1992 Dinan Stage III 850I

[themightytimmah]

This car came to me courtesy of a fellow Autopian. It had quite the story behind it - the original owner was a personal friend of Steve Dinan, and this car was one of only 5 Stage III conversions ever built. She's pushing around 625hp on pump gas, 700+ on race. When I first got to it, the car suffered moderate paint contamination, but was clearly kept clean. We originally planned on 1Z MP via hand - but after a full sun inspection, it was clear that the original owner's mechanics were not too well versed in proper wash techniques. The roof had a "brushed" finish, and the horizontals were pretty swirled up. However, the paint was all original and nearly orange-peel free.

This presented a pretty scary challenge - how to correct everything without diminishing paint life or burning through an edge. After trying a number of pads and polishes, I decided to go with a softer pad and more aggressive polish for the edges - using an orange pad near the curves was too hairy for me. The final result was 99% swirl free on more open sections, and 85+% swirl free on the edges.

Paint before:







Process:

NXT foamgun wash
AutoInt ABC Decon on paint and wheels
Chemical Guy's Clay
Presta UCCL/Green Wool/1500rpm on hood, trunk and roof only
Tried OP/Orange pad /1500 on verticals- not enough cut
Tried AutoInt Machine Polish/white pad/1500 on verticals- not enough cut
Tried AutoInt Machine Polish/orange pad/1500 on verticals - too risky on edges
Ended up with Presta UCCL/white lc ccs/1250rpm on verticals and second step on horizontals

Center and right compounded, left and far side not:



Gotta love Miami weather



Finished with Menzerna P085RD/LC blue/1600-1000rpm on all paint surfaces
P085RD/LC white CCS/1250rpm on spoiler (thin aftermarket paint)
IPA wipedown and inspected for holograms
CG EZ Creme Glaze/hand
CG 50:50 Paste/hand
AutoInt Trim and Molding renewer on trim (excellent product, blue oil-based)








Talk about a clean install - unless you know 850's, it looks totally stock.

[LS1 Eddie]

Nice job and cool car. I wish I lived in Florida as I look out my window and see snow.

[rydawg]

Great job on such a nice car!

[.VorteX.]

Awesome job. That's a sweet ride.. I've only seen two around here.

[SHhhhh]

Any details on the Conquest?

[Pats300zx]

Awesome job. I would trade your Miami weather. I detailed a M6 today. I had to wash it in the rain with a cold wind and 45 degrees.

[nmxdaven]

Why detail it when its just going to get a thick coating of rubber anyway?

j/k, good detail and awesome car!

[Jayhawker]

Is that a Mitsubishi Conquest I see in the background? More pics of that car PLEASE!

[2KLS1]

Nice.....I still like the styling of those 8 series cars.

[P1et]

Stunning vehicle and a stunning detail, very nice work!

[themightytimmah]

Originally Posted by Jayhawker

Is that a Mitsubishi Conquest I see in the background? More pics of that car PLEASE!

IIRC it's an Eagle Talon. It's the 850 owner's "play car". He's gone through a couple engines (big turbos) on it - the last one ran in the 12's before it blew up. He rebuilt it and the block's sitting in his garage now. Overall it needs a little paintwork but it's in cherry shape.

[Smoked Tails]

That's most definitely not a Talon. It's a Conquest or Starion. And, from my understanding, any of those that are reliably quicker than low to mid 13s are expensive to build. I am more familiar with Talons, Eclipses and Lasers though.

Anyways, outstanding job on that 850. Those are a rare breed, especially one with that history. Did you get a ride in that beast? I'd have wet my pants.