This was an enjoyable detail. Until last week when the owner brought this car by for me to look at I have had never seen the GT-R up close in person but after I did it changed my whole perspective on how I felt about its styling. At first I though the pictures looked terrible, which is funny because the owner originally though the same and had little interest in buying the car. In person this car really jumps at you, very masculine, bold styling but its not overdone. Before working on this one the owner, a good friend btw insisted he take me for a ride. With the car only have 360miles on it and the original fluids the owner didnt push it at all but still this thing blew me away. I have never felt grip like that in my life and the shifts were seamless. This car just had a clear bra installed earlier on the first day before I got to working on it. All of the lower nose panels, half the hood and fenders and the lower side panels were all clear bra'd. I saw how clean the edges were and how the installer wrapped the bra into the gaps perfectly, this was by far the best bra job I have seen. He even removed the rubber strip between the gap on the front end and hood so he could cleanly wrap the bra inside and later he replaced the rubber strip, you cant tell where the hoods bra ends and the front nose piece begins. As usual theres my lengthy intro, now onto the good stuff...icture: Here is car when I got it, not bad upon arrival but it needed more work than I though and I was gald to hear it was NOT DEALER PREPPED! I saw al the tape lines and there was still some plastic on the interior. The car only had 360 or so "break in" miles on it, so in general it was pretty clean but the paint wasnt very deep nor did it really glow like it should. The owner wanted the finish to be as deep as possible and loaded up with protection First things first as usual I started with the wheels, for only 360miles or so they were suprisingly dirty, I guess a little extra brake dust is the price you pay for having 15" 6piston Brembos to stop you from getting into trouble at Watkins Glen:headbang: Here is what I used to clean the wheels. I quickly grabbed the P21s gel instead of anything else in my arsenal because I wanted to ensure no damage was done to the wheel finish, and more importantly the braking system. Here is the P21s gel dwelling, I let it sit for about 10minutes to further breakdown some of that tougher brake dust before agitating it Swissvax brush was used to clean the wheel face The DD spoke brush was used to clean the wheel inners, to help get behind the spokes better and in between the brakes I used the more flexible EZ brush Tires were scrubbed with the Kleenol APC and an OXO brush, the wheel wells were also scrubbed via long handle brush Brakes were scrubbed in every crack and crevice as well Brakes after Inners after Finished product (front passenger) Rinsing rears until water ran clean of suds Now onto the wash process, knowing the GT-R's paint has a very soft clear coat I was very careful during the wash process as to not induce more swirls than were already on the car After a thorough rinse I saw the car was beading pretty well, which was odd because there was no supposed to be no dealer prep done. My guess is a quick spray wax was used just before delivering the car to spruce up the paint, I know for sure the owner applied no LSP in the time since he took delivery because he was just waiting to give the car to me. After seeing some light beading I choose to add an extra soap to my wash mix. I used Gloss It Gloss Shampoo for its suds, slickness and finish and then I added a small amount of CG's citrus wash and gloss to the bucket to help strip off any protection on the paint. The two buckets, I used 2 white foam shmitts to wash the car, I added almost 2x the amount of Gloss Shampoo to give a very slick wash because I didnt want to induce any more swirls I started on the roof and squeezed out the soap onto the paint, letting it dwell on there for about 2 minutes as like a quick pre wash before actual agitation (my foam gun was on the fritz during the detail) After gently drying the car w/ 2 CG miracle dryers I inspected the finish in sunlight After a good wash the finish started to show imporvment already, the Gloss Shampoo I used always leaves a nice finish behind. That shampoo has 5% of the same polymer used in the Gloss It sealant. So not only does it add a bit of gloss after a wash but it leaves the paint with some protection as well. After only the wash I saw a bit more defect than I would have liked on such a new car, the worst area was the rear bumper showing both light RIDS and holograms (could just be from the owners wash routine hopefully and not from the dealer) Swirls and tape lines I then moved the car inside for claying, I used Sonus fine green clay for its softness, its only picks up light contaminants which is fine for a new car, especially one with soft paint as this one which can easily be marred and scartched. I used Megs Last touch QD 1:1 as lube for the clay I then wiped the car down with IPA soltuion in preperation for polishing, I also taped off the neccesary areas and all the panels which were clear bra'd. As I said before I got this car right after being clear bra'd , Half the hood, fenders and bottom portion of the lower panels were clear bra'd, every part of the front nose had be cleared as well. The installer told me to be cautious of the clear bra as it hasnt had enough time for the adhesives to settle on the paint yet. I placed my tape about 1 inch off where the clear bra ended because didnt want the adhesives in the tape to screw up the adhesives in the clear bra, its only been on for about 12hrs. I also made sure not to polish the newly protected areas ( I had poished out the paint underneath those areas last week as per the owners reuqest) Before polishing I took some paint readings, I was using a cyclo for all of my polishing work so I dont worry about strike through all that often, well never actually but I