My first post here. Last weekend I detailed my Berlina Black S2000. It was involved in a minor accident last fall which resulted in the front half of the car being repainted for blending purposes. There were some swirls on the new paint which I decided not to mention to the body shop as I preferred to take care of them myself. Next weekend we're taking it on a trip, the weather was finally decent, so it was time to make her shine! Sorry for the gaps in the photo documentation, I wasn't anticipating a post while I was doing it. Products used: Sonax Full Effect Wheel Cleaner P21S Total Auto Wash Adam's Car Shampoo Uber Genuine Wool Wash Mitt Absorber Synthetic Chamois Porter Cable 7424XP Lake Country Green Pad Menzerna SF4500 Finishing Polish Pinnacle XMP Pad Conditioning Spray Uber Classic Mirofiber Towels Lake Country Black Pad Menzerna Power Lock Polymer Paint Sealant Lusso Oro Premium Carnauba Wax Adam's Super VRT This is what the hood looked like under artificial light right after I brought it home from the body shop. Began with the wheels using Sonax Full Effect wheel cleaner and P21S Total Auto Wash on the wheel wells. Note I recently did a track day and the car has Carbotech race pads on it so the dust may look extreme to some. After this I did the engine bay with P21S Total Auto Wash. Washed the car with Adam's Car Shampoo and my Uber Genuine Wool Wash Mitt using the two bucket method (with grit guards). At this point I had to move into my old garage/barn as I was battling sunlight and pollen that kept sticking to the car! I then polished the car with Menzerna SF4500 finishing polish using a Lake Country green pad made for light polishing/finishing. Between panels I treated the pad with Pinnacle XMT pad conditioning spray to make sure the product would not dry as I was working it. Polishing a car is very hard work, lots of respect to those who do it regularly. Then I washed the car again to get rid of polish dust and splatter. After that I applied Menzerna Power Lock polymer paint sealant and let it cure for around two hours (during this time I decided to put it on the wheel faces, nothing to lose). Here's what it looked like when I was wiping it off. Then I applied Lusso Oro Premium Carnauba wax which I was using for the first time. I made a big mistake right off the bat. I let it sit for about 3-5 minutes as I did the fenders, hood, and front bumper at the same time and it dried to a white haze. No big deal, right? Wrong. It was an absolute bear to remove. It pained me to rub that hard on my newly-polished paint. For the rest of the car I did one panel at a time wiping it off almost immediately. Worked well that way. Prior to this I've only used P21S wax on this car and it is much more forgiving in that regard. Finally, I dressed the tires with Adam's Super VRT. Here are some of the finished shots. Hood: Trunk: Hard top: I'm hardly an expert as I know some of you are but if anyone has questions I'll be happy to try and answer them. Also note there are some artifacts that show up from my phone camera, don't worry they're not on the car.
