Black `93 ZR-1. (re: 85rd issue) My first post with photos

[Nth Degree]

I haven`t posted photos of my work on forums for various reasons. Since I have decided to finally do so, I figured I would start with this one. Some may remember this post: http://www.autopiaforums.com/forums/...-idea-why.html This is the car I was working on at the time.


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 weren’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, didn’t pose much problem. A few others were beyond total correction as you’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 driver’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 didn’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 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]

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 wasn’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:





Here’s one more scratch that could not be completely removed, but definitely improved.








Thanks for Looking.

[polisher]

m loving it..what year is the car

[hamza7]

I may have missed this but what was the initial step before the 85rd before

[C. Charles Hahn]

Incredible results! You certainly picked a good one to start posting pics

m loving it..what year is the car

Didn`t read the thread title, did ya?

[Nth Degree]

Incredible results! You certainly picked a good one to start posting pics

Thanks.

I may have missed this but what was the initial step before the 85rd before

105/D300 combo with LC yellow with PC. (it was only stated in materials used)

m loving it..what year is the car

Didn`t read the thread title, did ya?

[Pats300zx]

Great job Chris !!!

[Rocket]

Really nice job. Car looks great!

[Todd@RUPES]

Great job! I love the ZR-1`s from 90-95! The first ZR1`s (no dash) I think where built in 1970, but it was this model that really put it on the map. The Mercury Marine built, Lotus designed 4 cam small block is just awesome. I had the pleasure of ripping the tires of a 1990 ZR-1 with Angleo (zoomzoommazda5).

I love it in black, particularly after you worked your magic.

Todd

[glfahlc]

great job chris, looks like that classic will have a few more miles put on it now...