Acura Integra GSR Detail+Correction.

Discussion in 'Show and Shine' started by xbr50, Jun 28, 2011.

  1. xbr50

    xbr50 Any Rag Vehicle Washer

    Hello again! I decided to do a write up of detailing my own vehicle, a 1998 Integra GSR in Starlight Black Pearl. v|nsan|ty had commitments for the entire weekend so this was a solo project, this reflects the length of the detail. Not to mention I had to take care of orange peel on the paint which was extremely time consuming.

    The subject:
    [​IMG]

    Total time: 26 Hours over three days.

    A little history:
    I purchased this vehicle less than 2 years ago from the original owner who owned the car since he purchased it back in 1998. It has been his toy ever since, until a growing family and his wife forced him to sell the vehicle.
    Since I purchased this vehicle I have yet to do a complete detail and paint correction on the car. I spent all of last summer doing preventative maintenance on the vehicle. To give you an idea, I replaced: Spark plugs/Wires/Distributor cap+Rotor, Fuel filter, air filter, PCV Valve, Clutch Master Cylinder, All fluids. And cleaned the Throttle Body and Idle Air Control Valve. More involved work was done at the dealership such as water pump, drive belt and timing belt. With all the mechanical work out of the way I was finally able to take care of the car's appearance this summer.

    A quick look:

    Hazy indicator lights require wet sanding and polishing:
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    Heavy swirling throughout the car:
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    VERY deep!
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    Holograms and orange peel that required wet sanding (More on this later):
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    Shameful for a detailer:
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    I started on the wheels using Griot's Wheel Cleaner and CG Grime Reaper at 5:1 dilution for the wheel wells:

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    Everyone should own a Raceglaze Wheel Brush:
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    EZ Detail brush for the wheel wells:
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    I moved on to the exhaust tips using GC Grime Reaper, Mini Ez detail brush and detailing steel wool. The B series VTEC engines are known to consume oil and this GSR is no exception. This consumption of oil is reflected in the following pictures:
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    After 10 minutes of scrubbing using the detailing steel wool I admitted defeat:
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    I used straight CG Citrus wash n gloss for the foaming and wash process:
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    Can't forget to clean the fuel door:
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    Next cleaned the engine bay with Meguiar's All Purpose Cleaner Plus:
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    Mini EZ Detail brush came in handy:
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    Cleaned:
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    Floor mats were vacuumed and steam cleaned with the help of Meguiar's APC+:
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    Cleaned:
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    Pedals/carpet before:
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    Being vacuumed, steamed, scrubbed with Meg's APC+:
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    After:
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    I then began on the paint starting with the claying process, the paint proved to be relatively free of contaminants:
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    All taped up:
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    Initial paint inspection:

    The paint was in VERY bad shape, haze and heavy swirls resulted in lack of clarity and prevented the blue pearls of the Starlight Black paint to show. In the end some RID's where just too deep to remove as you will later see.
    [​IMG]

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    Deep imperfections:
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    The Test:
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    Honda/Acura are known to have soft paint, I began with Menzerna's Power Finish on a orange pad and Menzerna's Micro Finish on a white pad which yielded satisfactory results, however required many passes to achieve the desired level of cut for such deep imperfections. Instead I opted for Meguiar's M105 on a LC Orange (yellow for those panels in terrible shape) and M205 on a white pad to finish.

    Hood before:
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    After:
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    Passenger front quarter panel before:
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    After:
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    Before:
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    After:
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    Passenger side door before:
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    After:
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    Side-view mirrors before:
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    After (Notice the clarity and the pearls are now visible):
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    Before:
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    After:
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    Driver side quarter panel before:
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    After:
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    Driver side door before:
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    After:
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    Roof before (notice the water stains):
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    After:
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    Before:
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    50/50 Shots of the spoiler and trunk lid:
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    Nasty scuff on the rear bumper:
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    After some heavy correction:
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    The Orange Peel:
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    This car was involved in a minor accident that resulted in the repainting of the rear quarter panels to match the paint. The body shop did an excellent job in matching the metallic black paint, however the clear coat was not properly leveled in some areas which resulted in the clear coat having the texture of an orange peel.
    As a result, I wet-sanded the clear coat using Meguiar's Unigrit papers starting with 2500 grit and finished with 3000. After went sanding I performed heavy compounding with M105 on a Surbuf pad, refined with M205 on a LC Green pad, and finished with Menzerna P085RD on a LC White Pad The goal of this correction was not to completely remove the orange peel, but reduce it to match the level or orange peel present in the factory paint.

