Detailed something special...

kissrocksforever · Jan 9, 2014

Detailed this yesterday... It's a 2014 McLaren MP4 -12C fitted with a Carbon Fiber body kit (consisting of front and rear bumpers, front and rear diifusers, and side skirts valued at $24,000)

I detail (and drive

) lots of vehicles like this, as I work at a high end bodyshop (Pfaff Autoworks in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada... we specialize in Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, McLaren, and most recently Pagani)

The car also features a custom Pfaff exhaust system that was designed, built, and installed in house... one of a kind in the world) Here are four pictures after I detailed it as well as a short video.. The best part is that this car is going straight to the Toronto Auto Show! If you see the car on TV or in person at the show, see it knowing that I detailed it

I wasn't planning to do a full write up on the car, but I cut and polished the whole car. The painted parts were sanded with 2000 grit paper followed by 3000 grit, and the bare carbon fiber parts with only 3000. I then polished with a three stage 3M polish. Anyway here are a couple meh cell phone shots of the car... Pretty sick car. I'd have to say this was my highest point so far as a detailer. Kind of hard to surpass detailing for an international auto show!

Here's a link to a video I took of the car running as well. Let me know if the link doesn't work.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10153700245485646&l=4774680194632639187

GT Rob · Jan 9, 2014

You get to drive it

kissrocksforever · Jan 9, 2014

Yes sir. I drove it from our tuning facility about 3 miles away to the bodyshop where I work. This was in November before we had snow. I get to drive every vehicle that comes in... I've driven probably five or six different McLarens... A Murcielago, countless Porsches and Audis. It's a pretty good gig

whiplash473 · Jan 9, 2014

Whoa, that's not something you see often. That's awesome, I would love to drive one of those even if it's just a short trip like you did.

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the5.ohh · Jan 9, 2014

Thats awesome. Was always a fan of McLarens.. Remember the McLaren F1 LM? Dumb question why did you wetsand a brand new car?

whiplash473 · Jan 9, 2014

Orange peel and you need something to buff. Buffing non-sanded paint doesn't get nearly the finish that a panel hit with 2-3k would.

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Orange 94 · Jan 9, 2014

Wow. I didnt know there were any of those in canada! I guess if you have money!

g36 monkey · Jan 10, 2014

Nice, I'd be scared to touch it lol.

And thanks for answering that whipface

whiplash473 · Jan 10, 2014

I wouldn't even wanna buff that thing, the thought of burning an edge gives me the heebitty bajeebitties.

MissFivePointSlow · Jan 10, 2014

That is awesome, I use to detail some neat cars when I worked at my job Audi dealer and also An Ford Dealer. Soo stressful lol

kissrocksforever · Jan 10, 2014

Whiplash nailed it as to why it was sanded and buffed. The texture in the paint comes from the factory. Basically when the clear coat is applied it is done so though a spray gun (obviously) and is the best way to do it, but it still goes on the surface unevenly. By sanded it, it becomes even and looks like a mirror. Below is a picture of before sanded and after on an OEM Volkswagen door... The door was sanded with 1500 - 3000 - 5000.

And yes, burning through is always a concern but you get pretty good when you do it all the time... With McLarens, you have to order the paint directly from McLaren. We're McLaren certified (only body shop in North America that is.) and if they were to find out we mixed our own paint to do a car we'd lose that certification. The paint alone for just one bumper is $1200... So yeah.. expensive high risk stuff.

Anyway, here are the before and after texture pics.

whiplash473 · Jan 10, 2014

I'm a body guy, I buff every morning. First thing we do in the morning is cut and buff what was left to bake the night before. I'd still be worried since factory paint is so much thinner than resprays.

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OnyxCobra · Jan 10, 2014

that's a pretty sick car and sounds freakin raunchy. So really buffing sanded paint gives you a better result than just buffing? I have a question about sanding, how high of grit do you usually need to go to get a good finish? I usually go up to 2000-2500 but for some reason a lot of times you can still see sanding marks even after buffing, especially under florescent lighting.

Musturd · Jan 10, 2014

Bad ass dude I've only ever seen one it was matte black here in Vancouver where I live ... I see lambos, Bentleys , ferarris regularly mclaren not so much

ttocs · Jan 10, 2014

Eh I have one of those and drive the fawk out of it daily

on forza 5

It kinda makes me miss the days installing in Scottsdale, and then it kinda doesn't. Detailing I am sure there are some different techniques on high end cars but audio/security takes on a whole new relm. I moved there feeling like a fairly confident installer with 6 yrs exp, in farm trucks and tractors.... First day I walked up there they backed out 2 bmw m8's and then put a 911 carrara s turbo for a simple deck/amp/sub/4 speakers for I think it was close to 8 grand in parts/labor.... Farm trucks are easy to take apart, put back together and if you break something cheap to replace. High end exotics, not so much.....

kissrocksforever · Jan 11, 2014

OnyxCobra said:
that's a pretty sick car and sounds freakin raunchy. So really buffing sanded paint gives you a better result than just buffing? I have a question about sanding, how high of grit do you usually need to go to get a good finish? I usually go up to 2000-2500 but for some reason a lot of times you can still see sanding marks even after buffing, especially under florescent lighting.

Sanding can be tricky to figure out at first. I always use a DA. I find using the air tools to sand leaves a lot less sanding marks than if I were to sand by hand. When you use the DA it all sort of appears as a haze or cloud in the paint, you don't really see the actually scratches of it. I always go to at least 3000, but if I have the time I go to 5000. If you use a DA the most important things to remember are to avoid edges, even more so than with a polisher, and to keep that sanding disk clean. Small chunks of clearcoat or dirt can get caught in it and produce 'pigtails' in the paint which are deeper squiggly marks (that resemble pigtails) from the piece of debris. I usually re-sand with the current grit if I get them. But I find I only really ever see them with 1500 grit or more aggressive.

kissrocksforever · Jan 11, 2014

ttocs said:
Eh I have one of those and drive the fawk out of it daily

on forza 5 It kinda makes me miss the days installing in Scottsdale, and then it kinda doesn't. Detailing I am sure there are some different techniques on high end cars but audio/security takes on a whole new relm. I moved there feeling like a fairly confident installer with 6 yrs exp, in farm trucks and tractors.... First day I walked up there they backed out 2 bmw m8's and then put a 911 carrara s turbo for a simple deck/amp/sub/4 speakers for I think it was close to 8 grand in parts/labor.... Farm trucks are easy to take apart, put back together and if you break something cheap to replace. High end exotics, not so much.....

Oh believe me, all the procedures where I work are pretty crazy. We have the only McLaren certified bodyman in the country so we does all the actual work on the cars, but it's done by the book with McLarens own equipment. Mechanical is something else as well. Again, I don't do that side of the job with i see it and it's pretty different than doing say, a Chrysler 300 or something.

whiplash473 · Jan 11, 2014

OnyxCobra said:
that's a pretty sick car and sounds freakin raunchy. So really buffing sanded paint gives you a better result than just buffing? I have a question about sanding, how high of grit do you usually need to go to get a good finish? I usually go up to 2000-2500 but for some reason a lot of times you can still see sanding marks even after buffing, especially under florescent lighting.

Hand sanding or on a DA? On a DA with water I'd go 3k but if you're doing it by hand then 3-4k. You also might not be using a compound designed for what you want it to do.

KillNThrill24 · Jan 11, 2014

Legit question here... I was looking at the back end of the car and I have to ask... How does the rear hatch open with the exhaust pipes sticking out like that? Or does it open right above the exhaust?