Poorboy's Detail - 2003 Nissan 350Z lots of pics

R

Redwings97

New member
Ok – this car belongs to a buddy of mine. We swapped cars on Thursday night at 8:00pm, I brought it home, washed it in the dark (with assistants of my halogens), put it in the garage. My process is as follows:

Dried the car with PB’s WW towels.
Clayed the car using Ricardo clay – This car has hardly been washed in 5 years (ugh). I changed over to PB’s clay for it seemed to be a little more aggressive. I probably could have used more aggressive clay but I do not own any yet. This car took me 1 ½ hours to clay. The entire car was horrible!!!! See picture!

The bugs on the front bumper were terrible – To make a long story short – the front and rear bumper along with side skirts most have been repainted prior to him buying the car new. I used PB’s PP and a finishing pad x 2. See Detailing in General – Nissan 350Z for further explanation.

The rest of the car had swirling (not all that bad) and some marks here and there. There are two areas under the driver side window where the car was egged. It cracked the paint and I really could not do anything about. Not too say that some of you couldn’t repair that. Out of my expertise range (see picture)

I used a combination of pads and polishes using both a PC and Flex – (Love the Flex)

SSR2.5 with LC CCS light cut pad (orange 5 1/2”) with PC
SSR2.5 with LC CCS polishing pad (white 5 ½”) with PC
SSR1 with LC CCS polishing pad (white 5 ½”) with PC
SSR1 with LC CCS polishing pad (white 6 1/2”) with Flex

PB’s Black Hole on sides, hood and roof (not on bumpers and side skirts)
PB’s EX-P x 2 using MF applicator pad dampened with water

PB’s B&B on tires and wheel wells
PB’s Wheel Sealant x 1 on rims
Shop vac interior
PB’s NL on all interior trim (door panels, plastics, steering wheel etc)

I pulled the car out of the garage on Friday afternoon for the before pictures (this was after the car was washed and clayed – right before polishing)

The during polishing pictures (before and afters) are very few. I had a heck of a time getting the halogens and camera tripod on the same level to take decent photos. Is it because the car sits so low?? – I have no idea but never ran into that difficulty before.

Wash buckets
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Clay
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Egged

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Before pictures (after wash and clay)
3502.jpg

3503.jpg

3504.jpg

3505.jpg

3506.jpg

3507.jpg

3508.jpg


During with tripod

3509.jpg

3510.jpg

3511.jpg

3512.jpg


During without tripod

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3515.jpg
 
Nice work!!

What did you think of the car driving?
Also those door panels are a PITA to apply dressing on...takes a lot of buffing to get them even IMO
 
Beemerboy said:
Nice work!!

What did you think of the car driving?
Also those door panels are a PITA to apply dressing on...takes a lot of buffing to get them even IMO
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I actually only drove the car about 3 miles from the swapping point. On Sunday when my buddy picked up the car - we drove to a soccer game about 35 miles away. Then we drove to another soccer game about 60 miles away. He drove, but I can see how it would a blast to own.

I didn't really notice the door panels being more difficult - the side skirts were more of a pain than the doors.
 
very good job. I am very inspired by your work. I would say that I am far from good at detailing, But looking at posts like this one really help. Thank you.
 
tuscarora dave said:
very good job. I am very inspired by your work. I would say that I am far from good at detailing, But looking at posts like this one really help. Thank you.
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Thank you very much for the kind words. Makes me want to detail a black Cadillac, um which I have one to do this Sunday.

Thanks to all above for the positive remarks and to the fellow detailers that helped me through the front & rear bumper and side skirts. Could not have finished without your assistance and knowledge.
 
Great job, Trent. I recently did an '06 Z that doesn't look as good as your '03. (Belongs to a friend so I'll get it back and replicate your PB's regimen.) What is it about the bumper/valance on those things that is so difficult... too low, soft paint? What a pain.

Thanks for posting. I learned a lot.
 
JohnHenry said:
Great job, Trent. I recently did an '06 Z that doesn't look as good as your '03. (Belongs to a friend so I'll get it back and replicate your PB's regimen.) What is it about the bumper/valance on those things that is so difficult... too low, soft paint? What a pain.

Thanks for posting. I learned a lot.
Click to expand...

Thanks - I started testing the front bumper with PB's PP and microfiber for bug removal and I was getting paint transferred onto the MF. I was clueless so I started a thread asking what it was. It appears that this 350 was repainted by the dealer prior to my buddy buying it new in 2003. So I did what was told to do - Use PB's PP and finishing pad and then the LSP which happens to be PB's EX-P. Thanks again.
 
Very nice job, you definitely reversed some of the damage from neglect. Sport ride, and a great color for that car.
 
Trent I have one Question, is the paint soft or hard on this 350Z? I was wondering because i have to see one this week (a 05 model) and was told that these vehicles have a hard finish. Just wondering.....
 
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