Nissan S14 | rebuilded and wet-sanded +20 hours | Detailed

cobrAAA

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This Nissan S14 got a full rebuilt, I mean, totally stripped down with welded panel this and there, engine, interior, paint. EVERYTHING. so, detailing was the last step of the process obviously. Paint was done last winter and it was done in a dusty shop, no paint booth so dust nib is present in the paint but overall I was impress with the result considering how it was sprayed. So yeah.. my turn to play with the car. the final step. Wet-sanding is always stressful because the car is done, you're the last one touching the car, if you mess something, it's your fault, but if someone else screwed something before, it's also your responsibility to fix the issue. I'm not saying the owner put stress on me, he was very cool to deal with, but, in general, that's the feeling detailer usually get.

Cette Nissan S14 a 〓t〓 refait au complet par son propri〓taire. Je l'ai vu avec un int〓rieur totalement stripp〓 avec des plaques de souder de renforcement et enlever la rouille possible. Une tonne de chose a 〓t〓 fait sur ce v〓hicule pour obtenir au final une voiture en bonne condition qui ne devrait pas ( finger-crossed) l〓ch〓 prochainement! L'auto a 〓t〓 peintur〓 dans une shop, sans paint booth. Comme vous pouvez l'Imaginez ce ne sont pas des conditions id〓ale et certains d〓fauts mineures resteront, mais en g〓n〓rale, comme vous verrez plus loin, la peinture est tr〓s bien sortie, du moins, apr〓s avoir pass〓 plus de 20 heures 〓 sabl〓 la voiture au complet. Pour simplifier la lecture, le reste du texte sera pr〓senter en anglais uniquement, mais n'h〓siter pas 〓 me questionner si vous aimeriez plus d'information.

Process:

3-step wet-sanding
2-step compounding
Swissvax Cleaner Fluid
Waxxon's exclusive wax blend 76%

Got really excited to start the project and the owner was also excited to see the result, so I started a test panel on half of the front fender and he were both satisfied with the result. What you really need to focus on is the clarity of the reflection Vs. the other half of the panel.







So once we had your reference, I had to mimic this result on the whole vehicle, let's take a look at how other panel were ( actually all flat panel were worse than vertical panel) :

Full of orange peel.

Now it's better:


ohh missing ton of reflection:




A couple more 50/50 to see the difference under the same lighting in the same picture:




Here again, you can see how one side is slightly more reflective and the round is more clear than the other side.



Not wet-sanded yet:



Here you can see the difference with big halogen spotlight:


Still need a bit of sanding but we're close to the goal ( around edge and trim, you always have to be a bit more careful and start with least aggressive method)


The difference is quite obvious when you look at these pictures. not only is the paint fuzzy to look at but it's also rough and hazy where the wet-sanded part is very glossy and mirror like.




This often happens on a full repaint, you will find yourself with some paint drip and to make thing even more fun, they are usually along an edge so it's hard to go all-in and try to sand it without going through the edge.. I would say I was able to remove 50% of the drip.


Here's the orange peel on this rear quarter panel; quite bad actually:



1500 grit and 3000



Then it's finished with 5000:



Then, it's compounded and a final polish is applied to the paint and we end-up with a panel like this:



The car is then full of dust, compound, tape residue etc. so it's time to pull it outside to give it a good bath:



Since I wasn't confident to be done before the sun goes down, I took the time to snap some picture outside without the final preparation and gloss enhancement:









It's funny the owner didn't think his taillight needed polishing, I can assure you they didn't look like that before, but now they look like brand new. I also had to hand polish around the Nissan badge because of the 4-stage edge as you can imagine the polisher can't get inside these little edge.




So here we are.. at 11h PM, after 10 hours straight of labour, getting close to the end result, applying the finishing touch.

Aquapel on glass headlight and all glass:



Also forgot to add some glass were full of overspray so I needed to polish this away, then obviously apply Aquapel.

Carpro D-lux long lasting trim sealant:

Our custom wax blend which offer very nice wet-look while still being able to last a solid 6 month if not more.


Then, I went on with all opening/trim, interior weatherstrip to make sure no dust residue was stuck there ( thing I could've missed while washing the car outside) and took some final picture.
















Pour une question de polissage r〓alis〓 〓 montreal.. alexandre.lemay @ hec . ca

For more info regarding this polishing job, detailing , done in the greater Montreal , please contact me at alexandre.lemay @ hec . ca
 
Love this car! Reminds me of the job I did on my old 240sx

I also remember that job :)


Nice job. Came out looking good. That was horrendous orange peel.

Well, it wasn't a pro painter who did it and no paint booth so it was to be expected but really came out awesome. Lots of people have commented on this job after seeing the car before and after lol

Thanks guys!
 
Belle Job!!! Ca me fait penser a ce que je suis entrain de faire! La mienne est justement entrain de se faire rebuilder! Elle est completement stripper a l'heure ou l'on se parle!!! ;) (S14 1998 canadienne)
 
Belle Job!!! Ca me fait penser a ce que je suis entrain de faire! La mienne est justement entrain de se faire rebuilder! Elle est completement stripper a l'heure ou l'on se parle!!! ;) (S14 1998 canadienne)

Je te souhaite courage et patience !!! ;)
 
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