48 Hour Restoration - Black 07' Escalade - Correction & Opti-Coat

This is hands down one of the best, and most dramatic corrections I have seen to date on this forum.

It has been over a year and a half since my last post on here, not because I lost connection with this site (I have been lurking in the shadows) but because the corrections posted were pretty much pictures. (not a bad thing, some amazing work was shown!)

This was an incredibly detailed, well thought out, and heart felt write up that has the ability to inspire professional detailers, weekend warriors, and those of us who just want a great looking car.

Thank you for taking the time and thought to share your experience with this community, it is greatly appreciated!


:iagree:with Nate here...(by the way nice to see ya around Nate)

Wills you and Dani never cease to amaze me!

the work you put into that vechical shows that you guys can do anything!

what a challenge it was and the outcome was just awsome!

thank you for sharing and keep up the great work.

:applause:
 
Wow awesome turn around. .great work as usual. Thanks for the great documentation

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

You're very welcome as always :). Thanks for checking it out...i think i had over 100 pictures on this one...took a while to sort through em and put it all up lol.

Nice save!!!!!! You survived the battle.

I know this is a big undertaking. I hope you guys were well compensated for this. Since I am only 5' 7" tall, the last "Hammered" Escalade I did almost killed me.

Again, Great job!!! :applause::applause::applause::applause::applause:

Well, the compensation was my sisters braces :). We also did an interior at a later date, which wasn't a huge turn around cause it was pretty clean...but yeah i'm 6'3 and after doing that roof my back was about dead lol...took SO much time!

Yep that's a show car finish foe sure. Awesome work. Got to ask because the paint looked pretty hard why didn't you use a wool pad on the rotary for the initial cut? Looked like you had a micro fiber on it.

I honestly try not to go with wool unless i absolutely HAVE to. MF was doing it and removing a large amount of the defects at a pretty decent rate, it was just chasing the RIDS that was very time consuming.

Outstanding!!!!!

It looks like a lot of work and results look very nice.

Thanks guys...yes...lots of work lol, but lots of enjoyment in seeing the finished product too :dblthumb2:
 
Wow amazig job!

Very nice turn around!!!! Holy shiz.

Hahaha, holy shiz is right...thats what i was thinking the whole time...well that and "cactus!"

WOW NICE SAVE!!!

That would have easily been a $900+ job in my eyes, and it im sure it was worse in person! You two deserve a HUGE tip for that one! LOL

Lol yes much worse, i really didn't get as many pics of that roof as i would have liked...probably cause i was just focusing on wanting to get it DONE, but the few pics i did get...was what the ENTIRE roof looked like....not fun.

Great job Wills! That thing is a monster!

Such a turnaround there !


Thanks guys. Marc that one was one hell of a nightmare lol. I'm just glad we were able to get it to come back to life.
 
Wow that was trashed very nice save and nice documentation as always!
 
My goodness, you guys did an outstanding job on that! I'm getting dizzy just by looking at those swirls. It Looks bad enough to form a worm hole.
 
What a great case study pictorial of swirls and scratches of all shapes and sizes and in every kind of light! Thanks for the effort in taking all the pics, and what a result! Times ten for doing it in the middle of a Phoenix summer.

Great story about the neighbor telling the Escalade owners that her boyfriend is a detailer and could do it next time. It says a lot about how impressed they are with the work you guys do, that they told you that story.

I know AG doesn't usually make a Sticky post out of detailing results for a particular car, but if any detailng results post ever qualified for a Sticky, this one does.

PS the "mystic cloud" reflection photos are really cool.
 
Nice. Can you list stuff you used?

Sure can.

Just our usual stuff for the initial cleaning:

Dawn
APC (tires)
APC+ (bugs)
Megs Degreaser (wheel wells)
Wheel Brightener (rims)
Pressure washer was a huge help on this one

Can't remember what kinda clay i used, sorry, but was probably megs.

We used Megs MF cutting pads mostly and when i used the dynabrade i was using Lake Country Micro. pads.

Megs 105 and D300 was used to cut with and 205 was used to polish with a white pad if i remember correctly.

Opti-bond was used on the tires and wheel wells. I think thats it :)

Nice!


Well put.

Thank you. Im glad when you guys actually read and look :) Makes me feel like i wasn't wasting my time just blabbing lol

Did the write-up take you longer than the detail? :p

I really have a TON of respect for you and Dani! :props:

AMAZING turnaround to say the least!!!! :props:

No Rupes was used?

What pad and polish did you use to finish?

This was PRE Rupes man! This was last summer so, the Rupes craze hadn't been brought upon us at that time...though i wish i had it thats for sure!

205 and a white pad i believe was used...205 for sure...and PRETTY sure it was a white pad.

And as always, thanks for checkin' it out man :)

Nice job as always but man they trashed that thing!
The before pics look unbelievable like you went out and did all damage just so you can show off! lol, jk. Again nice job.

Hahaha, it really did look like that right? "Hey lets go off-road it for a couple days, THEN detail it...that'll make a nice write up!"

This is hands down one of the best, and most dramatic corrections I have seen to date on this forum.

It has been over a year and a half since my last post on here, not because I lost connection with this site (I have been lurking in the shadows) but because the corrections posted were pretty much pictures. (not a bad thing, some amazing work was shown!)

This was an incredibly detailed, well thought out, and heart felt write up that has the ability to inspire professional detailers, weekend warriors, and those of us who just want a great looking car.

Thank you for taking the time and thought to share your experience with this community, it is greatly appreciated!

