Weekend Details - v. High Def Lex, 12 yr old P/U, + Swirly CTS

S

stilez

New member
First up is the Lexus.





1999 RX300 with only 16k miles!!! This car is a cherry. The owner (my client) has been my mechanic for most of my life. Everything works flawless on it. The paint is always in nice shape and the only problem it has had was acid rain etching on the glass which I removed 80% of it on the detail. When he sells this, the new owner is in for a treat! Anyways, the paint is called "High Definition" due to the plethora of metallic flake. Very nice color to work on. Finals on the interior:





-Folex to clean everything but the glass

-The Wax Shoppe LRV High-Gloss (client supplied/requested) for all vinyl, rubber, plastic, and leather

-Klasse AIO on wood

-NXT Glass Cleaner on windows



DSC06656.jpg






On the exterior, only minor swirling and bonded contaminants. Also, like I said above, etched glass, so finals were:





-TOL Bubble Bath Wash

-Meguiar's Aggressive Overspray Clay with TOL BB as lube

-Optimum Polish via rotary and LC Polishing Pad @ 1200 rpm

-Gliptone Clear Coat Wax & Paint Sealant with Clirilium® (client supplied/requested)

-OCW by hand

-FK1 #425 on wheels



-AIO via felt wheel and drill on the windows to remove etched water spots (removed 80% with no marring left behind)

-NXT Insane Shine on tires (client requested)

-Eagle One Water Based Dressing cut 50/50 in wells and on lower plastic panelling





DSC06658.jpg




DSC06660.jpg




DSC06662.jpg




DSC06664.jpg




DSC06666.jpg






Chevy Pickup next...
 
1994 Chevy Silverado, same client...





Everything, again, was in perfect working order. This paint needed some more work, but I didn't want to go *too* crazy as the paint is almost 12 years old and all original. Only 58k miles on this sucker. The wheels were in really bad shape (10 yrs old and bare aluminum), but I didn't grab any before shots. He said they take about 2 hours each to polish out correctly and he only wanted them to "shine" so I did what I could (10-15 mins each). I wish I also got befores of the paint because although it didn't look that bad to begin with, once I started polishing, it looked like I was bleaching the paint back to new (ie: lots of uniform staining). Finals were:



-TOL Bubble Bath Wash

-Meguiar's Aggressive Overspray Clay with TOL BB as lube

-Optimum Polish and Klasse AIO (lined the beads up next to each other) via rotary and LC Polishing Pad @ 1200 rpm

-OCW by hand





-Flitz via #0000 Steel Wool to polish wheels

-NXT Insane Shine on tires (client requested)

-Eagle One Water Based Dressing cut 50/50 in wells

-Gliptone Bumper Medic on all black trim (client supplied/requested)



DSC06670.jpg




DSC06673.jpg




DSC06679.jpg




DSC06678.jpg






Stay tuned for the CTS...
 
This Caddy made for some pretty nice pictures, I must say.





2003 CTS, never detailed. He hand washes it, but obviously not that well, so I instructed him on some quick ways to reduce swirling. Obviously the paint was pretty messy. It had a decent amount of fall-out and plenty of swirls. I would actually say there were double the swirls than the camera picked up. The sun was rising when I was taking them so they only highlighted the deeper ones, so anyways, use your imagination :).



This paint was a PITA to work with. I polished the hood about 6 times before I got all of the swirls out, then 2 more times to perfect it. I removed about 90+ % of the defects and the owner was thrilled. 6 hour total time for start to finish with about 15 minutes total of breaks. Finals:





-TOL Bubble Bath Wash

-Meguiar's Aggressive Overspray Clay with TOL BB as lube

-Optimum Polish via rotary and LC Cutting Pad @ 1500 rpm (x3 on hood x 2 on other horizontals and x1 on verticals)

-FK1 303 via rotary and Wool Pad @ 1500 rpm on hood (damn deep swirls)

-Menzerna PO85RD via rotary and LC Finishing Pad @ 1500 rpm (x 2 on horizontals and x1 on verticals

-4* UPP by hand

-FK1 #425 by hand



-OCW on wheels

-BnB on tires

-Eagle 1 dressing cut 50/50 in wells/exhaust

-Poorboy's Trim Restorer on all trim

-FK1 #425 on glass





Before

DSC06683.jpg






During (after wool) :shocked

DSC06686.jpg






After :D

DSC06694.jpg






Before

DSC06682.jpg




After

DSC06692.jpg






More coming...
 
Wow, that last shot on the CTS is amazing... and I would never have guessed that Chevy was 12 years old. Couple of questions. First up, you used the aggressive clay - this just a matter of course to get the job done quickly, or is the finer clay really too fine to be used on anthing other than good condition paint? Second, first time I've seen Optimum Polish and AIO used together - is this done to add some protection whilst giving greater polishing action? I take it this would work just as well via PC with a polishing pad? :think:
 
Sean makes me want to take up knitting on the weekends instead of detailing.That Caddy has been transformed !!
 
Thanks all :).



Duece: I threw that pic in because soo many detailers leave it like that, glaze it, and wax it :(.



WX51: I use the aggressive clay for time saving, yes. Fine clay will do more or less the same work, just in far more time.



The AIO/Opt polish duo has worked well for me before. It combines light polishing and cleaning in one plus some protection. It really brings out the color, removes defects and staining, and helps the LSP bond. I would forsee no ill effects being used with the PC.





Thanks again.
 
GSRstilez said:
WX51: I use the aggressive clay for time saving, yes. Fine clay will do more or less the same work, just in far more time.
Click to expand...



Nice work Sean! :up



I look at the aggressive clay like this. It may cause some fine marring if you're not careful BUT you're going to polish anyway right?
 
Great Work Sean, i loved the CTS...what a transformation



Was really necessary to use the wool pad??



Akele abraço
 
nice work sean. i also love that last picture of the caddy.



question about using AIO on the interior wood of the Lexus, was it more for polishing or for protection? thanks.
 
I don't think that CTS was worthy of a wool pad. Probably took more paint off than needed. Either way, looks great afterwards. :)
 
Superb work as usual, Sean!



Have you tried Optimum Compound yet? It might have reduced the number of passes you needed on the Caddy. I just got a sample of a version of the Compound that is sort of a speed compound-about as aggressive overall as OC but the abrasives break down more quickly so you get the same results with less passes. Works well with the PC too, since Optimum polish and compounds are designed to break down with frictional forces instead of heat.



All three look great but honestly, I like the RX the best-that side shot is as wickedly wet as anything I've ever seen on that color!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top