Black Honda S2000 recovery

[tersplat]

I just wanted to share my weekend experience with everyone. I got a call asking if I could do an estimate on 2 Volkswagen head light restorations, and look at options for washing a "Beautiful" black Honda S2000. When I arrived, It was late in the evening, and the sun was behind the trees already, so it did look fairly nice, with some scratches, but nothing major, and nothing that wouldn't be fixed with some local light compounding and polishing. I got the 2 HLR's completed and by that time, it was dark, so I asked if they would bring the S2000 over another day for me to detail. Well Friday, the owner brought it over, and the sun was shining, and it definitely brought out the imperfections in the paint.


I was in a rush to get somewhere that day, so I did not get any before pics in the sun.I did a good wash on it, dried it, then pulled it in the garage. Then I taped off the top(They didn't want it touched since the owner just purchased Raggtopp and neither of us saw the need to treat it now when they had just spent the money buying it on their own, and I didn't want compounding dust getting on it.





Once I got it under my lights, the imperfections REALLY came out!



























This is where I did my test spot. I Started with Nanoskin Nanocut, on an Orange LC flat pat, and it got the swirls out, but not the deeper imperfections that riddled the whole car, so I switched to Menzerna FG400 on an orange pad as well. This was my first time using FG400, and I like it, but it didn't finish out as well as I thought it would. I guess I was expecting magic.

Here is the test spot before









50/50 of before, and after compounding



And after compounding.



Once I was done compounding the whole car, I began to polish it with the prior polish choice. Nanoskin Nano Cut on a LC orange pad.

These pictures show a different kind of 50/50 that I don't see often, and it is a really nice illustration of why you should polish after a compound, even when it supposed to finish as well as FG400. The left side of the trunk is polished, the right is compounded, you can see the transition line.





And for the after pictures.After it was all compounded, and polished, I did an IPA wipedown, and then applied Nanoskin Nano Ceramic Sealant with a GG3 and a crimson pad, let it cure, and then buffed off by hand.



















and this is the same spot, in the same light as the initial test spot.





Customer was very happy, and his car will now be protected and scratch free for another 70,000 miles. Well maybe not protected for that long, but I'll get it next time it needs sealant applied as well, so it'll stay beautiful.

[PreludeVTEC01]

Looks great. Wonderful work sir!!

[XJL]

Very nice! Thanks for posting.

[jamesboyy]

Amazing work on that rare Honda

[allenk4]

Same products on the 3rd brake light?

[CarbonCrew]

Very nice! I had a 2006 S2K in Berlina Black and it was one of the softest paints I have ever touched. I did a two step with UC and 205. The 205 with my softest LC pad left a very fine marring. After many failed attempts, PO85RD finally did the trick of clearing it up. I'm impressed the Nano Cut finished so well. Great job.

[tersplat]

It was SUPER soft, definitely the softest paint I have worked with, but it was a very pleasant experience. I couldn't find a touch of micromarring on it anywhere, The brake light only got the nano cut on the 3" orange pad on the GG3. I would have only done a 1 step with the Nano cut/ orange pad, but everywhere had deep scratches that needed more aggressive work, so the FG400 came in with high speed, and light/ medium pressure, the Nano Cut was speed 5-6 on my PC7424XP with very light/ no pressure. Thank you everyone for the kind words, it was a joy and an honor working on it.

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Beautiful work transforming that S2000!

The farther you push Menzerna the better they finish. But don't go crazy trying to really push them.

IME, the sweet spot for Menzerna is 6-8 section passes.

[davey g-force]

Very nice work

[chuckp]

Great work. I have a soft spot for S2000s. So after you compounded, you polished with an orange cut pad? What was the reasoning behind using a cut pad with a polish? Excuse my ignorance as I am still a noob.