Street Dreams Detail – Porsche 997.2 GT3
Posted on 09. Aug, 2011 by Exotics & Luxury in Automotive, Exotics and Luxury, Porsche, Sponsors, Street Dreams Detail
The Porsche 911 GT3 is widely regarded as one of the best driver’s cars ever made. Its lightweight body, naturally aspirated flat six, manual gearbox, and Nürburgring tuned suspension makes it a trackday favorite for all the weekend warriors out there. This daily driver GT3 MKII was booked for a complete new car prep and paint correction by our detailing sponsor, Street Dreams Detail. David Saunders is the owner and paint correction specialist at Street Dreams and he uses meticulous care and precision with every vehicle he touches. For information on how you can have David go to work on your vehicle please contact him via email, David@streetdreamsdetail.com, or by phone, (551) 804 6782. And be sure to check out Street Dreams on the web.
The average man’s race car…
Wheels and tires came first. This GT3 has Porsche’s carbon ceramic brakes so no wheel cleaner could be used. A bit of pH car shampoo mixed in a bucket was all that was needed. The tires and wheel wells were scrubbed as well.
Tire dressing from the dealer had to be removed…
The GT3 was prepped at the dealer and was wearing some kind of wax or glaze which needed to be completely stripped.
Dave started with a pre-soak using diluted Optimum powerclean…
Followed by foaming with CG citrus wash + Dawn…
Lastly, Dave applied the 2-bucket wash method with a lambswool mitt and CG citrus shampoo as well.
Dave used an electric blower to blow out the crevices and wheels.
Dave got some shots of the paint defects in direct sunlight.
RIDS and holograms…
Water etch on the film. The entire front hood and front bumper have clear bra.
Detailing doesn’t always go as smoothly as planned and a piece of tar on the film left a 1 inch gouge of scratches while trying to be removed.
Up close…
Dave then brought the GT3 inside for claying, paint only… Dave advises “Do not clay clear film as you can seriously marr it.”
The clay bar after the passenger door only…
After claying Dave prepped the car for correction using IPA mixture, again taking caution on the film and opting not to use any IPA as the alcohol can dry out the plastic
The paint treated with IPA/water for prep and after each polishing stage…
For wiping down film Dave likes Meguiar’s Final Inspection. It’s slick enough not to mar yet does a fine job cleaning without adding any real protection (which is what you want for prep and post polishing).
After taping up trim and badges Dave measured the paint and standard readings, and found no dangerously low areas.
On to the correction process as Dave started with the hood, clear film, and the scratches. He taped off the one area which needed extra work, then taped up all edges and lines where the film ends.
Up close of the cluster…
Some of the deeper marks showing through…
Dave prefers using a DA machine on film, so he began correcting this area with the DA, cutting pad and M105 and even after several passes only minor marks were removed.
He opted to use a 3″ pad on the rotary with the same combo and overloaded the pad with M105 liquid to keep the heat down and reduce the cut of the pad just a tad as to not burn the film. After 2 hits with the combo Dave was able to cut out a good bit more of defect from the spot. However, the deeper marks would not budge short of wetsanding.
Although not 100%, the mark was lightened quite a bit…
After the spot compounding was done Dave moved back to the DA machine to clean up the rest of the film. This was a 3 step process.
As for people say that you CANNOT improve gloss on clear film heres a bit of proof from the master himself…
“White polishing pad after a 2×2 area, you would be surprised how much dirt is pulled out of the plastic when polishing. I changed out the pad 4 times to keep working clean. I moved onto the finish stage only when my pads showed clean foam after polishing.”
All finished…
Moving onto the rest of the car Dave used the rotary for both cutting and finishing.
Below are a few passenger door correction shots:
50/50 left side shows the holograms left by the dealer…
Close ups using halogen and the Fenix TK40 LED:
Haze before…
After polishing…
50/50 difference in clarity and a hologram split in 2…
Cleaning up after compounding…
Working rear wing area, lots of tight spaces took Dave a bit of time to get perfect.
Light compounding…
Finishing up the rear wing, Dave switched up to the 3″ pad to get in between the two ducts.
Dave then focused his attention to the tail lights.
Before…
After…
Polishing front fender…
After all of the correction and polishing was done Dave began the jeweling step.
Wing after jeweling…
Dave gave the GT3 a last IPA wipedown and pulled it out in the sun to inspect his work. No LSP was applied.
Sun shots…
No more RIDS or holograms!
Dave took the GT3 back inside for the rest of the detail. LSP was powerlocked twice and topped with Collinite 915 for maximum protection. The tires were dressed and the wheels were sealed.
Dave polished out the doorjambs then applied the powerlock sealant…
50/50 trunk area plastics treated with 303…
Sealed hood jambs with AJT…
The GT3′s interior didn’t need much work, but the alcantara was treated for protection and all plastics were treated with 303, etc.
Also, 303 Fabric guard was applied to the carpets.
Engine compartment cleaned…
The front spoiler was treated as well. 50/50 before and after…
Finished shots of this stunning Porsche 997.2 GT3. Dave told us, “It came damn close but the rain held off!”
Way to go, Dave!
Back inside for the final wipedown using DI water…
The efforts and talents of David Saunders and Street Dreams Detail cannot be understated. If your car needs the tender loving care it deserves don’t hesitate and contact Street Dreams right away.
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