zmcgovern45
New member
So for those of you who don't know, detailing is not my full time job. I am an engineer and do my detailing work on the weekends. Anyway - every year my company helps to bring donations to the United Way. One of the ways my division helps to raise donations is through a silent auction in which employees or local businesses can donate products, services, homemade goodies, etc which other employees can then bid on. All of the money is then donated to the United Way... a pretty cool idea. I decided to help out by offering a "routine" detailing package consisting of what I call a Routine Maintenance Detail (basically a very thorough cleaning and application of sealant or wax) and Routine Interior Detail (a thorough vacuuming and wipe down of all interior surfaces).
The person that placed the winning bid on my donation was hoping to have his wife's vehicle cleaned up. I asked him to bring it to work so that I could have a look at it since he mentioned it had swirl marks that he was hoping to have removed. Upon initial inspection, I could tell the vehicle was in poor shape. I explained that a two-stage correction would be best to remove the majority of the swirls and restore the gloss to the vehicle. I also explained that the Toyota Jet Black paint was some of the softest paint and is therefore extremely fragile. A coating would not only help to provide superior protection from the elements, but it would help to resist light scratches and swirls. The owner agreed to go with the 22ple VX1 Pro Coating. I deducted the full price of the donated package from these upgraded services and even threw in a free engine detail since I figured the entire car should be clean!
<span style="font-size:24px;">Process
<span>Engine
- Rinse
- Wash underside of the hood with soft brush
- Meguiar's D103 (diluted 10:1) was sprayed liberally over everything and then agitated with various brushes (repeat as needed)
- Rinsed
- Blown Dry
- Plastic Engine Covers dressed with 303 Aerospace Protectant
- Hoses/Harnesses/Misc. Dressed with CG Black on Black
<span>Exterior
- Wheels: Sonax Full Effect agitated with various brushes and wheel sponge
- Tires: Tuf Shine Tire Cleaner and Tire Brush
- Pre-Soak: CG Citrus Wash & Gloss via foam canon and Karcher X-Series Pressure Washer
- Wash: CG Citrus Wash & Gloss (two bucket method) with microfiber chenille wash mitt
- Dry: Waffle Weave Towels
- Iron Decontamination: Iron X
- General Decontamination: Nanoskin Autoscrub Mitt (Fine Grade)
- Dry: Waffle Weave Towels
- Tape: 3M Blue Painters Tape
- Paint Thickness Readings Taken
- Compound: Menzerna FG400 on 5.5" Orange Light Cutting Pad via Rupes LHR21ES and 3",4" pads via PC7424XP
- Polish: Menzerna SF4500 on 5.5" White Polishing Pads via Rupes LHR21ES and 3",4" pads via PC7424XP
- IPA Wipedown using 15% Solution
- Wash: CG Citrus Wash and Gloss
- IPA Wipedown using 15% Solution
- Coating: 22ple VX1 Pro Glass Coating
- Wheel Sealant: Poorboy's World Wheel Sealant (2 coats)
- Tire Dressing: Optimum Opti-Bond Tire Gel
- Glass: Stoner's Invisible Glass
- Exhaust tips: CG Metal Polish + Protection applied by hand via MF Towel
<span>Interior
- Vacuum
- All plastic, vinyl, and leather wiped down with 303 Aerospace Protectant
- Glass: Stoner's Invisible Glass
Total Time: 15 Hours
<span style="font-size:24px;">Before
Well, Summer is officially gone so I began working in the dark since the sun is setting much earlier. I took a few photos of the initial condition of the vehicle.
The engine was very dirty.
There was bug splatter EVERYWHERE... the front bumper was unfortunately beyond repair - much of the bugs had already done permanent damage to the painted areas. The mirrors were also heavily coated in guts, as was the glass. Note: this is the SIDE window, not the windshield, still plenty of bug guts somehow.
A thick layer of dirt, grime, and TONS of water spots covered every surface of the vehicle. I was prepared to see a tremendous amount of etched spots.
Here you can see the etching left by a rather large bird bomb (top of the door near the crack between front and rear doors). The owner told me the local auto body shop that had done some work on their car offered to "take care of it" when she was picking her car up. Apparently they went after it with some sandpaper, or a scotch brite pad... or maybe they just rubbed some dirt on it. Either way, you can clearly see the immense damage that was caused by attempting to remove the bird bomb marking.
