TB40 Detail: Hellrot Z4 with Supernatural

Hey guys,

As promised, here's the write up for the uber-detail on my Z. I autocross this thing just about every weekend, and it has seen several track days since its last detail. Needless to say, the racing, along with the high amount of miles I put on the car, really started to take its toll. There were scuffs and scratches all along the lower parts of the car from slamming into cones. Also, there was a big wind storm here last week left over from hurricane Ike. A tree branch blew into my bumper and punctured a hole, and some drywall flew across the highway as I was driving, bounced off my hood and scratched it up pretty bad. I really let the brake dust and grime build up over the past few weeks as i've been very busy. Here's what it looked like going in:



Notice the scratches on the hood from the drywall...


And the "40" still on my door from where my race number magnets go...


Anyways, it was time to give my baby some much needed love. The paint itself wasn't toooooo bad. It has some minor swirls in it, but it was really the big scratches and scuffs that I was after on this one. I had never taken the time to really give it a full out detail since I bought it, really just did some minor polishing and paint protection when I got it.

I started out by taking the wheels off and cleaning them with NXT soap and a sponge, then giving them an acid bath. I scrubbed some remaining tar that was caked onto the front of the wheels. Cleaned the wheel wells out with Simple Green and a brush while I had the wheels off.

-Next came a bath with NXT soap, sheepskin mitt, and two buckets.
-Clayed the car using NXT quick detail and Clay Magic blue. Holy crap did my car need this. it felt like I was claying sand paper to start off with. Buttery smooth at the end
-Hit some areas that had stubborn pieces with bug and tar remover
-Washed again to get rid of excess QD and b&t
-Time to polish! Started out with a LC wool pad and Poorboys SSR3 with the PC7424 pegged at 6. The hood took several passes since my PC was no match for the ridiculously hard clear coat that my car has.
-There was some haze and micro-marring after such a brutal compounding, so I went to a less aggressive SSR1 on an orange pad after this. The haze was gone and it was really starting to look good.
-White pad with Menzenra Final Polish II was next
-Menzerna Finishing Touch Glaze helped hide any remaining deep imperfections, and the car was really starting to look wet.
-After all of the paint correction was done, I gave the car two coats of Menzerna FMJ, letting each one dry for a bit before being buffed off.
-LSP?.... My new sample of Dodo Supernatural. My god is this stuff awesome. Much better than the P21S I have been using up until now. Just hope it lasts long!
-I moved to the interior and vacuumed everything. I carry my dog to the dog park and such in this car, so there was drool EVERYWHERE. There was also dirt all over the leather even though I keep towels over the seats when the dog is in there. I cleaned all of the plastic and hit the rubber with Megs interior shine. The drool being gone was a welcome sight!
-I attempted to polish the headlights with PlasticX on a white pad. It helped, but i think the dealership marred the insides of the covers when they were workin on my lights after i first got the car.

Here's a bunch of before and after pics!
















Another shot of the scratches on the hood. Almost completely gone!



This entire area was scuffed and scratched to hell and back from cones.



Dirty wheels got some FMJ after their bath. Dr. Colorship helped that gash






More cone scuffs...






Not perfect, but better...



Onto the interior. Yes, I cleaned up the overspray interior shine on the door sill



Trim looks much better in black then dirty faded grey!



it's hard to see, but notice the dog nose smears all over the metal trim piece



Mud and dirt all over the plastic

And now some early morning glamor shots! I will take some more tonight in better sun, and somewhere better than my dad's driveway

















Thanks for looking! Let me know what you think!

Awesome job.

Check back tonight for better pics. I just went out and got some very good ones in better light, but it's going to be a few hours before i have them online

wow very good....love the plates

Ohhhhhh man those pictures are sweet! You did a pretty darn good restoring the paint, especially considering the conditions you mentioned. Thanks a lot for posting all those pics.

Greg @ Detailed Image

Thanks Greg!

Much better pics here:

Beautiful car !!! and restoration job.

BTW - how does the car handle in autocross. I had heard some reviews but would like to hear some more. Which engine do you have? Also, your license plate and the red color I hope that does not get you into trouble with the police

Me?? Trouble with the po po?? Never.....

It's a decent a-stock car for SCCA. I haven't ran BMWCCA events, so I'm not sure how it is in its class there. The car wouldn't be competitive against the ap2 and club racer S2k's at nationals, especially because it has an open diff, but I tend to be very competitive at local events. I have a couple regional championships to my name. It's a much better car after I gave it an aggressive alignment and helped free up the rear end.

Awesome about the popo and rightly so since you keep it on the track !

My wife loves the Z4 and I too like the styling especially the rear !!! I have driven 2 of them one at a dealer Susan G event which was auto and I just did not have that much of an impression with the long hood. I was impressed with the interior and the top(almost felt like a hard top from the inside - amazing !)

I then drove another SMG which I had more fun in. Perhaps a 6 speed is even better. My friend says its the funnest car he has driven.

BTW - Can you elaborate on the aggressive alignment? Do you mean adjusting suspension, camber, etc or something else..... I would be interested to know.

Regards,
Loay

WOW!!!! Those pics are stunning! That red looks unreal or maybe even "Supernatural".

Do you mind if I put some of those pictures up on our site or share them with others?

Greg @ Detailed Image

Not at all Greg, PM me or email me if you'd like higher res. I have them up to 3504x2336.

As for the alignment: I have it set at 0 toe in the front, 1/16th toe in for the rear. We shimmed the front to get -1.6 degree camber out of it, and took the rears down to -1 degree camber.

Stock settings were 1/4" toe in F, 1/8" toe in R, -.9 front camber, -2.7 rear camber. The car used to plow unless you REALLY chucked it around and unsettled the suspension. Now it's very very nuetral. I love it. Anyone else that drives it complains about how "wiggly" it is on the highway, mainly because of the no toe, but it's manageable.

hey man, what did you use to clean the interior? great job and awesome pics!

I used simple green max dilluted 1:1 on the hard plastics. I dusted with swiffers, then used Meg's Natural Interior Shine wiped off with microfiber. Used meg's gold class on the leather. I really need to pick up some leatherique from Detailed Image though, it could use it.

Great job looks amazing!

looooks veerrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyy good ha i like the supernatural it makes the paint look so wet and deep great job man

Awesome. Very nice job.