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Honda S2000 - Black and heavily modified!
Hi everyone! It’s pretty late but I have some energy to do a write up for this black Honda S2000 I did a while ago. This car is displayed at a LOT of automotive events and gets many wipe downs.
The owner and I set up a detail last year but things did not transpire. When I was contacted again, the front end, hard-top, and fender flares had been freshly repainted and consequently swirl free. I quoted my client a price to reflect this and everything was good to go.
I showed up in the morning, unpacked my supplies and took some pictures while the sun was out.
Walkaround:
As you can see, the paint was in rough shape!
Wash & Decontamination
- CWG @ Paint Cleanser Ratio via 2BM
- Riccardo Yellow & ONR Clay Lubricant
Many times I have seen fellow Autopians express their frustration in detailing a black S2000, and after this detail, I can certainly see why such a sentiment is shared throughout the community.
Paint Correction
My original plan was to start with SIP on a white pad at 1800rpm. Unfortunately it was not cooperating. After polishing a portion of the door, I did an IPA wipedown and brought the car into the sun. After about 2 minutes, the paint looked swirled again. Time would not grant me the opportunity to make multiple passes with SIP on a white pad, so I grabbed M105 and PFW. This original, never-polished paint certainly needed a heavy cutting to level down the paint and get it looking new again.
Below you will find before and afters of M105 on PFW at 1800rpm. The whole car (except the front end, hard-top and fender flares) looked like these two sets of before and afters.
Following M105, SIP on a white pad @ 1600rpm was used to restore gloss and polish out the compounding marks and buffer trails. The entire car except the front end and fender flares received this stage. The hard-top had a couple of deeper scratches that SIP on a white pad took care of, which indicates the clear to be extremely soft on the repainted surfaces.
Here are some pictures after SIP:
Following SIP, I went over the car (except the hood, front fenders and fairings) with Menzerna’s Final Polish II on a black pad to jewel the finish, at 1200rpm.
After finishing with FPII, I brought the car out to give it a foam gun wash in order to prepare for the LSP. Lone behold, there were extremely fine buffer trails of where I had corrected the paintwork. This is where the soft black paint started its fight.
To remedy this, I tried a number of things:
IPA wipedown, SIP on white pad (again), FPII on black, IPA wipedown - No good.
FPII on blue, IPA wipedown - No good.
106FF on black, IPA wipedown - No good.
After these steps, I came to the conclusion that I needed a very fine cutting abrasive; finer than 106ff and FPII. I grabbed Poli-Seal and the PC on a blue pad, applied a fair amount of pressure and worked it into the paint at speed 6. Looking good so far, I tried an IPA wipedown, and finally I had the paint looking the way I wanted! With this issue out of the way, I went over the entire car with Poli-Seal with the same method to ensure nothing would remain.
Here are some pictures after Poli-Seal. Unfortunately with this fourth step, I knew I could not get daytime pictures after the car was completed. So these pictures are the last day-light pictures I have
.
No more swirls!
Swirls be gone!
Following the Poli-Seal, I had a close look at the spoiler and realized I would need different pads to do the job safely as the surface was very curvy and I needed to cut aggressively to get out the damage. I discussed with the owner that it would be better I came at a later time with different (smaller) pads (I had some on backorder). He agreed.
LSP & Finishing
Finally, the car was sealed with two coats of Opti-Seal. Tires were dressed with Opti-Bond. By the time I was finished, it was past 1am, and I was ready to fall over, lol! So I am sorry for the lack of after shots!
Finals
Comments, questions, etc are welcome as always! Thanks for looking!
Kaval
The owner and I set up a detail last year but things did not transpire. When I was contacted again, the front end, hard-top, and fender flares had been freshly repainted and consequently swirl free. I quoted my client a price to reflect this and everything was good to go.
I showed up in the morning, unpacked my supplies and took some pictures while the sun was out.
Walkaround:
As you can see, the paint was in rough shape!
Wash & Decontamination
- CWG @ Paint Cleanser Ratio via 2BM
- Riccardo Yellow & ONR Clay Lubricant
Many times I have seen fellow Autopians express their frustration in detailing a black S2000, and after this detail, I can certainly see why such a sentiment is shared throughout the community.
Paint Correction
My original plan was to start with SIP on a white pad at 1800rpm. Unfortunately it was not cooperating. After polishing a portion of the door, I did an IPA wipedown and brought the car into the sun. After about 2 minutes, the paint looked swirled again. Time would not grant me the opportunity to make multiple passes with SIP on a white pad, so I grabbed M105 and PFW. This original, never-polished paint certainly needed a heavy cutting to level down the paint and get it looking new again.
Below you will find before and afters of M105 on PFW at 1800rpm. The whole car (except the front end, hard-top and fender flares) looked like these two sets of before and afters.
Following M105, SIP on a white pad @ 1600rpm was used to restore gloss and polish out the compounding marks and buffer trails. The entire car except the front end and fender flares received this stage. The hard-top had a couple of deeper scratches that SIP on a white pad took care of, which indicates the clear to be extremely soft on the repainted surfaces.
Here are some pictures after SIP:
Following SIP, I went over the car (except the hood, front fenders and fairings) with Menzerna’s Final Polish II on a black pad to jewel the finish, at 1200rpm.
After finishing with FPII, I brought the car out to give it a foam gun wash in order to prepare for the LSP. Lone behold, there were extremely fine buffer trails of where I had corrected the paintwork. This is where the soft black paint started its fight.
To remedy this, I tried a number of things:
IPA wipedown, SIP on white pad (again), FPII on black, IPA wipedown - No good.
FPII on blue, IPA wipedown - No good.
106FF on black, IPA wipedown - No good.
After these steps, I came to the conclusion that I needed a very fine cutting abrasive; finer than 106ff and FPII. I grabbed Poli-Seal and the PC on a blue pad, applied a fair amount of pressure and worked it into the paint at speed 6. Looking good so far, I tried an IPA wipedown, and finally I had the paint looking the way I wanted! With this issue out of the way, I went over the entire car with Poli-Seal with the same method to ensure nothing would remain.
Here are some pictures after Poli-Seal. Unfortunately with this fourth step, I knew I could not get daytime pictures after the car was completed. So these pictures are the last day-light pictures I have
. No more swirls!
Swirls be gone!
Following the Poli-Seal, I had a close look at the spoiler and realized I would need different pads to do the job safely as the surface was very curvy and I needed to cut aggressively to get out the damage. I discussed with the owner that it would be better I came at a later time with different (smaller) pads (I had some on backorder). He agreed.
LSP & Finishing
Finally, the car was sealed with two coats of Opti-Seal. Tires were dressed with Opti-Bond. By the time I was finished, it was past 1am, and I was ready to fall over, lol! So I am sorry for the lack of after shots!
Finals
Comments, questions, etc are welcome as always! Thanks for looking!
Kaval
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