Hello TID!!!
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of detailing this Infiniti G35 Sedan. The owner?s son contacted me for an estimate to do full correction and a headlight restoration and was happy with the price, so we scheduled the car in shortly after.
The vehicle had been repainted roughly a year prior and the owner was concerned with how it looked; ?doesn?t look right? were more or less his words. A quick look under the halogens showed the car had been hacked up with a rotary.
Walkaround
The vehicle was covered in a very thick layer of oil, which later was discovered to be rust proofing oil spray. Rims were terribly filthy, as were the tires and lower rockers.
As you can see, the headlights were in rough condition! I was especially eager to get these refinished and out of the way, so I started on them first.
Headlight Restoration
These lights were heavily oxidized, but not very pitted.
Passenger side before:
This called for 800 grit, followed by 1000 grit, 1500 grit, and 200 grit. All sanding was done wet. After sanding was complete, the lens was cleaned with dish liquid to completely strip anything from the lights before compounding and polishing, which was done in the order below:
- M105 on PFW @ 2000rpm, multiple sets until sanding marks were removed
- SIP on LC Orange pad @ 1500rpm
- PowerFinish on White pad @ 800rpm, working slowly until clear
Passenger side after:
The same procedure was carried out for the Driver?s side headlight:
Before:
After:
After the headlights were completed, I set my focus on the paint work, which was in dire need of some serious correction.
Lately I have been having excellent results from M105 on a white pad, so I naturally gave it a whirl on the fender which came out excellent as far as correction goes. I followed up with PowerFinish on a white pad at 1000rpm but it left light buffer trails. I followed up with FPII on a black pad at 1200rpm-1000rpm and it was still leaving buffer trails. This soft paint would be a bear to work with. I eventually settled on a great combination with the PC - M105 on a white pad @ Speed 6 (lots of pressure), followed by PowerFinish on a white pad @ Speed 6 (lots of pressure). The entire car except the rear passenger door, trunk, and rear bumper received this set. The rear passenger door, trunk, and rear bumper were first compounded with PFW and M105 at 2000rpm, then M105 on white, followed by PowerFinish on White.
Rear Passenger Door:
After M105 on PFW (4 sets) and M105 on White via PC
Trunk:
Rear bumper:
LSP and Final shots:
After a long and gruesome battle correcting the paint, it was finally ready for a thorough wash to remove all polish residue, dust, etc. The rims and tires were thoroughly cleaned with Grime Reaper @ 4:1. Rims were sealed with Opti-Seal, and tires sealed with Opti-Bond. Plastic trims were also sealed with Opti-Bond (after the pictures). Interior received a thorough vacuum, wipedown, and leather conditioning with Lexol.
Following the thorough wash and careful drying with WW MFs, the paintwork was sealed with Collinite 845 via PC on black pad, followed by Opti-Seal by hand. In the morning, the car was ready for a final wipedown and pictures...
The owner?s son came to pick up the car and was absolutely floored as he approached the car while I was finishing up. Needless to say, the owner was happy, so I did my job!
Thanks for looking!:biggrin:
Kaval
Nice Job 
:up :bounce
