2008 911 Carerra 4S

[richy]

The owner of this beautiful car had contacted me a while back to have his car coated with CQuartz Finest. The only real issue it had was a very deep key scratch on the RR 1/4 panel. I was hopeful that it would be able to be repaired. The rest of the car was in good shape, save for some small scratches and swirls throughout. I first thought I could make due with a one step, but nothing had the bite to remove what I needed, so I gave it what it truly deserved.

Here it is as it arrived. I suggested pulling the wheels too after seeing it. I'm glad I did as I believe it really adds something to the detail.





See what I mean about the wheels?





You will also see an oily stain in the barrels. This was not easy to clean.








Those red calipers were just screaming to me to be coated!!











There was another scratch on the back as well:





Here is the big one:











First up was the wheels.

The barrels were done with Tarminator to try to remove that oily residue. Here is another shot of a wheel before starting to clean it:





The Tarminator did it for all but one that needed an extra step of Megs WB. The Tarminator stage was followed by Zep Citrus and my wheel woolie in my wash bucket of Megs HW.
The face was also sprayed with Tarminator first and then sprayed with Zep Citrus and washed with a demoted wash mitt and a small brush to get in the wheel nut openings.
The tires were cleaned with Zep 505.
The wells were cleaned with LATA.

Here is that same wheel after being cleaned:





Next up was the wash. I washed it by hand using Megs HW and then a second decontamination wash using IronX paste. That was followed by claying using my CarPro clay towel. It was then blown off with my Master Blaster. It had a locking wheel nut that I couldn't find and the owner did not know where it was. Who did I call? Why the 911 expert, Mr. 911Fanatic, Ken Wilson from B.C. Sure enough, he led me right to it! Thanks again buddy!!

Each wheel was removed, the barrel given a more intensive cleaning as was the caliper. The wheel well was cleaned more thoroughly as well and was subsequently coated with the DG beta trim coating. The caliper, barrel and face were given a double coat of CQF. (V5 so I didn't have to wait!)

Here is the barrel after being coated:





Here is the well after receiving the DG trim coating:





Hello pretty caliper!!








Each wheel was re-torqued to spec (96ft/lb).


Before starting the wheels, I filled the scratch with the Porsche factory touch up paint. The stuff I get from Cross Canada is usually thinner, I'm not sure if that ultimately made a difference or not. I used my usually effective method of a pointy toothpick to wick the paint down into the scratch and then tried to level it out to make sure it got deep down. It seemed like it at the time:








The smaller scratch got filled too. I wanted it to dry and harden as long as possible and it had about 18 hours.

Now it was time to see how the paint would respond. Here is a shot of some marks right next to the clear bra:





Eventually, after trying several different one step combos of pad and polish, I ended up with what always works for me: black TB wool + M105 + Flex. Now, I wasn't chasing anything terrible, so I use a method of basically finessing the paint with that combo. It truly does bring clarity to the paint that I do not get otherwise. Even on this colour it was evident. That was followed up with M205 + my new Megs yellow buffing pad + Flex. The paint was then chemically cleaned with DG Squeaky Clean. I did the whole car with that combo but skipped the 2 panels that I had worked on. The following morning I wet sanded using 2K grit and then a 3K disc with my 3" GG DA. Here it is after being sanded. You can see in the shots that the scratch was still visible. The paint just didn't get down deep enough. I was not a happy camper at this point. I even tried using more paint and chemically leveling it, but that didn't work either.







It was a bloody shame as the rest of the car was literally perfect! Like a big honking zit on the face of a supermodel!!

Anyway, after 2 coats of CQF to the paint and DLux to the trim, tires shot with OB, it was time to snap some pics. It had been cloudy and all of a sudden I got this window of sun...boy, was I lucky!!






































I tell you, I really felt discouraged by that scratch!!





Typical detailer huh....concentrating on the 1% as opposed to the 99%!








The owner was also disappointed in the scratch remaining, but he was very happy with the rest of it. It truly is a gorgeous car and it was a delight to work on it!!

[custmsprty]

Wow great work and excellent write up. You also he;ped me get over my first deep scratch in my Genny, compared to those I guess it's some what superficial.

[TFTADetail]

Great work!

The scratches can be a pain, no doubt. I typically will continue to fill the scratch with touch up paint until it is level with the clear coat. Then I'll begin sanding and buffing. Usually it'll finish nearly flawless, but not always.

[Sicoupe]

Beautiful work Richy! Car looks amazing my friend.

[Marc08EX]

Amazing work as always Richy!!

The paint was swirled to hell but you made it perfect again. That deep scratch was unfortunate but at least you made the whole car better.

[richy]

Wow great work and excellent write up. You also he;ped me get over my first deep scratch in my Genny, compared to those I guess it's some what superficial.

Thanks for the comment and thanks very much for letting me know that I was able to help you before. I really appreciate hearing both!!

Great work!

The scratches can be a pain, no doubt. I typically will continue to fill the scratch with touch up paint until it is level with the clear coat. Then I'll begin sanding and buffing. Usually it'll finish nearly flawless, but not always.

Thanks. You can see in the pics that it was above the surrounding surface. The problem I believe, is that the paint did not wick deep enough down into the scratch. I usually ask people to get the paint from Cross Canada and it is usually a thinner viscosity which of course helps get it into the deep scratch. The other option would have been to try to mix a tiny bit of thinner to the paint but I'm not sure how that would have worked?

Beautiful work Richy! Car looks amazing my friend.

Thanks bud! I appreciate both the comment and your time to make it.

Amazing work as always Richy!!

The paint was swirled to hell but you made it perfect again. That deep scratch was unfortunate but at least you made the whole car better.

Thanks Marc! I was feeling so great about the car's appearance prior to tackling that scratch.

[Quiksilver5882]

She's back to brand new! Hopefully the owner keeps it looking amazing.


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[richy]

She's back to brand new! Hopefully the owner keeps it looking amazing.


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Thanks kindly! I'm sure he will, he won't even drive it in the rain!!

[conman1395]

DG Trim Coating???? How'd that go?

[richy]

DG Trim Coating???? How'd that go?

It's great stuff. We have been experimenting with different applicators to make the appearance more uniform. Great protection though.