# 350Z - Swirl Hell to Zym0! Concours Heaven........



## mattjonescardiff (Dec 12, 2006)

*350Z - Swirl Hell to Zym0! Concours Heaven......(now with finished photos)..*

Following on from detailing my friends Z4 a few months ago....

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=54599

The car is now sold. When he told me he was buying a black Nissan 350Z I knew it was going to be dying for a detail, but I didn't realise quite how badly........

The car is a 2003 model and the previous owner had receipts to show it was supaguarded when he bought it from Nissan 2 years ago. The wash technique must have been somewhat lacking as in this time he managed to strip the sealant and inflict a huge amount of defects. The swirls were evident under any light, even masked by a coat of AG SRP the owner had applied. I knew it could be brought back to life so took advantage of the Easter weekend to get cracking on it.

Befores:









































Foamed with a strong APC mix to strip off the SRP:









Left to dwell for 5 mins and rinsed with the owners new PW (I've convinced him to get a snow lance soon too!). Wheels cleaned with P21S, zymool brush and Megs wheel brush. All cleaned up very easily. Then washed as usual with a TBM and Megs Gold Glass shampoo plus APC. Engine bay cleaned with Megs APC 4:1, door shuts with 10:1.









Darth Vader lent a hand with some Megs Body Solvent:









On to the claying using CG fine poly clay and Megs Hyper Wash as lube. 
Bonnet:








Roof:









Rinsed again and rolled inside the garage. Taped up and ready for polishing:









There's some black paint under here somewhere.........









Started with the Makita and Megs #80 on a Megs polishing pad. Moved up to #83 and my friend was pleased with the finish. 









The rotary in action:









Rear wing 50:50's
































Gave a lovely reflective finish:









Front nearside wing 50:50's

















Offside wing 50:50's

















Getting some refinement to the finish:

















Washed again with Megs Gold Class to remove polishing dust:









Whole car was then Lime Primed using the UDM and a CCS Finishing Pad:









I followed this up with the LSP. Zymo! Concours applied via a zymo!applicator pad and a spritz of last touch.

























I then polished the exhaust tailpipes with Megs Nxt Metal Polish and the car was tucked away for the night. I'm going back this morning to apply a second coat of Concours and do the interior. I'll get some good finished photos then. Watch this space...









Part 2:

2nd coat of Concours applied with Field Glaze as the spritz.
Sorry there's so many but couldn't resist as I was so pleased with the finish........


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## CupraRcleanR (Sep 2, 2007)

Great correction there. what a state it was in!!!

Just ordered some Concours myself. How long do you leave it before buffing off Matt?

Top job by the way.


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## mattjonescardiff (Dec 12, 2006)

CupraRcleanR said:


> Great correction there. what a state it was in!!!
> 
> Just ordered some Concours myself. How long do you leave it before buffing off Matt?
> 
> Top job by the way.


Make sure you apply it really thinly, less is more. The spritz of QD helps to acheive this. Leave it on for a minimum of 10 mins, but I generally leave it for more like 20-30mins. It should buff off easily no matter how long you leave it. If it doesn't then you applied too much, and use some QD or Zym0! field glaze to remove it.

The important time is inbetween coats. 24 hours is best but wait at least an hour or two before re-applying. I always like to apply at least two coats. After the last coat go back an hour later and buff with some field glaze (or chilled water in a spray).

Good luck with the Concours mate!


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## Alex L (Oct 25, 2005)

Fantastic correction work, I know first hand how much of a pita the paint can be on these :thumb:


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## Warduke (Sep 21, 2007)

Wow cracking job so far there buddy...:thumb: .
Look forward to seeing the whole car finished nice paint correction that black paint was really badly swirrled.


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## CK888 (Apr 23, 2006)

Impressive deswirl job, well done mate:thumb:


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## GBS (Mar 21, 2008)

Very Nice! I just got some concours and have yet to try it out.


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## Slick 77 (Jun 19, 2007)

nice work, cant wait for the finished pics :thumb:


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## paddy328 (Mar 4, 2007)

Im very impressed. The correction work is spot on and shows how fecked the car was before you fixed it. Hope your mate bought you a few pints for that.

Is that small red thing the pressure washer? Ive seen bigger cats. lol


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## Finerdetails (Apr 30, 2006)

a great job. The pad and #80 left a fair bit of marring on the paint, the lime prime would have cleared that up for a great finish.


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## Mossman (Jan 10, 2008)

What a turnaround!  Great job!


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## clarkie34 (Jan 27, 2008)

Looks like a different car now.What did the previous owner use to clean it a brillo pad:doublesho


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## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

looks cracking - that is a swirly pig before your work :thumb:

Question though - I have always found that any application of Zym Titanium and Glasur after any use of L-T leaves all sorts of marks and smears, even if just a bit was used when drting the car etc, yet no such issues when i leave out the L-T from the process. Do you find any issues with spraying it on the pad itself?


