Mazda RX-8: black

Jim@WD · Feb 17, 2010

Mazda RX-8 – Enhancement and Protection Detail

Take one Mazda RX8 and give it to a lazy valeter to ‘buff to a shine’.

Unfortunately, this one had been butchered to an inch of its life. The last person to put polish to the paintwork left us in a situation... RX8’s have notoriously soft, thin paint. So, give it to a valeter who will push his ‘mop’ around it in less than an hour, and, this is what you’re left with..

Heavily swirled and hologramed paint that is on the dangerous side of ‘thin’. This is down to the intense compounding that had been done previously which hasn’t been broken down, thus, doing more harm than good!

The paint thickness stood around 80um across the car... Some sections pushed 100um and some parts were touching mid 60’s. Far too thin for me to comfortably return this car to its former glory!

11.5 hours spent transforming the car in the ‘safest’ way possible.

Product
• AutoGlym FastGlass
• AutoGlym Vinyl And Rubber Care
• Autosol
• AutoSmart G101
• AutoSmart Tardis
• Belgom ALU
• Chemical Guys JetSEAL901
• Dodo Juice Born To Be Mild
• Dodo Juice Limeprime
• Dodo Juice SuperNatural
• Jeffs Werkstat Prime AIO
• LTT Auto Ultra Foam
• LTT Auto Ultra Protect
• Meguiars Super-Degreaser
• Meguiars Last Touch
• Meguiars Wheel-Brightener
• Poorboys Black Hole
• Sonus Green clay
• ValetPRO Snowfoam
• Zaino Z8

Before:

After:

Inspection.

Jim@WD · Feb 17, 2010

After kitting up, the first job was to attack the wheels and arches. AutoSmart G101, Meguiars Super-Degreaser and Meguiars Wheel-Brightener used here. Unfortunately the inner rim of the alloys had seen better days.. Maybe taking the whole wheel off and a full clay/cleanse session would improve things, but, I believe the owner is having them replaced/refurbed soon anyway.

After this, the door shuts and engine bay were hit with a mix of G101 and Degreaser.

Snowfoam delivered after a thorough jet down..

And intricate areas worked with a detail brush.

Jim@WD · Feb 17, 2010

Washed with a lambswool washmit, Dodo Juice Born To Be Mild and the two bucket set up with grit-guards.

Then clayed with Sonus Green and Megs Last Touch used as a lube..

The car wasn’t too badly contaminated; only a few rough sections on the flats and lower quarters.

Lubrication residues were rinsed as I worked, and, a final ‘water-sheet’ was made with an open hose prior to drying.

Drying was carried out with a plush mf drying towel and my new toy; the Black Baron Vehicle Dryer. (…basically a 300mph hairdryer!)

A great bit of kit! Great for removing puddles of water from underneath the wing-mirrors, water trapped in the window joins and door sills. All of which can later affect the polishing stages.

The next photo was taken for demonstration purposes only. Do not try this at home, kids.

^as you can see, quite powerful!

Once dry, from a distance, the car looked pretty presentable already:

However, push it under forced halogen light and you’re left with a whole array on imperfection and defects in the paint.

Jim@WD · Feb 17, 2010

As previously stated, the car had seen a machine ‘polisher’ before. This resulting in awfully thin paint and deep buffer trails that would prove difficult to safely remove.

I started with a 3M Yellow Polishing Pad and Dodo Juice Limeprime on the boot lid. This however, left buffer trails of its own and I wasn’t happy with the finish given..

After making a pass on the same area with a 3M blue Finishing Pad, I was happy to move on.

Boot lid before:

And an after:

You can see this isn’t removing everything, but, this doesn’t matter. We had a night and day difference in front of us, and, for the sake of a few deeper marks, it wasn’t worth sacrificing the already thin paint just for perfection.

N/S rear wing before:

After:

Jim@WD · Feb 17, 2010

N/S before:

N/S after:

50/50:

Jim@WD · Feb 17, 2010

Further paint readings taken..

Perfect? No. But again, I wasn’t willing to push things any further.

Bonnet before:

50/50’s:

DA sanding marks spotted on the upper edge of the bonnet.

Another bonnet before & after series:

Jim@WD · Feb 17, 2010

While I was working my way around the car, I had the owner cleanse the alloys with Werkstat Prime, protect the alloys with JetSEAL901, dress the tyres with Megs Endurance Tyre Gel and finish the engine bay with AutoGlym Vinyl and Rubber Care.

After the Limeprime session was complete, merely for ease of use, I glazed the car with Poorboys BlackHole via another blue 3M Finishing Pad.

BlackHole residues removed and SuperNatural wax applied via a German Applicator Pad.

Time is getting on, so, a quick freshen up of the interior including LTT Leather Care, the exhausts polished with Autosol and Belgom ALU and windows cleaned, we were left with this:

Jim@WD · Feb 17, 2010

Nearly a 12 hour day in the end. A little longer than originally anticipated!

As we were unable to capture and true ‘after photos’, I popped round the next day as I was already in the area..

And if that wasn’t enough, I caught up with him again this evening after work.

Jim@WD · Feb 17, 2010

Thanks for reading.

Jim

MarkWales · Feb 18, 2010

nice work there - hope to get mine looking that good

jonjay · Feb 18, 2010

Outstanding Jim.

gezmeister · Feb 18, 2010

Good work as always Jim. I can see that this is a very difficult car to detail, due to the thin paint, but you've made it look like new again

markoos · Feb 18, 2010

Stunning.

Deleted member 13581 · Feb 18, 2010

What a transformation.

Nice work.

Jim@WD · Feb 18, 2010

Thanks all! Thanks for your words.

I will be passing the report on along with a cover letter to the Dealership where the car was brought from.. (quite a new purchase!). Chances are, the damage was done here.

Slimy · Feb 18, 2010

So that is what a black car looks like! It truly is a mirror-like finish!

I love these posts, so far beyond anything I could manage and such a perfectionist!

h7 cya · Mar 7, 2010

Wow great work a VAST improvement!

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Mazda RX-8: black

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MarkWales

jonjay

50 Years of 911

gezmeister

I need a derv!!

markoos

Simples!

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