Bought It. Now Time to Detail It.
04-21-13, 07:59 PM
#16
Advanced
I'm glad that you were able to bring the car back to its intended glory!! That looked pretty nelected and abused. After 7 years of wait to buy an ISF, I'm still waiting and will be waiting a while longer I'm sure. Congrats again and enjoy her!!
04-22-13, 07:32 AM
#20
Not a perfect fix as I would've really liked to pull the dirt out rather than push it through but I tried a lot of things (placing painters tape on it, pushing it down hard and gently pulling back, etc) with no luck.
For the dirt in the steering wheel stitching I just used the AMMO Lather and a brush and microfiber towel... came out pretty easy actually.
Yup, per the autocheck/carfax it was a lease turn in that went to auction and was purchased there by the dealer I bought it from.
04-22-13, 07:29 PM
#21
Day 2: Test Panel - Is the Paint Saveable?
Wanted to wash and clay the entire car but mother nature wasn't cooperating with heavy rain and 40 degree temps all day so I compromised and washed a test panel with detergent to remove contaminants and any wax on the car.
You might be asking why I would use the hood as my test panel (normally you would try a rear lower bumper or some place you can't see) - but if I couldn't save the hood the paint was going anyway so I had little to lose. Put up or shut up time.
I clay'ed the car with a Zaino claybar (i'll be using a nanoskin pad and DA to do the entire car but for this process it worked just fine.
It was UNGODLY nasty... like it sounded like i was running the clay over a matte surface... paint was noisy unlike anything i've ever heard. Took more than a few passes to get it quiet and smooth. I just used soapy water as lubrication for the clay.
Test panel masked off, sprayed with spray wax just to get a clean surface and remove any left over soapy residue.
The horror - notice the big scratch running parallel to the hood seam and how much diffusion there is around light sources (hence creating the haze i've been talking about).
Microfiber cutting pad + Menzerna FG400 = amazing what any idiot like me can do with a DA and not risk harming their paint (within reason).
First pass > slight less diffusion.
HAZE. That's a lightbulb on the ceiling... you just can't tell.
Lightbulb beginning to be seen. Pass 2.
After 3rd pass I did 1 pass of a Green Polishing pad + Sonax Nano Polish t oremove fine swirls and enhance gloss.
50/50
BEFORE
AFTER
All in all I think the paint is saveable. I was able to bring it back with these steps to 90% within the condition of the clear coat on the OEM paint. I think i'll do 2 extra passes of FG400 and a 2nd Nano when I do the full car to get it even better but the good news is I think a respray can be avoided with the use of the proper products and a whole hell of a lot of elbow grease.
Wanted to wash and clay the entire car but mother nature wasn't cooperating with heavy rain and 40 degree temps all day so I compromised and washed a test panel with detergent to remove contaminants and any wax on the car.
You might be asking why I would use the hood as my test panel (normally you would try a rear lower bumper or some place you can't see) - but if I couldn't save the hood the paint was going anyway so I had little to lose. Put up or shut up time.
I clay'ed the car with a Zaino claybar (i'll be using a nanoskin pad and DA to do the entire car but for this process it worked just fine.
It was UNGODLY nasty... like it sounded like i was running the clay over a matte surface... paint was noisy unlike anything i've ever heard. Took more than a few passes to get it quiet and smooth. I just used soapy water as lubrication for the clay.
Test panel masked off, sprayed with spray wax just to get a clean surface and remove any left over soapy residue.
The horror - notice the big scratch running parallel to the hood seam and how much diffusion there is around light sources (hence creating the haze i've been talking about).
Microfiber cutting pad + Menzerna FG400 = amazing what any idiot like me can do with a DA and not risk harming their paint (within reason).
First pass > slight less diffusion.
HAZE. That's a lightbulb on the ceiling... you just can't tell.
Lightbulb beginning to be seen. Pass 2.
After 3rd pass I did 1 pass of a Green Polishing pad + Sonax Nano Polish t oremove fine swirls and enhance gloss.
50/50
BEFORE
AFTER
All in all I think the paint is saveable. I was able to bring it back with these steps to 90% within the condition of the clear coat on the OEM paint. I think i'll do 2 extra passes of FG400 and a 2nd Nano when I do the full car to get it even better but the good news is I think a respray can be avoided with the use of the proper products and a whole hell of a lot of elbow grease.
Last edited by daedalus; 04-22-13 at 07:32 PM.