took some PTG readings for good measure anyway Hood averaged about 160microns, suprisingly the PTG readings on most all areas of the hood were all within about 7-10microns. A few areas exceeded 180 however. After doing a test spot I found the best combo to get rid of the swirls and finish out the paint nicely was this: Gloss It 1 step machine polish via cyclo and green light polishing pads Gloss It evolution polish via cyclo and blue finishing pads Before polishing I washed out my Grit Guard pad washer and re-filled it with fresh water and some Snappy Clean pad cleaning solution I started with the Gloss It 1 step polish and green double sided pads You can see the paint under the Infratech pretty well, here are some fine swirls and haze Hood before During Hood after Here is the rear wing showing some fine scratches and hard water spots under the halogens Better shot of the water spots I used the Gloss It one step 2x on the wing and trunk area to fully remove the defects before moving onto the finishing polish. After correction, no finishing polish yet Here are the blue finishing pads working the Gloss It Evolution polish, this step really brought out a nice gloss after correction even after the IPA wipedown The finished wing area Now onto the very annoying area to polish, trunk section:shead: Here is a close up of the defects, again fine scratches and hard water spots, you can see the tape line from when the car was shipped over and how one side has about 1/2 the defect compared to the other Working the polishes until clear After correction with the Gloss It 1 step and green pads After finishing out the paint with the Evolution Polish, nice depth restored Before After polishing Rear section before, this area had swirls, RIDS and holograms. Again the Gloss It 1 step was used to polish out the defects After polishing, the paint got a bit deeper and the clarity imporves, note the green color of the trees is more visible I used the Gloss It evolution polish with green pads to polish out the swirls on the plastic pillars before after Some paints look only marginally better after polishing, assuming that not a ton of correction work needs to be done. This GT-R had some very soft paint to work with but in the end polishing really brough out its true potential Here is my favorite before and after polishing photos passenger door before, notice the sterile, unclear reflections of me and my equipment after, although the orange peel is still pretty bad you can see a dramaitc difference polishing makes After all the polishing was done I wiped down the car with 50/50 IPA once again to ensure no oils were left on the paint. I found on this soft paint that the Eurow shag MF towels were great to use. The deep plush pile I always finds helps on soft paints to ensure no marring when doing wipedowns and such. There was some polishing dust on the car so I decided to bring it back outsuide and re-wash it but before I did I sprayed the car with a thorugh coating of Gloss It Gloss Enhancer QD spray and wiped it off. The QD also has some of the polymer that is in the Gloss It sealant so I basically used it as a quick coat of protection to put on the paint before rewashing it so I wouldnt induce any more swirls on the perfected finish Re-washing the car using Gloss Shampoo After drying, no LSP is applied yet No LSP again, just the deep red all polished out Now onto the final touches including what I like to call the LSP super stack For a great look and great protection I used 3 Gloss It products First I applied 1 coat of the Signature Gloss sealant via cyclo and white final finishing pads Let it cure for about 10minutes and buffed off. Here is the car wearing just the 1 coat of Signature Gloss Sealant (At this point im losing daylight by the second) When the Signature gloss was curing I went and applied the Signature tire dressing from gloss it as well. I let it sit on the tires for about 5 mins before rubbing it in, IMO it leaves the perfect deep shine, not greasy at all and dry to the touch! Here is a nice shot of the rear tire wearing the signature tire dressing I then went and applied another coat of sealant, this time it was Gloss It Gloss Finish, this is there flagship consumer sealant which is similar to Zainos Z2pro, the only difference is that Gloss Finish is much deeper and has more of a glow like a carnauba would. Plus you dont need an additive to apply multiple coats. I did this coat in 5 minutes by hand and buffed it off about 8 mins later. After gloss finish After the gloss finish was buffed off I added one last "bling" product. Gloss It Concourso polish! This is mostly for looks and it really does bring out that last bit of shine and glow to the paint. Here is the car all finished OF COURSE THERE IS LITTLE SUN LEFT! I polished the exhaust with Adams metal polish 1 and 2 btw I then pulled the car in the garage for the final wipedown using Gloss Enhancer QD. The owner came by at this time with his son to pick up the car, as usual he did his thorough inspection and looked over my work. I saw his eyes light up when I flicked on my garage lighting and he saw the paint pop. I also applied the Gloss Finish sealant to the face and inner part of the wheels The thing about the GT-R is that in first gear the throttle is super responsive, almost to responsive in times when you need to carefully modulate it. So as I did for the 2 days I worked on the car I once again switched over to manual mode and selected 2nd gear so I could control the power when pulling into my tight garage. BTW here is the built in G meter, every car should have one I think The owner and his son My personal favorite I will leave you with a video... the engine sound is a bit distorted but you get the idea of how the car look all finished up Hope you enjoyed, this was a fun car to do. Gotta get some rest now, must be up at 5am because im leaving for Vegas tomorrow for SEMA, I'll be working a detailing product booth...can ya guess which one? lol Never been to Vegas, should be a good time!
