Detailing Jem - Nismo 350Z

[Jem]

Yesterday it was the turn of this 350Z to have a full detail with some wet sanding thrown in for good measure!


The car was a pretty typical case of swirly and lightly scratched paint, and needing a clean too:

One of the problems was the passenger door had been repainted and left with a lot of orange peel:

So out came the wet and dry paper, yes I know, I'm meant to make it shiny!!!:

And once it was polished back up. I deliberately didn't remove all the orange peel otherwise the door would have been perfect and the rest of the car would look orange peely, so trying to leave enough orange peel to match the rest of the car was the order of the day:

Then after the rest of the car had been polished and protected this was the result:

 

[pegliobaglio]

What grade wet and dry do you use mate? Looks awesome!! Love them in that colour

 

[Jem]

What grade wet and dry do you use mate? Looks awesome!! Love them in that colour

It really depends on how deep the orange peel is and how hard the paint is. Anything from 800 to 6000 grit, normally going through finer grades and then polishing.

 

[pegliobaglio]

Thanks for the info!
How do you determine how hard the paint is? I have heard Japanese cars tend to have softer paint than German cars , but how do you test to find out?

 

[Jem]

Thanks for the info!
How do you determine how hard the paint is? I have heard Japanese cars tend to have softer paint than German cars , but how do you test to find out?

There is no set test, but you generally start less aggressive and work up if needed, much the same as polish. While Japanese cars tend to have softer paint, there is no hard and fast rule, I've come across very hard paint on Japanese cars, and soft paint on German cars, and vice versa. Also when a panel is resprayed, it could be hard or soft, where the car was made makes no difference at all, and you can have a BMW with rock hard factory paint on the car, but a repainted bonnet which is soft as butter.

 

[pegliobaglio]

Makes sense
nice one thanks for the help