Nissan 370Z Forum - View Single Post - Spent time with an GT-R (120 pics)

Wes_R · 08-09-2009, 08:53 AM

Here are some before and afters.

Before

After

A 50/50 shot with the right side polished and the left side not.

A shot of me polishing.

Before

After

Another 50/50

Before(this one was bad)

After

Before

After

Before(this one was pretty bad to)

After

Before

After

So after the cutting stage I also polished the tail lights as they had swirls on them as well but with a forced rotation dual action polisher(the new Flex 3401). Here are some before and afters.

Before

After

Before

After

Now after all that was said and done the hard part comes. Chasing all what is called rds or rids random deep scratches or random isolated deep scratches by wetsanding. Now just a 2 step polish will get the paint in the 95% range more or less perfected(which is in my opinion perfectly fine for a daily driver) but deeper stuff will be left behind. How deep the scratches are varies some you can feel with your nail others you can't but with spot wetsanding you can either get them out completely or at the least round off the edges so that the sunlight is dispersed in a way to not make them so noticeable or not noticeable at all even though they may be there.

Now excuse me please because 1 this was very labour intensive and 2 my photography skills are not on a level to capture these fine scratches.

The process was to wetsand with either 2000 or 2500 grit then cross hatch sand with 3000 grit. Basically when you sand with either 2000 or 2500 grit you sand in the motion vertically then go back over with 3000 and go horizontally to cross hatch making polishing out the wetsanding marks easier.

Here is a rid.

Wetsanding it out.

And gone.

Here are some during shots. I honestly just wanted to get it done and spent a good couple hours going through this process.

Now with that tedious stage done I could finally jewel the paint, but first a couple things.

Unmask

Dust out the crevices.

And finally an alcohol wipe down. The reason you do this is because the polishes contain oils that can fill very very light scratches so the wipe down allows you to properly check your work.

So alcohol cut 50/50 with water wiped on with a plush microfibre cloth, and a 3M Sun Gun were used to check my work.

The Sun Gun for those that don't know omits they same spectrum light as the sun and I believe is 99.3% similar. There are some reflections in the paint that may seem like something but are not.

Finally the last stage of polishing which is the jeweling or burnishing stage which is a very light cutting polish and light cutting pad which burnish the paint to a very high gloss(they don't do this at the factory).

Tools for this job were my new Flex 3401 which I have been dying to use and this is the first time, Menzerna P085RD, and a white Lake Country pad.

A during shot.

Some amazing reflection shots!

Look at the gloss and there isn't even a wax on yet.

After spending a couple hours refining the paint another alcohol wipe down was done not only to inspect for defects but to also create a clean surface for the wax to bond to.

Wax of the day was Swissvax Concorso. For dark colors a carnuba based wax gives on amazing glow but for light colored cars I suggest a sealant like Zaino Z2 or Werkstatt.

Your supposed to apply it by hand because it is heat activated but I just warm my applicator every panel(this stuff is not cheap you know).

I let the wax cure for about an hour or so, so in the mean time I did other things like polish the mufflers.

I did that with Meguiars Super Degreaser and 0000 steel wool to clean it up, then polished with Meguiars NXT All Metal polish. Here are some before and afters.

Before

After

Here is a closer look of the driver's side.

And the passenger's side.

I also put Poor Boy's Wheel Sealant on the rims to protect against brake dust and also on the newly polished mufflers.

No pics but I applied Blackfire Long Lasting Tyre Gel to the tires.

08-09-2009, 08:53 AM	#2 (permalink)
Wes_R Base Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Toronto Posts: 35 Drives: very very slow Rep Power: 17	Here are some before and afters. Before After A 50/50 shot with the right side polished and the left side not. A shot of me polishing. Before After Another 50/50 Before(this one was bad) After Before After Before(this one was pretty bad to) After Before After So after the cutting stage I also polished the tail lights as they had swirls on them as well but with a forced rotation dual action polisher(the new Flex 3401). Here are some before and afters. Before After Before After Now after all that was said and done the hard part comes. Chasing all what is called rds or rids random deep scratches or random isolated deep scratches by wetsanding. Now just a 2 step polish will get the paint in the 95% range more or less perfected(which is in my opinion perfectly fine for a daily driver) but deeper stuff will be left behind. How deep the scratches are varies some you can feel with your nail others you can't but with spot wetsanding you can either get them out completely or at the least round off the edges so that the sunlight is dispersed in a way to not make them so noticeable or not noticeable at all even though they may be there. Now excuse me please because 1 this was very labour intensive and 2 my photography skills are not on a level to capture these fine scratches. The process was to wetsand with either 2000 or 2500 grit then cross hatch sand with 3000 grit. Basically when you sand with either 2000 or 2500 grit you sand in the motion vertically then go back over with 3000 and go horizontally to cross hatch making polishing out the wetsanding marks easier. Here is a rid. Wetsanding it out. And gone. Here are some during shots. I honestly just wanted to get it done and spent a good couple hours going through this process. Now with that tedious stage done I could finally jewel the paint, but first a couple things. Unmask Dust out the crevices. And finally an alcohol wipe down. The reason you do this is because the polishes contain oils that can fill very very light scratches so the wipe down allows you to properly check your work. So alcohol cut 50/50 with water wiped on with a plush microfibre cloth, and a 3M Sun Gun were used to check my work. The Sun Gun for those that don't know omits they same spectrum light as the sun and I believe is 99.3% similar. There are some reflections in the paint that may seem like something but are not. Finally the last stage of polishing which is the jeweling or burnishing stage which is a very light cutting polish and light cutting pad which burnish the paint to a very high gloss(they don't do this at the factory). Tools for this job were my new Flex 3401 which I have been dying to use and this is the first time, Menzerna P085RD, and a white Lake Country pad. A during shot. Some amazing reflection shots! Look at the gloss and there isn't even a wax on yet. After spending a couple hours refining the paint another alcohol wipe down was done not only to inspect for defects but to also create a clean surface for the wax to bond to. Wax of the day was Swissvax Concorso. For dark colors a carnuba based wax gives on amazing glow but for light colored cars I suggest a sealant like Zaino Z2 or Werkstatt. Your supposed to apply it by hand because it is heat activated but I just warm my applicator every panel(this stuff is not cheap you know). I let the wax cure for about an hour or so, so in the mean time I did other things like polish the mufflers. I did that with Meguiars Super Degreaser and 0000 steel wool to clean it up, then polished with Meguiars NXT All Metal polish. Here are some before and afters. Before After Here is a closer look of the driver's side. And the passenger's side. I also put Poor Boy's Wheel Sealant on the rims to protect against brake dust and also on the newly polished mufflers. No pics but I applied Blackfire Long Lasting Tyre Gel to the tires.