Full Wet/Damp sand on 2003 Suburban + Opti-Coat

Super job and results! :xyxthumbs:

dnoraker said:
First of all, special thanks to Chad Raskovich (Rasky) for coaching me through some of the steps and coming over to help with Opti-coat.
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Hrumph....Chad never comes over to help me. Wonder if it's something I said? :confused:

TL
 
An enormous vehicle makes for an enormous job!

But it certainly turned out great. And you must have an understanding wife.
 
On those hood shots especially, you've got that blue paint reflecting like well polished black! :xyxthumbs:

I never would have imagined that a Suburban could look as good as yours turned out.
 
Rix6 said:
On those hood shots especially, you've got that blue paint reflecting like well polished black! :xyxthumbs:

I never would have imagined that a Suburban could look as good as yours turned out.
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Thanks! That's why I picked this color- a lot of the reflective qualities of black, but not quite as exposing. Sanding and buffing it certainly darkened it. It looked a little murky before on the more heavily peeled panels.
 
Very nice work Dan!

I bet I'll see it around town this summer as there aren't too many 'Burbs that look like that.

Randy
 
Looks awesome - those reflections are really crisp in the after shots, wish I could my truck like that...
 
ZimRandy said:
Very nice work Dan!

I bet I'll see it around town this summer as there aren't too many 'Burbs that look like that.

Randy
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I'll try to keep 'er clean so it stands out. :) With kid #3 imminent, that may be a tall order! I know...a lot of time to spend getting it to look like a show truck only to slack on washing. Hopefully the Opti-Coat helps me wash it faster. I'm also hoping to buy a pressure washer soon with a foam cannon to make quicker work of the process.

I'm frequently at the Coon Rapids Culvers or Target if you want to see the truck! :cruisin:
 
oldmodman said:
An enormous vehicle makes for an enormous job!

But it certainly turned out great. And you must have an understanding wife.
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My wife is the best. I don't deserve her. HUGE blessing in my life.

It warms my heart when we're walking through the parking lot and she says "whoa- did you see that car over there? Swirls everywhere!" When she never sees them at home, they stick out like a sore thumb. :buffing:

Or when my 4-yr-old son blurts out "Daddy- that's the car wash that scratches the paint, right?" "Yes, son. We don't like that one."
 
I'm going to try to get some more pictures as I pick at the rest of the truck in the next month or two and get some good "Done" pictures when it stops snowing and the salt has been washed away.

Below is one of the wheel wells that needed a lot of help. They were caked in tar, and the tar had a lot of embedded dirt so when I washed it, it never looked remotely black. It took 2-3 applications of Tar-X, usually letting it dwell for a minute or two, then wiping off with some junk terry cloths I was going to chuck anyway. I did a final rinse with some ONR and wiped dry. No point in dressing because it was wet outside, but I'll do that for my final pics.

Before (it just looks dirty, but that dirt is embedded in a thick layer of tar):

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Before/After (you can see on the edge how thick the tar is)

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After:

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This exposed how chipped up the paint is in the wells, and I'm debating on what to do with that. i guess I could get a can of touch-up paint and mask everything off and hit those areas. Or, maybe it would look better black? Any thoughts? A buddy of mine has a paint booth at his house, so I might be going over there anyway to have some other touch-up work done. The painted edges of the wheel wells are pretty munched from rocks and they will likely start rusting soon.

Special thanks to Rasky for the introduction to Tar-X. I normally use Tarminator, which is a great product, but Tar-X has a very fine mist so you can control how much you apply a little better, seems a little more powerful, and definitely smells better (though you still need fresh air when using this). I'm looking forward to the next detailing season getting to see what it can do.
 
Your truck looks great! Chad is a super guy and I'm not surprised to hear that he was a big help to you. A big congats on your upcoming baby too!!!
 
AntC said:
Great Job looks fantastic !!
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Thanks, dude. I noticed you're new to the forums and you happen to have the same color truck. Careful what you finish down with on that thing. Most products seem to finish out with some degree of micro-marring if you're using the DA polisher. I've read that Menzerna 106fa is a good polish to finish with. I use Menzerna 85rd on the rotary, but if you don't use a rotary, 106fa has a little more cut and still finishes down crystal clear.
 
Sorry about haphazardly adding information to this post. Too busy chasing kids to complete a thought, let alone complete a write-up! :doh:

I wanted to add some more of my favorite before/after shots. These are from the right front door, sometimes including the fender. The fenders had a little more peel than the doors from the factory, so the difference is a little exaggerated.

Before on panel gap:

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Before on RF door:

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After sanding door:

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After compounding door:

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After compounding door (You may see some tracers and one tiny pigtail near the halogen reflection, which I cleaned up later with D300):

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After/Before on the panel break:

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After on the RF door:

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This picture is kind of cool because you can see that I had only sanded and compounded the tops of the doors on this side of the truck. You can see how much more clear they are and how the color is more vivid:

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Amazing transformation Dan!

I read this thread yesterday while I was off work so I'm just now getting a chance to comment and like other's have said, the results speak for themselves...

Both machine and hand sanding mean doing a lot of careful work both on the sanding side and the buffing side and these types of projects are not for the faint of heart...


Excellent work.


:dblthumb2:
 
Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
Amazing transformation Dan!

I read this thread yesterday while I was off work so I'm just now getting a chance to comment and like other's have said, the results speak for themselves...

Both machine and hand sanding mean doing a lot of careful work both on the sanding side and the buffing side and these types of projects are not for the faint of heart...


Excellent work.


:dblthumb2:
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Thanks! I hope to get some quality "done" pics in the next couple months when it's totally finished.

To-Do:
- lightly polish possible high spots in the Opti-Coat and re-apply if necessary in areas
- Opti-Coat bumpers, door trim, running boards, bug deflector, windows (after thorough claying and polishing), possibly wheels (though they're corroded)
- polish and apply sealant in jambs
- full engine detail (only hit what I could clean in the garage)
- interior shampoo and leather conditioning
- find some killer chrome rims (probably a 16" or 17" to retain ride and handling qualities)
- get painted lip around wheel wells touched up as well as painted areas in the wheels wells
 
very nice turnaround!:props:

well it needed a lot of patience and passion. :iagree:

and above all, congrats on the coming of baby #3:dblthumb2:
 
Update on the Burb:

- found some used rims in nice shape and applied Opti-Coat (rims installed today)
- Opti-Coated front bumper and bug shield
- still want to coat the windows, door trim, and rear bumper
- need to polish door jambs and do my post-winter interior detail

Update on baby Elsie: she's doing awesome and gets smothered with hugs and kisses from Daddy :)

Here is a picture I took today after having the rims mounted. The truck hasn't been washed in a few days and I should have taken the picture with my tripod, but you get the idea.


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