Street Dreams Detail - Exotics Collection 350+pics

Socal Brian · Aug 9, 2011

Awesome work David! Thanks for putting this together.

TimAD · Aug 10, 2011

A little overboard with the pictures there ay Dave? In all seriousness, great work man. The owner must have been thrilled!

Dial Up · Aug 13, 2011

speechless! Damn, this thread is EPIC..the work and vehicles

you make detailing look easy

dsms · Aug 14, 2011

Dial Up said:

speechless! Damn, this thread is EPIC..the work and vehicles

you make detailing look easy
Click to expand...

Thanks Dial Up... in all honesty I had a few cars in this thread that really kicked my butt but in the end I am happy to say it was worth it. I just re-washed the 458,Scud, GT3 RS and R8 and I happy to say they are all still in excellent shape and I know they will stay that way for a while, I wish I knew all the cars I did would stay on that swirl free path of clean-ness LOL

tdekany · Aug 14, 2011

Late but what an excellent thread. I had a feeling that you'll be posting up something like this since you were kind of absent for awhile. Perfection!

Denzil · Aug 15, 2011

A little late to the party but great work as usual, Dave.

dsms · Aug 15, 2011

tdekany said:

Late but what an excellent thread. I had a feeling that you'll be posting up something like this since you were kind of absent for awhile. Perfection!
Click to expand...

Your probably going to really enjoy the next writeup then... has nothing to do with this collection either

tdekany · Aug 15, 2011

Can't wait!!!!

dsms said:

Your probably going to really enjoy the next writeup then... has nothing to do with this collection either
Click to expand...

LDTCapitan · Aug 17, 2011

I think I'm in love

sal329 · Aug 17, 2011

Awesome work Dave your skills are top notch. Whats your opinion on Wolf Body Wrap?

dsms · Aug 24, 2011

sal329 said:

Awesome work Dave your skills are top notch. Whats your opinion on Wolf Body Wrap?
Click to expand...

If it wasnt good I wouldnt use it lol

sal329 · Aug 24, 2011

dsms said:

If it wasnt good I wouldnt use it lol
Click to expand...

I would assume so, just askin I have heard great things bout it from a lot of people of the boards but it is always nice to get an opinion from someone you trust, I hope to use mine soon

bretster · Sep 5, 2011

What kind of camera do you use dave? Great work man, very inspirational

dsms · Sep 7, 2011

bretster said:

What kind of camera do you use dave? Great work man, very inspirational
Click to expand...

Nikon D60 :thumb:

bretster · Sep 7, 2011

dsms said:

Nikon D60 :thumb:
Click to expand...

What kinda lens do you use? Just a regular 18-55? I just picked up a canon t3i to help improve my write ups haha

shoman · Sep 8, 2011

:applause2:Simply AMAZING Work Guys and great documentation and pictures to match!!!

dsms said:

This summer has been a bit hectic with detailing and finally I have time to share some of my recent work.

I rarely do mobile detailing anymore but I was glad to spend some time and do a bit of traveling to attend to this private collection in Connecticut.

The cars range from Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Spyker and a few others. There were a lot of cars done over a period of time so the process in which I went about cleaning, correcting and protecting them will be presented to you as I remember it best.

I do not have a lengthy header nor fancy title for this thread and I promise I will not post the "copy and pasted" technical specs of every car seen here. This is a thread simply about fine cars and detailing. This is what I love and these are the cars I love to work on, hope you enjoy the pictures!

I'll begin with the Spyker C8 (note the cars in the writeup are posted in random order not in the order of completion)

After washing and prepping the car I began correction on all the aluminum metalwork. It took a good amount of time to sort out the best method of correction and even then it became a very tedious process.

Here is a 50/50 shot of the drivers side mirror housing. By the end of working on this car I had used various metal polishes including Blackfire heavy cut and fine cut, Swissvax metal polish and White Diamond, by hand, DA machine and rotary.

Working around the rest of the car, some improvement in gloss

I later decided to remove whatever pieces I could to allow for better angles when polishing

Before

After

After all exterior metal work was finished I moved onto the interior, also full of aluminum which needed polishing

Work on the steering column...

