2005 TL: "My son took the snow off with a steel shovel"

S

stilez

New member
:scared: :scared: :scared:





I thought the same thing...





I went and visited mgm2003 this weekend in Delaware. It was more of a leisure and post college planning visit, but he asked for my help on his friend's TL. It's a 2005 that hasn't been cared for well. He had to run inside for something and while doing so his young son decided to clear the snow off his TL with a steel snow shovel. John attached only 3 pictures when I heard about this but upon further review, this thing was cut up bad.



The hood, I was almost sure, would need a respray. He really took the paint with him on there. The fenders were both bruised nicely as were both the A-pillars, rear bumper, roof, and skirts. I didn't photograph every area as I wanted to get cracking on this one. I ended up touching up for about an hour straight! If I had to estimate, there were well over 50 R.I.D.S. and the ones on the hood were far longer than 6 inches.



The rest of the vehicle wasn't too bad. The clay picked up a lot of junk on the rear bumper and was rather normal for the rest of the vehicle. All in all, not an Autopian owner :(. Here's what we did:





Cleaning

-Optimum Wash with vinegar pre-soak

-Optimum Clay

-Poorboy's Spray and Rinse on wheels

-Optimum APC on tires/wells

-Flitz on exhaust

-Natural Look on tires/wells





Scratches

-PrepSol wipedown on all scratches

-Touch up each scratch very gently with enough paint to allow a "blob"

-Allow to dry for 60-90 minutes in heated garage

-Sand with variations between 1000>2400 grit papers (3m and Micromesh)

-Menzerna Powergloss via rotary and LC Foamed Wool Cutting Pad @ 1500-1700 rpm x 2-5



These steps took about 3 hours in total







Polishing and Protecting

-Menzerna Final Polish II via PC @ 5 on vertical surfaces (John polishing)

-Menzerna Final Polish II via rotary and LC Finishing Pad @ 1500 rpm on horizontal surfaces (me polishing)

-IPA wipedown

-Z5 on paint, wheels, windows, and tailpipes

-Z8 final wipedown







Before

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Before :down

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After

IMG_0667.jpg






Before

IMG_0657.jpg




After

IMG_0673.jpg
 
A critic :lol:

IMG_0708.jpg




IMG_0704.jpg






I want to thank John for this opportunity. While it was a lot of work, it was great practice for touching up and sanding. I became very confident over the course of this detail. On portions of the hood, I Powerglossed 4-5 times. The owner wanted it good enough that the dealer wouldn't notice when he turned it in for a lease. I'd say the scratches were 90% as new. You could see minor scarring on some spots of the hood but only up close and under certain lighting.





Questions/Comments, feel free.
 
Wow...great work. You can be honest with me, you changed the hood right. j/k. You do some very impressive work my friend.



With Aloha,

Ranney :)
 
Man, that is some OUTSTANDING work the two of you performed! Absolutely amazing detailing skills!
 
Was this guy's son angry at him or something? I mean, it doesn't take an Autopian to know that a steel shovel is not friendly to a car's paint. :confused:



Either way, that came out great Sean! :xyxthumbs
 
Wow, you managed to get a new hood so quick. Those Acura parts guys work fast !! (just kiddin)



Excellent work, truly excellent.
 
Is the rear bumper cover a different color than the body? Maybe its just the lighting?



Nice work. I hope the guy spanked his son with the snow shovel.



Lorne
 
96snake said:
Is the rear bumper cover a different color than the body? Maybe its just the lighting?



Nice work. I hope the guy spanked his son with the snow shovel.



Lorne
Click to expand...

90% cars look like that if you really inspect em. front and back bumpers always seem to have a different color. anything with a plastic bumper or whatever they make them with i think looks that way
 
sheeet -- great work. very impressive..



I don't know if I have the guts/knowledge/skills to do that kind of repair.
 
96snake said:
Is the rear bumper cover a different color than the body? Maybe its just the lighting?



Nice work. I hope the guy spanked his son with the snow shovel.



Lorne
Click to expand...



That's a very common TL complaint - there is a TSB about it, if I recallt correctly.



GSRstilez - what can I say? Amazing.
 
Sean! Amazing work!





2000firebird said:
[quote name='96snake'] Is the rear bumper cover a different color than the body? Maybe its just the lighting?
Click to expand...



90% cars look like that if you really inspect em. front and back bumpers always seem to have a different color. anything with a plastic bumper or whatever they make them with i think looks that way[/QUOTE]



The factory finish is so thin that it won't cover the plastic parts properly, so the different shade shows through. You can observe it on any plastic parts; bumpers, fuel caps... I've seen a lot of cars (especially VW-brands) with no flake at all in the paint or the clear was missing on certain surfaces (mainly trunklids, or awkward areas where the atomizing bells - aka paint guns - couldn't reach).
 
Just when I think you can't get any better...you throw me a curve ball. :spit:



Absolutely phenominal recovery!!!
 
Very nice work. How exactly did you fill and buff the scratches? Absolutely amazing as you can not tell it was ever scratched.
 
theamcguy said:
Very nice work. How exactly did you fill and buff the scratches? Absolutely amazing as you can not tell it was ever scratched.
Click to expand...



I watched in person, and I'm still scratching my head. Pure talent. I'm not sure if ANY shops in the tri-state area would have even attempted what he did -the hood was that bad.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
When does the owner have to turn the car in from lease?
Click to expand...



It's a 30 month lease and he picked it up last April/May.



The 3rd pic that Sean posted was after Power Gloss only. The LC synthetic foam pad looked like a wool pad but it was very soft and produced an amazing finish.



Sure he took away some clear, no doubt about that. It was the owners choice to try and repair the damage vs. $$$ for a re-spray. He knew up front that it was a wet sand/compound job.
 
Just incredible, Sean! You may have seriously saved that guy more than $1500 in paint work or extra cost on his lease.



That takes a lot of patience to touch up, sand, buff, retouch, resand and rebuff! :bow
 
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