Butchered by a bodyshop... Nissan 350Z Enhancement

[RussZS]

The owner of this car originally came to see me a few weeks ago, a few days after parts of his car had been resprayed, concerned at the severity of the swirling and hologramming present on his 'fresh out of the bodyshop' paint! It was a pretty bright day, and I could see it was in a bit of a state - usual holograms, buffer trails that most bodyshops seem to churn out!

After re-arranging a few times, I finally got a chance to do what I could with it today, with the main aim being to remove the severe buffer trails and restore some of the original lustre to the lovely black paint.

So, on to the detail... a few befores:


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As always, wheels, tyres and arches first:


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Then, a quick snow foam using Auto Smart Duet:


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Next, I washed with GTechniq G-Wash (love this stuff, we need bigger bottles Rob!) and a CarPro Mitt, which was simply superb to use. Pricey yes, bit extremely well constructed and a great size, without feeling heavy when loaded with water like a lot of the larger mitts...


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and rinsed... looking fresher already


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Moved inside, ready for claying...


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I used AF Glide and the new Bilt Hamber Medium Clay:


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BH have really created the perfect clay with this one IMO, great bite to it and perfect consistency! The price is perfect too, so I see me using little else moving forward...

The Z was then dried, ready for polishing:


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It looks great at this stage... who would have known what horrors were hidden...


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You get the idea... the WHOLE car was this bad!!!

To make matters worse, the paint readings...

Roof:


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Bonnet...


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The whole car was reading below 100, which isn't unusual for Japanese cars, but the lower readings were certainly areas where caution would be required.

After testing about 12 combinations, on different panels, I finally settled on Megs 205 via Rotary on a Megs black finishing pad. Anything 'heavier' and it would leave its own marks, this paint was SOFT...

 

[RussZS]

Now, I only had this car for 8 hours or so, so had to do the best I could with the time I had, so it isn't perfect, but is certainly a LOT better...


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As I was going round the car, I was finding that the original defects had been hiding some very severe swirling, pad marks from compounding and RDS's. Given the thickness of the paint and time constraints I decided to leave these for today, and instead concentrate on restoring the gloss and lustre back to the paint:


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One side completed...


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Rear bumper before:


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After:


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Deeper stuff remained...


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I finished with:

- Auto Finesse Gloss on the tyres
- Auto Finesse Crystal on the glass
- CG NLTG on plastics
- Auto Finesse Tough Coat on the paintwork

Some afters...


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I'd like to say a HUGE thanks to Lee@BespokeCarCare for the use of his detailing studio today and also for giving me a hand and some advice on this challenging car - top bloke!

Thanks for reading!


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Russ.

 

[Foxspeed]

one of the reasons i wouldnt have a black car by choice :001_rolleyes:

still great results :thumbup:

 

[Craig_B]

Really makes me cringe seeing swirls like that!!

My 197 is black and has a few swirl marks in the paint. Not as heavy as that, but I know they are there. I'm currently getting to grips with a rotary to tackle it myself, practicing on a scrap bonnet first though.

Keep it up dude! Great work

 

[adam1942]

lovely work. Hopefully my next car is a 350z... great attention to detail!

Quick few questions Russ

what wheel cleaner and wheel brush combo do you use?
Did you use a medium cut then finish or just a medium cut??

great results as per usual

 

[Rogue]

Looks fantastic.

 

[DanT]

That's beautifully done as usual russ.

You have got so much awesome kit! Properly jealous!

 

[RussZS]

Thanks all, very kind words

lovely work. Hopefully my next car is a 350z... great attention to detail!

Quick few questions Russ

what wheel cleaner and wheel brush combo do you use?
Did you use a medium cut then finish or just a medium cut??

great results as per usual

Hi Adam,

On wheels I use Autosmart Smart Wheels @ 4:1, then EZ Detail Brush and Swissvax Wheel brushes normally.

Polish wise, I used a finishing polish and pad, which were enough to correct this very soft paint!

Thanks,

Russ.

 

[BREENY BOY]

awesome job mate

 

[Roy]

top job :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

 

[Giles]

Great job!

You doing a good work so far.