Just catching up on write ups here. The owner of this car and I met a few years ago when I had just started my business. He came by for a basic wash/clay/wax and engine shampoo. He didn't tell me what car he was bringing. Being young and very into Hondas (the latter hasn't changed), I dropped my jaw when a Phoenix Yellow Type R pulled into my driveway. Completely stock, no modifications whatsoever. I was in love! :yay
The owner and I became friends and I have been casually maintaining his car since, with very basic services like wash & waxes. There was simply no time to do a full correction and the budget did not allow. Fast forward to a couple of months ago - I have returned to full-time detailing while completing my MBA, we have coatings on the market, and many other great things in the detailing industry. I saw the car and I said to the owner that we really need to do something very soon before the car gets any worse. He agreed, and you will see why.
Out of all the details I've done, this has to be one of my favourites. The ITR is such an iconic car to the enthusiast and was way ahead of its time when first released. Even to this day, journalists compare the ITR to brand new cars of similar performance and it still holds its ground and earns preference over newer cars in many categories.
Let's get down to business. This car features single stage yellow paint. A fair bit of oxidation on the horizontal panels of the car, and a fair amount of swirls. The car did not have many RIDS which was nice.
It was pretty difficult to capture defects with this colour, and also tough to capture the REAL look of the car in person. As a result you will see the yellow takes on different shades throughout the pictures. This is not the result of photoshop or any image manipulation.
So lets take a walk around the car, shall we?
For paint correction jobs, I always start by washing the paint. I do the wheels after. The reason for this is that I like to give the vehicle a thorough wash after the paint correction to remove caked on polish residue and dust. It's just a personal preference, as I know some detailers prefer to do a wipedown. So prior to the final wash, I would clean the wheels, tires, wheel wells, and then wash the paint.
After washing the car, I IronX'd the paint, let it dwell for a couple of minutes and went over the paint with a LC grout sponge to agitate the IX again. This helps the solution cling to the paint longer by spreading the liquid around, so as to reduce the effect of gravy pulling the IX down before it's job is done.
Following the IX, polyshave decon block with Ultima Waterless Wash was done to the paint and glass.
After pulling the vehicle inside my garage, I wiped the paint with IPA and proceeded to tape. For paint correction, the combo varied.
Horizontal panels: D300 + Buff n Shine MF cutting pad, followed by M205 on LC white
Vertical panels: FG400 + LC orange, followed by M205 on LC white
Here is a picture of the quarter panel before & after with FG400 on LC orange:
Upper portion of rear quarter panel:
Roof:
Hood - This was the worst part of the car for oxidation as to be expected with the B18C5 high revving motor underneath. I think the hood came out fantastic!
After all the correction was done, I called it a night and brought some laundry inside:
The next day I came home from working mobile on another vehicle and got this car finished up.
Wheels & Tires cleaned with Sonax FE + APC (on the tires). They were caked with Hawk HP+ brake pad dust and up till this point had not been cleaned in quite some time.
I carefully washed the paintwork with Optimum Car Wash (love the lubricity and smell) and wiped down the paint with Eraser to prep for CQuartz UK paint coating. After the application of CQ UK, I attended to the Mugen exhaust with P21S Finish Restorer and 0000 Steel Wool, and trims with Black Wow.
And now for the afters! (Continued on next post)
The owner and I became friends and I have been casually maintaining his car since, with very basic services like wash & waxes. There was simply no time to do a full correction and the budget did not allow. Fast forward to a couple of months ago - I have returned to full-time detailing while completing my MBA, we have coatings on the market, and many other great things in the detailing industry. I saw the car and I said to the owner that we really need to do something very soon before the car gets any worse. He agreed, and you will see why.
Out of all the details I've done, this has to be one of my favourites. The ITR is such an iconic car to the enthusiast and was way ahead of its time when first released. Even to this day, journalists compare the ITR to brand new cars of similar performance and it still holds its ground and earns preference over newer cars in many categories.
Let's get down to business. This car features single stage yellow paint. A fair bit of oxidation on the horizontal panels of the car, and a fair amount of swirls. The car did not have many RIDS which was nice.
It was pretty difficult to capture defects with this colour, and also tough to capture the REAL look of the car in person. As a result you will see the yellow takes on different shades throughout the pictures. This is not the result of photoshop or any image manipulation.
So lets take a walk around the car, shall we?
For paint correction jobs, I always start by washing the paint. I do the wheels after. The reason for this is that I like to give the vehicle a thorough wash after the paint correction to remove caked on polish residue and dust. It's just a personal preference, as I know some detailers prefer to do a wipedown. So prior to the final wash, I would clean the wheels, tires, wheel wells, and then wash the paint.
After washing the car, I IronX'd the paint, let it dwell for a couple of minutes and went over the paint with a LC grout sponge to agitate the IX again. This helps the solution cling to the paint longer by spreading the liquid around, so as to reduce the effect of gravy pulling the IX down before it's job is done.
Following the IX, polyshave decon block with Ultima Waterless Wash was done to the paint and glass.
After pulling the vehicle inside my garage, I wiped the paint with IPA and proceeded to tape. For paint correction, the combo varied.
Horizontal panels: D300 + Buff n Shine MF cutting pad, followed by M205 on LC white
Vertical panels: FG400 + LC orange, followed by M205 on LC white
Here is a picture of the quarter panel before & after with FG400 on LC orange:
Upper portion of rear quarter panel:
Roof:
Hood - This was the worst part of the car for oxidation as to be expected with the B18C5 high revving motor underneath. I think the hood came out fantastic!
After all the correction was done, I called it a night and brought some laundry inside:
The next day I came home from working mobile on another vehicle and got this car finished up.
Wheels & Tires cleaned with Sonax FE + APC (on the tires). They were caked with Hawk HP+ brake pad dust and up till this point had not been cleaned in quite some time.
I carefully washed the paintwork with Optimum Car Wash (love the lubricity and smell) and wiped down the paint with Eraser to prep for CQuartz UK paint coating. After the application of CQ UK, I attended to the Mugen exhaust with P21S Finish Restorer and 0000 Steel Wool, and trims with Black Wow.
And now for the afters! (Continued on next post)
