My 12 year old baby is back: 2004 FX35

Some of you may remember this car. I bought it new in 2004. I loved it!! I had it 5.5 years and then my next door neighbour bought it. He's great at maintaining his vehicles, and I've done it for him 3 years ago. It was now (over)due again.


Here it is as it arrived:


http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_1814.jpg


Looked good from far...but you know how that saying goes...and 2 bird bombs attacking the surface:

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_1815.jpg


There were definitely some issues to take care of this time around:


http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_1816.jpg


http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_1817.jpg


http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_1818.jpg


http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_1819.jpg


http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_1820.jpg



I wasn't able to remove this scratch last time...I'd get another shot at it anyway:


http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_1821.jpg



He had scraped the passenger door in his storage unit and took it to a PDR guy to fix the dents. The jackass volunteered to fix the paint transfer for him. This is what he left:



http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_1822.jpg


PDR guy needs to stick to doing PDR!!!



http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_1823.jpg



First up was wheels, barrels, tires and wells.

Barrels got cleaned with Tarminator.
Wheel faces and barrels then got cleaned with Zep Citrus and Megs HW.
Tires were cleaned twice with Zep 505.
The wells were cleaned with LATA.


It was then washed with Megs HW followed by a decontamination wash of IronX paste. It was then blown off with my Master Blaster and checked for true paint condition. This is what I was seeing:



http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_1825.jpg


http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_1826.jpg


This was a monster chip, but there were quite a few that needed attending to:


http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_1827.jpg


A big scrape along the edge of the door:


http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_1828.jpg


http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_1829.jpg


There were several bird bomb etching marks:


http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_1830.jpg


http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_1832.jpg


Hood swirls:


http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_1833.jpg


I don't remember the paint on this thing being so difficult, but it took a bit to figure out what would work best. I ended up going with my TB black wool, 3401 and then a 2-1 mix of M101 to M100. That gave me good correction, but also finished down well too. That was followed by M205 + 3401 + Americana black finishing pad. Here is a reflection shot of the driver's door after that combination:


http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_1837.jpg


The whole car was done that way. I hand polished the wheels with M205 and a microfiber. It was then given a double coat of CQuartz (original). The trim was done with DLux. The tires shot with Opti Bond with my air gun. Here are some inside shots at 1 am:



http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_1838.jpg


http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_1839.jpg


http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_1840.jpg


http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_1841.jpg



SHAMELESS PLUG, LOL...



http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_1844.jpg


http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_1845.jpg


It ended up being only partly cloudy, so I got some good outside shots too:


http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_1846.jpg



Oh, I almost forgot. I hand polished the exhaust tips too and coated them with DLux:


http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_1847.jpg


http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_1849.jpg


http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_1851.jpg


Here's the PDR screw up after I was done with it:



http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_1855.jpg


http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_1852.jpg


Monster chip filled and coated:


http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_1853.jpg


http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_1850.jpg


http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_1854.jpg


Well, I don't think it looks 12 years old anymore, after my 21 hours of work. Comments always appreciated.

You did a fantastic job, the wheels look amazing.

Excellent write up thanks for sharing.

You slayed another one my man! I have a buddy with the same suv but it's a 45. Great driving vehicle and still looks great.

Very very nice! :dblthumb2:

Stunning reflection pictures, Looks like there's a touch of dust on the corner of your ceiling fan . . . :joking: In some of the pictures it almost looks chrome. Beautiful work Richy. Go the 3401/wool combination! :props:

Interesting looking vehicle, not something we see down this end of the planet.

Aaryn NZ. :xyxthumbs:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Joe@NextLevelDetail

You did a fantastic job, the wheels look amazing.

Excellent write up thanks for sharing.

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Thanks so much! You couldn't get the FX35 with the 20" chrome wheels in Canada, but you could from the US, so I ordered them in. IMO they absolutely make the car.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fly07sti

You slayed another one my man! I have a buddy with the same suv but it's a 45. Great driving vehicle and still looks great.

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Thanks Don! The 45 was available with the 20" chromes, but not the 35. I didn't want the V-8, so I specially ordered the wheels out of California at the time.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Aaryn NZ

Very very nice! :dblthumb2:

Stunning reflection pictures, Looks like there's a touch of dust on the corner of your ceiling fan . . . :joking: In some of the pictures it almost looks chrome. Beautiful work Richy. Go the 3401/wool combination! :props:

Interesting looking vehicle, not something we see down this end of the planet.

Aaryn NZ. :xyxthumbs:

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Thanks so much! LOL@ dust. They were so far ahead of their time when they came out. I still love the shape of the hood. It's a very cool view from inside.

Looks great, especially for its age. I always liked them. That one still looks new even in terms of style.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pdqgp

Looks great, especially for its age. I always liked them. That one still looks new even in terms of style.

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Thanks so much! I had always believed they were way ahead of their time styling wise. It still looks progressive I think.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by richy

Thanks so much! You couldn't get the FX35 with the 20" chrome wheels in Canada, but you could from the US, so I ordered them in. IMO they absolutely make the car.



Thanks Don! The 45 was available with the 20" chromes, but not the 35. I didn't want the V-8, so I specially ordered the wheels out of California at the time.



Thanks so much! LOL@ dust. They were so far ahead of their time when they came out. I still love the shape of the hood. It's a very cool view from inside.

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nice neighborhood and correction detail.

Not bad for a 12 year old ride...just kidding! It came out great!!!! Looks like it did the day you got it, maybe a little better! Great write-up. Thanks for posting!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GSKR

nice neighborhood and correction detail.

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Thanks kindly on both accounts!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sizzle Chest

Not bad for a 12 year old ride...just kidding! It came out great!!!! Looks like it did the day you got it, maybe a little better! Great write-up. Thanks for posting!

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Thanks man!! When I started detailing for others over 12 years ago, I got business from the Infiniti dealer based on how my car looked every time I took it in for something.