Flannigan
01-02-2012, 02:55 PM
Hey everyone. This weekend I was lucky enough to get to work on a 2009 Nissan GT-R. I say lucky because this is one of my all-time favorite vehicles, from performance, to looks, to amenities. It's just got it all in my book. Anyway, this customer found his way to me through overtimedetailer here, so first I want to thank him for passing along my information! Ok let’s get started!
The GT-R was scheduled for a 1 step correction and Cquartz application. I picked up the car in the evening, and after an amazing drive to my place, got started on it. It was first foamed with XMT Shampoo and OPC to loosen and remove some of the big debris from the vehicle. Sorry, no before pictures, but it wasn't that dirty to begin with. Next it was washed with XMT soap, sprayed down with Iron X to remove and embedded iton particles, and finally clayed with the Ultima Clay Block to remove any other stubborn surface contaminants.
The wheels were next on the list, they weren't in terrible shape, but if you've ever worked on factory GT-R wheels you will know there are a lot of little areas that need to get cleaned. So I used a combination of Iron X spray, and Iron X gel to get the wheels spotless. They were then polished with M105 and M205 to remove some light swirling, and finally coated with Cquartz, after a wipedown with Eraser of course. The tires and wells were cleaned with OPC, and the tires were dressed with Blackfire Tire Dressing. Here is how they turned out. Again sorry for no before pictures, but it was dark. I will also mentioned the GIANT Brembo calipers were cleaned and coated as well
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/wheel002.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/wheel001.jpg
Next on the list was the engine bay. It wasn't dirty at all, just had a light coat of dust, and a some water spots on the plastic. It was wiped down with Ultima Waterless wash, then the plastic got a coat of Wolfgang Trim Sealant. The hoses and various other plastic pieces were dressed with Adams In and Out Spray.
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/engine001.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/engine002.jpg
As many of you who have worked on GT-R's may know, or if you have just seen them on the road like me..lol, the exhaust tips can get pretty nasty. These were no exception. I started out with 0000 steel wool and Collinite metal Wax, and then gave it another pass with a finger mitt and metal wax to clean them up even more.
Befores:
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/pipesbefore002.jpg
Afters:
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/pipesafter001.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/pipesafter002.jpg
Finally I got onto the paint correction. I had kept hearing how soft GT-R paint is, but I was very surprised with this one. The paint was hard as a rock. You will see the swirls really weren't bad at all, but I ended up having to get pretty aggressive with it to get them out. For this reason I ended up doing a two-step on this vehicle. I felt it was best for the car, even though only a one step was scheduled. For the first step I used the Meguiars MF pads with M105 on my PCXP and followed that up by Carpro Fixxer with a Tangerine HC pad, also on my PCXP. I would say this got about 85% of the defects out of the paint.
Here is how the swirls looked. Please note, I did edit the color levels on these pictures so you could see the swirls. It was near impossible to capture them even with the editing. The editing is not meant to deceive, only convey the true condition of the paint. That's why the paint almost looks silver in some of the following pictures.
Swirls Before:
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/swirls001.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/swirls002.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/swirls003.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/swirls004.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/swirls005.jpg
A couple 50/50 pictures on the trunk and roof:
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/5050001.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/5050002.jpg
And finally some sun pictures after the correction was completed. These are all after a wipe down with Erasure, but before the application of Cquartz.
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/sun001.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/sun002.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/sun003.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/sun004.jpg
The following pictures are some reflection shots I took during the detail. these are before final clean up, so please excuse any dust or smudges here.
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/reflec001.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/reflec002.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/reflec003.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/reflec004.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/reflec005.jpg
And finally, here are the completed shots of the car. This is all finished up, and coated with Cquartz. The glass however got Wolf's Glass Sealant since I was sent a sample by Keith (IOMCAMARO..thanks buddy!!!).
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/after005.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/after004.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/after003.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/after002.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/after001.jpg
The GT-R was scheduled for a 1 step correction and Cquartz application. I picked up the car in the evening, and after an amazing drive to my place, got started on it. It was first foamed with XMT Shampoo and OPC to loosen and remove some of the big debris from the vehicle. Sorry, no before pictures, but it wasn't that dirty to begin with. Next it was washed with XMT soap, sprayed down with Iron X to remove and embedded iton particles, and finally clayed with the Ultima Clay Block to remove any other stubborn surface contaminants.
The wheels were next on the list, they weren't in terrible shape, but if you've ever worked on factory GT-R wheels you will know there are a lot of little areas that need to get cleaned. So I used a combination of Iron X spray, and Iron X gel to get the wheels spotless. They were then polished with M105 and M205 to remove some light swirling, and finally coated with Cquartz, after a wipedown with Eraser of course. The tires and wells were cleaned with OPC, and the tires were dressed with Blackfire Tire Dressing. Here is how they turned out. Again sorry for no before pictures, but it was dark. I will also mentioned the GIANT Brembo calipers were cleaned and coated as well
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/wheel002.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/wheel001.jpg
Next on the list was the engine bay. It wasn't dirty at all, just had a light coat of dust, and a some water spots on the plastic. It was wiped down with Ultima Waterless wash, then the plastic got a coat of Wolfgang Trim Sealant. The hoses and various other plastic pieces were dressed with Adams In and Out Spray.
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/engine001.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/engine002.jpg
As many of you who have worked on GT-R's may know, or if you have just seen them on the road like me..lol, the exhaust tips can get pretty nasty. These were no exception. I started out with 0000 steel wool and Collinite metal Wax, and then gave it another pass with a finger mitt and metal wax to clean them up even more.
Befores:
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/pipesbefore002.jpg
Afters:
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/pipesafter001.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/pipesafter002.jpg
Finally I got onto the paint correction. I had kept hearing how soft GT-R paint is, but I was very surprised with this one. The paint was hard as a rock. You will see the swirls really weren't bad at all, but I ended up having to get pretty aggressive with it to get them out. For this reason I ended up doing a two-step on this vehicle. I felt it was best for the car, even though only a one step was scheduled. For the first step I used the Meguiars MF pads with M105 on my PCXP and followed that up by Carpro Fixxer with a Tangerine HC pad, also on my PCXP. I would say this got about 85% of the defects out of the paint.
Here is how the swirls looked. Please note, I did edit the color levels on these pictures so you could see the swirls. It was near impossible to capture them even with the editing. The editing is not meant to deceive, only convey the true condition of the paint. That's why the paint almost looks silver in some of the following pictures.
Swirls Before:
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/swirls001.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/swirls002.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/swirls003.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/swirls004.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/swirls005.jpg
A couple 50/50 pictures on the trunk and roof:
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/5050001.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/5050002.jpg
And finally some sun pictures after the correction was completed. These are all after a wipe down with Erasure, but before the application of Cquartz.
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/sun001.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/sun002.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/sun003.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/sun004.jpg
The following pictures are some reflection shots I took during the detail. these are before final clean up, so please excuse any dust or smudges here.
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/reflec001.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/reflec002.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/reflec003.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/reflec004.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/reflec005.jpg
And finally, here are the completed shots of the car. This is all finished up, and coated with Cquartz. The glass however got Wolf's Glass Sealant since I was sent a sample by Keith (IOMCAMARO..thanks buddy!!!).
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/after005.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/after004.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/after003.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/after002.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/White%20GT-R/after001.jpg