A little about the car…Some cars just get it rough. Some get pampered to be trailer queens and others get flogged week in and week out on the race track. The Ausitn Cooper S we got in last week is definitely the latter. This early, all aluminum bodied Cooper S has never even been registered as a road car; it has spent its entire life on a race track. From British Columbia, to the famous Monte Carlo Rally, this car has been campaigned all over the world. Due to its extensive racing pedigree, the paint has seen more than its fair share of abuse. I will let the photos speak for themselves on this one because the before and after photos are just unreal!
As far as the detail goes…We started with a regular prep using a pH neutralizing cleaner on the paint and body work to remove the iron and other embedded contaminants present on this vehicle in particular due to its racing history. Fact: Embedded brake dust, iron and other contaminants can stick into the paint of your vehicle and actually cause pitting beneath the contaminant itself based on irons acidity. These pockets continue to remain even after the iron has been removed by pH neutralizing cleaning agents or claybar. Its best to do this after a racecar has been decommissioned to ensure the paint doesnt completely deteriorate in years to come and can be detailed or cleaned rather with respect to patina and avoiding any added shine or gloss from this type of cleaning.
***For those who value and respect patina***cleaning agents and claybar dont give any additional shine or wax like after effects. This step only removes the harmful metals and leaves your paint clean, with no more luster, shine or reflective property than it had before. Some people like to keep old racecars looking like they did when they were raced, this car in particular also underwent our paint correction services to bring a level of shine, luster and reflection it hadnt had in the past.
The paint on all body panels received 2-3 stages of foam pad correction and a final LSP (last step product) of a carnauba based wax to give the car that rich deep gloss which is apparent in the after photos at the end. Hope you enjoy the illustrated correction by our Before and After picture posting in this blog. Enjoy!
While it may look good in the photos, from up close it was a whole different story. Here are some before and afters to show the correction we attained on this vehicle.
Before
After
Before
After
Before
After
Before
After
Finished Shots
We hope you enjoyed the write up and if you haven’t already, please vote for Northwest Auto Salon in the King 5 competition
Vote NWAS as Best Detail in Seattle for King5’s Best of Western Washington
Check out our Flickr gallery for full res shots from this write up
Thanks for the info