Jump to content

370z Nismo Mk1 - Restoring back to showroom condition


Lewis Schwier

Recommended Posts

  • 3 weeks later...

So I had a Friday free so that combined with the weekend I could squeeze some much needed TLC over 3 days. I want to do a 7 day detail at some point but business requires all my attention at the moment so that will have to be put on the back burner for now.

 

So just started off with a simple wash and decontamination. Was so cold that day, I literally washed the body and de tarred it then pulled it inside to dry. I then clayed the whole car with a soft to medium clay. I usually use Auto Finesse fine clay bar and do it during the wash stage as the only lubrication needed is water but due to the car being heavily contaminated I used Bilt Hamber's Auto-Clay, due to it being quite corse you do need to use a lubrication with it so I used Angel Wax Über Lube. The photos don't do it justice but the car was pretty bad, especially on the side where the rear brake pad was down to the metal, flinging up iron filings everywhere!

 

20201215_125430.jpg.11e3462ff6de61969b68507dca16d18f.jpg

 

20210109_144723.jpg.5c799b38beabf577595a972babb3f9cb.jpg

 

20210109_153402.jpg.50a39c0aa6cee27f375d0e642f1900e2.jpg

 

Took me a good 2 hours just to clay the car throughly. Then onto the machine polishing I used Rupes System with Yellow Pad and Koch Chemie M2. The paintwork was not bad at all, quite impressed with how good it was actually, could definitely tell the previous owners had looked after it and only had it washed correctly. A full day of machine polishing and the paintwork was ready to coat. I manged to bring the wrapped roof back to life with some light machine polishing as well. 

 

20210109_165951.jpg.2ac287773cd7d24dee1538c3b3ed5055.jpg

 

Time to change the awful black and red front badge back to OEM. Unfortunately I could see where the person who put this badge on had been, safe to say they had made a mess, chipping the paintwork whilst trying to pry off the original. A front bumper respray w/ plate delete is on the list for future jobs anyway so not the end of the world. Badges changed. MUCH better. 

 

20210115_130931.jpg.517ce4c1fa4f8be25780d6971ce11fbe.jpg

 

20210110_144803.jpg.36a1c569ed72f1d82873f96fb6753d82.jpg

 

IMG_20210115_131343.jpg.3396ceb07b327aefa3338b173c50c845.jpg

 

20210115_132321.jpg.5b9901082fccce4856f06f2466dba026.jpg

 

Wheels were taken off and cleaned. The rear wheel that was on the hub where the brake pad was down to the metal was absolutely caked in contaminates and overtime had baked onto the alloy. After an hour of elbow grease and about 1L of acid later I had managed to take it all off. The wheels need a refurbishment so no point in putting any coating on them, at least now they are clean!

 

20210117_153630.jpg.25550bf922ca713e45d04bb318e4f369.jpg

 

20210119_134749.jpg.2e47c25afdd5b3fa0ccf331b6770e64f.jpg

 

Then it was onto coating the paintwork. I had been sent some samples of ceramic coating by N-XTC who are a sister company of Chemical Guys. I had bought my Heat Lamp off Chemical Guys EU and Martin who runs the shop in the Netherlands called me up and we had a good chat, he was keen to get my opinion on their ceramic coating and potentially get me on board to be the first UK Accredited Installer for N-XTC. 

 

The whole car was wiped down with IPA then onto applying the first layer of coating. First layer was then baked with the Infrared Heat Lamp at 60°C for 6 minutes each section. That was left over night then the top coat was applied. Looking forward to seeing how the coating performs!

 

20210117_170416.jpg.7f19151e1b9d8b8603806ef11c279cc3.jpg

 

20210117_170116.jpg.dd31d14d7c95985f324a44b5a34bc6a5.jpg

 

20210117_142105.jpg.5a1c8a2a5b1817eb304d8a8a2c14f19f.jpg

 

20210117_141755.jpg.a58c4139d326178954b6fe4d3df30606.jpg

 

Something I also had on order for a while was a new OEM gear knob. It finally arrived so no more eBay special Fismo! So satisfying to fit and finally see the interior how it should be! The gear knob was £226 but it just needed to be done. Thanks to Adrian and the team for the great customer service as always!

