Flannigan
New member
Got a special one today!! A brand new (700 miles on the odo) 2012 Nissan GT-R Black Edition. This detail came to me from a referral from another GT-R own who is on the same forum as this customer. This vehicle was booked for a new car prep (AKA one step correction) service. This would take care of any DISO that the vehicle might have, and get it protected for it's new life.
Here is how the car was delivered to me. Nothing crazy, but it certainly needed to be cleaned up.
Before that was to be addressed I wanted to get the wheels cleaned up. They were fairly dirty too, but not baked on with brake dust or anything like an older car might have. They were cleaned with Autoglym Customer Wheel Cleaner (<-Best Sh*t EVER) and a slew of brushes. The tires and wheel wells were cleaned with Blackfire APC (3:1) and even more brushes. The GIANT brake calipers were also cleaned with the CWC.
After everything was clean the tires were dressed with Blackfire Tire Gel (Old formula FTW) the wheel wells were dressed with CG Barebone, and the wheels and brake calipers were sealed with Blackfire Wet Diamond Sealant.
Wheels before:
Wheels After:
Then I moved on to the paint. As usual I wanted to remove as much dirt and debris as possible before putting wash pad to paint. The vehicle was foamed with a mixture of Blackfire Shampoo and Blackfire APC. It was left to dwell for a few minutes while I agitated the emblems and seems with a soft Raceglaze brush.
The foaming process was followed by the normal two bucket wash performed with Blackfire Shampoo as well, and a brand new Griots Garage MF Wash Pad. The vehicle was then dried with compressed air and a couple WW towels.
After being dried the paint was clayed with Ricardo Fine Clay. This step probably could have been skipped sine the car was so new, but I did fine a few bonded contaminants.
Now we could see the true condition of the paint, and honestly it wasn't that bad. Due to the massive amounts of pearl in this paint its hard to see all the swirls, but they were there.
I have never worked on a black GT-R, but heard all the horror stories about it being so soft and how it would mar if you farted to close to this. I was prepared for the worst....and then I found out this new black isn't the same.....it was HARD AS A ROCK!
To get these relatively minor swirls out I used the Optimum Cutting MF pad coupled with D300 on the vertical panels. The horizontal panels however did not correct so easily. They required a two step process. First I hit it with Menzerna FG500 on a yellow BS pad, and followed it up with Menzerna SIP on a Tangerine pad. Here are a couple sun shots. I was very short on time for this job, so I only got a few while I was working.
The flake on this car was absolutely stunning. Here is a macro shot after it was all corrected. Beautiful!
Here are some random reflection shots I got while I was working. Excuse any dust or smudges, these were while I was still buffing.
Next up were the exhaust tips. Even after just 700 miles they got pretty nasty, and has some baked on soot. They were cleaned up and protected with Swissvax Metal Polish and an MF towel.
After:
Next up was the engine bay. It really wasn't in bad shape at all. I wiped it down with Blackfire Waterless wash and then dressed all the big trim with Sonus Trim Dressing, and the hoses with Adams In and Out Spray. The LSP(s) for the vehicle were BFWD topped with BFMS.
Here is how the car was delivered to me. Nothing crazy, but it certainly needed to be cleaned up.
Before that was to be addressed I wanted to get the wheels cleaned up. They were fairly dirty too, but not baked on with brake dust or anything like an older car might have. They were cleaned with Autoglym Customer Wheel Cleaner (<-Best Sh*t EVER) and a slew of brushes. The tires and wheel wells were cleaned with Blackfire APC (3:1) and even more brushes. The GIANT brake calipers were also cleaned with the CWC.
After everything was clean the tires were dressed with Blackfire Tire Gel (Old formula FTW) the wheel wells were dressed with CG Barebone, and the wheels and brake calipers were sealed with Blackfire Wet Diamond Sealant.
Wheels before:
Wheels After:
Then I moved on to the paint. As usual I wanted to remove as much dirt and debris as possible before putting wash pad to paint. The vehicle was foamed with a mixture of Blackfire Shampoo and Blackfire APC. It was left to dwell for a few minutes while I agitated the emblems and seems with a soft Raceglaze brush.
The foaming process was followed by the normal two bucket wash performed with Blackfire Shampoo as well, and a brand new Griots Garage MF Wash Pad. The vehicle was then dried with compressed air and a couple WW towels.
After being dried the paint was clayed with Ricardo Fine Clay. This step probably could have been skipped sine the car was so new, but I did fine a few bonded contaminants.
Now we could see the true condition of the paint, and honestly it wasn't that bad. Due to the massive amounts of pearl in this paint its hard to see all the swirls, but they were there.
I have never worked on a black GT-R, but heard all the horror stories about it being so soft and how it would mar if you farted to close to this. I was prepared for the worst....and then I found out this new black isn't the same.....it was HARD AS A ROCK!
To get these relatively minor swirls out I used the Optimum Cutting MF pad coupled with D300 on the vertical panels. The horizontal panels however did not correct so easily. They required a two step process. First I hit it with Menzerna FG500 on a yellow BS pad, and followed it up with Menzerna SIP on a Tangerine pad. Here are a couple sun shots. I was very short on time for this job, so I only got a few while I was working.
The flake on this car was absolutely stunning. Here is a macro shot after it was all corrected. Beautiful!
Here are some random reflection shots I got while I was working. Excuse any dust or smudges, these were while I was still buffing.
Next up were the exhaust tips. Even after just 700 miles they got pretty nasty, and has some baked on soot. They were cleaned up and protected with Swissvax Metal Polish and an MF towel.
After:
Next up was the engine bay. It really wasn't in bad shape at all. I wiped it down with Blackfire Waterless wash and then dressed all the big trim with Sonus Trim Dressing, and the hoses with Adams In and Out Spray. The LSP(s) for the vehicle were BFWD topped with BFMS.
