DetailDan

I did this s2000 awhile ago, but finally got around to getting all the pictures together. The owner left the car with me for awhile which I was very thankful for because it needed a TON of work. It also allowed me to document the process and take a lot of pictures. In total, I took a little over 200 pictures.

From what I remember, the owner bought the car used and was unsure of its history regarding repaints and prior detailing. A thorough inspection of the car revealed it had definitely been repainted and buffed before. The car was set up for a full interior and exterior detail with a 4 step polishing process.

Interior
The interior of the s2000 was in relatively good shape. The dash, rubber, and plastic pieces received 1z Vinyl- Rubber Care. Since this is a convertible, I wanted to use a product that would provide UV protection (Vinyl- Rubber provides a bit more UV protection than Cockpit Premium). It also helps to repel dust, which is always an issue with verts. The leather was cleaned and protected using Leather Masters Strong Cleaner and Protectant. The windows were cleaned with Stoners Invisible Spray which is tint safe and ammonia free. I did not take any before pictures of the interior, only a few afters.

















Exterior
Ahhh where to begin? Well like I said, this car had been repainted and buffed before.

DetailDan

Sun Shots Before
The paint had almost every imperfection imaginable- bad swirls, RIDs, water marks, oxidation, holograms, overspray, sanding marks, wool pad marring, etc. I tried to take at least one sun shot of every panel.



















Wash and Paint Decontamination
This was a very important and time consuming step. As you saw from the previous pictures, there was polish residue everywhere. I wanted to get all of that removed before I started my polishing process. The paint was cleaned using a citrus degreaser, various brushes, and alcohol.









The wheels, wheel wells, and tires were cleaned with P21s Wheel Gel, Megs APC+, Swissvax wheel brush, EZ Detail Brush, and DD Uber Spoke Brush. The finish on the wheels was peeling and the owner had planned on getting them refinished.







The paint was clayed using Bilt Hamber clay and ONR as clay lube.





Halogen Shots
After the car was clean, it was pulled into the garage and inspected under two dual 1000 watt halogen lights. Again, I tried to get a picture of each panel.

DetailDan

The Polishing Process
The goal was to make this car as near perfect as possible. Not only has this car been repainted, but some of it was standard clear coat and some was soft original paint. There was even a panel that was half clear and half SS. This made it difficult to polish because each panel responded differently. This required me to inspect each panel in the sun after I worked on it. The car was literally worked on a panel at a time. I was constantly changing my technique, machine (PC & rotary), pads, and polishes.

Basically it ended up being a 4 step process using the PC and rotary, M105, SIP, 106FF, 87mc, Megs cutting pads, CCS orange, CCS white, CCS blue, and lots of alcohol wipe downs.

















In these next two pictures you can see the difference pretty well. The bottom part of the mirror is still swirled and oxidized, while the top has been polished.


The bottom part was later polished by hand.


Random Garage Shots
These are a few shots I took during the process. These are unedited straight from the camera.













Direct Before/ After Shots
The majority of these after shots were taken only after compounding with M105.

DetailDan

Sun Shots After
After the polishing process was complete, the car was rewashed with de- ionized water and inspected in the sun. It was a cloudy day, but I tried my best to get good shots.

















Glamor Shots
Sealed with Blackfire WDPP. Tires and wheel wells dressed with Surf City Beyond Black.











































Thanks for viewing and hope you enjoyed it!

slanguage

Nice work. That thing was knackered.

pretty decent write-up and some good pics.

You used some nice products too.

You on DB by any chance?

aznives3

wow, nice save! that looks like it definately required some effort, good job

DetailDan

Man, you are a hard person to please!

aphex4000

Wow, nice job, Dan!!

jonner

Nice job.....

04S2kSS

great work.... never realized that paint could be that damaged....