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White S 6 speed MT... Pictures finally!

Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2011 4:26 am
by AlexRuiz
Well, long overdue, but finally here they are.

I got the car on Nov 16, 2010. I was really anxious to give it a full detail. The first weekend all I could do was a wash and apply a booster wax (Zymol blue wash, topped Duragloss aquawax #951)

Next weekend was thanksgiving, and all I could do was a was just a wash and quick detailer (Zymol blue again, One Grand Show off)

The first weekend of December I finally had the chance to work on the paint. Washed the car (zymol blue wash) and clayed the paint (mothers clay bar, mothers showtime QD as lubricant) It took me like 3 hours, but I guess I took out all of the rail dust particles. Did the tires and wheel wheels, but only applied the showtime quick detailer to the paint. After the claybar, the paint felt smooth and looked shinier, but upon closer inspection you could see the swirls marks for the dealers washes. Furthermore, you could see all the micromarring left by the claybar

(click on the thumbnails to see them bigger)

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Next weekend I finally had the chance to polish the paint (already Dec 11, and unfortunately sub freezing temps, the weekend of the monster freezing storm) Washed the car normally in threshold temps (Eagle one wet) and was able to dry. Decdied to polish only by hand, mainly to bring out gloss and take out micromarring. The swirls marks were not the objective. It was so cold (12 F) that the polish would freeze on the paint almost on contact. I had to use a heatgun to heat panel by panel, and heat the pads and products. A 500 watts halogen used to light the panels was also used to keep products warm.

Procedure, Products and tools used:
Turtle wax premium polishing compound, applied by hand with a 4" Lake Country white pad (polishing). Decided on the TWPPC as it doesn't dust because a wash after polishing was really not feasible. After each panel was polished, I applied Finish Kare 1000P wax (synthetic, really a sealant). Then, move to next panel, polish and wax again.

The car was free from micromarring, looked much shinier, and most important, was ready for the winter slush. FK 1000P is quite durable, looks very good on light paints, but its best attribute is how easy it sheds dirt. Dumbly, I didn't take any pictures of the finished product. Next weekend just washed, and same for the new year weekend (nice weekend, I should have polished on this one :(). Applied Mothers FX spray wax, and finally took the pictures. Tires dressed with turtle wax platinum ultra gloss tire shine spray.

3/4 shots front, left and right
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3/4 shots rear, left and right
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Front and rear shots
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3/4 shots from farther away.
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Side reflections and tires.
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More side shots
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Looks good, but will look much better once I have the chance to machine polish it :)
Interior shots coming soon


Alex

Re: White S 6 speed MT... Pictures finally!

Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2011 5:26 am
by metatrox
Looks great! Thanks for the tips!

Looks like you need a vinyl bumper black out kits lol

Re: White S 6 speed MT... Pictures finally!

Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2011 5:28 am
by RjKizashi
Like to be able to get the GTS shifter in white, nice car.

Re: White S 6 speed MT... Pictures finally!

Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2011 6:25 am
by TheHolyGhost
The finish on your car looks great. Super clean white cars always look very impressive. Nice work!

Re: White S 6 speed MT... Pictures finally!

Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2011 9:05 pm
by AlexRuiz
Thanks for the comments guys!
I was pleased with the results, but not thrilled as I could still see the swirl marks.
Besides, the pictures were taken on a cloudy day.

However, the rest of the world thought the car looked amazing :D
I need to take it a picture of the car right now, covered in road salt and grime :(

Re: White S 6 speed MT... Pictures finally!

Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 6:36 pm
by Ronzuki
I wish you lived closer.....You'd have a customer for life! Looks really good

Re: White S 6 speed MT... Pictures finally!

Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 1:59 am
by AlexRuiz
Ronzuki wrote:I wish you lived closer.....You'd have a customer for life! Looks really good
Thanks Ron.
As a fellow Kizashi driver, I would just ask for beers :)

Let me find a good detailer local to you in the autopia forums.

Re: White S 6 speed MT... Pictures finally!

Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 1:43 pm
by Ronzuki
hey there, thanks very much I appreciate that!....I've never had any detailing done before (Jeeps, trucks and old SUVs don't really require it), and wouldn't know who to trust to not damage the car. But I'd like to get a good detailing done on the exterior of the Kiz to help the finish look its best and last. I've heard some bad stories about guys ruining a cars finish not having the experience to do the work properly.