Berlina Black S2000 Detail

[gofast182]

Yesterday I detailed my Berlina Black S2000. It was involved in a minor accident last fall which resulted in the front half of the car being repainted for blending purposes. There were some swirls on the new paint which I decided not to mention to the body shop as I preferred to take care of them myself. Next weekend we're going away with a friend who also has a black S2000. The weather was decent and it was time to make her shine! Sorry for the gaps in the photo documentation, I wasn't anticipating a post here while I was doing it.

Products used:
Sonax Full Effect Wheel Cleaner
P21S Total Auto Wash
Adam's Car Shampoo
Uber Genuine Wool Wash Mitt
Absorber Synthetic Chamois
Porter Cable 7424XP
Lake Country Green Pad
Menzerna SF4500 Finishing Polish
Uber Classic Mirofiber Towels
Menzerna Power Lock Polymer Paint Sealant
Lusso Oro Premium Carnauba Wax
Adam's Super VRT

This is what the hood looked like under artificial light after I brought it home from the body shop.

Began with the wheels using Sonax Full Effect wheel cleaner and P21S Total Auto Wash on the wheel wells. Note I recently did a track day and the car has Carbotech race pads on it so the dust may look extreme to some.

After this I did the engine bay with P21S Total Auto Wash. Washed the car with Adam's Car Shampoo and my Uber Genuine Wool Wash Mitt using the two bucket method (with grit guards). At this point I had to move into my old garage/barn as I was battling sunlight and pollen that kept sticking to the car! I then polished the car with Menzerna SF4500 finishing polish using a Lake Country green pad made for light polishing/finishing. Polishing a car is very hard work, lots of respect to those who do it regularly. After that I applied Menzerna Power Lock polymer paint sealant and let it cure for around two hours (during this time I decided to put it on the wheel faces, nothing to lose). Here's what it looked like when I was wiping it off.

Then I applied Lusso Oro Premium Carnauba wax which I was using for the first time. I made a big mistake right off the bat. I let it sit for about 3-5 minutes as I did the fenders, hood, and front bumper at the same time and it dried to a white haze. No big deal, right? Wrong. It was an absolute bear to remove. It pained me to rub that hard on my newly-polished paint. For the rest of the car I did one panel at a time wiping it off almost immediately. Worked well that way. Prior to this I've only used P21S wax on this car and it is much more forgiving in that regard. Finally, I dressed the tires with Adam's Super VRT. Here are some of the finished shots.

Hood:

Trunk:

Hard top:

 

[gregk24]

Wow 0.0 Eye popping shine! Great job. Nice ride too

 

[sciphi]

Nice job! I like how the hood cleared right up!

 

[gofast182]

Thanks! Menzerna makes some great products.

 

[Vikas]

Couple of questions (pardon me if I have asked them before)
- How did you end up with a Honda paint without orange peel? Or have you wet sanded it before?
- That Acura in the background looks like has the Grey Luster Metallic color; do you have pictures of it being spiffed up?
- Your final results on the scale of 1-10 are 20!

 

[Turk]

 

[ProStreetCamaro]

Somebody here that actually knows what they are doing! You must be a member of autopia or one of the other detailing forums. I cringe at some of the stuff I read here AKA nu finish for one.

 

[gofast182]

Well the car has it's share of orange peel even on the new work, then again for me orange peel is anything short of glass-smooth (although 3/4 of it is new paint at this point). In my experience Honda orange peel isn't as bad as the reputation suggests (and I've owned a lot of them). I do have some pics of the TSX being cleaned up which I'll look for.

 

[gofast182]

Originally Posted By: ProStreetCamaro
Somebody here that actually knows what they are doing! You must be a member of autopia or one of the other detailing forums. I cringe at some of the stuff I read here AKA nu finish for one.

Nope, neither, and I don't know if I know what I'm doing! I've always been good at basic wash/wax but a couple years ago when the need arose for polishing I didn't want to pay $400+ for a quality detail so I bought the gear, watched some videos online, and went at it. A pro might be able to do a little better but not much so the investment has paid off.

 

[Turk]

Originally Posted By: gofast182
Originally Posted By: ProStreetCamaro
Somebody here that actually knows what they are doing! You must be a member of autopia or one of the other detailing forums. I cringe at some of the stuff I read here AKA nu finish for one.

Nope, neither, and I don't know if I know what I'm doing! I've always been good at basic wash/wax but a couple years ago when the need arose for polishing I didn't want to pay $400+ for a quality detail so I bought the gear, watched some videos online, and went at it. A pro might be able to do a little better but not much so the investment has paid off.


Exactly what I did gofast182.

Sure gives a lot of pride doing it ourselves, eh?

 

[JavierG]

That's one of the prettiest S2000's I've seen in a while! Great job!

 

[HTSS_TR]

If you're in California I would like to take my S2000 to your place, so that you can show me how to clean up the mess on my Silver S2000.

Yours looks better than new.

 

[Sam2000]

Wow! Either that's the best detail I've ever seen or the best pictures!

 

[gofast182]

Thanks, fellas.

Two other things I forgot. When polishing I also used Pinnacle XMT Pad Conditioner spray on the pad before each panel so I would be sure the product wouldn't dry out while I was working it. I also washed it again after the SF4500. Gets rid of the dust and any splatter that occurs. Luckily the residual polish (like around the key hole in the trunk) dissolves pretty well with water.

 

[The Critic]

The marks on the hood remind me of wool pad marks.

I am surprised that SF4500 took them out; hopefully it did not "fill" them. SF4500 is an extremely light polish.

The end result looks great -- the carnauba really gives paint that warm glow. You do not get this appearance with the synthetic sealants or paint coatings.

 

[gofast182]

I figured this was borderline for the SF4500 but wanted to see if this would do it. Didn't think it was bad enough for the SF1500. I hadn't considered the possibility of it filling them in. Interesting. Guess I'll know before too long and will report back. For now it looks pretty good.

 

[Cujet]

My S2000 needs your touch!

I'm a bit hard on my cars. So, I don't spend a lot of time polishing them. I use spray cleaner and a fresh rag. That's about it. Of course, the melted tire rubber stuck on the lower fenders does not come off all that easily...

(turbo)

Of course, my results are not nearly as good....

 

[gofast182]

Spray cleaner and a fresh rag?! If only I were closer I'd do your S2000 no questions asked just to keep rags off of her! I had 2-3 spots of melted rubber on my hood and front fenders from my last track day. The polish took them off.

 

[mister_two]

I'm closer, you can detail my silverstone s2k anytime

.

My s2k is in garage most days but I just happened to take it to work today - only have to drop off one kid to school today.

And what's wrong with Nu finish? Nu finish gets no love here? I've used it in the past. Wash, clay and nufinish is my routine.

I don't usually check out the "detail and wax" area but I was looking for tips on applying 3m paint restoration system. Picked up a couple of cases cheap from my local Pep boys, was going to apply it to my sister's 2004 Camry.

 

[gofast182]

If I detail it for you I won't be using Nu Finish

. I don't know much about the 3M system but I'd imagine it's something you'd want to do with a DA polisher?