2011 Infinity G37x, 1 Step Correction, PBL Surface Coating

[10secdream]

Well after being an observer for a few months I decided to finally showcase some of my work. My name is Stephen and I detail on the weekends and during the week I work a full time job as a Mechanical Engineer.

My good friend approached me looking to bring back shine and add protection to his ride. Since this vehicle is his daily driver, we decided on a 1 step correction and paint coating.

Process

Exterior:

Wheels: 1z Einszett ColourTec Wheel Cleaner with various brushes
Tires: Zep Formula 505 Cleaner & Degreaser
Wheel Wells: Zep Citrus Cleaner (4:1)
Pre-wash: CG Citrus Wash & Gloss via foam cannon
Wash: CG Citrus Wash & Gloss via 2BM & Wool Wash Mitt
Decontamination 1: Wolfs Deironizer
Decontamination 2: Nanoskin Autoscrub Speedy Prep Sponge (Fine)
Dry: Waffle Weave Towels
Tape: Meguiar’s Automotive Tape
Paint Thickness: Taken using Digital Coating Thickness Gauge
Polish: HD Adapt w/ Orange Buff n Shine Pads via Rupes LHR15ES (5.5” pads) and GG6 (4” pads)
Surface Prep: Detailers Pro Coating Prep Polish
Paint Protection: PBL Diamond Surface Coating applied to the paint and all windows.
Tire Dressing: Optimum Opti-Bond Tire Gel
Trim Dressing: Wolfgang Exterior Trim Sealant
Glass: Sonax Clear Glass via Glass Towel
Exhaust Polishing: Optimum Metal Polish via 000 Steel Wool


Before Photos:

http://i881.photobucket.com/albums/ac13/10secdream1/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4072_zpsbef4fbb7.jpg (http://s881.photobucket.com/user/10secdream1/media/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4072_zpsbef4fbb7.jpg.html)
http://i881.photobucket.com/albums/ac13/10secdream1/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4074_zps119df967.jpg (http://s881.photobucket.com/user/10secdream1/media/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4074_zps119df967.jpg.html)
http://i881.photobucket.com/albums/ac13/10secdream1/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4075_zpsc7037715.jpg (http://s881.photobucket.com/user/10secdream1/media/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4075_zpsc7037715.jpg.html)
http://i881.photobucket.com/albums/ac13/10secdream1/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4076_zpsd4efed58.jpg (http://s881.photobucket.com/user/10secdream1/media/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4076_zpsd4efed58.jpg.html)
http://i881.photobucket.com/albums/ac13/10secdream1/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4077_zps6bb7ca55.jpg (http://s881.photobucket.com/user/10secdream1/media/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4077_zps6bb7ca55.jpg.html)
http://i881.photobucket.com/albums/ac13/10secdream1/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4078_zpsdd3aa54f.jpg (http://s881.photobucket.com/user/10secdream1/media/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4078_zpsdd3aa54f.jpg.html)
http://i881.photobucket.com/albums/ac13/10secdream1/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4079_zps39cd335a.jpg (http://s881.photobucket.com/user/10secdream1/media/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4079_zps39cd335a.jpg.html)
http://i881.photobucket.com/albums/ac13/10secdream1/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4080_zps84575179.jpg (http://s881.photobucket.com/user/10secdream1/media/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4080_zps84575179.jpg.html)



During Photos:

http://i881.photobucket.com/albums/ac13/10secdream1/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4081_zps6e6e19f1.jpg (http://s881.photobucket.com/user/10secdream1/media/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4081_zps6e6e19f1.jpg.html)
http://i881.photobucket.com/albums/ac13/10secdream1/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4084_zps6b6808c5.jpg (http://s881.photobucket.com/user/10secdream1/media/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4084_zps6b6808c5.jpg.html)
http://i881.photobucket.com/albums/ac13/10secdream1/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4085_zpsf3b40d71.jpg (http://s881.photobucket.com/user/10secdream1/media/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4085_zpsf3b40d71.jpg.html)
http://i881.photobucket.com/albums/ac13/10secdream1/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4128_zpse515e20c.jpg (http://s881.photobucket.com/user/10secdream1/media/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4128_zpse515e20c.jpg.html)
http://i881.photobucket.com/albums/ac13/10secdream1/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4144_zpse1408fb8.jpg (http://s881.photobucket.com/user/10secdream1/media/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4144_zpse1408fb8.jpg.html)

After Photos:

http://i881.photobucket.com/albums/ac13/10secdream1/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4190_zps08367130.jpg (http://s881.photobucket.com/user/10secdream1/media/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4190_zps08367130.jpg.html)
http://i881.photobucket.com/albums/ac13/10secdream1/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4191_zps0b53e0ff.jpg (http://s881.photobucket.com/user/10secdream1/media/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4191_zps0b53e0ff.jpg.html)
http://i881.photobucket.com/albums/ac13/10secdream1/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4194_zps90937fe1.jpg (http://s881.photobucket.com/user/10secdream1/media/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4194_zps90937fe1.jpg.html)
http://i881.photobucket.com/albums/ac13/10secdream1/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4195_zpse8b66bfb.jpg (http://s881.photobucket.com/user/10secdream1/media/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4195_zpse8b66bfb.jpg.html)
http://i881.photobucket.com/albums/ac13/10secdream1/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4196_zps186da5a9.jpg (http://s881.photobucket.com/user/10secdream1/media/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4196_zps186da5a9.jpg.html)
http://i881.photobucket.com/albums/ac13/10secdream1/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4197_zps846ae288.jpg (http://s881.photobucket.com/user/10secdream1/media/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4197_zps846ae288.jpg.html)
http://i881.photobucket.com/albums/ac13/10secdream1/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4198_zpsae0c970b.jpg (http://s881.photobucket.com/user/10secdream1/media/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4198_zpsae0c970b.jpg.html)
http://i881.photobucket.com/albums/ac13/10secdream1/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4199_zpsdc3ccc0d.jpg (http://s881.photobucket.com/user/10secdream1/media/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4199_zpsdc3ccc0d.jpg.html)

