Thought this was an interesting thread...


http://www.autopia.org/forum/pro-det...niversary.html

 

very cool write up!....it's crazy how people treat their cars!

 

Good read, thanks for the post. My Z28 is worse off than what the guy started with and I think my car is in decent shape all things considering Gives me hope that I can make my engine bay look that good.

 

Same here, my car has way more miles and i only paid 600. And it literally looks like someone died in mine, i thought he wasn't too bad off to start with but man that finished product is just too beautiful for words. Great Post.

 

I saw that a long time ago. It just makes me realize how badly my car needs to be red!!! Lol. VERY good find by this guy, I'm sure he bought that car for hardly anything... and now it's worth a ton... 30k miles!!!!!! Wow. Nice work.

That's a VERY base model Z though. Only a 110 cluster?! And it has the "ribbed" door cards and the basic seats... my nearly loaded RS probably stickered for about the same amount as that base Z in '92 lol.

 

man that guy did an amazing job on that car

 

the guys good, car looks new

 

seeing cars like that is a high benchmark for the rest of us. I wish i could get mine to look that good

 

Doing that to a car isnt difficult. I can do that do a vehicle but dont have the time.

You can rent a steamer and get similar results on your interior. All it takes is time.

Kudos to that guy for making a car that is 18yrs old looking brand new!

Reminds me, i really need to detail my Titan. The TA is in primer, no point in cleaning it.

 

i respectfully disagree. Anybody can clean and buff a car, but it shows. An inexperienced person, or a lousy detailer can ruin a paint job just as fast. Most people clean and buff their car then grab some pics from a distance and say "oh wow doesn't it look great?" But up close under direct light, the paint is not smooth or swirl free. Most people who know what they are doing will take pics up close with direct, high power lights, and you will see no swirls, marks or anything in the paint, just a perfect glass-like reflection. Something the average joe will never be able to produce easily.

 

The difference between the before and after pics is huge... It's a wonder how the car got that rough in 30k miles. My RS with ~60k miles makes the fully detailed Z look like a beater. It's not a bad refurbish job, but it's no where close to the condition of a preserved car. Even after the detailing, the car is extremely rough for the mileage.

 

Very true... and very sad :/

 

Thats what I just made my goal with my car before I get it painted, I'm going to spend as much time as it takes a few months before it gets painted and I'll do whatever it takes, I just want to make my original paint shine one last time!

 

You might want to some light wetsanding to your car. He basically did the same thing with the wool pad and the m105 he mentions. I don't recommend a wool pad to a beginner beause it's very aggressive and can burn the paint. If your paint had no shine, it needs to be compounded or even sanded. Of course all of this needs to be done after the clay bar treatment.

I agree with Drew. The carpet and seats are considerably better, but still not great. The interior doesn't look that great to me. The over glossy shine really brings it down in quality to me. I personally like the factory look of vinyl and plastic having a low satin appearance.

 

Keep in mind that this guy was paid X amount of money to "detail" a car for a neglectful customer.

But I agree, if this were my personal car, I'd give the interior a whole bunch more attention. And I'm not fond of over shiny/greasy dressings on my interior either.



Nevertheless, for the (only) several hours this guy put into this 3rd gen, it looks great!


BTW Scott, what do you use on your interior? I'm gonna guess 303?

 

I definately see where youre coming from.

I wouldn't hand a 16yr old kid a high speed buffer or a DA and say here you go, polish my car...

It takes some practice to do that to a vehicle and i agree, there are a lot of people who spend an hour polishing a car and take 20ft pictures and call it pretty. It may look better than it did before but like you said, taking close up pics in direct light really show that the guy did a great job.

I gotta get my Titan all cleaned up before the summer... oh how i hate doing a full detail in 110* heat!