2001 Carerra 4 Goes from Meh to WOW!

[TTQ B4U]

So a fellow racing club member contacted me a few weeks back with a potential detail request for a car he may be selling. After a quick stop by and test panel / evaluation we agree on the process to go by to restore the finish of the vehicle which was loaded with swirls and several areas of scratches.

It's a good looking car just in styling but the finish was absolutely killing the real beauty of it. The good news was that I was pretty confident we could shave 10+ years off it.

So how did she look coming in? Yuck.

First, the car was loaded with swirls. So much so that it's not the layer of dirt that was dulling it but the fact that your eye couldn't actually see through the swirls to see the color was actually black. It looked like the lid of a 10 year old grill that sat outside. Next it was loaded with water spots etched into the paint so combined, it was a real mess. Looked great wet though http://www.columbusracing.com/ubb/redface.gif

http://www.pbase.com/timothylauro/image/166052721/original.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/timothylauro/image/166052720/original.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/timothylauro/image/166052722/original.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/timothylauro/image/166052723/original.jpg



So onto the clean up. Here I took fellow AG Board member Tom's insight and tried a different AIO Polish as my final step. Many thanks for a great find!



Wash with Meg's Gold Class
Iron X
Nano Sponge - medium
Meg's Ultimate Compound on Purple Wool with Flex 3401
Sonax Hybrid NPT Paint Cleaner on Green Hex Logic Pad using a Flex 3401
More Shine Tire Dressing
WETS for the Trim
Solution Finish to restore Cowling



So the change-up I made after compounding was to move from what I normally would use in a non-coated job like this was from HDSpeed to the Sonax Paint Cleaner. The main reason being was to see how well the product would finish out not just to compare it but also since the product has some filling properties and I wasn't going all-out on this car due to the nature of it's owner selling it, how well it would perform for say quicker clean ups. To my surprise it really did finish out well, darkened up the paint and did a wonderful job bringing out the clarity. I'll update this thread with some side by side videos showing HDSpeed vs Sonax as the difference when they are next to one another on this paint was visible.

More to come but until then:

Some Preliminary Cell phone pics of the after: Better pics forthcoming


AFTER:

http://www.pbase.com/timothylauro/image/166052725/original.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/timothylauro/image/166052726/original.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/timothylauro/image/166052727/original.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/timothylauro/image/166052729/original.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/timothylauro/image/166052730/original.jpg

[atgonzales]

Nicley done

[Marc08EX]

Wow! Amazing restoration right there!

How many section passes did you do on each work area for the UC step and the Sonax paint cleaner step?

[TTQ B4U]

Wow! Amazing restoration right there!

How many section passes did you do on each work area for the UC step and the Sonax paint cleaner step?


UC and purple wool only takes 3-4 passes to clear up things. I did another 3-4 with Sonax. Overall very pleased with the outcome which is 95%+ corrected. I just pullled it outside this morning to wipe it down and inspect it in daylight but it's a bit early. Sun will make its way around for me so until then I'm going to wash my Audi :)

[Marc08EX]

UC and purple wool only takes 3-4 passes to clear up things. I did another 3-4 with Sonax. Overall very pleased with the outcome which is 95%+ corrected. I just pullled it outside this morning to wipe it down and inspect it in daylight but it's a bit early. Sun will make its way around for me so until then I'm going to wash my Audi :)

3-4 section passes is pretty quick! That's unbelievable correction and restoration for that amount of section passes. I need to start dialing down my section passes to save time.

So how long did the entire UC/Sonax polishing process take you?

[fly07sti]

Damn that paint was beat! Great job of making it shine again. Very interested in seeing your comparo with Speed and NPT.

[kevincwelch]

Outstanding turnaround on a trashed Porsche! How did you correct the paint on the hatch lid vents?

[Paul A.]

Wow is an understatement, pdq!!! That looks phenomenal. Nice work.

All this talk about Sonax Paint Cleaner has piqued my interest lately.

[SNP209]

That looks (almost) as good as your Audi!!! haha. :p

[richy]

Well done indeed!! Love the reflection shots too.

[TTQ B4U]

Here are a few updated pics and link to the full gallery: 2001 Carerra 4 (Gallery) Photo Gallery by Private at pbase.com (http://www.pbase.com/timothylauro/2001_carerra_4_gallery)

Used Solution Finish to restore the cowl area and included all related areas under the front bonnet.

http://www.pbase.com/timothylauro/image/166055943/original.jpg



Got a cool 3-sun shot given the curves on the rear quarter panel. Correction achieved!

http://www.pbase.com/timothylauro/image/166055942/original.jpg


Rear wiper area that was badly swirled is now sparkling and defect free

http://www.pbase.com/timothylauro/image/166055941/original.jpg


Better Profile Pic:

http://www.pbase.com/timothylauro/image/166055937/original.jpg


Sexy IMO

http://www.pbase.com/timothylauro/image/166055939/original.jpg


'Dat Tail End

http://www.pbase.com/timothylauro/image/166055940/original.jpg

[TTQ B4U]

3-4 section passes is pretty quick! That's unbelievable correction and restoration for that amount of section passes. I need to start dialing down my section passes to save time.

So how long did the entire UC/Sonax polishing process take you?

Thanks Marc.

I spent about 1.5hrs washing and decontaminating/prepping her for the buffer. Compounding and Polishing took about 5hrs. I had a few interruptions with kids though which is typical so I never really get a perfect start to finish run.

[TTQ B4U]

Outstanding turnaround on a trashed Porsche! How did you correct the paint on the hatch lid vents?

I simply used the edge of the pad(s). The Wool pad makes fast work of any corrections without issue. Just need to be careful with foam pads so as to not tear one.

[TTQ B4U]

That looks (almost) as good as your Audi!!! haha. :p


Haha! I always leverage my car(s) as a good example of baseline. Here are two shots from today thus I think I made good on my promise to him :)

http://www.pbase.com/timothylauro/image/166055938/original.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/timothylauro/image/166055939/original.jpg

[Marc08EX]

Thanks for the reply. That's a very reasonable time.





Better Profile Pic:

http://www.pbase.com/timothylauro/image/166055937/original.jpg



If you don't call that dripping wet, I don't know what is.

Again, spectacular work!