04-22-13, 08:49 PM
#22
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Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: QLD, Australia
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It's definitely worth the effort trying to save the paint, looks like it will pay off.
As I said earlier, a bit of work but worth it.
Looking forward to see it finished. you're doing a great job.
As I said earlier, a bit of work but worth it.
Looking forward to see it finished. you're doing a great job.
04-22-13, 09:26 PM
#24
Tech Info Resource
iTrader: (2)
Maybe I'm just lazy but a wet sand would have reduced the number of passes pretty substantially IMHO.
04-22-13, 09:39 PM
#25
Agreed it would save a lot of time, but I don't want to risk damage to the paint with a wetsand or removing to much clearcoat as this is only the 2nd paint correction i've attempted ever and i'm a complete beginner so I think for an amateur like myself this is the safer way to do the correction, albeit one that will take much longer for the panels that have been repainted.
04-23-13, 08:03 AM
#26
+1, it's pretty amazing how this car was neglected like that. Makes me believe that some folks just have stuff "handed" to them and don't take care of it. (easy come, easy go)
OP, great work, looks really good.
I personally would replace some of those interior pieces. You can find some OEM pieces on eBay.
How is it doing mechanically?
Interested to see how this car comes out.
Cheers!
04-23-13, 08:37 AM
#27
Wow... talk about neglect an abuse to a car. Don't know how anyone can let their car get that dirty even if it is a DD.
Congrats on the picking up the F and props to the OP for cleaning job. Interior almost looks close to new. Good job.
Like the previous post, I'm also interested to know if there were any mechanical problems with the car considering the condition and appearance of the car when you received it.
Congrats on the picking up the F and props to the OP for cleaning job. Interior almost looks close to new. Good job.
Like the previous post, I'm also interested to know if there were any mechanical problems with the car considering the condition and appearance of the car when you received it.
04-23-13, 09:39 AM
#29
Just got back from the body shop to have them look at the car... the haze is just overspray... everywhere on the car. I took it to them to see if they could re-align the drivers side headlight as it's positioned slightly down compared to the left side... boy oh boy did I find out a lot.
The entire front end was resprayed, and not very well. The guy said he suspected an auto auction had tried to hastly repair it for auction. The driver side fender must've been hit as it is in the wrong position and wasn't repaired properly. The paint really doesn't match either. So first bid is 1800.00 worth of repair and Luxor is trying to dodge coughing up any money to reimburse me. Gotta love post-sale customer service from used car dealers. Had this been disclosed I obviously wouldn't have bought the car.
Looks like the detail project is on hold as one way or another i'm having it all re-done and put together properly. Just a matter of whether or not i'm 2k poorer or not.
04-23-13, 10:04 AM
#30
Yea I got it from them.
Just got back from the body shop to have them look at the car... the haze is just overspray... everywhere on the car. I took it to them to see if they could re-align the drivers side headlight as it's positioned slightly down compared to the left side... boy oh boy did I find out a lot.
The entire front end was resprayed, and not very well. The guy said he suspected an auto auction had tried to hastly repair it for auction. The driver side fender must've been hit as it is in the wrong position and wasn't repaired properly. The paint really doesn't match either. So first bid is 1800.00 worth of repair and Luxor is trying to dodge coughing up any money to reimburse me. Gotta love post-sale customer service from used car dealers. Had this been disclosed I obviously wouldn't have bought the car.
Looks like the detail project is on hold as one way or another i'm having it all re-done and put together properly. Just a matter of whether or not i'm 2k poorer or not.
Just got back from the body shop to have them look at the car... the haze is just overspray... everywhere on the car. I took it to them to see if they could re-align the drivers side headlight as it's positioned slightly down compared to the left side... boy oh boy did I find out a lot.
The entire front end was resprayed, and not very well. The guy said he suspected an auto auction had tried to hastly repair it for auction. The driver side fender must've been hit as it is in the wrong position and wasn't repaired properly. The paint really doesn't match either. So first bid is 1800.00 worth of repair and Luxor is trying to dodge coughing up any money to reimburse me. Gotta love post-sale customer service from used car dealers. Had this been disclosed I obviously wouldn't have bought the car.
Looks like the detail project is on hold as one way or another i'm having it all re-done and put together properly. Just a matter of whether or not i'm 2k poorer or not.
If they don't help you, take them to small claims court. (leave the surprise element, don't tell them that, just do it)
