This week, Fireball USA is getting ready for Street Car Takeover Kansas City! This year we’re bringing three cars to the booth. We’ve partnered with some of our newest customers to bring along a Porsche 911 Carrera S and a rare 1990 Honda Civic EF Hatch. Of course, Fireball CEO Luke Sill’s 2014 Nissan GT-R Black Edition will also be making an appearance. All three cars needed a little bit of work before the show – here’s everything we did to get them ready for prime time.
The Porsche was coated in Butterfly Graphene just last year by our partners at Auto Appearance, and its surface held up just like it should have. Even though the vehicle had been neglected, we couldn’t find any holograms, swirling, or defects of any kind, so there was no need for paint correction. However, the car had been sitting in a garage for a while now and had collected a thick layer of dust. Our solution was a brief decontamination and a deep-cleaning wash.
We hit the most problematic spots with Fireball Reborn and gently wiped the surface clean with a Fireball Jet Towel, designed to not leave microfiber threads behind. Then we layered the car in Fireball Hydro Shampoo for a detailed full-car wash. By the end of the day, it looked like a whole new car!
The Civic was in a little rougher condition than the Porsche. Although it still looks great for its age, the Civic had significant paint swirls, high spots, scratches, and water-spot etching. We started out with a full, three-step paint correction over nearly the entire surface of the car. We had to be careful with this process, as the older paint had worn thin and we risked burning through on some areas, but in the end, we came out with a smooth surface we can be proud of.
This car has been around for 30 years, and we want it to last even longer, so we chose Fireball’s 10-year dual-layer DokDo coating to finish out this job. Coating the Honda in DokDo will give it two solid layers of +9H ceramic protection, preventing swirls, holograms, etching, and minor scratches. Here’s to another 10 years!
The R35 GT-R was our biggest project for this show. Our basic cosmetic repairs weren’t going to be enough this time around, the GT-R had been a bit neglected over the past few years and needed special attention.
To start out, we pulled almost every piece of carbon fiber off the vehicle, including interior upgrades and the aftermarket Sparco Racing Seats. Due to age and heavy use, most had faded and all needed attention in one way or another. We polished and re-clear coated nearly every piece, and detailed the full interior cabin.
Next, we installed an entirely new Ams Performance Fuel System and replaced several of the relevant sensors. While we waited for a fuel pressure sensor to be overnighted to Fireball Headquarters, we pulled the GT-R’s wheels off and replaced the brake pads and the old rotors with a new carbon forged set. The next day, with the new sensor installed, we tuned the retro-fitted turbos with ECU Tech.
Lastly, we focused on cosmetics. Before coating, we re-installed the carbon-fiber features, including some brand-new side pieces. We removed the old coating with Fireball Wax Off, and recoated the vehicle in a quadruple layer of DokDo, two layers of Base Coat, and two layers of Top Coat. Now, with the turbos tuned, the interior reupholstered, and the carbon fiber sealed in by its fresh coating, the GT-R ready for the spotlight.
Catch these three rides out in Kansas City North on Sunday, May 7th! All three will be on display at the Fireball booth, along with a mod list for the GTR, exclusive sales prices for this event only, and information on a new media venture. Don’t miss Kansas City’s biggest car show of the year!
