Hello all! Lance here shouting out from Memphis, TN! I recently had the pleasure of working on a beautiful 2003 996 Turbo. This car was to be prepared and delivered as a Valentines Day present for a special someone. Close friend and customer of mine acquired it a couple days before Vday and brought it straight to my shop for a full exterior paint correction and coating + interior. I took some pictures thru out the process to share with yall. This time I focused on capturing more on the restoration stages rather than the entire detail process. For more about my detail processes refer back to my recent write up on an ‘11 Bentley Supersports: http://www.detailingbliss.com/topic/29758-2011-bentley-supersport-correction-coating/ _______________________________________________ Though this 996 was essentially a ‘barn find’, it was in good shape! ‘Coon paws on the hood CarPro TRIX Iron & Tar Remover While that sat for 5-8min I attended the light bugs on the front TRIX doing its thing Foamed then used an assortment of wheel brushes _______________________________________________ Finished the entire wash/decon process then pulled it in for the real fun I clayed the car with a combination of hand clay barring and the NanoSkin AutoScrub fine pad. Gave the car an IPA wipe down and prepped for polishing. Porsches always bring the delicate trim/rubbers so I had to tape a lot of parts off, some cars don’t require this but it’s up to an experienced detailer to decipher. This 996s paint was in pretty good condition and just required a two stage polish. In which I used the Flex 3401 w/ OJ pad and Menz FG400. Followed with Menz 85rd on a grey polishing pad with the Meguiars DA. As always, I’m no photographer but got some great results. Under overhead flood lights, pretty sure [and looks like] the driver rear quarter panel Different light shades are a must to check your polishing results. Rear spoiler: As it was a Friday night, I stayed up pretty late spending quality time with this car- I like to call this my happy place! Called it a night around ~1. Woke up early on Valentines Day morning to finish up this car for it’s delivery around 4 that afternoon. Here I am using the medium polishing pad working in a 2x2 area using light pressure, speed 5.5, crossing pattern for around 2 passes. This is all the necessary working time a compound needs before it starts to dust as you can slightly see. I would usually stop compounding before the dust came. A spritz of distilled water on the pad aids in the working time but too much liquid will just mess you up completely. Finesse! Coming along nicely Smaller areas used the 3” pad On the headlights and tail lights as well Headlights were a little bit foggy but could use some cleaning up, before: After, more clarity, gloss, and smoothness achieved _______________________________________________ All polishing and correction is now finished and time for coating protection. Finished up this little bottle of C1. _______________________________________________ Interior got vacuumed out and cleaned. Leather cleaned and condition with Sonax Leather Foam. This stuff is amazing. Spray it on, let dwell for couple minutes, massage it around by hand(glove) then wipe off. Followed by a second buff with a clean microfiber. _______________________________________________ Finals, perfect paint all around! Picked up later that afternoon. They come in numbers! Well thanks for viewing everyone. Comments and questions welcome. Happy detailing! -Lance
Nice write up. How do you compare the sonax leather cleaner with other specific leather cleaners like leathermasters, or leatherique? Limny
fantastic, what a great find for the owner, im so jealous! great work! im certainly intrigued by the Sonax leather foam as well
Thanks guys! I used a leather masters trio many years back and was 'fine' with it. Good results, sure. But this Sonax is a good all in one product. Has a strong smell that's quite pleasant. Leathermasters products are for leather restoration. As a small business on a budget a quality AIO product suits me best at the moment.
Thank you! Recently acquired the shop and am trying to clear it out and improve it day by day! It is a Briggs & Stratton 1800psi pressure washer. I have a Karcher 1200psi but this 1800 was handed to me. It performs very well but theres a few drawbacks IMO. The machine body and hose are absolute garbage. Firstly if you wind up the hose and unravel it, it is in a bunch of spirals and is a PAIN to straighten out. So I never wind it up. Secondly, the machine itself is so light and easy to roll that I have to put a weight on it so when I try to pull or even walk to feel with the stupid hose the machine won't move. /rant Thanks! That's my favorite as well. Are you trying to call me out for using a CarPro applicator with a different brand coating? kidding
Lance, It's been a while buddy. I've been MIA here for a while. I thought you were attending college and stuff and detailing on occasion from home? Awesome to see that you got a shop. I can't wait for that day. Shop spaces are super hard to find out here and lords are picky. Awesome work on that Porsche as always. Look forward to seeing more photos of the shop. Best wishes for you and the business.