<span style="font-size:24px;">During
After this inspection with proper lighting, I was sure I was in for a long weekend... I was even more worried to see how the paint would look once it was properly washed and decontaminated. Dirt helps to cover up many of the surface defects (believe it or not), so I was expecting to see a lot more damage after the paint was clean. I began by cleaning the engine.
I then moved on to cleaning the wheels and tires - these machined wheels cleaned up rather nicely, but the faces were all extremely scratched up. I am not sure if it was caused by someone using improper washing media (ie scotch brite pads or kitchen sponges) or if it was just a very poor factory finish. You cannot see the defects I am referring to in this photo - you need direct light to see them.
The car was then foamed to help loosen the caked on dirt and debris. The foam was then left to dwell for several minutes and was then rinsed with a pressure washer. I proper two bucket wash was then completed to remove any remaining dirt. Afterwards, the car was treated with Iron X and then detailing clay to remove any bonded contaminates from the surface of the vehicle.
After washing and decontamination, the true condition of the paint was revealed. A swirled, spotted, dull mess - just as I expected.
My test spot revealed a dramatic difference. I was able to achieve about 80-85% correction on the majority of the vehicle, but the rear of the car had been repainted (rear quarters and bumber) and was in much worse shape therefore it was not quite as nice afterwards (sorry no pics of that area... it would have made you cringe. There were sanding marks, pin holes, runs, horrible texture, and I even found a hair that was trapped beneath the clear coat).
Here is a video of this test spot: The first 50/50 (left vs. right) shows the difference from the original paint prior to any correction vs. paint that had been compounded with Menzerna FG400 and then polished with Menzerna SF4500.
The 2nd 50/50 (top vs. bottom) shows the difference between the top section that had only been compounded vs. the bottom section which had been compounded and polished. The difference here is more subtle because FG400 only leaves a very minor haze even in this very soft paint, but you can clearly see the area that had been finish polished was a deeper, darker black.
Toyota Avalon Paint Correction 50/50 - Rupes LHR21ES Menzer - YouTube
Door Before Correction
And after compounding
Door Before Correction
And after compounding
A closer look at the door after compounding reveals yet another bird bomb that had been left on the paint causing permanent damage. The clear coat had begun to fail - the only way to repair this is to repaint it. (note: you can also see the fine marring left by the heavy cutting compound. This was removed with the final polishing
Door Before Correction
And after compounding
Door Before Correction
And after compounding
The person that placed the winning bid on my donation was hoping to have his wife's vehicle cleaned up. I asked him to bring it to work so that I could have a look at it since he mentioned it had swirl marks that he was hoping to have removed. Upon initial inspection, I could tell the vehicle was in poor shape. I explained that a two-stage correction would be best to remove the majority of the swirls and restore the gloss to the vehicle. I also explained that the Toyota Jet Black paint was some of the softest paint and is therefore extremely fragile. A coating would not only help to provide superior protection from the elements, but it would help to resist light scratches and swirls. The owner agreed to go with the 22ple VX1 Pro Coating. I deducted the full price of the donated package from these upgraded services and even threw in a free engine detail since I figured the entire car should be clean!
<span style="font-size:24px;">Process
<span>Engine
- Rinse
- Wash underside of the hood with soft brush
- Meguiar's D103 (diluted 10:1) was sprayed liberally over everything and then agitated with various brushes (repeat as needed)
- Rinsed
- Blown Dry
- Plastic Engine Covers dressed with 303 Aerospace Protectant
- Hoses/Harnesses/Misc. Dressed with CG Black on Black
<span>Exterior
- Wheels: Sonax Full Effect agitated with various brushes and wheel sponge
- Tires: Tuf Shine Tire Cleaner and Tire Brush
- Pre-Soak: CG Citrus Wash & Gloss via foam canon and Karcher X-Series Pressure Washer
- Wash: CG Citrus Wash & Gloss (two bucket method) with microfiber chenille wash mitt
- Dry: Waffle Weave Towels
- Iron Decontamination: Iron X
- General Decontamination: Nanoskin Autoscrub Mitt (Fine Grade)
- Dry: Waffle Weave Towels
- Tape: 3M Blue Painters Tape
- Paint Thickness Readings Taken
- Compound: Menzerna FG400 on 5.5" Orange Light Cutting Pad via Rupes LHR21ES and 3",4" pads via PC7424XP
- Polish: Menzerna SF4500 on 5.5" White Polishing Pads via Rupes LHR21ES and 3",4" pads via PC7424XP
- IPA Wipedown using 15% Solution
- Wash: CG Citrus Wash and Gloss
- IPA Wipedown using 15% Solution
- Coating: 22ple VX1 Pro Glass Coating
- Wheel Sealant: Poorboy's World Wheel Sealant (2 coats)
- Tire Dressing: Optimum Opti-Bond Tire Gel
- Glass: Stoner's Invisible Glass
- Exhaust tips: CG Metal Polish + Protection applied by hand via MF Towel
<span>Interior
- Vacuum
- All plastic, vinyl, and leather wiped down with 303 Aerospace Protectant
- Glass: Stoner's Invisible Glass
Total Time: 15 Hours
<span style="font-size:24px;">Before
Well, Summer is officially gone so I began working in the dark since the sun is setting much earlier. I took a few photos of the initial condition of the vehicle.
