Black Lexus IS-F Resurrection!

[MDD239]

Whats up everybody, long time follower of this awesome message board. My name is Matt and I operate a small(but growing) detail business out of cape coral Fl. looking forward to networking and learning from everyone

Lets get to the pics, basically im gunna go step by step through a 3 step correction on Gloss Black Lexus IS-F that had been poorly washed and always covered(i hate car covers) so here goes nothing.

I like starting with the interior as I've noticed moving around the car and vacuuming, brushing, wiping, going in and out can often dust up the exterior. so I started inside

Vacuumed Driver mat, ended up brushing/ scrubbing the lettering.

the clients priority was not the inside so i didnt go too crazy.

under the floor mat coming through the carpeting was this bugger of nylon thread. didnt seem important so snip snip.

Third Pedal Before:

After:

Brushing the vents. In case you want to know this is a womens make-up brush i bought at walgreens. i use my partially saturated with megs APC rag, and run the brush through the rag making it just a tiny bit damp and i find this dampness helps grab the dust which can otherwise be a PITA

Drivers Seat Clean ready for Leatherique two step.

Here is the Rejuvinator Oil spread. All the interior leather surfaces were treated.

Since i didn't feel like sitting in this oil(ha!) and i planned to let it soak in for the next day or so i would be polishing i covered the seat with new trash bags. I have found that sitting the car in a warm spot, like outside, opens the pores of the leather and lets the treatment really work its magic.

 

[MDD239]

i prefer washing the wheels, tires, brakes, and fenderliners before i move to washing the vehicle. i just about have a stroke when i might splash some dirty wheel water on a freshly clayed car so like i said wheels first.

Before, pretty gross but not the worst ive seen.

Megs super degreaser on the tires and fenderliners, Sonax Plus on the wheels and calipers

Moving to exterior cleaning. I foam the car, and standard 2bktwash with grit guards. Ill then rinse and Iron-x the car, while the iron x is removing those stubborn deposits i begin claying. this car i used ONR in a pump sprayer as lube for clay-magic red clay

Now that shes clean and decon'd lets check out this awful paint condition

 

[MDD239]

Big ugly scratch on driver door. yuck!

okay so lets move on to the polishing!(and some sanding too)

im using a rupes 21 first step was megs cutting mf pad, megs m105, break down polish, wipe panel. do that same step again! hard lexus paint!

also for some areas ill slip in the megs interface pad to cut down on that loss of rotation the rupes can run into, also this leaves more of the pad surface flat on the paint.

the small areas were done with a PC(yea that pc) and a 3inch backin plate and same pad combo as rupes and/ or i used a new(to me) flex compakt rotary with ccs yellow pad 3 inch backing plate.

had a few areas to sand, this is the hood, used 2000 wet then followed with 3000 wet

after two compounding steps 50/50

 

[MDD239]

some scratches on the fender probably from leaning into the engine bay.

i used the 2000 and followed with 3000 on all the sanding pics youll see in this thread.

after compound

moving along with polishing. i have some 50/50 videos but not a lot of pics. sometimes when i get cranking i forget to stop and take pics.

weird swirls on rear 1/4

gone:

it broke my heart to tell the owner his baby had a repainted rear bumper. anyways i wetsanded out this corner and the pain was much softer on the rear bumper

driver door handle. my pet peeve!

that big ugly scratch

sanded behind the door handle and this big scratch.

 

[MDD239]

above the gas door scratch

sanded and compounded

getting real happy with the clarity

after cutting i polished with the rupes and the aforementioned pc and flew with green ccs pad and menzerna pf2500

final polish was same machines and a ccs blue pad and sf4500 menzerna


after all that polishing i had to scrub her down and get all the compound from the nooks and crannies

megs apc and ONR

so she was washed and dried. time for coating. i put two coats of the new cquartz on the paint. dlux on the plastics and Solution finish on the trim. tire dressing is optimum tire bond gel

 

[MDD239]

afters

remember the rear bumper scratches?

 

[MDD239]

rear 1/4 back to perfect

leather looking very soft and fresh

sanding and polishing along the fender came out flawless

 

[MDD239]

solution finish and dlux on wiper arms and cowl

drivers seat

driver door handle. PITA scratches gone!

 

[MDD239]

hooked the client up with a new wash mitt and two waffle weave towels. also made him a list and will be teaching him the steps for a two bucket wash.


thanks guys

 

[allenk4]

What paint thickness numbers were you seeing before and after sanding?

Which PTG do you use?

 

[jrock645]

That was one heck of a correction! Pretty bad shape with e major scratches requiring sanding

 

[Pats300zx]

Beautiful work Matt !!!!

 

[jimmie jam]

WOW, beautiful result!!

 

[512detail]

great work! thanks for the thorough write-up
nice little am read before the work day


also nice retro levi's shirt on day 1 pics,
brought back some memories

 

[House of Wax]

Superb job. looks outstanding

 

[haris300]

Awesome work. Looks like you had your hands full with those deeper scratches. The after shots are phenomenal. Good to see that car back in the condition it deserves to be in.

 

[Ronkh]

Beautiful work!
Great write up