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## Trist (Jun 23, 2006)

Nice work mate, looks lovely :thumb:


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## North east Car Care (Jan 14, 2008)

Fantastic finish matey :thumb:


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## mouthyman (May 1, 2006)

stunning work, very nice 50/50 shots


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## visor (Sep 8, 2007)

mattjonescardiff said:


> Make sure you apply it really thinly, less is more. The spritz of QD helps to acheive this. Leave it on for a minimum of 10 mins, but I generally leave it for more like 20-30mins. It should buff off easily no matter how long you leave it. If it doesn't then you applied too much, and use some QD or Zym0! field glaze to remove it.
> 
> The important time is inbetween coats. 24 hours is best but wait at least an hour or two before re-applying. I always like to apply at least two coats. After the last coat go back an hour later and buff with some field glaze (or chilled water in a spray).
> 
> Good luck with the Concours mate!


superb finish :thumb::thumb:

oh, :thumb: for the tip. must try it just applied 2nd coat of destiny 24hr later


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## mattjonescardiff (Dec 12, 2006)

Bigpikle said:


> looks cracking - that is a swirly pig before your work :thumb:
> 
> Question though - I have always found that any application of Zym Titanium and Glasur after any use of L-T leaves all sorts of marks and smears, even if just a bit was used when drting the car etc, yet no such issues when i leave out the L-T from the process. Do you find any issues with spraying it on the pad itself?


I applied the second coat of concours using field glaze as the spritz and found it a lot better. The wax spread out a lot easier.


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## GlynRS2 (Jan 21, 2006)

Very impressive correction work demonstrated by the 50:50 shots. A lovely finish from the Concours


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## Mark J (May 10, 2007)

Great correction work ! :thumb:


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## Mark M (Nov 29, 2006)

Excellent work there Matt!

Nice write up, with correction and 50/50 looking awesome.



Finerdetails said:


> a great job. The pad and #80 left a fair bit of marring on the paint, the lime prime would have cleared that up for a great finish.


I believe they did follow with Lime Prime on the UDM :thumb:


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## p1tse (Feb 4, 2007)

can't believe it was in that state for such a nice car. great effort


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## netstar (Jan 4, 2008)

Good job Matt mate, need to come see you again soon


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## Phil H (May 14, 2006)

amazing work mate! keep an eye on those wires on your UDM, i'd get that sorted


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## Thomas-182 (Mar 5, 2006)

nice job, that looks great, it was in some state before hand, wow.


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## mattjonescardiff (Dec 12, 2006)

Finerdetails said:


> a great job. The pad and #80 left a fair bit of marring on the paint, the lime prime would have cleared that up for a great finish.


The marring you can see in the photos was from the 83 on a polishing pad. I was surprised by how much correction the 80 acheived, but I needed to step up to 83 to remove a higher percentage of defects.

Knowing the paint would be soft I expected the 83 to leave heavy marring requiring a follow up with 80, but I was surprised by how nicely it broke down. It didn't leave any easily visible marring, just a slight haziness which I knew the mild abrasives in LP would remove so I was quite happy with the paint and the polish. I still haven't got round to using the Menzerna polishes I have as the Megs ones come up trumps every time.

Something clicked with the Makita on this detail too and I found it much easier to use, so I was really pleased about that. Only went back to the UDM a couple of times for bumpers etc and found it a shaky PITA!


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## Breeze_Blue (Aug 20, 2006)

Great correction work !


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## ahaydock (Jan 4, 2007)

Excellent correction there and some great 50/50s. Awesome finish to :thumb:


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## DieselMDX (Apr 18, 2007)

that is a long time to let concours set i think Z recc 60 seconds and not to let it dry.


did u see any added benefit of letting sit longer?

i am always willing to try a new way to apply a wax.


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## Rob_Quads (Jul 17, 2006)

A Z looking good as usual - Even though the car had Superguard on it - that will have come off fairly easy and you would be amazed how easy it is to score the Nissan paint its not soft its MEGA soft. 

I machined polished mine and got rid of most of my swirls but within 6 months of decent the car was again covered in swirls and scuffs etc


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## Buck (Jan 16, 2008)

that's a really nice piece of work - :thumb: :thumb:

newbie question - did you spray field glaze on all panels as you applied the seond coat or did you just apply it to your pad?

Thanks

CM


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## mattjonescardiff (Dec 12, 2006)

cheekeemonkey said:


> that's a really nice piece of work - :thumb: :thumb:
> 
> newbie question - did you spray field glaze on all panels as you applied the seond coat or did you just apply it to your pad?
> 
> ...


Cheers!

I sprayed the FG on the pad. It defintely made the wax more 'workable', and was far better at doing this than Last Touch. I wouldn't spray on to the panels before applying (although this is sort of how the spit-shine method is done, but thats spraying straight after applying the first coat).


