The Perfect Shine - Black S2000 restored, from Sonus

This car belongs to a friend of mine. He's owned it since new, so we only have him to blame for the state of things. It's been outside its entire life. It's black, and apparently black Honda paint is quite soft (I'll get to that in a minute).

These photos were taken to document the use of the Sonus Perfect Shine Kit and David B's process of The Perfect Shine and as such, almost all products used are Sonus products. I must say, I was quite impressed with how well the SFX polishes worked (new formula) - by hand, by PC and even by rotary. All of the products lived up to their marketing.

PRODUCTS
- WASH: Sonus Gloss Shampoo & Der Wunder Mitt (Chenille)
- DRY: Sonus Der Wunder Drying Towel (large blue WW MF)
- CLAY: SFX Ultra-Fine clay & Sonus Glyde clay lube
- POLISH:
--- SFX-1, by hand (SFX Pro applicator), pc (DAS green polishing pad/5-6) & rotary (SFX white polishing pad/~1000rpm)
--- SFX-2, by hand (SFX Pro), PC (DAS green/5-6)
--- SFX-3, PC (DAS blue/4-5)
--- Der Wunder Polishing Towels (green) for removing polish

I found that I really needed to use the SFX-3 to really smooth out the finish - this black Honda paint seemed very very soft. I would guess that with many lighter and harder finishes, SFX-2 would be a sufficient product to jump straight to LSP.

- SEAL: Klasse AIO & Der Wunder applicator (orange MF) - WOWO method
- WAX: P21S x2, spit shined with Sonus Detailing Spritz
--- Der Wunder Buffing Towels for removing AIO & P21S

BEFORES
not just dirt - swirls, buffer marks... ugh...













AFTERS

He and I square off...


Dirty Spoon Exhaust? Where?




The clouds were trying to clear out for me...


This is a "full sun" shot on the same fender as in the before pictures... It's just barely behind the clouds, but let me tell you - those swirls are gonnnnneeee




Now to get his car, his friend's black Type-R, his brother's black Evo (pictured above) and another friend's black RX8 together for a photo shoot.

Thanks for looking.

Wow, awesome job...I need to get me some better equipment and some more skill

wow, that should be our banner post!!

no better example of what detailing can do-
great job, great pics and
congrats!!

btw, hope he maintains that beauty- he needs a car cover!
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in fact, this post led me to create a sticky at the top of our board to recognize it!!
http://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=323106

This post has been edited by wanabe on Sep 20 2005, 01:49 PM

Wow, thanks wanabe. That's very cool. He's a member here and is keeping tabs, but prefers to remain anonymous, I guess

He's got the Honda "dust cover" but I'd hesitate to use it... I'd guess it would end up inducing a lot more scratching than it'd save...

Convict: thanks. The equipment makes the job go faster, but if you had enough time, muscle and joint strength you could achieve this by hand. A LOT of time, muscle and joint strength... but it could be done.

AMAZING!

Wow! That is amazing! You should be damn proud of yourself!

How long did the whole process take you?

yup.. had to be

nice work

That's ALOT of work. Hope he appreciates your efforts and enjoys riding in a SHINEY car

Great job! The pictures do a great job of showing the before and after difference.

thanks folks.

Simon: the rotary is the way. I love my Metabo

Blackie: took about 6-7 hours total, but I had to stop and set up photos at every step of the way (including tripod, studio lighting, remote trigger... time-consuming).

Thetz: he was giving coworkers rides at lunchtime to pimp the hot car... they were wondering where HIS car went

folex187: are you a fabric spot cleaner murderer?

Quick question for you, or anyone else who wants to chime in - what product and/or technique do you use for exterior plastic/rubber trim? An area I'm thinking of is the trim that runs along the top of the door in btwn the door and side windows... the same trim goes around to the back of the car. What's your technique for cleaning and treating these types of areas? I use vinylex and then wipe away an excess, but am wondering what you like.

Also curious whether anyone treats their radio antenna? I know, I know... I'm probably OCD or something.

Oh, and what do you typically do when dealing with headlights? Do you have a go-to plastic polish? I don't hear many people comment on headlights when they are giving a run-down of their recent details.

The car looks great, and I agree, it should be used to show what kind of results are possible. Great job on it.

usace: Thanks.

I've just used 303 for rubber & seals, but the hard plastic parts you're talking about usually get some sort of sealant with a full detail and just washed the rest of the time - Zaino, AIO, EX, VM, whatever I'm using that time around. AIO works well to clean them up if they need it, as does VM.

I haven't had an antenna for a long time now (stolen) but I'd think a sealant would work well on that, too.

I tip my hat to you, that is remarkable work!

can you please come do mine!!

nny: thanks!

jdm: hell yeah... if I can drive it after the initial wash to get the water out of the seams! Are you coming to the wash & wax day at Criswell Honda in Germantown on Oct 23rd? I'll be there and could get a look at your car to see what kind of shape it's in and what it needs.

yes i will be at the wash and wax!!

doesn't even look like the same car.

i you. thanks for the great write up. gonna try it on my car now.

Wow, that is an awsome job. Looks like a new paint job!

Thanks!
It's amazing what the right process and good products can do.

For sure.

Looks great, nice work.

Amazing work. A buddy of mine just picked up a new MY05 STI in black and the paint condition is silly bad (tons and tons of endless swirls, light scratches, one fairly not so light scratch etc). What would you charge for an external "restoration"?

Great job!!!!!

any direct comparison shots? all the afters are shaded:(

wow!

What a result!