The rest of the week vs. NSX, S4, 328i, Protege5

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imported_Picus

New member
I'd like to title this entry "the week of fixing screw ups". Onward.



First is a 1996 Acura NSX, this one was straightforward, swirls were moderate and the paint was looking a bit pinkish/dull. Two polishing steps, some touchups, win. Process:



Wash with Megs Deep Crystal

Clay

Menzerna IP/orange via rotary @1400 rpm

FPII/white via rotary @1200 rpm

Clearkote RMG

Poorboys Nattys Blue



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Mazda Protege5. Swirls were pretty severe but we only had a few hours. It came out well, but I'd like to take another couple hours to really work out the rest of the marring.



Process:



Menzerna IP/orange via rotary @1500rpm

PO106FF/white via PC

Poorboys EX-P



Pics are uninspiring due to it being inside... what can you do.



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Now the first of the "fixing the screw up" series. Audi S4, the owner sent me this pictures to help describe the issue he was experiencing.



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Right. So there was some hazing. Not sure how it happened, I gather from something like PG or another heavy abrasive + a PC or some such RO buffer.



It was all over the car:



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Process (I was in the sun):



Optimum Compound/orange via PC

Optimum Polish/white via PC

Zaino Z5pro



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Note: I really like Z5pro, very easy to use and the look is nice. Kind of reminds me of ex w/carnauba but wetter.



Second in the "fixing screw ups" series. This one was the killer of the week. The owner had had it "detailed" a couple weeks ago and found me on Autopia when he realized it was much worse AFTER the detail than before. Originally when he called me and described the problems I suspected clearcoat failure (the previous detailer apparently used a rotary). When I saw it I was mysitified. It wasn't cc failure, but I wasn't sure WHAT was going on. The car was horribly marred *everywhere*, in particular there were huge circular spots with thousands of 2-3 inch long scratches in them, as if the car was buffed dry. It was hideous.



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Notice the big areas of circular marring here. These were areas 5-10 inches wide that were filled with half moon shaped scrathces 1-4 inches long, thousands of them. :cry:

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I did all work via PC because I was concerned about the clearcoat. I checked the paint thickness with my guage and it showed .2 micron less on the horizontal panels than the hood/roof/decklid.



Overall it came out well, about ~90% marring removed. There were some touchups on the rear door panel I wanted to wetsand/polish, but after trying to wetsand one I was convinced the thickness of the paint wouldn't support any more sanding, so I polidhed out the marring and called it a day. As much as I'd like the blobs gone, blobs are better than clear coat failure. I think the owner was a little sad that the blobs couldn't be dealt with, but this is one case where I'd rather play it safe.



Process:



PG/RMG on a yellow/orange via PC

Menzerna IP/white via PC

Opt Polish/grey via PC (this was a weird step, I tried FPII but it was leaving micromarring...?), anyway Opt polish did the trick.

Menzerna FMJ

Nattys Blue

total time on this one was over 7 hours... :/



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i may be the only one to say this, but i'm more interested in your photography skills.



Those are some really nicely exposed & measured pics!
 
Very careful and impressive work on the Bimmer.

Good for you.

I can't see how the owner would be anything but delighted.
 
seems you've been busy latley. I'm glad people realize how good you are. I was even scoping your G in the NSX pics (like you said, it has a way of sneaking into all your detailing shots) and it looks incredible too.
 
Kanchou said:
i may be the only one to say this, but i'm more interested in your photography skills.



Those are some really nicely exposed & measured pics!
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Thanks. My "eye" for photography is not that good; but I am lucky because my wife is a photgrapher, so I get to steal her gear for detailing shots! I have to be honest, I leave the camera on full-auto; I don't even know how to change any of the exposure/metering settings. :doh I still get a lot of pics of darker cars that are over-exposed in a lot of areas, and my indoor shots are always miserable. I will have to have my wife teach me to spot meter.



01bluecls said:
Freaking amazing!!! By the way what camera do you have??
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My wife just got a new camera so the 300D (which is what I use) has been delegated to "car shots". :) I use it with either a 28-135 or 17-35 lens.



Way2SSlow said:
seems you've been busy latley. I'm glad people realize how good you are. I was even scoping your G in the NSX pics (like you said, it has a way of sneaking into all your detailing shots) and it looks incredible too.
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Hah, thanks. Actually, "funny" story, it's covered in primer paint. I parked it outside one day this week and some young guys were spraying a house and managed to cover every car on the block in overspray. I haven't had time to get it off yet. :/



Thanks everyone.
 
Stunning work on all cars. The Audi in particular looks absolutely amazing, stunning wet and really good reflections. The BMW was a supberb turnaround. All cars looking fantastic now, top work! :bigups :bigups
 
All of them are very nice! Nice pictures did you do any interior work on any of them? Did you notice wheather the NSX had those marks on the piller?
 
its pics like the ack that are really making a believer out of me that no color can look better wet than red... hellova job!
 
cj99si said:
All of them are very nice! Nice pictures did you do any interior work on any of them? Did you notice wheather the NSX had those marks on the piller?
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I did interiors on the NSX and protege. None of the protege pics turned out because I was inside without my flash. :(



Here is one of the NSX:



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My stripes got messed up because I had to lean over to the do the passenger side, not enough room to open the door. :)



It was already in good shape, just needed a vacuum, quick LGM on the mats and some leather conditioner.



This NSX did not have those marks on the pillar, it's 5 years newer than the one that did though. Interestingly, the silver NSX I did last week ('91) had the same marks on the pillar as the red one that had paint failure. I think maybe there is a bolt or something under that area on the older model.



Thanks everyone.
 
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