Restoration of a BEATER 02 Elantra and 05 G35 Scratch Removal

[imported_JoshVette]

By far the absolute worst case sinario I've ever done.



It's an 02 Hyndia Elantra with 107,000 miles of no washing, horrible bird etching and pretty much anything else you can get from leaving a car outside all day and all night long.



I buffed and wetsanded the bird etching all to no avail, it was though the clear and in most cases, through the paint. I literally made about 5-6 passes with the rotary on just one swipe and did that same process 3 times......



This is my sister-in-law's car, so I only went so far with it, but I still spent 11 hours buffing and it still needed much more work.



Here's the process.

Dawn Wash,

Claybar

Rotary with Orange LC pad and Menzerna PG at 1700 x 3 on top surfaces

Rotary with Orange LC pad and Menzerna PG at 1700 x 1 on sides

PC with Yellow LC pad and Menzerna PG at 6000 x 2 on top and sides to remove any hollograms and marring

Wetsanded some bird etching with 2000 grit and PC with Yellow LC pad and Menz PG to remove sanding marks. The etching was not effected by the wetsanding. NO HOPE...

Zaino CS to finish off



I wanted to spend more time on it and correct more, there were still some swirls in it after all that compounding believe it or not, and I did not glaze it or anything to hide any defects at all.



Here's the pics, the orange peel was worst I've ever seen on any car, so please excuse that...



Little pic of me to get things started

before

after

before trunk

after trunk

before trunk

after trunk

before trunk up close

after trunk up close

before roof

after roof

before hood, lots of irremovable bird etching here

after hood

before hood, half and half

after hood, half and half

more to come

 

[imported_JoshVette]

before headlights

after headlights

before door shot outside

after door shot outside

before hood shot outside

after hood shot outside

overal car shot after

 

[imported_JoshVette]

Here's a Autopia member I did today.

An 05 G35 only wanting scratch removal, nothing else.

About 10-12 minor scratchs total.

Took me about 1 hour 45 minutes total.

Process:

Rotary with orange LC pad and Menzerna PG at 1500-1700 x 2

Light wetsanding with 2000 grit

PC follow up with Yellow pad and Menzerna PG at 6000

that's all.

Scratches gone, check it out.



Passenger fender scratchs before shot

fender after

passenger door scratches under mirror before

passenger door after

passenger door under handle scratches before

passenger door under handle after

driver front fender scratch before

driver front fender after

There were a few more smaller ones, but I just took the pics of the bigger ones.



Happy Detailing:buffing:

Josh

 

[imported_GregCavi]

Great work! I too, have experienced that condition Elantra. nice recoveries!



Greg

 

[SHhhhh]

those flip-flops are hawt!



J/K.....good job!



You can definitely tell a difference.

 

[P1et]

Nice work! I bet the detailing job cost more than the Elantra was worth!

 

[gmblack3]

Very nice work Josh. Big improvement on the elantra.

 

[Scottwax]

I feel your pain, I did a trashed Kia Spectra last summer, same deal too. Deep, deep bird etchings...and I had to do the filthy interior too! Didn't get nearly as radical as you did, the owner's boss paid for it and gave me a set $ amount to work with!



Looks a lot better though, really a much better detail that it deserves!



Oh yeah, I found the thread and as you can see, bird bomb etchings all the way to the primer! http://autopia.org/forum/click-brag...rn-santa-fe-accord.html?highlight=kia+spectra

 

[imported_JoshVette]

Thanks guys, yea that job would have cost about half of what that car is worth. It's my sister in laws though, so she's getting the serious hook up. (got to take care of family)



To really get it perfect, the entire car would have needed to be wet sanded and buffed after I did all that.



Josh

 

[BlackElantraGT]

I know firsthand how crappy Hyundai's paint job was on the Elantra. My car needs a repaint badly, and it's an '02 model like your sister-in-law's. Don't be surprised if you begin to see clearcoat failure within the next few months. At least you knew you did the best you could on it! You get an A for effort! I would have thrown in the towel long before 11 hours