Camaro RS dressed in Red Jewel w/ OptiCoat

[Reflections]

Hello:

I was recently contacted by this customer to do a full correction + OptiCoat for a local car show. Upon inspection, I figured 2 steps compound + polish would do the trick to remove the water marks and underlying marring, swirls, rids, etc.. Needless to say, after doing a test spot, that was not the case.

Process:
Pre-rinse
Wash w/ 2 Bucket Method
Tar / Iron Decontamination
Clay
Rinse
Waffle Weave Dry
Dual Compound
Medium Cut Polish
Fine Cut Polish
Mineral Spirit Wipedown
LSP

Products:
CG Citrus Wash & Gloss
Carpro Wash Mitt for upper Panels
Sheepskin Mitt for lower panels
Tarminator
IronX
PoorBoys Bug Squash
NanoSkin Medium Grade Towel
DI Waffle Weave Towel
Multiple Wheel Brushes
Opti-Bond Tire Gel
Adam's Metal Polish
5.5" Microfiber Cutting Pad + Megs 105
5.5" Microfiber Cutting Pad + FG400
5.5" LC Orange + 205
5.5" LC White + Menz SF4500
Mineral Spirit Wipe Down
LSP: OptiCoat Pro

Well, let's see where I started....

Definitely a "50 footer"...

Closer Look- Notice heavy water spotting/etching, RIDS and deep Swirls

Not so bad here

Not terrible on the trunk lid either

Still some pretty obvious swirls and R.I.D.S

Noticeable holograms and swirls here on the roof- what you can't see here is the heavy waterspotting

Same story here- Owner says dealership didn't polish this when he had work done... I see differently

Notice the density of water spots along the edge of the hood in this picture- this was the case on entire car

Water spot damage shown much clearer here...

Absolutely no clarity!

Now,the transformation

OptiCoated these as well.

Thanks for looking!

 

[KillaCam]

Wow that color looks amazing and dripping wet! You did a fantastic job. What machine was used?

 

[zmcgovern45]

Looks amazing! Well done.

 

[hernandez.art13]

Yes it looks really wet. Wow great job!

 

[DG3.7]

Those taillights are so ugly stock lol Im pretty biased towards mustangs, and I tend to think those look over-styled and cartoonish but man that one is beautiful after your detail.

 

[jpegs13]

Awesome job! Looks amazing!

 

[Reflections]

Awesome job! Looks amazing!

Thanks! I absolutely love this color!

Those taillights are so ugly stock lol Im pretty biased towards mustangs, and I tend to think those look over-styled and cartoonish but man that one is beautiful after your detail.

I can't say I've seen any aftermarket tails, but I'm not a huge fan of the rear lights either. Especially since they're difficult to detail! Thanks!

Yes it looks really wet. Wow great job!

Thanks! I love the gloss level of OptiCoat! Absolutely amazing!

Looks amazing! Well done.

Thanks Zack!

Wow that color looks amazing and dripping wet! You did a fantastic job. What machine was used?

Thanks Cam, I was overly pleased with the end result. About a 95% or better correction, really added depth and shine! I actually used the HF DA on this one. Knocked my PC off the shelf on another job and damaged the drive, so I had to pick this up in a pinch and I love it!

 

[cardaddy]

The color rendition is what sticks out to me. That and the depth opens up.

It just kills me when I go over to Summit Racing on Monday nights and guys have all these cars they spend tens of thousands on motor and underside upgrades but their paint looks like the clear is opaque. (From all the swirls.)

I did one headlight for a guy on his 04 mica black GTO a couple weeks ago for a guy. (He couldn't afford both at once, especially as they are/were covered in a BAD spar varnish treatment.) Then I did a test spot on his front fender showing him just how much difference it'd make to do paint correction.

When he looked at it he thought I did something to the paint because it literally is a different color (after correction) from what it looks like swirled up like crazy. It's amazing the transformation, yet even more amazing that your typical owner hasn't a clue, and most likely doesn't give a rats arse to make it better. :dunno:

 

[tswitz]

Nice job! Love that color of red on that car!

 

[kantonburg]

Looks great. Awesome job!

 

[Dogfather]

Those taillights are so ugly stock lol Im pretty biased towards mustangs, and I tend to think those look over-styled and cartoonish but man that one is beautiful after your detail.

I actually like the new taillights.
OP, looks stunning.

 

[SR99]

Nice work. That's a great color.

A question on the latter part of your process:

Process:
...
Medium Cut Polish
Fine Cut Polish
Mineral Spirit Wipedown
LSP

I don't think I've seen a MS wipedown used much after compounding. What led you to try that and what does it do? Do you always do that, or just for particular paints or compounds?

Is this full strength MS, and a good soaking wipedown, or just a light wipe with a damp MF towel?

 

[rmagnus]

That color is hot and you did a fantastic job bringing it out. AWESOME!

 

[silverfox]

That color is amazing. They only offered it two years. I'm glad I bought mine when I did. The color has since been replaced with another shade of red but it's not the same in terms of pop.

 

[Reflections]

Nice work. That's a great color.

A question on the latter part of your process:

Process:
...
Medium Cut Polish
Fine Cut Polish
Mineral Spirit Wipedown
LSP

I don't think I've seen a MS wipedown used much after compounding. What led you to try that and what does it do? Do you always do that, or just for particular paints or compounds?

Is this full strength MS, and a good soaking wipedown, or just a light wipe with a damp MF towel?

Thanks everyone! This has quickly become one of my favorite colors out there. I wasn't aware that this was made for 2 years only- nice choice to limit this one.

SR99, to answer your questions the MS wipedown, I've actually just recently switched to using MS vs IPA. MS seem to give a lot more "pure" results than a traditional IPA. With MS, you can use at full strength- no mixing whereas with IPA you should mix to get the correct stripping without streaking. I've also noticed that MS cleans so much better than IPA. Lastly, MS is more cost effective than IPA- now, I'm pinching pennies here, but pennies add up over time! Mike Phillips did a great write up HEREabout this very topic. Long read, but if you're interested, it'll definitely give you some insight about residue removal. I generally do a panel at a time, spray it on, dwell for 10-15 seconds, wipe clean!

 

[beamerstrumpet]

seems to me that MS is a bit more slick just from use on other stuff, do yo notice less micro maring or less chance of it any how?

 

[LatinFG2]

That looks so good!

 

[Reflections]

seems to me that MS is a bit more slick just from use on other stuff, do yo notice less micro maring or less chance of it any how?

I haven't noticed any induced micro-marring from the use of MS. It is certainly more "slick" than a IPA wipedown, but MS wipe-down has saved me from having to do multiple IPA's to removal all remaining oils. What I mean by that is, sometimes the IPA dilution is too high and you need a 15% when you may have used a 10%, so of course- you have to do it again.

I haven't seen any failure or degradation of coatings since I've been using MS- so it works for me. Probably not for everyone. A good dawn + APC soak will do the trick as well. That's probably the absolute best, but for now- MS works great!

That looks so good!

Thanks Latin, absolutely love this paint!

 

[HateSwirls]

Dame I love this car, deep water spots and swirls all gone.
Great work bro, really, nice