Wes_R x Solid Red GT-R (82 pics)

[Kunzz]

Well it just got a detail done a few weeks ago so it's still in pretty good shape. Let's see how it handles the rest of September.

[Abe]

Wes did my bmw m5 and few years ago, he did a great job, guy knows what he is doing.
not your average detailer.
Abe

[Wes_R]

Well it just got a detail done a few weeks ago so it's still in pretty good shape. Let's see how it handles the rest of September.

No pressure, none the less I would love to add your car to my portfolio.

Wes did my bmw m5 and few years ago, he did a great job, guy knows what he is doing.
not your average detailer.
Abe

Thanks for vouching for me Abe!

[Wes_R]

Wes_R + XK-R(62 pics)

Hey GTRCanadians,


The owner of this brand new XK-R(300km) had seen some of my previous work and contacted me expressing that he wanted to get his paint in top condition. We exchanged a few emails, I answered a few of his concerns, and we finally set a up date for the work to be completed.



Upon arrival I had a chance to walk around the car and inspect it in direct sunlight












After inspection I found some buffer trials or holograms(where the red arrows are pointing) left behind by a previous detailer, possibly during the new car prep





I brought it in and began the prep work starting with cleaning inside the inner barrel of the wheels with my EZ Brush


Lugnut area and calipers




And finally the rim face with a microfiber mitt




The exhaust was cleaned up as well

Dirty


Clean




Getting on with the car wash we perform this with two buckets. Reason being is because we don't want to introduce more swirls into the paint and how we do this is, one bucket is filled with just water and the other just soap. As we wash the car after every panel we rinse off our wash media in the water only bucket before dipping it back into the soap bucket thus eliminating the chances of contaminating our soap water with the dirt we just picked up off the panel and reducing the risk of us dragging dirt filled soapy water across the paint which would scratch it causing more swirls


A soft natural sea sponge is what I use as my wash media




After rinsing down the car while it is still wet I began the claying process
If your not familiar with what clay is or what it does, it is basically an automotive clay bar that you rub on your paint along side a lubricant to remove contaminants embedded in the clear coat
If you have ever washed your car and even waxed it then felt the paint after all is said and done you'll notice that it is still very rough. The roughness that you are feeling is embedded dirt etc in the clear coat that needs to be removed by clay bar


Not bad but there was still some dirt that got picked up as you can see in the section closer to the index finger




Finally began drying the car with a very plush microfiber towel imported from the UK. After a shower I don't even dry my own body *with towels of this quality or as expensive hahaha




Once the vehicle is dry I measure the paint before polishing to look for any low spots I should be weary of or any inconsistencies in the paint.
Measurements are taken in microns




This is actually one of the inconsistencies I was referring to. Measurements around the car were reading in the 140 - 180 range then all of a sudden on the passenger door it shoots up to 231 microns. Usually what this means is that the area has been repainted which is not a bad thing as long as it is disclosed to the potential buyer








After measuring the depth of the paint we began to mask all rubber trim to protect it from being burnt by the buffers




The paint was not in terrible condition so a medium cutting polish was used. Here are some befores and afters of the panels

Before


After

[Wes_R]

Before
This was the driver's door with all those buffer trails left behind


After
And now corrected


Before


After


Before


After


Before


After


Before


After




After the polishing was complete the car was unmasked




And then wiped with ipa alcohol


To clean off the polishing oils so that the wax can bond to the paint properly




Here is the gloss achieved without a wax applied on yet




I hope you see the humour in this but I decided to apply a British manufactured wax to a British manufactured car


Applied to the paint




While the wax was curing I attended to other areas like cleaning the windows and dressing the tires




Wiped the wax off and took it outside for some final shots

First off some pics in the direct sun

Perfect


I love the way the metallic flake looked in this pic






And now the final pics

[Wes_R]

I like how this pic turned out
















Some cool pics of nice details on the XK-R






And finally my favourite pic




I hope you enjoyed reading through the write up and I look forward to sharing more in the near future!

Cheers!
Wes

[derk]

wow, you legitimately saved that M3's paint.

good job!

[Wes_R]

Thanks !

[magular]

as someone who tries to do everything they can, including detailing, helps me to understand a bit more the quality of work your doing and just the level of detail. i dunno its friken awesome man. i try to take care of my skyline but doesnt compared.

but the jag is beauty. i love all the cars you've done but yeah just the metal flake and the car itself is awesome.

good job.

[Wes_R]

I appreciate the kind words. Yeah not a lot of people realize how much work goes into properly polishing a car.

The flake in the jag is so beautiful!

Cheers!

[Rush_in]

awesome job man! you could prolly send that metallic photo to NASA and tell them its a new photo of the galaxy and the wouldn't know any better

[Wes_R]

Wes_R x TL type S (54 pics)

With winter here I just wanted to add some Christmas Cheer with this Winter Wonderland detail hahahaha.

Anyway was contacted by the owner who had recently purchased this Kinetic Blue Pearl TL type S saying that he had just bought and installed the A Spec body kit and that he now wanted to get the paint etc in the best shape possible. I advised him on a 1 stage polish because of the weather and we finally figured out a date. Which brings us here...
















It was delivered close to dawn and I didn't want to wait until the morning to get started so I began prepping the car in the dark.

Starting with the engine as usual.

I sprayed on some Blitz APC.


Agitated some areas with build up.


Then blew dry, dressed, and started the car to let the engine warm up and evaporate any water still sitting.



Moving on to the rims I applied Autoglym Custom Wheel Cleaner and started on the inner barrel with my EZ Brush.


Used my Race Glaze Brush to clean the lugnuts and calipers.


And a microfibre mitt to clean the rim face.

[Wes_R]

With all of that out of the way I could finally start washing the car.

2 bucket method with a natural sea sponge was used to clean the panels. Rinsing the dirt off my sponge after every panel or half a panel in the water only bucket.




Rinsed off the car.


Then brought it in the garage to dry with my new microfibre towel that I am finding to be much more better then my previous waffle weave towels.




Clayed the paint before polishing and was picking up a little bit of contaminants but nothing to crazy.




I masked off the car, then measured the paint which for some reason I can't explain did not take pictures of.




Finally began polishing and the combination used was the PC with a green Lake Country pad and M205.

Here are the befores and afters.

Before


After


Before


After

[Wes_R]

Before


After


Before


After


Before


After




After the polishing I unmasked the car clean up the left over residue and then ipa wiped down the car.




Here are some results of my work with no wax on yet. lol I emailed these photos to the owner and he showed them to his girlfriend who couldn't believe it and tried to say my work was photoshopped or it was some sort of trick lol.




Also double checked my work with my new Infratech which omits the same spectrum light as the sun.

[Wes_R]

Finally waxed the car with Autoglym HD.


And while the wax was curing dressed the tires and cleaned the windows.




And now finally the finished pics in all their glory.

Trust me polishing in the cold is never fun but one thing I loved was with the snow on the ground they were making for some great reflection picks on the paint!