Nics Nics and more Nics. What to do?

[len3.8]

Well, I have decided to really detail the car. The paint took a beating from a mistake made when being shipped to the west coast. In short the paint was damaged due to an adhesive that stuck to the car turning it into rolling sand paper. The detail shop did a great job with getting the sand paper off, unfortunately the car has some residue and scratches from the process.

Well I am kind of anal when it comes to my things. Crooked lines bug the hell out of me.
Breaks in the flow of smoothness bug the hell out of me.

So what I am going to do is fill the nics and color-sand my car to a flat and smooth surface. Getting rid of the orange peel in the process as well.

The pics show the nics (white spots).

I have my 2000 grit wet/dry sand paper
Porter Cable and all of the necessary pads
Akyra self leveling cutter/cleaner
3M adhesive remover
My secret waxes and polishes of choice. :wink:
Tooth pics, Needles, Micro fiber towels
And a lot of patience.

I have started with the front end driver side fender and hood.
A few pics will show the nics in the paint and my touch up process. I will update it as I go. I figure, If I mess this up, no biggee, I will get it repainted anyway. What could I hurt?

Here is a link to the pics.
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/[email protected]/album?.dir=/ba5f

 

[synergy004]

WHat grit are you using? Looks a bit rough. If your color sanding the factory paint be careful you don't burn through it, I believe most factories such as Honda put 3 coats on the side and 5 on top. NSX also may be different since it is hand built. Also not sure if a human or machine has done the job. I had read it somewhere online. you'll end up reaclearing that whole panel. ON your sanding, when I color sand jobs I have done, I am so picky I try to wet sand in ONLY one direction!

just some suggestions

gil

 

[len3.8]

WHat grit are you using? Looks a bit rough. If your color sanding the factory paint be careful you don't burn through it, I believe most factories such as Honda put 3 coats on the side and 5 on top. NSX also may be different since it is hand built. Also not sure if a human or machine has done the job. I had read it somewhere online. you'll end up reaclearing that whole panel. ON your sanding, when I color sand jobs I have done, I am so picky I try to wet sand in ONLY one direction!

just some suggestions

gil

Gil, thanks, but I got this covered. :wink: I have done it many of times. The last 2 cars were on 3 covers. :wink:
I was being aloof on purpose.
I actually have a door panel, that I have used to test for thickness of the clear coat, also which sand strokes actually give the best finish as well as What effects the different cutters I have will have at different speeds. I am using the smaller Porter cable for the cutting and . I will use the 12inch for the polishing/glazing and swirl remover. I will use my hands for the final waxing.
I am using 2000 grit, the only reason the pics look rough is due to me taking the pictures with a macro lense and the residue/dust is still in some of the pics. I did this to look at the pics, simply because the lighting wasn't showing the true imperfections. It will look wet when I am finished.

 

[len3.8]

Lud, sorry, can we move this to the Detailing forum?

 

[pt91]

Jesus Christ!
Is it just the hood or other panels as well?
Curious what polish and pad you are going to start with. That is going to take some time with a PC. That may be a job for more serious hardware. Have you ever used a rotary? Menzerna Powergloss might be a good first step polish.
I have wet sanded some spots with 2000 wet/dry, but nothing like this.
Keep us posted and good luck staying on the right side of the clear.
Here is a good example if this helps any.

 

[len3.8]

Jesus Christ!
Is it just the hood or other panels as well?
Curious what polish and pad you are going to start with. That is going to take some time with a PC. That may be a job for more serious hardware. Have you ever used a rotary? Menzerna Powergloss might be a good first step polish.
I have wet sanded some spots with 2000 wet/dry, but nothing like this.
Keep us posted and good luck staying on the right side of the clear.
Here is a good example if this helps any.

Thanks, the PC is just for the Cutting. The 12 inch is for the main stuff.
I am very careful of the clear. I plan on rubbing through the diffeent steps of the higher grit papers.
I'll post pics afterwards.

 

[len3.8]

Stage 2 cutting

Well after touching up the larger nics, the small ones are just too many in number, I am cutting/cleaning the paint.
If you looked at the other pics you can see that there is a night and day difference.
At this point there is no polish, glaze, sealant or wax. Just the paint. There is a little haze, I will now cut some more tomorrow with the 9" circular buffer. That will be nerve wracking.. I am happy with the finish so far, I am confident that I won't have to send it to a shop for clean up now.

The major scratches have come out. Smaller surface scratches will be filled in later in the process. I will post later.
I wish I could do a true step by step, but I wouldn't want to instruct someone into messing up their paint. i had nothing to lose... :wink:

 

[dave22]

Re: Stage 2 cutting

Wow. I wish I has the guts to try something like this.

 

[len3.8]

Polishing this section now. It is much better than before.
The white spots in any of the pictures is either lint or dust.
The polishing step is about halfway through, in regards to the entire process.

It came out pretty nice. There are some smaller nics that are below the clear coat plane, so they will be there until the car is fitted with the widebody. (Aluminum :smile: )

Black gold...Looks wet..

Believe it or not. This is a close up of the headlight cover after filling and sanding away the pits and scratches.
Rubbing does wonders.

I will finish the car tommorow. I have been doing this late evenings and up until 1 am. I am having fun with the car without driving.
Len

 

[synergy004]

NICe job LEN. I got your message last night. I'll give ya a buzz today.

gil

 

[Meeyatch1]

That first pic with the car and the stuff all over it looks horrible!! Do you have a larger version of that pic???

 

[len3.8]

That first pic with the car and the stuff all over it looks horrible!! Do you have a larger version of that pic???

I have a load of them. However, I prefer not to look at them much.
It really was cleaned off well. It just scratched the heck out of the car.
I am on day 4 of the cleaning up process. Of course it will probably rain for a week after I get finished.

 

[synergy004]

Hey Len another suggestion is to use a florecent light to see if the rubbing left swirl marks. This Helps to decrease the visibility of those webs created by buffers and orbital polishers.

gil

 

[NSX 3.0]

Looks good Len now you have to work on that windshield. :biggrin:

 

[len3.8]

Looks good Len now you have to work on that windshield. :biggrin:

:biggrin: It is kind of messy... That is my answer to Rainx, by the time I have gotten all of the wax off I have treated the windshield. It also will show all of the little nics that are in the glass. (I have a ton of them)

Well other than getting the black again out, I have done as much as I can do. The front end will be repainted and all of the other little pits here in there will be fixed in the winter.
The car is now presentable. I can always just put stickers everywhere. :smile:

Not bad for a rookie.