Black S2000 (neglected!)

I

imported_animes2k

New member
This car belongs to a friend of mine. He's owned it since new, so we only have him to blame for the state of things. It's been outside its entire life. It's black, and apparently black Honda paint is quite soft (I'll get to that in a minute).



These photos were taken to document the use of the Sonus Perfect Shine Kit and David B's process of The Perfect Shine and as such, almost all products used are Sonus products. I must say, I was quite impressed with how well the SFX polishes worked (new formula) - by hand, by PC and even by rotary. All of the products lived up to their marketing.



PRODUCTS

- WASH: Sonus Gloss Shampoo & Der Wunder Mitt (Chenille)

- DRY: Sonus Der Wunder Drying Towel (large blue WW MF)

- CLAY: SFX Ultra-Fine clay & Sonus Glyde clay lube

- POLISH:

--- SFX-1, by hand (SFX Pro applicator), pc (DAS green polishing pad/5-6) & rotary (SFX white polishing pad/~1000rpm)

--- SFX-2, by hand (SFX Pro), PC (DAS green/5-6)

--- SFX-3, PC (DAS blue/4-5)

--- Der Wunder Polishing Towels (green) for removing polish



I found that I really needed to use the SFX-3 to really smooth out the finish - this black Honda paint seemed very very soft. I would guess that with many lighter and harder finishes, SFX-2 would be a sufficient product to jump straight to LSP.



- SEAL: Klasse AIO & Der Wunder applicator (orange MF) - WOWO method

- WAX: P21S x2, spit shined with Sonus Detailing Spritz

--- Der Wunder Buffing Towels for removing AIO & P21S



BEFORES

not just dirt - swirls, buffer marks... ugh...

00-before_dirty2.jpg




00-before_swirls.jpg




00-before_exhaust.jpg




00-before_dirtydoor.jpg




05_claySwirls.jpg




more coming...
 
AFTERS



He and I square off... :D

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Dirty Spoon Exhaust? Where? :D

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The clouds were trying to clear out for me...

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This is a "full sun" shot on the same fender as in the before pictures... It's just barely behind the clouds, but let me tell you - those swirls are gonnnnneeee :)

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370_7013.jpg




Now to get his car, his friend's black Type-R, his brother's black Evo (pictured above) and another friend's black RX8 together for a photo shoot.



Thanks for looking.
 
kgb said:
What did he do, drive through a sandpaper field?

Good job by the way!
Click to expand...



:LOLOL "sandpaper field" I like that :)



I think part of it has been his wash process (i.e. very bad), part has been general neglect - he got tired of every wash making it worse - and part is what seems to be very very soft black paint. This IS a 2001, so it's had a good 5 years to get to this point and has never been garaged...



Thanks :)
 
Beautiful work animes2k!



I really like the S2K and it's just painful to see those "before" pix - you're friend should be flogged for letting his car get that bad!
 
Excellent work - those are beautiful cars when they're clean like that. Hopefully he will be able to maintain that rather than letting it get like it was in the befores.
 
Thanks, everyone. I've educated him on proper wash technique to help minimize swirls and paint damage. His neighbor down the street has a big black SUV (not sure what, exactly) that he keeps VERY well detailed (I need to tell him about Autopia!) and is always giving Mike a hard time about the state of his S2000 :) He made a point to show it off to his neighbor.



180px-cantsayjob.png
 
Thanks again, everyone. This whole technique is the one that David has been promoting for some time, combined with the products that he's put together. As far as my spit shine, it was just using the Detailing Spritz to assist in the smooth removal of the P21S and only on the 2nd coat... So essentially:

1) Apply P21S

2) Allow to haze just slightly

3) Mist very lightly with Detailing Spritz

4) Wipe off wax & Spritz with MF buffing towel and buff to high shine



Nothing fancy, I just find that this helps the top layer of wax to really smooth out and reduces buffing with the dry MF, as is sometimes required to remove all of the excess wax.
 
Anime,



That's what I thought. Removing a product with a QD is not proper spit shining yet.



Spit shining is for building heavy coats, deepening the look, by preventing the solvents to re-liquify and remove the previous wax layers.

If you remove a hazed wax with QD, nothing special happens. You’ll just see a shiny, waxed/QDd surface.

Usually, a high-solvent wax will almost always remove the previous layer. You need distilled water (eventually QD; as it is up to 95% water) to neutralize the solvents in the newly applied layer; and the spritz has to be cold, to let the new wax to almost freeze onto the finish. Then you working it until the water/QD/wax disappears. First, you have a prepped-waxed surface. When you want to put on the second/third/etc. layer, you spritz a fine, light mist on the panel. Begin to wipe the wax on. While waxing, mist water/QD a few times. Work until your wax is disappeared. Go over with an ultrafine MF. Wait a bit (half an hour or an hour) then you can apply the next layer.

It is wise to follow the 'divided panels' method. If dust appears, the application was too thick. You can always remove haze with QD; there is nothing unusual in it. But better to have no dust/haze.

Theoretically, each carnauba paste will work good, but it can depend on the solvents, oils, application method (chilled water or QD). Remember, just removing the haze of a wax with QD is NOT spit shining yet! Only a holistic approach makes it perfect. So, mist, wax, mist, continue waxing, mist, wax disappeared, buff lightly with MF. And again... and again...

The reason to use a damp applicator/towel/cotton balls etc., is to neutralize the solvents as much as possible, and to stop the fine coats of wax sticking to the applicator, thereby encouraging the wax to build thin, fine layers.

Usually a spit shined surface is slicker, smoother, and it has different beading characteristics; with even smaller beads, which have far bigger contact angles. The durability is about the same, but the improved, beautiful, mile-deep appearance is worth it.



Your work is outstanding already on this car. Imagine it even deeper!!!
 
Bence,

Thanks for the detailed description. Yes, I've tried this method you describe and quite frankly didn't find it improved the look enough for the amount of work that went into it... Then again, maybe I wasn't doing it entirely properly...



I know that the term "spit shining" really refers to the process you've described, but since I've seen many people apply that same term to the technique I used, I thought it was the generally accepted phrasing around these parts. Perhaps I'm mistaken and what these folks were really referring to was the full-on spit shining technique.



I may give it another go at some point, but this car was meant to have only "The Perfect Shine" technique used and I'd have to say that it worked.



Thanks again.
 
Yes, it has definitely worked! You're right, spit shining is a time consuming method, but can work beautifully with most heavier carnaubas. Maybe P21S isn't reacting well. Trying different LSPs is always a wonderful experience.
 
Which carnaubas have you used the method with successfully?



I have only tried the true spit shine with P21S but it is a very light wax. I've got Souveran (also light, I'd say) and #16 (heavy heavy!) to round out my carnauba supply (#26 is a mix, but I've got that in paste form too).
 
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