Not really sure what to say to that...wow, just...thank you. Glad it touched home so much...i usually take quite a while with these write ups and hope it really helps and inspires SOMEONE, i know i've read many here and on autopia that inspired me...figured id attempt to do the same and share some little things we learn each detail as well. I'm really glad you liked it and for you to post after over a year for the first time in response to my write up, is quite the compliment, thank you. :dblthumb2:
 
Gorgeous work as always from you two. Mad props!!! :props::props:

Thank you man, appreciate you swinging in to check it out!

:iagree:with Nate here...(by the way nice to see ya around Nate)

Wills you and Dani never cease to amaze me!

the work you put into that vechical shows that you guys can do anything!

what a challenge it was and the outcome was just awsome!

thank you for sharing and keep up the great work.

:applause:

I don't know about anything but we damn sure are crazy enough to TRY anything lol. I was more than happy to share the write up...honestly, i thought i'd lost the before pics. My heart sunk when i couldn't find them on any of my hard drives...but then a week or so ago my sis found a thumb drive at the bottom of her purse...and behold....the 150+ photos! I backed them up right away and then got the write up done :)

Overwhelming and amazing. Thanks for sharing!

Very welcome, thanks for reading!

Wow that was trashed very nice save and nice documentation as always!

Trashed was the word...not anymore though. Thanks as always for checking it out.

My goodness, you guys did an outstanding job on that! I'm getting dizzy just by looking at those swirls. It Looks bad enough to form a worm hole.

We dreamt about those swirls, like...seriously...we had DREAMS about those things...you look at that for 10+ hours 2 days in a row....it gets engraved in your brain..no lie.

Wow! This write up made my head hurt! Amazing work!

Hahaha, hurt in a good way i hope? Hopefully the end helped ease the head pain.

What a great case study pictorial of swirls and scratches of all shapes and sizes and in every kind of light! Thanks for the effort in taking all the pics, and what a result! Times ten for doing it in the middle of a Phoenix summer.

Great story about the neighbor telling the Escalade owners that her boyfriend is a detailer and could do it next time. It says a lot about how impressed they are with the work you guys do, that they told you that story.

I know AG doesn't usually make a Sticky post out of detailing results for a particular car, but if any detailng results post ever qualified for a Sticky, this one does.

PS the "mystic cloud" reflection photos are really cool.


I loved the cloud photos too..really does look like just a straight photo of the sky...but its paint..and that makes it awesome!

I don't know about a sticky, thats obviously not up to me lol...but for those who do read it im very glad you enjoyed it. I'll try to get more up soon :)
 
That Escalade looks like it came off the showroom floor and then some. The hood looks like a mural. These threads are very inspirational, please keep sharing.
 
I SEE A SWIRL!!! JK..wow what a turnout, i think i would just break down crying if i had to do this myself. Great work as usual!
 
Great turn around, you guys are an amazing team and do excellent work. Thanks for sharing the pictures and write ups as I enjoy reading the commentary along with the pictures. Once again much appreciated. Bang up job.
 
Fabulous work. It has shown me that as bad as it was, it could still be rescued and turned out amazing!
 
That Escalade looks like it came off the showroom floor and then some. The hood looks like a mural. These threads are very inspirational, please keep sharing.

Thats a good description of the hood. Glad you found it inspiration and i'll definitely keep them coming :)

I SEE A SWIRL!!! JK..wow what a turnout, i think i would just break down crying if i had to do this myself. Great work as usual!

I know id be crying if we had to do it again lol. Thanks for checking it out though!

Great turn around, you guys are an amazing team and do excellent work. Thanks for sharing the pictures and write ups as I enjoy reading the commentary along with the pictures. Once again much appreciated. Bang up job.

Really glad to hear you enjoyed both the write up and photos...always good to know you guys enjoy it so much and as always, appreciate you reading through it and leaving feedback :)

Fabulous work. It has shown me that as bad as it was, it could still be rescued and turned out amazing!

It is pretty crazy how such horrible paint can come back to life...but...it's possible, just takes a lot of time and patience and some know how helps too :)
 
Great work on turing around the Escalade !!

Truly impressed with your before and after shots.

btw - that has to be the most bugs on the front save for a tractor trailer.
 
All I can say is that is one of the most dramatic transformation I have seen in a long time. Great job and thanks for taking the time to share with us. You and your sister worked your butts off and I know just how much work that was having done it myself.

Your determination, dedication, and hard work will bring you success!

I am curious why you did not follow up with a glaze, seal or wax? Can the opti coat replace all of those steps and provide the same amount of shine?
 
Great work on turing around the Escalade !!

Truly impressed with your before and after shots.

btw - that has to be the most bugs on the front save for a tractor trailer.

Thank you! And its funny you mention the bugs..by the time you look through like 100+ pics...usually you TOTALLY forget about the bugs in the beginning! Good call on that one!

All I can say is that is one of the most dramatic transformation I have seen in a long time. Great job and thanks for taking the time to share with us. You and your sister worked your butts off and I know just how much work that was having done it myself.

Your determination, dedication, and hard work will bring you success!

I am curious why you did not follow up with a glaze, seal or wax? Can the opti coat replace all of those steps and provide the same amount of shine?

Absolutely. Glaze just fills in defects and washes away eventually (body shops are notorious for this trick). A wax and/or sealant's job is to protect the paint and add gloss...Opti-Coat does both of those... ESPECIALLY the protecting part. It provides protection that is on another level compared to a wax or sealant...and obviously by the look of the ride...it gives plenty of gloss and depth too.

Some people will use something like Optimum Car Wax as a topper here n' there...but because of Opti-Coats make up...it will not stick or last very long at all.
 
great work and great pictures, it takes a lot of work and time to just take pics . Nice work .
 
Back
Top