Kia Rio & winter wheels

[richy]

So this is the 2nd Kia that couple owns. She has had it for about 6 months, so I expected it to be a bit more work, but it's smaller, so it kinda evened out. They also had a set of winter wheels and tires for it too that were going to get coated. I ended up doing 2 small touch ups on it too. I was very happy with how the touch ups turned out on this car: they were very, very hard to find after.

Here is was as it arrived:

I thought the wheels on this car were especially nice and really made the car:

Here's the winter set to get cleaned and coated:

So, first up was the wheels on the car itself. The wheel barrels were done first with Tarminator and allowed to dwell and then agitated with a Daytona brush. That was followed up with Zep Citrus in the barrels, face and wells. The wells were cleaned with my big wheel woolie. The tires were cleaned with Zep Purple.

Next up was the winter set. I followed the same procedure, starting with the barrel side first using Tarminator on the dry surface and then agitated and power washed off. Here is a wheel only after this stage:

That was followed up with ZC and then power washed again. The tire was cleaned with ZP.
The face received the same treatment. Here is the finished product of a barrel after both Tarminator and ZC:

And the face of the wheel cleaned totally:

The next step was bug removal. The front end was sprayed down with DG Bug Remover which was allowed to dwell. I had my Pinnacle bug sponge soaking in my wash bucket during this time so it was nice and pliable. The bugs were removed with ease with this combo.
Then the car was foamed using DG 901 and Dawn. I actually just dipped my bottle into the wash bucket and stole some of that soapy mix. I did a bit more 901 to it for good measure.

The car was then washed and power washed off. It was brought inside wet and was clayed with Elastofoam and ONR as lube. It was then dried off with both mf's and the master blaster.


Next I turned my attention to applying OG to the winter wheels. The tires were not going to be dressed as the tires were going to be loaded inside the car afterward and I didn't want to make a mess. The barrel side was done first including the inside of the spokes. I then flipped over the wheel and did the face. I have a folding work table that is a great height for vacuuming mats and working on wheels. Here is a barrel after being coated:

 

[richy]

Now came paint polishing. I was doing a one step followed by squeaky clean paint cleaner. I chose a yellow B/S pad and D300. There were some light scratches in some areas that got a mix of M105 and D300. The worse the area, the stronger the ratio of M105. I was using my DA on 6 for this step. I wish I had my Flex with me to be honest. I'll have it when I return from vacation. I followed that step with SC and a white B/S pad and speed 5 on the Megs DA.
The headlights and tail lights were also polished the same way. Squeaky clean was also done via DA to all the glass area as well. I did that on the Optima too, but forgot to mention it in my write up.
The final prep for the paint and glass was an ONR wash and wipe down to completely dry. Then the paint and glass all got OG. The wheel faces also were sealed with OG, including all the little ridges. I did it by hand with a suede mf folded up on its side.
The trim was dressed with UTTG.
The tires and wells were sprayed with my air gun with DP gel.
The barrels of the wheels were sprayed with Permanon. I did not have sufficient time to allow the OG to cure to apply Permanon to the paint.

Here are the AFTER SHOTS:

This couple were very proud of their cars and were so excited to pick them up. It was a real pleasure for me to work on them and for this couple. Very satisfying indeed!

 

[ralliartjuggalo]

nice work as usual. i appreciate the details of your process it really helps paint the whole picture

 

[richy]

nice work as usual. i appreciate the details of your process it really helps paint the whole picture

Thank you. I've learned a ton since I've been on here from 2007. I just try to pass along what helps me out too. I appreciate hearing that it's helpful.

 

[A.P.A.D.]

nice work! these cars are so ugly that they are almost cute lol

now does the tire gel via air gun work? like the tornado? those tires look sharp after the dressing. would like to see your technique.

how do you like Duragloss 281? that is my usual go to for tire dressing. i always spray on a tire applicator pad and then apply to the tire for a uniformed look. really interested in this air gun method though with those kind of results.

 

[richy]

nice work! these cars are so ugly that they are almost cute lol

now does the tire gel via air gun work? like the tornado? those tires look sharp after the dressing. would like to see your technique.

how do you like Duragloss 281? that is my usual go to for tire dressing. i always spray on a tire applicator pad and then apply to the tire for a uniformed look. really interested in this air gun method though with those kind of results.

Thank you. If you look at this thread, it's shortly after I started using the spray gun and air compressor method. In this case, the BMW was done with Opti Bond out of the gun. It has a more matte finish than the DP gel does. You can see the setup in the thread:
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/show-n-shine/49879-2006-bmw-530-og-permanon.html
And thanks for the feedback!
As far as the Wet Shine goes, I like it too. In fact, I bought a gallon of it last year, so when my DP runs out, I'll probably run it through the spray gun..or maybe the OB, I don't know. I have both on hand.

 

[Meticulous-Detail]

Nice job Richy, I have to pick up some Tarminator. When you clayed were you able to get out all the tiny orange rust particles with the Elastofoam and ONR?

 

[Klasse Act]

That car came out great, cool little rides for sure, especially for the money! I think they're "quirky cool", no doubt about it!! Now you said those other wheels are winter wheels, what.....no snow tires, I thought that was the law up there? Finally, what, no DG products used, what is the world coming to, LOL!

 

[richy]

Nice job Richy, I have to pick up some Tarminator. When you clayed were you able to get out all the tiny orange rust particles with the Elastofoam and ONR?

Yes, and no, LOL. On the back hatch, there were more than I thought, so I ended up shooting the area with some Wolf's Decon gel and then did an ONR wash to remove the chemical from the surface. I actually went over it a few times just to make sure. Every other mark came out easily. I had done a test spot on the hood and it was fine. The one mark where my finger is pointing is actually one of the chips I filled.
I am now a HUGE fan of Elastofoam!

That car came out great, cool little rides for sure, especially for the money! I think they're "quirky cool", no doubt about it!! Now you said those other wheels are winter wheels, what.....no snow tires, I thought that was the law up there? Finally, what, no DG products used, what is the world coming to, LOL!

Thank you for the kind words! I deliberately use the term "winter tires" and not snow tires. Snow tires are a misnomer if you ask me as the need for "winter" tires has a lot more to do with cold temps than it does having to deal with snow accumulation on the ground. The compound of those winter tires is softer and provides better stopping distances, etc. The laws governing our roads vary by province. I don't know in the US if they vary by state or are country-wide, but in the province of Ontario where I live, they are not mandated. In Quebec however, they are for about 6 months out of the year. In her case, I don't know if those are actually winter tires or not. I don't remember seeing a snowflake insignia on them now that you mention it. It would be better if they replaced those tires with winter tires if they are going to the bother of changing them in the winter anyway. Not my car; not my call.
The Squeaky Clean paint cleaner is a DG product in a beta testing stage right now. Gosh, I don't know if I could work on a whole car without using at least one!! hehehehe