05 STi in WRB, exterior detail (lots of pictures)

billboard2001

billboard2001

New member
Joined
Sep 15, 2013
Messages
119
Reaction score
0
Hey Guys,

So I finally decided my car needed some lovin' in terms of the paint. I've never done anything like this before but I did some research about which products I'd like to try and proceeded from there. I went online and ordered a setup to begin my paint correction/detail and ended up with an armload of supplies.
A friend and I worked on this together and I estimate the total time taken on the paint correction to be 26 hours. I would attribute this to the heavy amount of cutting needed and being the first I've ever done...

Supplies:
-I used a porter cable 7424 for this job.
-Clayed it using meguiar's clay bar kit
-For polish I used meguiar's m105 and m205.
-For trim I used BlackWow
-For sealant I used Menzerna's Powerlock.
-On the exhaust, Mothers mag and aluminum polish
-Shampoo was a meguiar's type as well, which is standing in until I can get something better.
-2 bucket method for washes
-Assorted microfibers for wiping/drying/buffing ect.
-Blackfire Crystal Seal Paint Sealant

One tool I wish I had is a foam cannon or a foam master type prerinser. Since this car wasn't that dirty it wasn't as much of a problem, but I can imagine on other/future details having a heavily soiled car could really use that kind of treatment...

None the less, I was very happy with the results anyway (see pictures...)

The before pictures weren't all as "showing" as they could have been ($70 camera
grumpy.gif
) but I did end up being able to use a DSLR from about half way through to the end of the detail. Those pictures were much more revealing as you'll be able to see.

The car before it started. It wasn't too dirty anyway, just the paint was faded and swirled up fairly bad...






Trunk with swirls (camera didn't give the best image of how bad they were)


Hazy Headlights that I planned on trying to correct


More swirls, on the hood this time


Dirty Wheels and Tires


Beginning to wash for the first time to really bring out the defects and blemishes. The previously applied wax seemed to be holding up pretty well from the water sheeting/beading


Old polish from the body shop when I had the hood repaired:
 
More swirls!


Different angle on the hood


Doors. As you can see not a spot on the car wasn't swirled up




Car Taped Off


Initial 50/50 on hood


50/50 on door. It seems that I've gotten the car about 90% corrected, but it's made the biggest difference ever (to me anyways)


top of the bumper all corrected. The reflections are so nice and crisp!


Here are the pictures that better describe the condition of the car...
 
Last edited:


Side of car, post polish


Paint wasn't the only one that had the swirls. Taillights and headlights were also victims



Taillights after the polish



Swirls are now gone!


And the reflections are noticeably improved



Dirty Exhaust tip
 
Last edited:
Clean Exhaust tip. Night and Day difference. It's the little things like this that seem to set the good details apart


Post polish, out in the sun for inspection




Got the headlights all sorted out, and the opaque haze is gone, as are the swirls.
Sealed them (and taillights) with Black Fire Crystal Seal Paint Sealant. A little goes a long way with that stuff. No buffing required either!



Trim before was quite sad. Gave it some attention and some Black Wow and it made it look new again




 
Last edited:
And the after shots...








Being my first detail, please feel free to critique my work. I guess the only way you learn is from experience and learning. I feel like I did fairly well to start anyway...
 
Not going to lie... I was sitting here hitting "refresh" waiting for you to finish posting pics! haha

Car looks fantastic! Excellent documentation, and even better work! DA machines really make it that easy to achieve professional quality results on your very first time!

I'm sure you learned plenty of things along the way, and your next detail will be even easier as you continue to learn! Nice work!

Side note: Wingless STi's are so gorgeous! Car is very tastefully modded - well done!
 
zmcgovern45 said:
Not going to lie... I was sitting here hitting "refresh" waiting for you to finish posting pics! haha

Car looks fantastic! Excellent documentation, and even better work! DA machines really make it that easy to achieve professional quality results on your very first time!

I'm sure you learned plenty of things along the way, and your next detail will be even easier as you continue to learn! Nice work!

Side note: Wingless STi's are so gorgeous! Car is very tastefully modded - well done!
Click to expand...


Thank you! That just made my day! I love my sti, even more so now :)
 
Great job. Looks like you've been doing this for years. Which products did you use to clean the wheels and tires?
 
Thanks everyone!

dc52nv said:
Great job. Looks like you've been doing this for years. Which products did you use to clean the wheels and tires?
Click to expand...

Ah I forgot to note that. I used Adam's APC + brush on the tires (mixed at 2:1 or 3:1, fairly strong anyway...) and to dress them I used armor all tire shine spray.

The wheels just got a stronger solution of the car shampoo. I guess if I could choose a part of the detail I felt was lacking, wheels and tires would definitely be the first that comes to my mind. I haven't really read of any stellar tire dressings (not sure if they are just all the same or people just don't give them that much attention) so I'm not sure what to try out. The Armor All did make it look very nice though. Letting it dry seemed like the only thing I had to be careful of when applying it, otherwise it's got a nice shine and I don't have to worry about sling from a gel type product.
If anyone has any recommendations about tire dressings I'm all ears.
As for the wheels I probably really need to invest in some sonax for the dirtier wheels
 
Wow! I want to de-swirl my Outback but I still have cold feet.
What pads did you use?
 
Looks amazing! That color is absolutely gorgeous!! (I'm a bit biased, both my cars are blue :)) I agree that the little details really make the whole job, less than perfect headlights look awful to me. :dblthumb2:
 
Yeah I really love the blue too. I guess I never noticed how to color lacked the depth until I actually finished this detail. I'm assuming that was due to the clearcoat hazing slightly.

Dogfather said:
Wow! I want to de-swirl my Outback but I still have cold feet.
What pads did you use?
Click to expand...

For cutting I used Meguiar's SoftBuff foam cutting pad. It came in a kit I bought with a porter cable that also included some M105 and M205 as well as a wax/sealant type pad.
I have since switched to Lake Country Orange Light Cutting Pads for my cutting step, and it seems to be working better for me.
My advice is just read up on the how-to's of polishing, and then just go for it! Like I said, this is my first car I've ever done (granted it took a long time) but the results are quite spectacular.
 
Beautiful car, sweet color, great work. You're pictures has me thinking I got to buy a camera. What kind did you use.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top