FrankS
Active member
- Jul 7, 2013
- 1,560
- 0
The owner of this fine looking Range Rover wanted a coating on his vehicle for long lasting protection.
Our coating of choice was Optimum Gloss-Coat for its long lasting protection, gloss enhancing properties, easy application and also since Optimum is associated with quality car care products.
Fellow forum member Antti (antti@561detailing) and I teamed up together for this project.
Before Shots
Here's how the car arrived. The owner takes good care of his vehicles but it still needed to be cleaned and prepped for the coating.
Wheels and Tires First
Wheels and tires needed some attention.
Started with the wheel wells using Megs APC+ diluted 1 to 4 and a Mothers Fender Well Brush.
Next, tires were cleaned with DP Tire Cleaner & Tuf Shine Tire Brush. It took 4-6 applications until we started seeing white foam on the tires.
Now it's time for the wheels. Several different brushes were used and the chemical of choice was Sonax Wheel Cleaner Plus, a strong yet safe cleaner. Here you can see Sonax turning red as it cleans and dissolves brake dust.
The Speed Master Wheel Brush can get in those tight places like no other brush, just make sure you wear eye protection since it has a tendency to splatter due to the bristles.
Here's Antti getting those wheels clean.
Tires were placed on 2x6 wood blocks for cleaning and dressing the bottom of the tires.
After the wheels were thoroughly cleaned, HydrO2 was used to seal them.
HydrO2 diluted 1 to 3, easy application, just spray and rinse with a strong blast of water.
Wheel wells were cleaned and protected with 303 Protectant.
DP Tire Coating was used to coat the tires.
Just a note: I noticed some streaking of the DPTC after two coats, I believe it was a combination of not completely removing the existing dressing from the tires and the composition of the tire. A coat of Carpro PEARL was applied for the final coat and that solved the problem as you will see in the final pictures.
Aggressive Wash Technique
Since the car was going to be buffed out, the aggressive wash technique was used to clean and decontaminate the paint.
This technique was learned from Mike Phillips. Here's his write-up:
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-articles/86146-aggressive-approach-washing-car.html
First, the car was sprayed with Iron-X to chemically decontaminate the paint from any iron particles. We had to move fast since it was a sunny day and we didn't want the Iron-X drying on the paint.
Next, the car was foamed with Iron-X Snow Foam.
Here's Antti foaming the roof.
After the car was foamed, it was hand washed with quality wash mitts.
The next step in the Aggressive Wash Technique is to foam the car again after it is thoroughly rinsed and use clay towels or mitts with the foam as the lubricant.
Since it started to rain, we were not able to foam it again. The car was pulled in to the carport where it was mechanically decontaminated.
The hood felt like sandpaper when doing the baggie test.
Porter Cable with a medium grade Nanoskin Pad and Glide as the lubricant was used. The smaller and thinner panels were done with a Nanoskin towel.
Next the car was taken outside for a thorough rinse of deionized water.
Then it was dried using the Master Blaster.
Exhaust Tips
Exhaust tips needed some attention.
Cleaned with P21S Polishing Soap.
Further polished with Mothers and a MF towel.
Much better.
Condition of Paint
Now that the vehicle has been thoroughly cleaned, it's time to check out the condition of the paint.
Holograms - someone's used a rotary buffer on this before.
Polishing
Time to tape it up and start polishing.
After doing a few test spots, we found a winning combination - Flex 3401, white Hybrid pad and Menzerna PF 2500. The worse areas were done with Menzerna FG 400 and then PF 2500.
Before polishing.
After polishing.
Here are some shots after polishing completed and before coating.
Application of Coating
After the polishing was completed, the car was given a thorough wipe down with a 15% solution of Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA) to remove any polish residue and prepare the paint for the coating.
Optimum Gloss-Coat.
Priming the pad.
Coating being applied one section at a time.
After 1-2 minutes of spreading the coating, any high spots are gently wiped down.
Final Beauty Shots
The windshield and headlights were coated with Pinnacle Black Label Diamond Surface Coating.
