Wes_R

Here is a write up on one of my childhood fantasies, the Acura NSX.

Basically a polishing job with a little but not so little interior job (no shampooing of the carpet cause the owner wanted to do it himself).

Now excuse the weird picture gaps inbetween processes because me being a big excited idiot forgot to charge my camera battery so I was working off of 1 bar of life then doing a quick charge to take pics then back to charging. I know it's bad for the battery but it will never happen again I promise plus I believe I remember reading somewhere I can charge the battery anytime, but I rather not risk it anyway.

So here we go, not very educational but hopefully you can catch some tips, product reviews, or just enjoy the show. Also the owner had just recently purchased this NSX so some of the neglect you are about to see is not his fault.



The Japanese Legend






The swirls, spider webbing, etc










I honestly don't think it had ever been polished in it's life.



So now on to the routine starting with the wheels


Soaking with p21s wheel gel cleaner



Then on to the engine with some basic before and afters




before


after


some more afters but taken at a later time






Onto the washing

After rinsing the car down you could see in certain parts that the water was sheeting, which is a sign of no protection(wax, sealant).


Two bucket method


Sea Sponge trying it's best in this Scarface hot tub bubble bath impersonation


Dried off with the waffle weave towel which is way better then a chamois because of the speed, softness, etc




Started claying with Riccardo Clay and clay lube being Meguiars Last Touch cut 50/50 with water.


After just the roof


Rinsed off the car then dried it off again with the waffle weave towel



Measured the paint in microns to look for any low spots and if anything was repainted


It turns out the two rear quarter panels were repainted(generally OEM is around 100-130 microns in my experience)


And I guess the trunk blended in


But the rest of the car was pretty much OEM




Masked up the car which is very important. I'm not finished in this pic though by the way




Started polishing with the rotary and Presta Chroma Polish, 5.5 inch Orange Lake Country pad, and the Makita.

Technique being the Zenith Point Technique.

Spreading at 900 RPM

Breaking down at 1200 RPM

And polishing until clear at 1500 RPM

Then back down the scale to 1200RPM

Then finishing at 1000 RPM

Here is the hood polished but the headlight not


A 50/50 shot


A bigger view


Drivers side finished


Passengers side to go


Just wanted to throw in this pic cause I though it looked cool. Notice how many orange pads I got out. I learned from Picus(great Toronto detailer some of you guys may know) that a brand new clean pads cuts better then just brushing it off, so I generally use at least a new pad per panel sometimes even two.




So anyways with the cutting stage done I washed off the car with Hi Temp Prep wash and a very soft Lambs Wool Mitt. The Prep Wash is great for eating up the polishing dust and oils and makes the caked up parts easier to remove. (Another tip from Picus)








Now rinsed that off and dried up. Started the refining/burnishing polish with a new product and pad to try out which was 3M Ultrafina and the 3M Blue Pad on the Rotary with the 3M Gray Foam Backing Plate which is a softer foam then the yellow which is great for finishing.


Personally I like the Ultrafina better then Menzerna P085RD because it is so much easier to wipe off and is great to work with on the Rotary. Some people have said that PO85RD leaves a better finish and I have both so I will do a comparison but the Ultrafina finish is AMAZING.




Poorboys Wheel Sealant on the rims, honestly I have been hearing about people just putting on Zaino Z2 on the rims so after I'm done with my PB I'm gonna give that a shot cause that sounds pretty cool.






I also did Black Wow on the rubber trims. Here is a 50/50




Put on Danase Wet Glaze with the Porter Cable and a Lake Country Black Pad.




Wiped that off and then put on some Swissvax Smargrd



Then onto the interior, honestly no pics at all pretty much, just wanted to get it done.

Basically what I did was a vacuum, q-tipped some tight spots, brushed some dust and tight spots, all purpose cleaner wipe down, Gliptone Leather Clean and Condition, 303 Aerospace Dressing and dry wipe down, Stoners Invisible Glass cleaned the windows.

Here is a cool before and after pic of the seat belt button.

Before


After


The aftermath


The used microfibre on the left after wiping off the seats with all purpose cleaner and a unused microfibre on the right.




Anyways wiped off the wax and now onto the eye candy.

Me trying to get some cloud reflection shots.




