03/01/2026
Introducing the most intensive job we have ever completed. This iconic R34 received over 80 hours of love, dedication and extreme attention to detail, and we really do mean extreme. This was almost unbearable with how mentally challenging it became and it spent over 3 months with us. But the results right here show what is only possible when a business provides a service fueled with a pure passion for cars and client satisfaction.
Please check out the awesome before and after video in the comment section!
So this R34 arrived at our shop after having a respray completed in a custom colour. We don't want to go into the who or why as sometimes things just happen, but it wasn't completed to an acceptable standard in our eyes. The colour? Absolutely stunning. The job? Average.
The worst and most obvious part was the sheer amount of texture, aka orange peel throughout every panel. It was so heavy that it completely hid all of the bright colours in the metallic as well as most of the reflections. So before we touched it the whole car looked satin black except on certain angles in full sunlight.
Im pretty confident it was flow coated which ironically is a procedure carried out on show cars etc to reduce orange peel and provide a perfect glass like finish. This is where you essentially apply the colour and clear like usual, then you sand it back lightly and then apply another layer of clear over the top that self levels and hides any imperfections from the previous layer. This part really screwed us over because a lot of sanding marks, imperfections and peel not properly removed from that first layer were showing through the second layer, but werent accessible to remove without absolutely massive amounts of sanding and correction. Thankfully we had over 500 microns of paint thickness to play with ๐
We carried out P2000 and P3000 sanding to remove a decent chunk of the orange peel but also remain on the safer side to start with. Plus remember we mentioned visible peel from the first layer showing through the top layer, so that's all we could remove safely anyway. However, it's actually a good thing to retain some level of orange peel on cars that are driven and enjoyed because without this you will actually see the natural ripples in the body lines/panels and every tiny imperfection will stand out like crazy, especially swirl marks. The only cars that should typically have zero peel in our opinion are those that are purely for going on show at highly reputable events and remain stored inside and under a silk car cover for the rest of the time. There were also remaining defects and sanding marks as mentioned showing through the first layer of clear so instead of the usual process of sanding and polishing once, we had to repeatedly do it many times in certain areas to try and minimise as many of these marks as possible. Not everything was 100% fixable without repainting, but it's now almost impossible to see what remains with the naked eye unless you look extremely hard on certain angles. For 99% of cars this is a perfectly acceptable standard and expectation to set.
After the sanding battle was completed we reached the next hurdle. It was painted in a MIPA clear coat which is scratch resistant! ๐
We have removed sanding marks from so many cars and it was INSANELY difficult on this car between the scratch resistant surface and the defects below the top surface. It took 8 hours just to do the bonnet alone, which is also proper carbon fibre so we had to be extremely careful. Each guard and door took probably 4 hours each, even with the harshest of pads and compounds. This was a valuable lesson to finish in P5000 and maybe even P8000 if we get another similar task down the line. We don't paint cars so we can always learn more about the process and a better way of doing things. This car received so many passes that we lost count during the correction stage. But basically lots of rotary passes and lots of D.A passes, with the whole variety of pads like denim, wool, microfibre, hybrid and foam until it looked amazing.
We then gave the whole car a big wash and decon followed by multiple IPA wipe downs to ensure all polishing oils and residue were removed and the surface was guaranteed contaminant free for the ceramic coating application. All of our polishing compounds are water based plus silicon and filler free so the results last and don't wash off in a few weeks. We then applied our top tier Gyeon Infinite Ceramic Coating. We went with Type 2 which is suited to dark coloured weekend cars and gives the colour a major boost with huge depth and gloss levels. Each panel that Infinite was applied to instantly transformed to another level. It's quite funny during these no time limit jobs when you reach a result that you deem perfect, but keep managing to somehow improve it over and over again. You don't know where to call it quits!
We also removed the old window tint and applied the Ultragard Ceramic 15% film which made the car look way nicer. Not only does it keep the interior super cool and provide great privacy, but the black glass actually helps to make the paint pop even more when you look at the whole car.
We weren't prepared for how amazing it ended up looking once we put it outside in the sunlight. The photos do absolutely no justice, it's not even remotely the same car as when it arrived and we are so proud of the results achieved. A year or two ago we used to say that the canvas sets the expectation, so you can only do as good of a job as the foundation of the paint is. But now we are learning how to improve the paint foundation itself ๐ช๐ผ
If you have got this far we really appreciate you taking an interest in the process and what we do. If you could take one second to hit the like button and even share this post, it would be very much appreciated. Likes and shares are free of charge and significantly boost our reach and help us grow.
If you have an enthusiast vehicle like this and would like to treat it to the very best care and products available on the Sunshine Coast, please reach out via our socials and we will tailor a package to suit your needs ๐
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