The interior was already in great condition. A complimentary vacuum was done on the inside.
Our coating of choice was Optimum Gloss-Coat for its long lasting protection, gloss enhancing properties, easy application and also since Optimum is associated with quality car care products.
Fellow forum member Antti (antti@561detailing) and I teamed up together for this project.
Before Shots
Here's how the car arrived. The owner takes good care of his vehicles but it still needed to be cleaned and prepped for the coating.
Wheels and Tires First
Wheels and tires needed some attention.
Started with the wheel wells using Megs APC+ diluted 1 to 4 and a Mothers Fender Well Brush.
Next, tires were cleaned with DP Tire Cleaner & Tuf Shine Tire Brush. It took 4-6 applications until we started seeing white foam on the tires.
Now it's time for the wheels. Several different brushes were used and the chemical of choice was Sonax Wheel Cleaner Plus, a strong yet safe cleaner. Here you can see Sonax turning red as it cleans and dissolves brake dust.
The Speed Master Wheel Brush can get in those tight places like no other brush, just make sure you wear eye protection since it has a tendency to splatter due to the bristles.
Here's Antti getting those wheels clean.
Tires were placed on 2x6 wood blocks for cleaning and dressing the bottom of the tires.
After the wheels were thoroughly cleaned, HydrO2 was used to seal them.
HydrO2 diluted 1 to 3, easy application, just spray and rinse with a strong blast of water.
Wheel wells were cleaned and protected with 303 Protectant.
DP Tire Coating was used to coat the tires.
Just a note: I noticed some streaking of the DPTC after two coats, I believe it was a combination of not completely removing the existing dressing from the tires and the composition of the tire. A coat of Carpro PEARL was applied for the final coat and that solved the problem as you will see in the final pictures.
Aggressive Wash Technique
Since the car was going to be buffed out, the aggressive wash technique was used to clean and decontaminate the paint.
This technique was learned from Mike Phillips. Here's his write-up:
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-articles/86146-aggressive-approach-washing-car.html
First, the car was sprayed with Iron-X to chemically decontaminate the paint from any iron particles. We had to move fast since it was a sunny day and we didn't want the Iron-X drying on the paint.
Next, the car was foamed with Iron-X Snow Foam.
Here's Antti foaming the roof.
After the car was foamed, it was hand washed with quality wash mitts.
The next step in the Aggressive Wash Technique is to foam the car again after it is thoroughly rinsed and use clay towels or mitts with the foam as the lubricant.
Since it started to rain, we were not able to foam it again. The car was pulled in to the carport where it was mechanically decontaminated.
The hood felt like sandpaper when doing the baggie test.
Porter Cable with a medium grade Nanoskin Pad and Glide as the lubricant was used. The smaller and thinner panels were done with a Nanoskin towel.
Next the car was taken outside for a thorough rinse of deionized water.
Then it was dried using the Master Blaster.
Exhaust Tips
Exhaust tips needed some attention.
Cleaned with P21S Polishing Soap.
Further polished with Mothers and a MF towel.
Much better.
Condition of Paint
Now that the vehicle has been thoroughly cleaned, it's time to check out the condition of the paint.
Holograms - someone's used a rotary buffer on this before.
Polishing
Time to tape it up and start polishing.
After doing a few test spots, we found a winning combination - Flex 3401, white Hybrid pad and Menzerna PF 2500. The worse areas were done with Menzerna FG 400 and then PF 2500.
Before polishing.
After polishing.
Here are some shots after polishing completed and before coating.
Application of Coating
After the polishing was completed, the car was given a thorough wipe down with a 15% solution of Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA) to remove any polish residue and prepare the paint for the coating.
Optimum Gloss-Coat.
Priming the pad.
Coating being applied one section at a time.
After 1-2 minutes of spreading the coating, any high spots are gently wiped down.
Final Beauty Shots
The windshield and headlights were coated with Pinnacle Black Label Diamond Surface Coating.
The interior was already in great condition. A complimentary vacuum was done on the inside.
icture: