2011 Explorer Opti Guarded

richy

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This vehicle belongs to my Physiotherapist. He got it new in the fall. I quoted him for a one step for paint and OG for paint, wheels and glass. This was exterior only. We have a billion dollar construction project underway to build a new bridge to connect Canada and the US, so some of our local roads are literally a mud-bath (minus the hot chicks in bikinis!). That stuff is just plain nasty to remove from the paint. Unfortunately, his work is right smack in that area so it will be a good test for the OG to see how it stands up to that abuse. (I know it will do just fine!).

Here's the condition as it arrived. Thankfully the bird bomb was not a permanent etch and there was one chip to fill in. Actually I found several more and did them all.


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CHIP:

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BIRD BOMB:

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WHEEL AREA:

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OTHER AREAS:

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He specifically showed me the areas under the doors and beneath them and the body. They were filthy.

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WHEELS/WELLS/BARRELS/TIRES:

The tires were the biggest challenge here. This is the first time that Zep Purple did not completely remove all dirt from the tires. I had to go back over them and I used ARO at 100%! That did it although it was still not perfect, but much, much better.
The barrels got Tarminator sprayed in dry and allowed to dwell while I did the wells which got Zep Citrus and agitated with a long handled brush.
The tires were done as mentioned while the barrels soaked in Tarminator. Then the barrels had ZC sprayed into them and agitated and pw'd off. The faces were also done with ZC.

The door jam bottom area was power washed with the machine turned off so it was a concentrated, yet gentle spray so as not to soak everything around. It was then sprayed down with ZC and washed with a demoted wash mitt and a separated bucket of 901 and then rinsed. I used a wheel woolie to get into nooks and crannies.

Next up was the vehicle wash. First was an extensive rinse using the power washer to try to strip as much of the sticky mud off as possible. It was then foamed with a strong mix of 901 and Dawn and allowed to dwell. I then power washed that off and did a wash with a similar soap mix. Finally it was clean. This process took me over 2 hours. I've usually clayed by this point!

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The vehicle was then brought inside wet to clay with Riccardo yellow. I used the MB to blast off the wheels, tires and wells prior to starting to clay. ONR was used as clay lube and then the vehicle was wiped down wit ONR prior to being dried. Now up to 4 hours by this point.

The paint was pretty good really. It needed a fine polish. Here's the condition after clay:

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PAINT POLISHING:

This was going to be a one step, so I needed something gentle on this soft paint, and yet something that would make the paint "pop". I first tried Menz FG500 and a yellow B/S pad. Too harsh. I then tried it with a white B/S pad....naah...still not good enough. Then back to tried and true: M205 with a green B/S pad...BINGO!! Lovely clarity and finished down beautifully. There were a few areas with some heavier scratches (nothing terrible) that got M105/yellow B/S prior.
The paint was then ONR'd followed by ERASER to prepare for the OG. The paint, glass and chrome was then treated to OG. It took a while (I'm guessing about 2 hours) to do the OG on it. Took longer than normal for me, but I was being very careful to avoid any high spots as this mirror finish black showed everything. Worth the effort though I think.

Here's a shot of the reflection after polishing only:

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WHEELS/TIRES:

The wheels got wiped down with ERASER and then treated to OG. The tires were treated with DP Tire gel. The wells were sprayed down with Megs HD and then wiped down.

TRIM:

The trim was treated with UTTG.
 
INSIDE AFTERS:

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OUTSIDE AFTERS:

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You can see it was just starting to spit rain as I pulled it out. It was a race to get the pics in time.

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CHIP REPAIR

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Thanks for looking. Just shy of 12 hours total. Comments appreciated.
 
Amazing work as usual! Love the look of UTTG on all the trim pieces.
 
Very nice Richy. I have a question for you. Did you use dr. colorchip or off the shelf paint?

Reason I ask is because I am being very slow and meticulous with my car. I am slowly polishing, filling in rock chip and opti-coating. Dr. colorchip recommends a week before waxing. I would just love to be able to do it all in one day. Instead I then have to worry about bird bomb etching the just polished paint and other contaminents that I need to make sure are gone.

So I guess my question is, in your experience, think it would be safe to go straight to opti-coat after rockchip filling?
 