Finished

Difference in clarity from polishing, dullness in the aluminum is being removed after 2-3 hits with the metal compound on a short nap MF towel

Door handle housing needed some attention as well

Before

During

After

Slight improvement made on the shift knob, before

Finished

After all interior metal work was polished the leather (shall I say about 17.5 cows worth) was cleaned and conditioned. For this I cleaned the leather with Leatherique pristine clean and followed up with Leather Masters protection cream.

Some interior shots after full detailing, this really is a fantastic car just to sit in!

A proper ignition switch for a car with no power brakes or power steering

The soft top of the Spyker had some water damage and staining, during the wash process several applications of diluted APC cleaner and a soft brush were used to lift the stains...

Before staining

Same area (car is now turned around) after cleaning and protection. For protection 303 fabric guard was used, 2 applications over 2 days

The paintwork on the Spyker was in excellent shape, 106FA on the rotary was used to remove slight marring and bring up the gloss, for protection Wolfs Body Wrap (a nano sealant) was used.

All paint areas were protected...

Finished photos

Next up: Ferrari 458 Italia

... I knew this car was going to need some serious correction work as most EVERY modern Ferrari coming out of the factory in Maranello has major paint issues. This should not be the case as owners wait months to years for a car and pay enough money for it, the least they could do would give it a proper refinishing from the factory.

Began with a full prep wash to remove all prior protection. As usual I treated the wheels to a gentle mix of soap and water and pH wheel cleaner in a bottle... for carbon ceramic brakes thats all I really ever use.

Citrus wash was used with a DD foam sponge

After claying, drying and a few IPA wipedowns I measured the paint using an electronic paint thickness gauge as I went around the car taping off vents, edges and clear bra seams...

190-200+ microns across the board

A proper tape job is well worth the time, especially when working on any exotic car. Lots of air vents, ducts and clear film to consider.

All mesh grilles were tapes off, getting polish sling inside the mesh or behind it would be a nightmare to fix.

The finish of the 458 looked poor even before the wash, once everything was clean and stripped 100% the term "bad factory finish" took on a new meaning. This car had several areas where huge clusters of swirls, RIDS and even sanding scratches were left behind.

Example of factory defects:

Onto correction, both rotary and DA machines were used to get the finish as close to 100% as possible. Several areas require multiple hits of compounding to yield a high level of correction.

Front fender before

After 3 rounds of compounding using M105 and D300

An then onto refining the paint using Menzerna powerfinish on a green polishing pad

The hood of the 458 had clear film so I switched up to a DA machine for cooler operating temps and a smoother glide over the plastic

50/50 on front nose which had clear film

Surbuffing' the roof...

The rear section of the Italia was by far the most severely hacked area. I spent over 5hours alone just on rear bumper getting it perfect.

Some before and afters...

50/50

License plate recess before

After, compounding haze needs to be finished down

Holograms + sanding scratches left from factory...

And then removed as needed through compounding, no polish stages carried out yet

Sorting out defects on the decklid, both 5" and 3" pads were used to correct this area

The drivers rear quarter had a large cluster of defects which could be seen even without addition lighting...

After

and again after proper finishing

After all compounding and polishing steps the car was dusted and wiped again with IPA before the final polishing stage using Menzerna PO85rd on a black finishing foam

before that some sling off the engine needed to be removed, faint but still noticible...

Some tarminator + 3M adhesive remover helped to lift the sling after a few applications

The engine needed a bit of work as well, fairly dirty and some plastic components were dried out

This is after I did a full cleaning and dressing of 1 side of the engine... shows the difference pretty well I'd say

... for those of your wondering, the red engine block was also dressed with a a little formula I've been tweaking with and it seems to be the only thing that works well on Ferrari engine blocks being that they are porous and hard to dress properly

Finished engine

Engine cover coated with Nanolex, premium glass cleaner followed by premium glass sealant

Left to haze and buffed off with a damp glass MF towel

The exhaust tips trio cleaned up nicely

Tidied up trunk and underside of hood protected with Aquartz reload

Interior was treated as well

End result after 3 days work...

