Sighting of the bug eyes is already rare but making it a S202 makes it next level! Here we have with us the perfect combo, Black, Boxer, All Original, Fully stock, S202, what more can a car enthusiast as for!? But looks can be deceiving. Read on to find out.
Upon arrival, we did the standard routine check up, she was in pretty bad shape. But being more than 10 years old, its was considerably normal to be this condition.
First thing we noticed was a severe watermark condition on every single panel of the car.
Some wax residue or polish residue was spotted around the STI emblem.
And also the S202 chrome emblem.
The factory carbon fiber GT Wing was also covered in watermarks.
Even the inner fuel cap area had watermark issues. Apparently, rust problems were quite common for the fuel area.
The fuel tank door was semi-oxidized.
Coming to the swirl and scratches, we found the surface to be 100% covered in them.
Some areas had lesser swirls some area had more.
Some areas were severely covered in thick watermark build up.
Some areas had visibly less watermarks.
Rear boot lid had the least watermark build up.
Unknown stains that is so hardened it felt like cement.
Well, basically what you see on this photo is how the entire car looks like up close.
and finally, the road grime.
The car’s factory wheels were STI engraved Volks CE28 but they were brake dust covered
Closer look on brake dust rust being almost the same colour as the bronze wheels.
1 swipe, revealing how the original colour should look like.
We started with a good old detailed wash, clay bar turned brown after 1 panel.
After the wash, we started by disassembling parts that might block my way.
Including the carbon fiber GT Wing.
The car looks pretty good from a distance after a good wash but we all know once you move closer…
First, we tackled the watermark build up. This is the before.
After clearing off the watermarks.
Haziness before.
50/50 on the same spot.
After removing the first layer of contamination, its time for us to move in depth for the swirls.
Before.
After.
Before.
After.
Haziness before.
Restored.
We got to be really honest, we were unable to restore the paint to a 100% or even a 90% state like we usually do. Mainly because the surface was already very much damaged. Being the original paint, it was the best that we could have done. So the surface still had minimal swirls but 100% watermark free.
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This Mazda owner had approached us since the car was new but because of his busy schedule, the car was not really cared for and also there was just no time for us to come over and get the paint protection from Day 1 of ownership. Finally after months of planning, we were able to setup a date where the owner is free of all work and get the car protected. It had been 6 months since new.
We expected some bad paint surface upon arrival since it had Zero Protection since Day 1.
The routine walk around was performed to check for obvious paint damages.
To be honest, metallic colours are really good at hiding damages. Swirls and Scratches are next to invisible when in shade. You would not expect such amount of paint damage on this car if we didn’t document it.
The first obvious paint damage we spotted was on the front bumper, this was a motorbike scrape.
Scratched from unknown source on the rear bumper area.
Of course some typical signs of daily usage.
We noticed some obvious hologram damage (damage from improper polishing) when the sun shined on this area.
Moving to some more in depth paint damage inspection. The LED check light is utilized.
Some obvious holograms were spotted on the side panels and on the hood. We also noticed some haziness on the paint.
Swirls from the regular washing
More swirls on the hood.
Hologram on doors.
A closer view on the swirls.
A closer view on the hologram
We spotted a weird stain on the paint as well. Texture felt like a matte surface.
We did some intense, deep clean and detailing in the washing stage. Unfortunately, there was nothing special to document. After that, we continued on with the paint restoration. We first attacked the obvious damages.
A closer view of the deep scratch with LED.
The scratch was visible even under the Sun
After the paint correction, the scratch is obviously gone.
A closer look with LED to make sure the scratch is fully restored.
No visible scratch or indentation on the paint.
Moving to the next obvious paint damage on the bumper. Before restoration.
After restoration. Although the scratch is gone but there is some permanent damage on the edges. The plastic trim could not be restored as well.
LED indicated the scratch is fully restored. The edge of the paint shows the permanent damage that we could not restore.
Now we tackled the hidden paint damages most consumer do not know about. Hologram damage before.
Hologram damage after restoration.
Swirl damage before.
Swirl damage after.
Remember the swirls from before?
Here is how it looks after restoration.
Hologram damage before?
Hologram after paint restoration.
Weird stain before?
Weird stain after. We were unable to fully remove this damage even after multiple attempts.
Final checking on the paint after an alcohol wipedown.
We gave the car a final washing and did some minor touch up to some neglected spots.
Exhaust tips before.
Exhaust tips after polishing.
The wheels were just dirty in the beginning.
A thick coat of brake dust.
After cleaning.
After coating.
It was obvious the wheels just bling-ed up.
Finally after many hours, we finished the car with a generous coat of Opti-Coat™Pro on all the painted panels, plastic trims, chrome, headlights, taillights, wheels, exhaust tips and all glass panels. Check out the glossy finish.
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