Amazing work as usual! Love the look of UTTG on all the trim pieces.
Thanks! I do too, I was looking forward to seeing it done. UTTG rocks!!

Very nice Richy. I have a question for you. Did you use dr. colorchip or off the shelf paint?

Reason I ask is because I am being very slow and meticulous with my car. I am slowly polishing, filling in rock chip and opti-coating. Dr. colorchip recommends a week before waxing. I would just love to be able to do it all in one day. Instead I then have to worry about bird bomb etching the just polished paint and other contaminents that I need to make sure are gone.

So I guess my question is, in your experience, think it would be safe to go straight to opti-coat after rockchip filling?
Jacob, it was in all honesty, GM paint from a spray can that I shot onto a plastic lid and then dipped into the chip with a pointy toothpick. He didn't have any touchup paint and I didn't want to do the car with that ugly chip still there. Woulda been like having a zit on the face of a supermodel! The paint can is the best touch up there is IMO b/c it is so runny and it dries much faster. It's easier to do multiple thin layers with it and with it drying so fast, you can seal it quickly. I sealed the last layer I put on after about an hour with the OG. No smearing, nothing. The touch up in a bottle takes longer to cure, so you need more time between your thin coats.
I think either product will do fine. If you use the Dr Chip, do several thin layers and then level it. I wouldn't wait a week, but that's me. No question, the longer you wait the better in terms of leveling it, but once you've got it leveled nicely, seal away.

Stunning work, Richy!
Thank you Sergei!

keep it coming richie
I sure will and thanks!
 
WWWWWOOOOWWWW!!! Awesome work Richy!!! Thanks for sharing! I'm getting ready to OC my friends car, possibly this weekend.

Did you fill in the rock chips?
 
Thanks! I do too, I was looking forward to seeing it done. UTTG rocks!!


Jacob, it was in all honesty, GM paint from a spray can that I shot onto a plastic lid and then dipped into the chip with a pointy toothpick. He didn't have any touchup paint and I didn't want to do the car with that ugly chip still there. Woulda been like having a zit on the face of a supermodel! The paint can is the best touch up there is IMO b/c it is so runny and it dries much faster. It's easier to do multiple thin layers with it and with it drying so fast, you can seal it quickly. I sealed the last layer I put on after about an hour with the OG. No smearing, nothing. The touch up in a bottle takes longer to cure, so you need more time between your thin coats.
I think either product will do fine. If you use the Dr Chip, do several thin layers and then level it. I wouldn't wait a week, but that's me. No question, the longer you wait the better in terms of leveling it, but once you've got it leveled nicely, seal away.


Thank you Sergei!


I sure will and thanks!

Im not worried about leveling. My car has a ton of rockchips, just isnt worth the effort.

But thank you for your input.
 
Explorer looks just perfect.

But I have one question. What is OG?
I looked under Optimum's page and didn't find any OptiGuard.
Is OG a Canadian abbreviation for Opti-Coat 2.0?
 
Great documentation of the detail. I bet the owner was thrilled! Outstanding work :)
 
Looks great! How does the Explorer compare to your MKX? They are pretty much the same car correct?
 
WWWWWOOOOWWWW!!! Awesome work Richy!!! Thanks for sharing! I'm getting ready to OC my friends car, possibly this weekend.

Did you fill in the rock chips?
Thanks very much! Yes, I did fill in the chips. Sacrilege of sacrileges, I used GM paint on it, LOL!! (He didn't have his own paint so I used some GM black from a spray can.)

Explorer looks just perfect.

But I have one question. What is OG?
I looked under Optimum's page and didn't find any OptiGuard.
Is OG a Canadian abbreviation for Opti-Coat 2.0?
Thanks bud! OG, or Opti Guard is the "professional" version of OC. OG comes in a 40 cc syringe and cures/flashes much faster. Same protection once it has cured however, so there's not really that much difference to it.

Great documentation of the detail. I bet the owner was thrilled! Outstanding work :)
Thank you, and yes, he was thrilled which is very rewarding to me!

Looks great! How does the Explorer compare to your MKX? They are pretty much the same car correct?
Thanks man. You're close. The Edge and the MKX are sister vehicles. They both come down the same line in Oakville, Ontario. I actually drove the Lincoln past its birthplace a few months ago.
 
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