I love this shot






When I saw this shot I swear I had an epiphany and I heard a choir going...
"aaaahhhhhhhh"


Nice reflection shot




Remember how the trunk and roof looked before in the sun, now they look amazing.




And the parting money shot.




First a big thank you to the owner for giving me the opportunity to work on this classic and a thank you to you guys for reading.

I am sorry about how this one turned out especially on this car but I promise my next NSX I will be more detailed.

As usual the good, the bad, and the ugly is more then welcome.

Cheers,
Wes

1fsthatch

damn u did a good job

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

Wes...WOW, there's no need to apologize. Great detailing job. Excellent pictures and fun to read as well as look at.

dmassott

nice turnaround! keep 'em coming

princelybug

iTrader: (16)

Denzil

iTrader: (1)

Looks great!!!

slavver01

iTrader: (3)

holy rock chips on that front end!!!

but awesome detail, black nsx is super sexy

SweetJazz

You may be right about the choir because that NSX is definitely "Born Again"

Fantastic Detail!

nf3d0149ab

iTrader: (5)

Great job Wes!

Loved reading the thread.

jaysizzlecity

You have good skills..........

vinnier6

iTrader: (1)

i was thinking the same thing....i would get that frontend repainted....

Wes_R

Thanks alot man.
I'm glad you enjoyed reading it, I still feel I could've done better though.

For sure, I believe I have another NSX coming up next Monday. But we'll see.



Thanks bro.

Yeah the original owner should've at least gotten a clear bra.



I'm glad you liked it my CL brotha.

I'm trying, always room to improve.

Yeah that was the plan to get it polished then repaint the front end or vice versa.

Hector

Very nice!

CG2PROJECT

that NSX needs a mad drop.. I'm lower than it..

Oh and NICE DETAIL WORK, as usual.

flip_side

iTrader: (6)

so after you gave another wash did you end up using a detailing brush to remove the caked up product in the crevices?

srtorelli

Damn Wes looks soo good. I can't wait for you to work on my car

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

great detail, beautiful car

SG81

iTrader: (1)

once again, great job

conan777

Nice Job! The car looks awesome!

ll1l2l1l2lll

needs a drop. but i love what you did to it. cool paint laser thing.

TS_eXpeed

Damn.

That is a nice job right there.



Reminds me that my car needs some paint correction.

Wes_R

Thanks bro, LOL me and the owner were laughing at it cause you could fit 4 fingers in there, but I believe it is dropped now though and tinted to.

No I actually just wiped it up with a microfibre cloth.

I can't wait either.

Thanks, and I agree.

Thanks bro, can't wait to work on your car either, hopefully everything is ok with your icebox now too.

Thanks Conan especially coming from someone who knows how crazy this work can get it means alot.

It's dropped now and tinted . I love the paint depth gauge and it's actually ruby tipped not a laser, pretty cool huh.

98% of all cars out there need paint correction so don't feel to bad about it and thanks mang for the complement.


Sorry for the late replies been pretty busy and I am real tired.

Cheers guys.

DC3328

iTrader: (22)

how much do you charge to do this? i wanna get this done but i dont want to get ripped off

Wes_R

I can recommend some one to you in Miami but depending on how extensive you want go you are looking at $400 and up.

mrclrider

I was almost sad not seeing one of your amazing detailed write-ups, none the less it looks awesome!!

DC3328

iTrader: (22)

wow didnt know it was that much lol

Wes_R

Thanks bro . I got some more on the way!

Yeah man I just finished a TL that took me 17hrs, you can't expect to just pay small money for that kind of time.

It definitely isn't cheap, but look at it this way it is cheaper then a repaint and just a 2 Step will generally get your paint up to 95% perfected or more depending on what condition the paint is in to begin with.

sjo

iTrader: (2)

WOW very professionally done, Wes. It was a pleasure to get to get to learn from at the meet. Good focus on the minor details, you even spotted the seatbelt being dirty!

Thankfully you're a local, I may potentially need your help soon as my car also needs paint correction

Wes_R

No problem, get at me whenever.

ladiesman217

Wes R i Neeeeeed your phone number or email asap

jtsangAZ

that is fucking hot

PortlandRL

I can't believe I missed this the first time around!

Great work, Wes!!! That NSX is how she should look.

lostkhan

Damnnn.......It needs a Drop

skyfox23

Looks like another car now!