*The car was driven the following day during a rally, here are a few shots outside AFTER the 458 spent the day on the highway cruise

Still pretty clean after a days worth of driving

Next up Porsche GT2 RS

Prep stage, 2 buckets ready

Body of the car was then clayed

Some tape lines were still left on the car from delivery

3M adhesive remover made easy work of it

I treated all plastic trim and body pieces with Wolfs trim coat, so far this has proven to be an outstanding product that is extremely easy to use. Mind you this GT2 RS is still fairly new so the front spoiler was far from "faded" to begin with... little 50/50 of the trim coat

The matte carbon wrapped hood and other pieces of the car were treated with the Swissvax Opaque line of products, as nothing else will really work.

First the Opaque pre cleaner was used to prep for the later wax. Very simply product just lightly mist and wipe. (Left side already done)

Then came the application of the wax, most of you know I am not a big fan of carnauba waxes but in this case Opaque worked beautifully...

One side finished to show difference

All other carbon wrapped areas were treated the same way

For the paint correction part of the detail most of my efforts were focused on the rear tail section as it was riddled with factory defects and very dull

Example: Pigtailing and sanding marks

Tufbuf wool pad and Meguiars M105 was used to remove the defects, followed by Menzerna powerfinish on a green pad and then 85rd

Before

After

Exhaust tips treated, before

Small details on the interior

Engine cleaned and all carbon polished with 106FA then protected with Aquartz Reload

Paint LSP was Wolfs Body Wrap

Finished photos

Wheels sealed using with Aquartz and tires dressed with Auto Werkes tire dressing

The art of saving weight, no metal Porsche crest

Next up: Aston Martin V12 Vantage

Prep wash using lambswool mitt, something I rarely use anymore but always nice for a somewhat clean car

Drying the car with a metro blaster, hands down the most efficient way to dry... this thing is very powerful!

Claying to remove bonded contaminants

Car was taped up as needed. Lots of clear film to consider, vents etc.

Astons as well as Ferrari are known for poor factory finishing. This car was no exception. Buffer trails/holograms, sanding scratches, pig-tailing all found in the finish.

Example of some haphazard buffing (mind you this is a new car)

More defects

50/50 on door, swirls, RIDS and haze removed from left side...

Correction on strip in taillight housing (where taping comes in handing again)

Even the tiny areas need attention...

Trunk section required some extra time working with smaller 3" pads and M105

Before

After

Finished with Wolfs Body Wrap, 2x

Next: Ferrari 430 Scuderia

Also a victim of poor factory finishing, not as bad as the 458 luckily

After the wash, blowing water off the clear film

Spot compounding the carbon mirrors using the Megs MF cutting disc

Before:

After:

Carbon backs sealed as well

Tires dressed with Autowerks Exclusive tire dressing, left to sit for 10 minutes and then buffed down, probably one of the best looking dressings I have used so far

Finished pictures + sun shots

Back inside for a final wipedown

Engine finished, carbon fiber polished + protected along with alu. exhaust can

Interior finished

A beautiful sight, alcantara wrapped fire extinguisher atop diamond plate floor board (no mats come with a Scuderia)

My favorite pic of the detail...

Next up: Porsche Carerra GT

This is the second C-GT in GT Silver I have done, really a stunning color and perfectly fitting on this car.

Cleaning the wheels and tires

Difference between a partially cleaned tire and a fully cleaned tire.... Sometimes cleaning tires just once is not enough. If you want your tire dressing of choice to work properly you need completely stripped rubber as seen on the left side, right side still has old dressing caked in which needs to be removed

Wing raised to clay and polish as needed

Interior work, all dried out trim and seals were treated

Leather treated with Leather Masters cleaner and conditioner, doorjambs protected with Aquartz reload

In my opinion one of the coolest/underrated features of this car, the wood grain shift knob

Attentional all potential Carerra GT buyers, your infant unfortunately cannot ride with you to school, or at trackdays :tiptoe:

Paint polished with PO85rd on a finishing pad, LSP was Wofls Body Wrap

Engine bay and carbon bits detailed/protected

Finished with Wolfs Body Wrap

Next: Lamborghini LP570-4 Superleggera

This car was in generally clean shape but the finish in some areas needed a lot of work polishing work to show its full potential.