Some things that I learned during this detail:
1) Coating thickness gauges are a very valuable tool. For some reason the aluminum hood read about 70um while the rest of the car was around 100um.
2) I found the self healing clear coat on this car to be extremely tough. I was actually very disappointed with the amount of defects that still remained in the paint. I even tried a microfiber cutting pad with uber compound and that still didn't touch some of the defects. Maybe some of you have had success with this paint but I found it rather challenging.
3) I still have a lot to learn and this detail definitely showed me that.
4) I have a great appreciation for some of the photography on this forum. Hopefully I will learn a few tricks along the way and figure out how to use my DSLR.

Thanks for viewing.

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Beautiful work! That black Infiniti looks outstanding!

[HD.Detailing]

very nice!
yes, nissan has thin paint.. my Z has 50-75 microns!

[Eric@CherryOnTop]

Welcome to AG, the car looks great and you did a good job with the write up. Do a search for digital photography basics, one of our members did a series of very thorough articles that will help you master the DSLR.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Nick McKees37]

Excellent work! How long did the entire process take?

[10secdream]

Beautiful work! That black Infiniti looks outstanding!

Thanks for the kind words. My buddy definitely loved the transformation


very nice!
yes, nissan has thin paint.. my Z has 50-75 microns!

Wow that is really thin paint. I was just caught a bit off guard as the hood was the only place with considerably less paint than the rest of the car. Maybe this is because the hood is aluminum and the rest of the car is steel.


Welcome to AG, the car looks great and you did a good job with the write up. Do a search for digital photography basics, one of our members did a series of very thorough articles that will help you master the DSLR.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I have read through all the articles on photography and just need to practice doing the basics.


Excellent work! How long did the entire process take?

The entire process took 10 hours start to finish.

[iron_worker]

Nice work.

And as an odd aside:

I'm also Stephen, also a mechanical engineer, and also detail on the weekends (just my personal vehicles and family/friends).

Weird... lol

IW

[Becciasm]

Nice work.

And as an odd aside:

I'm also Stephen, also a mechanical engineer, and also detail on the weekends (just my personal vehicles and family/friends).

Weird... lol

IW

I too, am Steven, a mechanical engineer, and detail on weekends.

Sent from my VS840 4G using AG Online

[jamesboyy]

That's infinity looks beautiful with all your hard word and that PBL coating just make that paint pop even more

[zmcgovern45]

A dramatic improvement! Nice pics, too... let me know if you've got any photo related questions :)


http://i881.photobucket.com/albums/ac13/10secdream1/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4144_zpse1408fb8.jpg
^was this the final polishing step, or did the DP surface prep clean up the remaining haze? I'm not familiar with it so I didn't know if it was being used as a 2nd polishing step or as just a quick surface cleanser.

[JSou]

Nice.

[10secdream]

A dramatic improvement! Nice pics, too... let me know if you've got any photo related questions :)


http://i881.photobucket.com/albums/ac13/10secdream1/2011%20Infinity%20G37x/DSC_4144_zpse1408fb8.jpg
^was this the final polishing step, or did the DP surface prep clean up the remaining haze? I'm not familiar with it so I didn't know if it was being used as a 2nd polishing step or as just a quick surface cleanser.

I will definitely PM you if I have any photo related questions.

I found this paint to be exceptionally challenging and unlike anything I have encountered before. What looks to be a remaining haze was actually a additional defects that I could not remove with any of my supplies (tried a mf cutting pad and uber compound). I am sure a rotary and wool pad would have leveled out the additional defects without a problem and I should consider purchasing a rotary for this very reason. This car could have definitely benefited from a 2 step polish. I advised my friend about this matter and he was happy with the level of defects removed.

[WRAPT C5Z06]

I will definitely PM you if I have any photo related questions.

I found this paint to be exceptionally challenging and unlike anything I have encountered before. What looks to be a remaining haze was actually a additional defects that I could not remove with any of my supplies (tried a mf cutting pad and uber compound). I am sure a rotary and wool pad would have leveled out the additional defects without a problem and I should consider purchasing a rotary for this very reason. This car could have definitely benefited from a 2 step polish. I advised my friend about this matter and he was happy with the level of defects removed.
Definitely looks like micro-marring to me. Then again, the marring follows the same shape as the original defects. Strange.

[defektion]

@10secdream - I have '12 G37x and the initial condition was pretty identical to mine. I had to use a Menzerna FG 400 w/ a MF Cutting Pad to clean it up and finished with Sonax Perfect Finish on a Hex Logic Finessing Pad to remove the hazing. Overall, it's definitely a great improvement!! good job OP!

[10secdream]

@10secdream - I have '12 G37x and the initial condition was pretty identical to mine. I had to use a Menzerna FG 400 w/ a MF Cutting Pad to clean it up and finished with Sonax Perfect Finish on a Hex Logic Finessing Pad to remove the hazing. Overall, it's definitely a great improvement!! good job OP!

Did your 2012 G37x have the self healing clear coat? Based on my research I thought they stopped using it past 2011. PS just noticed you are from Edmonton as well.