8G VR4 Detail job - The results

Last weekend I've detailed the 8G VR4 of a Dutch forum member. Back to black was our mission. This VR4 is 15 years old and 2 years ago imported from Japan.

To remove sand and other dirt we started with a foambath. :045:
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/d...h_PICT0365.jpg
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/d...h_PICT0366.jpg

Step 2: washing the Galant and cleaning the rims followed by a Clay treatment (to remove surface contaminants).

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/d...h_PICT0370.jpg
Claying in progress

Even after the clay treatment the paint was stil dirty. Possibly because of an old wax layer used during tranport from Japan to Europe. Check this picture to see what i mean:
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/d...h_PICT0367.jpg

To remove this dirt and the small scrathes caused by washing the car whe polished the car in 3 sessions:
- flat surfaces - heavy with Rotary and Meguiars M83
- All surfaces - medium whith Rotary and Meguiars M80
- All surfaces - light with Eccentric machine (Dual Action Polisher) and Monello Finale

Result during use of the Rotary (check the line in the middle of the trunk):
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/d...h_PICT0372.jpg

The DAP in action:
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/d...h_PICT0375.jpg

After 8 hours of hard labour and applying the final wax layer (Meguiars M16) we could finally check the results..... :orangecool:

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/d...h_PICT0380.jpg
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/d...h_PICT0384.jpg
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/d...h_PICT0385.jpg
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/d...h_PICT0378.jpg

All scratches, dirt and other paint imperfections have been removed. 15 years old, butt looking (almost) new. :002:

I love it! :orangecool:

Very nice, especially on an older black car, that paint catches hell sometimes and develops the nasty black paint cancer we're all familiar with. Good stuff!

Keeping black paint clean is NOT easy by any means.

Excellent detail job, I bet the owner was ecstatic afterwards. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Skyforger

Excellent detail job, I bet the owner was ecstatic afterwards. :)

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Thanks! And yes, even 2 days after the detailjob he's still smiling. :icon_smile:
He's on the pictures, claying and working with the DAP. I introduced him in the world of detailing and instructed him during the job.

I kept the handling and use of the rotary to myself. Too much risk if you're not familiar with that machine.

that is great work nothing like a black car getting a second life when it shines like that.


before my car got the cancer, i use to take it to a professional and they did beautiful work just like that, i use to smile for days when my black car looked that like. the only thing about this process is all the cutting done to remove the scratches since it does remove a bit of the clear coat layer. Living in NYC it always ended up getting dirty quick.

Correct, we removed about 2-3 micron of the paint (clear coat) layer with this treatment. A normal paint layer should be about 120-140 micron. Problem is that you don't know how thick the color paint is, and how much clear coat is on top of that layer. Only the total thickness can be measured with a coating-thickness-meter.