 

IMG_20210115_122750.jpg.1428478c78895d0e3a7dda1af704726f.jpg

 

20210115_122837.jpg.187a5211bc9125c463bcd4a9c1bae6ce.jpg

 

So that was the end of the 3 days, the car looks so much better now and feels like mine. The gear knob, front badge and rear wheel were really bugging me so glad I was able to sort them out. Like I mentioned before other things will have to wait as I'm currently attending finances within the business but at least its road worthy now!

 

20210117_172307.jpg.c85cf774e87f2884786483feffa1b858.jpg

 

20210116_163143.jpg

Edited by Lewis Schwier
Spell check
  • Like 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, hmale4yu said:

Nice work 

 

Why is the car rocking MK2 headlights though ?

They are the original headlights but have been modified exactly how @SHEZZA explained. At first it was one thing that put me off the car but when I saw them in person I quite liked them and they have grown on me even more since I bought the car. Not quite sure if they are there to stay but definitely at the bottom of the list if I were to change. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Silverthorn said:

Impressive work! I struggle to motivate myself to do anything other than a quick maintenance wash during this time of year so fair play to you. Looks awesome :thumbs:

Fortunately I'm used to doing 4-5 hours of prep work on my customers cars. And when you have timescales its a whatever the weather kind of situation :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Was time to tackle the engine bay! At a glance it didn't look that bad but turned out to be one of those jobs, 4 hours in and you're regretting starting it :doh:

 

The engine bay wasn't badly soiled but this thick layer of a wax type of gunk was absolutely everywhere, absolutely impossible to get off unless you scrape at it or go ham with tar and glue remover.

 

20210123_164335.jpg.eced4be43aa731d7d3a8736c0d88a187.jpg

 

I figured it was best to scrape most of the gunk off the worst areas first before I started cleaning, multiple different tools were used to get in every nook and cranny possible, I literally spent half a day doing this, what a horrible job. As you can see massive difference just after this stage. 

 

IMG_20210128_143949.jpg.3a7a5fbe91f5f69dd5b82a13994c056a.jpg

 

IMG_20210128_143902.jpg.43c7964983ada8fe1508959fee66fb24.jpg

 

With the worst bit out of the way I then sprayed BH Surfex HD all over, agitated with a Hog Hair Brush and proceeded with using the steam cleaner. 

 

20210126_170426.jpg.c982885827fdcf938af1bfa5baa1d1ab.jpg

 

I then used a microfibre cloth to clean up all the residue, the same thing was repeated with the underside of the bonnet. Then this was hand polished with Auto Finesse Triple.

 

There was a couple of plastic clips missing so that was rectified before dressing. 

 

20210128_142246.jpg.eaf064e57e07e09bfcfd1074d1917337.jpg

 

Auto Glym Viynl & Rubber care was used to dress the engine bay plastics and condition rubber trims. 

 

20210128_170438.jpg.5fcfe6f58c2f71f98a0b49f954088cda.jpg

 

Product was sprayed on generously and left to dwell for a minute. Then I used the blower to move the product into all the nooks and crannies.

 

20210128_170611_001.jpg.5a6c21ae699dc97f01124fb2f7406d6b.jpg

 

A microfibre was then used to buff and wipe any excess away. The finishing touch was fitting the nice polished RAD expansion cover from @RDON

 

20210123_153417.jpg.7d19a665a1f5013716b77e899e2c098e.jpg

 

Very rewarding process, I spent a lot more time then I originally wanted too on this but did the best I could without removing any components. 7 hours over two evenings and all complete! Just need to clean the over-spray off the glass and wings. I think some dress up bolts would finish my engine bay off nicely, definitely on the buy list. 

 

20210128_150845.jpg.3033cde114e47107f65c6081b208e771.jpg

 

20210128_182128.jpg.29e3013eb3afdbdd939adb3fa0af5a1b.jpg

 

20210128_182223.jpg.8b3371d36affbf237482660297a2fcc7.jpg

 

20210128_182745.jpg.c98241186bd483c032a6444cd648ca3d.jpg

 

  • Like 11
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...