to remove any bonded Iron contaminates from the surface. `You can see the Iron X reacting with iron particles. `Iron X is a clear chemical, but turns purple when it begins to dissolve away the iron deposits.

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The car was then rinsed and dried and put away for the night. `The next day I began by further decontaminating the paint with detailing clay. `It is important to remove all surface contaminates prior to machine polishing to ensure the best results. `Here you can see the contamination that the clay was removing from the surface. `I believe this picture was taken after I had completed the hood. <span style="font-size:10px;">`*Note: `I used NanoSkin Glide (7:1) as clay lube. `I typically use ONR for clay lube and have never considered trying anything else, but for some reason I decided to give Glide a shot... the difference was noticeable. `I really liked it!

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After the paint was perfectly clean, I was able to properly inspect the condition. `There were swirls and scratches throughout the entire surface.

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Before proceeding with the paint correction, I began by performing a test spot on the hood. `Here is the test spot prior to correction.

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After correction (top polished, bottom original)

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A 50/50 look without the tape.

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Taking a step back, you can clearly see the enhancement in gloss and clarity on the area that has been polished. `Even lighter colored vehicles benefit greatly from properly polished paint!

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50/50 shot of polished door and unpolished fender.

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50/50 shot of polished front door and unpolished rear door.

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50/50 shot of polished front door and unpolished rear door.

[zmcgovern45]

This piece of carbon trim is meant to protect the paint from being burned and/or stained by exhaust, however it had taken a nice beating and was very dull and had a severe amount of buildup/staining around the bottom edge.

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After polishing with M105 and M205 (by hand) the gloss was fully restored and it looked really good!

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The pillars had some staining/discoloration of some sort that was not very appealing to look at.`

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`I was not sure what it was or how to handle it, so I started by rubbing some Meguiar`s D103 APC (10:1) on it with a microfiber towel. `It worked perfectly and removed whatever it was that was contaminating the trim.

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... then I got distracted by my own car sitting in the driveway soaking up the rays. `22ple VX1 Pro Coating is glossy as can be! `Car has not been washed in a week or so.

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<span style="font-size:24px;"><span>After
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After polishing, the car was coated with a layer of CG EZ Creme Glaze which greatly enhances the already smooth surface and then topped with Menzerna Power Lock Sealant. `This combo creates great depth and gloss... even on this light colored paint. `As the sealant was curing, I tended to some smaller details - polishing exhaust, applying tire dressing, cleaning exterior glass, etc. I was very happy with how the car turned out! `Here are some of the after pics.
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Wheels and tires look fantastic! `The blue powder coat really pops now, and the brake calipers have been restored to their rightful beauty!

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Sun was peaking through the trees... no swirls here!

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<span style="font-size:18px;">As always, thanks for looking!

[Scottwax]

Nice work! Those generation WRX`s are much easier to work on than the newer ones. Swirls come out pretty easy and the clear isn`t sticky! Plus I think they look better.

[Jean-Claude]

Well done Zack!

[Guru17]

Great work. The car looks all the bling now.


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From the initial pics, I would never have imagined that the wheels were blue - I thought they were black.

[zmcgovern45]

Thanks guys