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## mattjonescardiff (Dec 12, 2006)

DieselMDX said:


> that is a long time to let concours set i think Z recc 60 seconds and not to let it dry.
> 
> did u see any added benefit of letting sit longer?
> 
> i am always willing to try a new way to apply a wax.


I always tend to leave wax for quite a while to cure. I'm fairly new to the Z range and I may experiment with a few different application methods for a while and see which I prefer.

IIRC Z say to apply in straight lines in one direction and then almost immediately wipe once in the opposite direction, and then allow to haze and buff completely? Personally I am a big fan of applying any product in small circles but I will give the Z technique a go.


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## visor (Sep 8, 2007)

:newbie: question Matt: 
did you use the original backing plate to use the Megs pad?


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## t_zetec (Feb 8, 2007)

That was one hell of a swirly car!


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## mattjonescardiff (Dec 12, 2006)

visor said:


> :newbie: question Matt:
> did you use the original backing plate to use the Megs pad?


No, the original backing plate is really stiff and makes it hard to work on panels with any kind of curvature.

I use this backing plate from Elite Car Care (works with any pad, not just Megs):

http://www.elitecarcare.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=69&products_id=411


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## visor (Sep 8, 2007)

mattjonescardiff said:


> No, the original backing plate is really stiff and makes it hard to work on panels with any kind of curvature.
> 
> I use this backing plate from Elite Car Care (works with any pad, not just Megs):
> 
> http://www.elitecarcare.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=69&products_id=411


:thumb: for replying


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## r8bwt (Jan 21, 2008)

Wow - Fantastic turn around! Cracking job. Looks like a different car!


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## honda-r (Mar 20, 2007)

Awesome car, great correction work,


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## ads2k (Jul 12, 2006)

Really nice job 

Great finsih with the Z Concours.... that's why I like mine so much.

See my results here:-  (Shameless plug...)

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=62910


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## mattjonescardiff (Dec 12, 2006)

ads2k said:


> Really nice job
> 
> Great finsih with the Z Concours.... that's why I like mine so much.
> 
> ...


Beautiful finish on a fantastic car mate. I really want an S2000 this year, although Grp 20 insurance is a bit of a stinger! ouch!


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## jamiesim (Feb 7, 2008)

nice work there!!!:buffer:


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## ads2k (Jul 12, 2006)

mattjonescardiff said:


> Beautiful finish on a fantastic car mate. I really want an S2000 this year, although Grp 20 insurance is a bit of a stinger! ouch!


Cheers fella :thumb:

You can get pretty good deals on the insurance from some of the specialists, mine is just over the £500 fully comp, but they class me a pretty old @ 36


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## mattjonescardiff (Dec 12, 2006)

ads2k said:


> Cheers fella :thumb:
> 
> You can get pretty good deals on the insurance from some of the specialists, mine is just over the £500 fully comp, but they class me a pretty old @ 36


What specialists are they? My normal company has quoted me £1400 (£1000 more than I pay for my prelude VTEC at the moment). I'm 26 with 5 years NCB and a clean license. With my wedding coming up I would be struggling to afford to buy an S2000, so I couldn't justify paying over a thousand for the insurance.


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## MRSCISCODS9 (Mar 25, 2008)

Great job on your car. Your steps and pics will come in well handy.

All the best


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## N8KOW (Aug 24, 2007)

The paint work matt before you detailed, was quite truely, horrific!!!


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## 1996a6v6 (Feb 8, 2008)

Excellent detailing, looks superb, love the 350z too :thumb:


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## Kasomi (Nov 15, 2007)

Jesus H!

That looked rough.... great turnaround!

Paulie


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## 911fanatic (Sep 10, 2007)

Awesome correction. Car looks great!


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## Kris1986 (May 19, 2008)

stunning...


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## Rowan83 (Aug 21, 2007)

Wow, what a transformation! :thumb:

The painwork was a real mess!


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## Ryan Hill (Nov 2, 2008)

Hi Matt,

Love reading your posts! You certainly did an excellent job with this car, black and red have to be two of the worst colours for showing up scratches and swirls and the 350z' paint was no exception.

Congrats on your companies opening this year, keep up the good work!
:detailer:


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## mattjonescardiff (Dec 12, 2006)

Ryan Hill said:


> Hi Matt,
> 
> Love reading your posts! You certainly did an excellent job with this car, black and red have to be two of the worst colours for showing up scratches and swirls and the 350z' paint was no exception.
> 
> ...


Thanks Ryan. Interesting to re-read these old threads myself now that you've resurected them.


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## scooby73 (Mar 20, 2007)

Great transformation, giving a superb finish!:thumb:


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## TH0001 (Sep 19, 2007)

Great work, absolutely tops!!!


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