Big, Black, And Dirty.........(That's what she said!) Cadillac Escalade

[Tru_Shine]

This is one of my older details that I had done, but forgot all about doing a write up on it. This job was over 25+ hours over the course of 2 1/2 days and I was just bout ready to slit my wrist half way through, lol. The GM clear coat is so hard, it's like trying to cut a Diamond sometimes.





This Escalade came to me in pretty rough shape and I only had 2 days to complete. Lets begin, and see how it turns out on todays episode of Tru Life: I'm a detailer





Here is what i was brought

First the wheels and tires and Fender wells were cleaned with APC and Diablo wheel gel using various brushes

Then I foamed down the Escalade with my Karcher Foam gun and Karcher pressure washer

The Foam really helps breakdown and suspend the dirt up off of the vehicle keeping it from causing more harm to the paint.



I left the foam to dwell for a bit to help "roll off" some of the dirt with it.

I ended washing the truck 2-3 times to get all of the grime out of all the concealed areas. it was Mitt Washed using the 2 bucket method and then rinsed thoroughly.

After all of the dirt was finally washed away, here is what the paint really looked like.

Next was getting it prepped and clayed, It was pretty bad, more then likely has never been clayed, this was just after one half of the hood. I had to fold the clay bar numerous times on this one.

Now lets check out the paint close up and see what we have.

I did a test spot on the front fender and dived right into it using the Purple foamed wool pad with M105 on the FLEX 3401.

This clear coat was rock hard. I knew I was in for some late nights with this one. It took about 4-5 passes to get to the level I was looking for.

So I started making my way down the driver side using this combo.

Here is the sun beaming through the garage door window

here it is after cutting the door

 

[Tru_Shine]

This is the hood 50/50 shot

And this is the rear hatch before and after

to remove all of the crud in between all the emblems. I used M105 on a Cue-tip.

So lets use the magic of time and skip to the Finals. after compounding the paint was polished using M205 and the Tangerine Hydro tech pad. then the paint was sealed using Black Fire Wet Diamond.



here are the finals.

Thanks for viewing, Have a blessed day!

 

[BigAl3]

very nice, that thing was hammered and you brought it back to it's glory...

 

[JCastro1085]

Lets begin, and see how it turns out on todays episode of Tru Life: I'm a detailer

ROTFLMAO.....classic! :rofl



Also that cu-tip and M105 tip is great advice, I always wondered how people corrected around those areas. What about underneath the door handles? M105 and a foam applicator pad??

 

[tssdetailing]

WOW. Bet it goes back to original condition in a week. Escalades/Yukons/Suburbans are the worst treated cars in my opinon.

 

[JCastro1085]

WOW. Bet it goes back to original condition in a week. Escalades/Yukons/Suburbans are the worst treated cars in my opinon.

That's because they're so big that no one wants to wash them. They would rather run them thru the coin operated wash, I see that happening around here a lot.

 

[Barry Theal]

NIce work Eric.