The engine was very dirty.
There was bug splatter EVERYWHERE... the front bumper was unfortunately beyond repair - much of the bugs had already done permanent damage to the painted areas. The mirrors were also heavily coated in guts, as was the glass. Note: this is the SIDE window, not the windshield, still plenty of bug guts somehow.
A thick layer of dirt, grime, and TONS of water spots covered every surface of the vehicle. I was prepared to see a tremendous amount of etched spots.
Here you can see the etching left by a rather large bird bomb (top of the door near the crack between front and rear doors). The owner told me the local auto body shop that had done some work on their car offered to "take care of it" when she was picking her car up. Apparently they went after it with some sandpaper, or a scotch brite pad... or maybe they just rubbed some dirt on it. Either way, you can clearly see the immense damage that was caused by attempting to remove the bird bomb marking.
<span style="font-size:24px;">During
After this inspection with proper lighting, I was sure I was in for a long weekend... I was even more worried to see how the paint would look once it was properly washed and decontaminated. Dirt helps to cover up many of the surface defects (believe it or not), so I was expecting to see a lot more damage after the paint was clean. I began by cleaning the engine.
I then moved on to cleaning the wheels and tires - these machined wheels cleaned up rather nicely, but the faces were all extremely scratched up. I am not sure if it was caused by someone using improper washing media (ie scotch brite pads or kitchen sponges) or if it was just a very poor factory finish. You cannot see the defects I am referring to in this photo - you need direct light to see them.
The car was then foamed to help loosen the caked on dirt and debris. The foam was then left to dwell for several minutes and was then rinsed with a pressure washer. I proper two bucket wash was then completed to remove any remaining dirt. Afterwards, the car was treated with Iron X and then detailing clay to remove any bonded contaminates from the surface of the vehicle.
After washing and decontamination, the true condition of the paint was revealed. A swirled, spotted, dull mess - just as I expected.
My test spot revealed a dramatic difference. I was able to achieve about 80-85% correction on the majority of the vehicle, but the rear of the car had been repainted (rear quarters and bumber) and was in much worse shape therefore it was not quite as nice afterwards (sorry no pics of that area... it would have made you cringe. There were sanding marks, pin holes, runs, horrible texture, and I even found a hair that was trapped beneath the clear coat).
Here is a video of this test spot: The first 50/50 (left vs. right) shows the difference from the original paint prior to any correction vs. paint that had been compounded with Menzerna FG400 and then polished with Menzerna SF4500.
The 2nd 50/50 (top vs. bottom) shows the difference between the top section that had only been compounded vs. the bottom section which had been compounded and polished. The difference here is more subtle because FG400 only leaves a very minor haze even in this very soft paint, but you can clearly see the area that had been finish polished was a deeper, darker black.
Toyota Avalon Paint Correction 50/50 - Rupes LHR21ES Menzer - YouTube
Door Before Correction
And after compounding
Door Before Correction
And after compounding
A closer look at the door after compounding reveals yet another bird bomb that had been left on the paint causing permanent damage. The clear coat had begun to fail - the only way to repair this is to repaint it. (note: you can also see the fine marring left by the heavy cutting compound. This was removed with the final polishing
Door Before Correction
And after compounding
Door Before Correction
And after compounding
