My exterior detailing process.

[zeroordie881]

Had the opportunity to detail an NSX and decided I'd to a write-up and share. The paint on the NSX is a bit harder than the paint on my BRZ but the process is about the same, just a lot less aggressive of a polish and less time needed. This may not be the best way to do it, but its the way that I've found that works the best. I've learned this process through both trial and error, and quite a bit from Anthony at OCDetails. He also let me borrow some of his equipment to deal with the paint on this which is worse than I've ever encountered. Thanks Anthony! If you guys have any questions or want me to go more in detail on any part of this let me know and I'll do my best to answer them.

So here were the shots of it when I got there. These aren't really representitive of the car as the lighting conditions were perfect for making the car look a LOT better than it did when it was in direct sun light.







Washing was pretty standard, I used the 2 bucket method with grit guards. You have a rinse bucket and a soap bucket. Instead of dipping the microfiber mitt back into the soapy water and putting all of the dirt in it, you put it in the rinse bucket first and get all of the dirt off of it before it goes back in the soap bucket. This keeps the soapy water clean from start to finish so when you get to the end of the wash you aren't slopping dirty water back onto the car. I don't reccomend using a sponge unless you like constantly putting dirty water back on your car you are trying to clean. We didn't get any pictures of the washing part but as with everything else I did, you want to stick to a certain process to make sure you don't miss anything. I always start on the fender and work my way around clockwise washing each panel individually. Doing it this way keeps you from confusing what has and hasn't been done, and usually ensures that each panel gets cleaned completely as it gets your full attention.





On to the claybar. Claymagic claybars are the ones I like because they tend to stick to your hand as you are claying. If you drop the clay you've basically ruined that piece of it. Claybaring your car is one of the most important steps in my opinion, it pulls all of the contaminates out of the paint and gives you a very clean surface to work with, as well as yeilding better results after the polish.

The process is pretty simple, I follow the same pattern I do when washing, starting with a fender and working clockwise hitting each panel individually. I use soapy water for the lubrication and the basics are spray lots of soapy water over the surface and rub a flat piece of claybar across it until it feels like there is no resistance. Make sure you knead the piece of claybar fairly often to keep the part of the claybar touching the paint clean. I don't use the whole claybar when I clay, that way in the event that I drop the clay(which happened a lot unfortunately when I used the mothers clay bars) you don't ruin the whole bar, just the piece you are working with.







Once that is done, I give the car a good rinse, then dry. DO NOT USE A BATH TOWEL TO DRY!! My drying towel of choice is one that has microfiber cloths on both sides with a sponge inbetween them, every bit worth the cost. This next step is usually the fun part, though in the case of this particular car it proved to be a royal pain. Polishing will remove most swirls and any oxidation in the paint and makes the car look really awesome when its done.

Find a test spot on the car that is representative of the paint on the car and find out what combination of pad/polish works. Start out with the the mild cutting power pads and polishes and work your way up till you find out what will give the right amount of cut without having to spend hours to achieve. This car I ended up having to use my most aggressive pad and polish I had on hand, then following that up with a milder pad and polish to remove the hazing the strong polish left behind. Once you find the combination of products needed, use the same process as the wash and clay, mine being starting at a fender and working clockwise doing each panel individually. Make sure you take your time on this step, and constantly check your work to make sure you are getting the right amount of cut as each part of the car will likely take different amounts of work to clean up depending on the condition and paint thickness. When you are cutting each panel try to find a good pattern that covers the entire thing that you can easily replicate to ensure each part of the panel is evenly cut. Wipe down each panel after the cut with a microfiber to remove the residue so you can check your work.

Here is what the paint looked like under a halogen light before the polish.


Polishing!






Here is what the paint looked like under a halogen light after the polish. Still swirled but MUUUCH improved. Spent probably a little over 3 hours polishing this thing. I didn't have a rotary handy and I couldn't get any more swirls out with a dual action polisher, so this is where it ended up. This picture is the same spot on the car as the first picture under the halogen lights.



After getting the polishing done its time to move on to the final step for the paint. The final step used on this car was a carnuba/synthetic hybrid thats applied by hand. I again start with a fender and work clockwise to make sure I get every panel evenly. I also try to follow a similar pattern on each panel that I used when polishing to get a good, even coat on the paint. Don't wipe this stuff off just yet! Let it sit on there for the time being.







While the final step is drying, now is the time to clean the windows, wheels, tire shine, trim sealant, and any other work you want to do to the exterior. Doing this with the final step drying will keep any of the overspray from any products you are using from actually getting on the paint. It'll just get on the extra residue that gets wiped off once you are done with that part of it.

While the final step was drying I did a real quick polish of the exhaust tips, trying to get enough grime and carbon build up off so the Comptech logo is actually visable.



Now comes the time to remove the final step wax. As always, I follow the same process I do with everything else. Start at a fender and work my way around. Once this is done its time to take a step back and admire your work! This one didn't turn out quite as good as I was hoping but it had deeper swirls than I've ever seen on a car without having clear coat failure. It looks 1000000000x better than it did when I started but its still not close to perfect.

Removing final step.


Without flash


With flash




Again, if you guys have any questions about the process or what me to go more into detail on something let me know and I'll answer as best as I can.

[zeroordie881]

It was rainy and dark when I got done, and its been raining all day today so I haven't gotten any pictures of this thing out in the sun yet. Once I get them I'll post 'em up!

[Greg Nichols]

Fun car to detail! what were your polishes of choice? Was this a single stage paint?

Cheers,
GREG

[zeroordie881]

Originally Posted by Greg Nichols

Fun car to detail! what were your polishes of choice? Was this a single stage paint?

Cheers,
GREG

It wasn't a single stage, and was by far the hardest paint I've dealt with. It seemed like nothing would phase that paint!

I tried several polishes and pad combinations till I found what worked best. My most aggressive pad with XMT-4, followed by a slightly less aggressive pad and XMT-2 to get rid of the hazing from XTM-4's lack of self diminishing abrasives. I really wish I had a rotary with me though, and had I known the paint was going to be that hard I would have brought one. The machine I used had a lot of balls, but a dual action wasn't the right tool for the job for something with THAT many swirls.

[Greg Nichols]

I would bet you lunch that a DA and better polishes would eliminate the need for a rotary. The rotary has its place but on base/clear you would be safer not using. IMO XMT polishes don't have the necessary cutting of some others.

If the client was happy then you likely did what needed to be done.

Cheers,
GREG

[zeroordie881]

Which polishes would you reccommend? That was my first go with XMT polishes, and XMT-4 was the only one that I had with me that was strong enough to cut the swirls at all. The Meguires and Pinnacle TSR didn't even begin to cut it. The client was a friend, and he was pretty happy. It was a night and day difference from where it was. Those first pictures really don't do it justice on how bad that paint really was.

[Greg Nichols]

I can see how bad the paint was, as to how deep the marring is a photo can't tell. It looks like the paint was washed with a brillo pad to me.

Paint is never the same, and have found same year and color of car and they act totally different from each other. A test spot will tell you how the paint will react.

What Meguiars compound did you try?

Cheers,