Adam's Polishes
New member
Back on December 11th I traded in the TBSS on a 2009 Avalanche... it wasn't that I didn't like my TBSS, but it just didn't have enough room for the family and I was ready to move on. Anyways... I had originally played with the idea of a Sierra Denali and a Tahoe, but I eventually settled on the Avalanche. I realize that this might not be a popular choice, but I have plans for this truck. More often than not if you see a modded Avy on the road (at least around here) its lifted. I'm gonna head the other direction with this and do an aggressive drop on 24's black this thing out and have something unique.
Anyhoo, pick up my new truck Friday night (12/11/09), the next morning I am helping out at another Detail Clinic at Stillen Performance in Costa Mesa so I hit the road around 7:30am... if anyone in SoCal remembers the 12th, it was DUMPING rain that morning. A guy in a POS 97 F150 spun across all 4 lanes of the 5 freeway and wiped me out, even better he had no drivers license, no proof of insurance, and didn't own the truck. He was in the fast lane doing 80mph in the rain, the police report later indicated that his tires were bald... perfect storm of sh*t. Good news is I walked away from the accident, spent a week off of work on Robaxin and Vicodin and still doing PT rehab for stiffness and range of motion in my neck and back. I was soooooo pissed... only had 30 miles on the odo when I got hit... that has to be some kind of record.
Thursday last week (ALMOST A MONTH LATER) I finally got my truck back, $9000 in damages and my first payment later I have my "new" truck back. The shop I used was great and went above and beyond to make sure it was as close to factory new as they could make it, and IMO pulled it off. You'd never know this thing was hit. Trying to stay positive I got them to colormatch the front end while it was in there, something I was planning on doing all along anyways.
So that brings us to today... and the detail. After sitting on a dealer lot and then at the body shop for almost a month this thing was rough... I'll update this as I get the pics uploaded, enjoy!
Day 1:
After a wash and clay I started by documenting the condition of the paint, wanted a good basis for before and after shots. With a little help from my neighbor/friend and my new Brinkman Dual Xenon light I was able to capture the horror that is the paint on this truck.... dealer installed swirls anyone?
After documenting I spent the bulk of the day debadging and getting the dried coffee out of all the cracks of the center console. I had just picked up coffee a few minutes before the accident and knew that it would be everywhere. Also had to remove the silicone slime junk they dressed my interior with at the body shop. Gross.
Hood:
Drivers Side:
Tailgate:
Passenger Side Fender:
Front Bumper:
(remember this is fresh paint, I laughed when the bodyshop told me their guy was a pro and the truck would be better than new when I picked it up)
The Arsenal for Todays work:
Test panel inspection after SHR & FMP:
Debadge Done:
Day 1 complete, packed it in for the night and gonna be up early to resume. Bulk of the panels are done, still have a few to finish. The repaired/repainted panels didn't need anything more than 2-3 passes with the white pad and FMP @ 5000opm. There were a ton of swirls, but all of them were fairly light. The original panels are another story... looks like the dealer was washing this thing with a push broom and playground sand. Some panels are taking yellow pad + SHR @ 6000opm to make headway, but they are coming up. I've also found a few deeper scratches that will be attacked with the 4" spot pads and the cordless tomorrow.
Here it is, no wax yet. Gonna wait 30 days to seal the repainted panels, the rest of the truck will get MSW tomorrow after the correction is done.
More pictures coming...
Anyhoo, pick up my new truck Friday night (12/11/09), the next morning I am helping out at another Detail Clinic at Stillen Performance in Costa Mesa so I hit the road around 7:30am... if anyone in SoCal remembers the 12th, it was DUMPING rain that morning. A guy in a POS 97 F150 spun across all 4 lanes of the 5 freeway and wiped me out, even better he had no drivers license, no proof of insurance, and didn't own the truck. He was in the fast lane doing 80mph in the rain, the police report later indicated that his tires were bald... perfect storm of sh*t. Good news is I walked away from the accident, spent a week off of work on Robaxin and Vicodin and still doing PT rehab for stiffness and range of motion in my neck and back. I was soooooo pissed... only had 30 miles on the odo when I got hit... that has to be some kind of record.
Thursday last week (ALMOST A MONTH LATER) I finally got my truck back, $9000 in damages and my first payment later I have my "new" truck back. The shop I used was great and went above and beyond to make sure it was as close to factory new as they could make it, and IMO pulled it off. You'd never know this thing was hit. Trying to stay positive I got them to colormatch the front end while it was in there, something I was planning on doing all along anyways.
So that brings us to today... and the detail. After sitting on a dealer lot and then at the body shop for almost a month this thing was rough... I'll update this as I get the pics uploaded, enjoy!
Day 1:
After a wash and clay I started by documenting the condition of the paint, wanted a good basis for before and after shots. With a little help from my neighbor/friend and my new Brinkman Dual Xenon light I was able to capture the horror that is the paint on this truck.... dealer installed swirls anyone?
After documenting I spent the bulk of the day debadging and getting the dried coffee out of all the cracks of the center console. I had just picked up coffee a few minutes before the accident and knew that it would be everywhere. Also had to remove the silicone slime junk they dressed my interior with at the body shop. Gross.
Hood:
Drivers Side:
Tailgate:
Passenger Side Fender:
Front Bumper:
(remember this is fresh paint, I laughed when the bodyshop told me their guy was a pro and the truck would be better than new when I picked it up)
The Arsenal for Todays work:
Test panel inspection after SHR & FMP:
Debadge Done:
Day 1 complete, packed it in for the night and gonna be up early to resume. Bulk of the panels are done, still have a few to finish. The repaired/repainted panels didn't need anything more than 2-3 passes with the white pad and FMP @ 5000opm. There were a ton of swirls, but all of them were fairly light. The original panels are another story... looks like the dealer was washing this thing with a push broom and playground sand. Some panels are taking yellow pad + SHR @ 6000opm to make headway, but they are coming up. I've also found a few deeper scratches that will be attacked with the 4" spot pads and the cordless tomorrow.
Here it is, no wax yet. Gonna wait 30 days to seal the repainted panels, the rest of the truck will get MSW tomorrow after the correction is done.
More pictures coming...
