Wes_R x NSX (56 pics)

[Wes_R]

Seeing my fellow next generation detailers(Aaron & Billy) put up their write ups on NSXs made me dig this one up. Personally I feel it fairs in comparison to their write ups but it's always nice to see some eye candy of the transformation of a over 10 year old car.

Anyways just basically a polishing job with a little but not so little interior job (no shampooing of the carpet cause the owner wanted to do it himself).

Now excuse the weird picture gaps inbetween processes because me being a big excited idiot forgot to charge my camera battery so I was working off of 1 bar of life then doing a quick charge to take pics then back to charging. I know it's bad for the battery but it will never happen again I promise plus I believe I remember reading somewhere I can charge the battery anytime, but I rather not risk it anyway.

So here we go, not very educational but hopefully you can catch some tips, product reviews, or just enjoy the show. Also the owner had just recently purchased this NSX so some of the neglect you are about to see is not his fault.



The Japanese Legend

The swirls, spider webbing, etc

I honestly don't think it had ever been polished in it's life.



So now on to the routine starting with the wheels

Soaking with p21s wheel gel cleaner

 

[Wes_R]

Then on to the engine with some basic before and afters

before

after

some more afters but taken at a later time

Onto the washing

After rinsing the car down you could see in certain parts that the water was sheeting, which is a sign of no protection(wax, sealant).

Two bucket method

Sea Sponge trying it's best in this Scarface hot tub bubble bath impersonation

Dried off with the waffle weave towel which is way better then a chamois because of the speed, softness, etc

 

[Wes_R]

Started claying with Riccardo Clay and clay lube being Meguiars Last Touch cut 50/50 with water.

After just the roof

Rinsed off the car then dried it off again with the waffle weave towel



Measured the paint in microns to look for any low spots and if anything was repainted

It turns out the two rear quarter panels were repainted(generally OEM is around 100-130 microns in my experience)

And I guess the trunk blended in

But the rest of the car was pretty much OEM

 

[Wes_R]

Masked up the car which is very important. I'm not finished in this pic though by the way.

Started polishing with the rotary and Presta Chroma Polish, 5.5 inch Orange Lake Country pad, and the Makita.

Technique being the Zenith Point Technique.

Spreading at 900 RPM

Breaking down at 1200 RPM

And polishing until clear at 1500 RPM

Then back down the scale to 1200RPM

Then finishing at 1000 RPM

Here is the hood polished but the headlight not

A 50/50 shot

A bigger view

Drivers side finished

Passengers side to go

Just wanted to throw in this pic cause I though it looked cool. Notice how many orange pads I got out. I learned from Picus(great Toronto detailer some of you guys may know) that a brand new clean pads cuts better then just brushing it off, so I generally use at least a new pad per panel sometimes even two.

 

[Wes_R]

So anyways with the cutting stage done I washed off the car with Hi Temp Prep wash and a very soft Lambs Wool Mitt. The Prep Wash is great for eating up the polishing dust and oils and makes the caked up parts easier to remove. (Another tip from Picus)

Now rinsed that off and dried up. Started the refining/burnishing polish with a new product and pad to try out which was 3M Ultrafina and the 3M Blue Pad on the Rotary with the 3M Gray Foam Backing Plate which is a softer foam then the yellow which is great for finishing.

Personally I like the Ultrafina better then Menzerna P085RD because it is so much easier to wipe off and is great to work with on the Rotary. Some people have said that PO85RD leaves a better finish and I have both so I will do a comparison but the Ultrafina finish is AMAZING.

Poorboys Wheel Sealant on the rims, honestly I have been hearing about people just putting on Zaino Z2 on the rims so after I'm done with my PB I'm gonna give that a shot cause that sounds pretty cool.

 

[Wes_R]

I also did Black Wow on the rubber trims. Here is a 50/50

Put on Danase Wet Glaze with the Porter Cable and a Lake Country Black Pad.

Wiped that off and then put on some Swissvax Concorso



Then onto the interior, honestly no pics at all pretty much, just wanted to get it done.

Basically what I did was a vacuum, q-tipped some tight spots, brushed some dust and tight spots, all purpose cleaner wipe down, Gliptone Leather Clean and Condition, 303 Aerospace Dressing and dry wipe down, Stoners Invisible Glass cleaned the windows.

Here is a cool before and after pic of the seat belt button.

Before

After

The aftermath

The used microfibre on the left after wiping off the seats with all purpose cleaner and a unused microfibre on the right.

