A first for me. 2018 Cadillac Hearse!!! Corrected and coated!

Justins00ss

Active member
So over the summer I had completed 2 vehicles for this client. A Mustang and a Dodge Ram Power Wagon. When he picked up the Ram he had mentioned that he and his brothers owned a funeral home and had a 2018 Caddy Hearse that they had got earlier in the year but was in need of some correction and a coating being black. He offered up his nice heated garage and a date was set on the schedule.



I had 2 days to get this done as it can`t be down for much more than that. Luckily he already had it washed so prep work wasn`t needed really.



Prep/decon
Quick waterless wash with AMMO FROTHe and light clay with nanoskin fine towel.

Correction- Now for the fun part. To say this paint was hammered was a under statement and to top it off it mainly rock hard but in some areas kind of soft. Most of the vehicle got a heavy cut with M100, Rupes 21 Mark ll and a twisted black wool pad. Some areas only needed microfiber and M100. The adams swirl killer mini and Rupes ibrid were also used.



Finish polishing- Again most of the vehicle responded with 3D ONE and Rupes yellow pad with the Mark ll. Some areas needed Hyper Polish and Rupes yellow.


Wheels/Tires- Wiped down with AMMO Frothe and dressed with hyper dressing


LSP- IGL Quartz+

Before


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50/50


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Before


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After


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Finished
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WALK AROUND VIDEO

YouTube
 
Wow that thing must’ve seen plenty of tunnel washes to be in such condition! Nice save and I’m sure it was plenty of hard work. Sore arms I bet. I was just admiring the hearses that carried President Bush today. Very elegant vehicles!
 
Justins00ss- Ah, I hadn`t seen one of the newer Cadillac Hearses, thanks for sharing this!

[INSERT usual praise for Justins00ss HERE]

Was there a huge diff between the oe paint and that sprayed during the Hearse conversion?

Gee, that *was* hammered, I was shocked...When I was a kid, a pal`s family had a local funeral home, and I can remember how their vehicles were all in truly Autopian condition. This was back in the days of ss black lacquer and before MF too, but they really were *that* nice. In my area, they wore countless applications (OK...layers) of Blue Coral. That was one of those early childhood experiences that stayed with me.."cars sure look better without swirls".
 
Justins00ss- Ah, I hadn`t seen one of the newer Cadillac Hearses, thanks for sharing this!

[INSERT usual praise for Justins00ss HERE]

Was there a huge diff between the oe paint and that sprayed during the Hearse conversion?

Gee, that *was* hammered, I was shocked...When I was a kid, a pal`s family had a local funeral home, and I can remember how their vehicles were all in truly Autopian condition. This was back in the days of ss black lacquer and before MF too, but they really were *that* nice. In my area, they wore countless applications (OK...layers) of Blue Coral. That was one of those early childhood experiences that stayed with me.."cars sure look better without swirls".

Hahaha. Thanks bud. According to the company who built it they repaint the whole thing. But from what I can tell it was sprayed from the doors back. For the most part it was very hard typical GM paint but in some areas it acted on the softer side. It definitely threw me off as I worked around it.
 
What a shame :(

I used to feel the same way. But I I`ve all my clients a maintenance sheet with proper coating maintenance and products. I go over everything with them and answer any questions. If they choose not to put in the effort to maintain the job they paid me a bunch of money for then that`s on them.
 
Justins00ss- Thanks for the added info. Heh heh...oh yeah, sure...they "painted it all" ;) Figured you`d spot some areas that weren`t quite as hard as the others. Same ol` same ol`....they don`t build `em like they used to.

But what [ticks] me off is that Funeral Homes don`t keep `em as nice as they used to. Speaks to how they feel about their clients IMO, having nicely kept vehicles used to signify respect.
 
I guess they figure these days people don’t care about the condition and appearance of their vehicles so why should they about theirs. Shame really.
 
I guess they figure these days people don’t care about the condition and appearance of their vehicles so why should they about theirs..

IMO *their* vehicles are just the same as the rest of their Funeral Services. Like...even if people don`t care about "suits and ties" these days, the Funeral Director oughta wear that when doing business. Doing the "appearances" thing, just like making the right noises, is a huge part of that industry, kinda what it`s all about. I mean... every bit of the whole thing is subjective/emotional, all about "honoring the deceased", providing respectful comfort and solace to the bereaved....stuff where the subjective, especially appearances, genuinely matter since that`s basically all it`s about.

[Long-timers here probably know that Accumulator was associated with the Cemetery Business and knows Funeral Directors]
 
I actually *did* go for a ride in one! It was a special ghost tour in Saint Augustine. It had nice limo-like leather bench seats where the casket normally goes.
 
I did ask. He said 90k for them and the biggest waste of money. Some have water leaks so bad the doors fill with water, lighting issues and so on.
 
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