OMG!!! what a great detail and write up, the owner must have been really happy with car when he took it back. I am really going to give the gloss it line a try as you make the products look so appealing. Again great work and the GTR in red is amazing :worship2::applause2:
Nice work, not a fan of the car but you did an excellent job. The owner needs to relax. Look at him in that picture! Sheesh.
I love that about him, I know that I have to put in 110% every single time because he's so critical but he sure does notice everything. He couldnt find anything wrong with the car and gave me quite a generous tip (Ben Franklin generous) We are good friends he and I. Anyway thanks for the feedback guys.:worship2:
WOW, Great detail and awesome write up. I'm really starting to like that GTR. Thanks for taking the time to share...:worship2:
The car grew on me in about 3 minutes. At first the pictures really turned me off to it but in person it really has a great presence...and the red suits the car very well!
The owner is actually a great guy and his son is a nice kid. After the GT-R his son asked for a quote to do some correction work on his 95' M3.
nice work!!! i saw that cyclo and was like omg..i am gonna love this!!!! i hate gtr's and the few times i have seen a cyclo used they always hit raised spoilers in back.. but i guess you made it.. i just think for 120k this car is a complete waste.. i could buy an ariel atom as a track toy and kill the gtr. i could buy a 911 and have so much more style and refinement. the gtr just looks like jap crap. very very boring and the front looks like a honda. the rear like a 370z nothing special.. if it was 70-75k max out the door fine. but 100-125k for that.. the interior is as boring as any.. a lot of plastic.. the leather SUCKS..it's ONLY performance and with dealer markups so high a 911 turbo is a much much much better option imo. you could buy the following: a 911 turbo, gt3 Aston Martin vantage BMW m5, m6 a number of amg mercs vette zr1 i cannot figure out besides performance why anyone would buy that car!! i would take being slightly slower and have sooo much more refinement in the 911 turbo. and the zr1 is faster and even on some tracks and certain performance tests cheaper cars do beat it.. it's not like it is without a doubt the best because others have beat it on the ring.. but the production numbers shoot the price up anyways..and three years from now it will still be wicked expensive. and for nothing but performance.. which i could kill with an ariel atom if i wanted a track only car. so why buy this ugly thing. if you have 120k to buy it then you have more than one car.. why would you buy a nissan over a Porsche or an Aston Martin is just beyond me it is sooooooo hideous
The cyclo is an awesome machine. Are you getting one? As far as the car being a complete waste though... Um, I have to strongly disagree. The owner paid I believe $73k out the door. Now even with a 20k markup this car still can compete with the Porsches, Vettes and AMG benzes in terms of what you get for the money ... but at under $75k it is a complete bargain! After spending over 2 days with this car and having driven in it (with the owner) I can say the experience is really awesome. The performance is just blistering but overall the way this car grips around corners is just unexplainable. The shifts are so precise and quick too (80milliseconds...just a tad under the Scuderia Ferrari at 60millis). Most of all believe it or not this car is driveable and comfortable. You have to remember that this car compared to the others you listed is much larger inside and out. The cabin is very roomy, although no sunroof sucks, and it pretty high off the ground so you dont cringe at every pothole...not to mention 4WD, throw some blizzaks on the GT-R and you got a winter DD. You have to remember there will always be Porsche guys and there will always be people trying to beat the porsche guys..how you want to do it is up to you but the GT-R is stiff competition. Just my $0.02