 

[Wes_R]

Anyways wiped off the wax and now onto the eye candy.

Me trying to get some cloud reflection shots.

I love this shot

When I saw this shot I swear I had an epiphany and I heard a choir going...
"aaaahhhhhhhh"

Nice reflection shot

Remember how the trunk and roof looked before in the sun, now they look amazing.

And the parting money shot.

First a big thank you to the owner for giving me the opportunity to work on this classic and a thank you to you guys for reading.

I am sorry about how this one turned out especially on this car but I promise my next NSX I will be more detailed.

As usual the good, the bad, and the ugly is more then welcome.

Cheers,
Wes

 

[Jihm]

Awesome job Wes!

 

[Jin1976]

Good job. I am very impressed with the detailing works. Nice wheels to accompany the black car. What size are they?

 

[dablackgoku1234]

Thanks Wes for detailing my car. I agree that when I bought the car, it was in really rough shape. Needed a lot of TLC, both exterior and interior. As you can see in the photos, the paint was all swirled up and dull. Wes did an excellent job restoring the paint back up. It was an amazing job. I didnt think it was possible, but it was. Literally day and night. The front bumper was loaded with rock chips which extend to parts of the hood, the headlight covers, and even parts of the fenders. I plan to get the bumper repainted and the chips touched up sometime this spring. Then the exterior should be back up to decent condition.

As for the interior, I havent really started with that yet. Again, sometime this spring, I'll be ripping out the seats and carpets for a good cleaning.

The wheels are 17 front, 18 rear. I just finished refinishing them myself. I know, it looks like a 4x4. I have a set of koni yellows and eibach springs ready to be installed!

 

[synth19]

iforged flux, correct? Great job.. can't wait for you to drop the car!

 

[Wes_R]

Awesome job Wes!

Thanks Jihm :smile:.

Good job. I am very impressed with the detailing works. Nice wheels to accompany the black car. What size are they?

Thanks Jin1976 :smile:, I believe they were 17 front 18 back, which the owner confirms.

Thanks Wes for detailing my car. I agree that when I bought the car, it was in really rough shape. Needed a lot of TLC, both exterior and interior. As you can see in the photos, the paint was all swirled up and dull. Wes did an excellent job restoring the paint back up. It was an amazing job. I didnt think it was possible, but it was. Literally day and night. The front bumper was loaded with rock chips which extend to parts of the hood, the headlight covers, and even parts of the fenders. I plan to get the bumper repainted and the chips touched up sometime this spring. Then the exterior should be back up to decent condition.

As for the interior, I havent really started with that yet. Again, sometime this spring, I'll be ripping out the seats and carpets for a good cleaning.

The wheels are 17 front, 18 rear. I just finished refinishing them myself. I know, it looks like a 4x4. I have a set of koni yellows and eibach springs ready to be installed!

Hey John, sounds great I would love to see it dropped!

iforged flux, correct? Great job.. can't wait for you to drop the car!

I believe HREs not sure which ones though but they do look very similar to the fluxes. Hey you coming to Toronto for the NSXPO?

 

[dablackgoku1234]

iForged and HRE wheels look very similar, but yes, they are HRE 546.

 

[synth19]

doh! why did I not notice the HRE center cap? LOL!

 

[tosugrad]

Nice!

 

[Wes_R]

Nice!

Thanks :biggrin:.

 

[808_JDM]

Very Nice work Wes. So slippery wet. I like your epiphany.:biggrin:

 

[Wes_R]

lol thanks! I really like how that shot turned out.

 

[Cozmo]

Are those white speckles on the hood the rock chips? I was polishing my black roof just now and saw that it has similar looking white specks in the paint. They won't come off so I assume they are tiny little pits or something. Is there anything you can do besides using some colored polish to hide them or getting the roof repainted? PM me if you'd like.

 

[Wes_R]

Yeah the stuff on the hood and front panels were stone chips which I believe the owner repainted.

What you could possibly do is try doing a wipe down with ipa alcohol cut 50/50 with water and the could possibly get them out. You may even need to get in there with say something like a qtip dipped in the ipa mix.

 

[dablackgoku1234]

I have yet to repaint my car. Still deciding what to do.

Front bumper repaint is $350.
Full front end repaint (bumper, hood, lights, fenders) is $1400.

edit: added a few more options

Full car paint colour change is $3000.
Full car vinyl wrap is $1500.

hmmm...what to do...