After prep I taped off all necessary areas

Removing defects and haze with Meguiars M105 and the MF cutting disc, this was a fairly slow process as Lamborghini paint is quite hard

Before shots of the finish

Buffer trails

50:50

Carbon fiber engine cover had the same issues, needed a few polishing stages to get back to 100%

50:50 note the difference in color and clarity between the polished and unpolished side

Smallers areas done in 3" pads

The whole rear bumper/diffuser needed a lot of work. Factory sanding scratches here were blatant and some had not even been attempted to get polished out.

Example:

After

CF by the license plate made for a tight fit during correction but again holograms and swirls needed to be removed

50:50 lots of haze on the CF before polishing

Applying Wolfs Trim Coat to the front splitter, gives a nice jetness to black plastic

Engine bay dialed in and carbon fiber sealed

Final photos

Next: Ferrari 599 HGTE in Grigio Silverstone

Correction carried out with Menzerna Powerfinish on a LC tangerine hydro pad

Finished down with M205, not my choice finishing polish for all paints but on harder metallic finishes it works beautifully

Broken down after a short time polishing followed by an IPA wipedown

Engine wiped down, plastics treated with 303 protectant

The interior of this 599 is one of my favorites. All alcantara and leather treated. And yes the HGTE comes with alcantara floormats as well.

Final photos

Next: Porsche Boxster Spyder

This car needed a good detail after some time at the track. Main goal was to clean up the paint, remove tar spots and rubber marks from track days and apply protection. Did not take very many pics of this detail.

Rubber marks

Before

After

Dried out front lip

After

Next: Audi R8 V10

Done quite a few R8's this year but still enjoying working on them! This car recieved a minor paint correction with the exception of the rear black plastic section which needed full correction.

Some after shots

And finally a Porsche GT3 RS

The RS received a full paint correction detail.

50:50 on driver door after correction

Closeup of defects after compounding 1 side, notice although defects are removed gloss is seriously lacking. This is where final polishing makes the difference

Just like on the GT2 RS the defects on the rear section far more severe than the rest of the car

After compounding

Wing polished top and sides

After

Polishing stage with 203s after M105

After final finishing with PO85rd

Working on the hood, as usual I popped it so I could polish all the way to the edge on both the hood and fenders without running onto an adjacent panel

(using a wax tub works great for Porsche hoods to stay open)

Finished down before LSP under the LED light

Wolfs trim coat to the rescue again on the RS front lip

Interior treated, all carbon bits treated with Aquartz reload

Finished shots

So basically we have here grandfather, father, and son.... and by that I mean Carerra GT, GT2 RS and GT3 3 RS

It was overcast and the rain was holding off so I pulled it out for a few pics

Again Autowerkes tire dressing looking great on the tires, wheel were protected with Nanolex wheel sealant

This was a very long thread in case you were unaware of the obnoxious amount of pictures I posted. Instead of putting up a bunch of different writeups I decided to just put it all together and display it as one.

I thank you for taking the time to read it and enjoy the pictures.

Please stay tuned for part 2...
Click to expand...

bentley147 · Nov 9, 2011

That's was hot. I'm feeling those details ..I like how the gt3 look

xjapanx · Nov 18, 2011

Absolutely love the contrast of colours on the GT3. Simply awesome job working on those great cars!

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Street Dreams Detail - Exotics Collection 350+pics

Socal Brian DB Forum Supporter

TimAD Jedi Nuba

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tdekany Wax on..Wax off

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LDTCapitan Any Rag Vehicle Washer

sal329 Nuba Guru

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Street Dreams Detail - Exotics Collection 350+pics

Socal Brian DB Forum Supporter

TimAD Jedi Nuba

Dial Up Birth of a Detailer

dsms DB Forum Supporter

tdekany Wax on..Wax off

Denzil DB Forum Supporter

dsms DB Forum Supporter

tdekany Wax on..Wax off

LDTCapitan Any Rag Vehicle Washer

sal329 Nuba Guru

dsms DB Forum Supporter

sal329 Nuba Guru

bretster Birth of a Detailer

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