    Back to the drive side rear quarter panel:
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    Wet sanding:
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    This is how it looked after wet sanding, scary isn't it?
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    After heavy compounding with M105 on a Surbuf pad, refined with M205 on a LC Green pad, and finished with Menzerna P085RD on a LC White Pad. Orange peel is greatly reduced:
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    Very nasty orange peel here:
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    After wet sanding:
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    After heavy correction:
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    More heavy orange peel on the b-pillars:
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    Wet-sanded:
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    Finished, orange peel greatly reduced:
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    After I have taken care of all the orange peel, I moved onto the door handles:
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    I used M105 on a yellow applicator pad:
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    After:
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    Next I moved onto the plastics, the tail light had some haziness that needed to be taken care of:
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    After some Menzerna Power Finish on a LC Orange Pad:
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    The front indicator lights were extremely hazy and pitted so I wet sanded with Meg's Unigrit papers starting at 1500 grit, moving up to 2000, 2500 and 3000. Compounded with M105 on a LC Orange pad:

    Before:
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    After (unfortunately plenty of deep pits remain thanks to the City of Edmonton's love of using rocks for winter ice):
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    After the correction process I brought the car out for a final wash:
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    The paint was looking fantastic:
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    Look at that reflection!
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    I used CG Green clean to remove the greasy dressing on the interior's vinyl put on by the previous owner:
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    Autoglym's Leather Cleaner was used on the leather wrapped steering wheel:
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    Interior 100% Completed:
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    Engine bay dressed with Aerospace 303:
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    I used P21s polishing soap on the exhaust tips:
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    Autogylm's Tire Dressing was used on the tires:
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    Autogylm's Super Polish resin was used to restore shine on the wheels:
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    Blackfire Wet Diamond was used as a sealant:
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    Unfortunately midnight approached and I wiped off the Blackfire Wet Diamond and took the car home, allowing the Sealant to cure overnight....

    The next morning I decided to top up the sealant with Victoria Wax's Concours Carnauba Wax as a LSP:
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    I buffed it off and took it out for a final photo shoot:
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    Thanks for reading everyone!
     
  2. astro_ng

    astro_ng Jedi Nuba

    Looks great man, I regret selling my teg, it was definitely a fun car to bomb around in.

    What brand of steamer are you using, and do you have a paint gauge, sanding without one would freak me out!
     
  3. Danny

    Danny Nuba Guru

    Very nice work, I enjoyed seeing the transformation:)
     
  4. cu2mike

    cu2mike DB Forum Supporter

    Nice work dude!
    btw, is that v|nsan|ty car in the background in couple of them shots?
     
  5. supercharged

    supercharged DB Forum Supporter

    great job! That's the best looking Integra I've ever seen!
     
  6. Kaban

    Kaban Welcome to Detailing

    +1.... best and cleanest integra I have ever seen. WOW
     
  7. mrgolfrider

    mrgolfrider DB Forum Supporter

    Dope car dude! Thats one clean ass GSR now.
     
  8. hamza7

    hamza7 Welcome to Detailing

    Good job alex, +1 for which steamer your were using
     
  9. Streetlife

    Streetlife Birth of a Detailer

    Excellent job man!!!:applause:
     
  10. Rcrew

    Rcrew Wax on..Wax off

    great job, nice 50/50s!
     
  11. richguy66

    richguy66 DB Forum Supporter

    Wowie super job there. In the picture of the CG CWG foaming, what was the dwell time when you took the picture?
     
  12. M3ride.

    M3ride. Wax on..Wax off

    Awesome work! Car looks great. How do you like Griot's Wheel Cleaner?
     
  13. Upper Class Detailing

    Upper Class Detailing DB Pro Supporter

  14. xbr50

    xbr50 Any Rag Vehicle Washer

    Thanks for all the feedback guys!

    astro_ng: I forgotten the brand/model of the steamer, it is currently in v|nsan|ty's possession so I'll let him chime in on that. As for wet sanding, No I don't have a paint guage (they sure are expensive!). The bodyman assured me there was plenty of clearcoat to work with. The key is to check your work constantly, since I was matching the orange peel and not removing it completely, I was able to determine just how much clear coat I was removing.

    cu2mike: Yes that is his TL! He stopped by later that day to help me out. He was also doing some prep on his car as he plans on doing a detail/writeup of it soon.

    richguy66: About 2 minutes!

    M3ride: The Griot's wheel cleaner was perfect for this job as the wheels were relatively clean. Cost effectiveness the Griot's is hard to beat. However I would strictly reserve them for semi-clean wheels.

    Feel free to ask more questions!
     
  15. v|nsan|ty

    v|nsan|ty Obsessive Detailer

    Thanks for all the warm comments guys!

    The steamer is a Shark. I got it from Canadian Tire a few years ago for my mom but she never used it so when I got into detailing, I figured this would be an awesome addition. It helped clean out the carpets amazingly well. Plus they were great for blasting the pedals and reduced the amount of labour needed to get all the built up gunk off. Canadian Tire no longer carries the model I have but it appears they have updated ones that are reasonably priced.

    Haha yeah cu2mike thats me! It has yet to be detailed but it will be happening hopefully soon!
     
  16. CG6Lemon

    CG6Lemon New Member

    great turn around
     
  17. Chaseme

    Chaseme DB Forum Supporter

    Good work!

    I agree with you on the wetsanding - I think you almost always safe to wetsand a repainted panel.

    I need a steamer - great results can be had with one.
     
  18. Frankastic

    Frankastic Detail Photographer

    my 1st car was a teg :) awesome work there BTW!
     
  19. AutoObsessed

    AutoObsessed Dealers

    Good job guys!!
     
  20. hamza7

    hamza7 Welcome to Detailing

    I dont know how managed to get a orignal GSR without a type S swap, there not even one in existence in all of Toronto, the model you have still goes for $10K-$13K
     

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