Nothing too exciting... a few recent SUV's (Murano, 4Runner, Rav4)

[zmcgovern45]

I don't always document each vehicle I work on (believe it or not ), but I snapped a few photos (some iPhone pics, some with the DSLR) of each of these projects so I figured I would make a quick post... Enjoy


2006 Nissan Murano - Headlight Correction & Exterior Enhancement Detail

The goal of this job was just to bring back some lost luster in the paint. This vehicle has seen mostly touchless washes (the full service kind that are followed by someone drying with a towel after the car goes through the tunnel wash) and we all know that can lead to dull, stained paint and light swirls from the crappy towels that are used. The owner had no intentions of altering this maintenance plan, so full correction was not needed. The results were exactly what this car needed - it looked much "younger" afterwards.



- Wash: ONR
- Decon: Nanoskin Fine Grade Mitt with Glide for Lubrication
- Headlights: Sanded with 2000 Grit, Polished with M105, M205
- Paint Correction: Sonax Perfect Finish via White LC Pad on Rupes LHR21ES and Rupes LHR75E
- Paint Sealant: CarPro Reload
- Tire Dressing: Meguiar's Endurance Gel
- Glass: CarPro Fast Glass Towels
... I'm sure there was more, but I'm struggling to remember.



Original condition of the headlight

Sanded down with 2000 grit

After polishing

50/50 of my test spot on the door. You can see the noticeable improvement in the polished area on the left. The right side looks dull and faded in comparison.

This photo shows how dull the paint looked. Notice my reflection is quite cloudy.

After polishing, the reflection is MUCH more crisp.

After - A mirror like shine

The paint was deep and dark, as it should be!

2014 Toyota 4Runner - Premium Exterior Enhancement w/ Opti-Coat (new car prep)

This was a brand new vehicle. Luckily the paint was in very good shape (it's a miracle!!!!!!!!). The owner was seeking long term protection, so we decided opti-coat was the best choice in this particular situation.

- Tires: Tuf Shine Tire Cleaner and Tuf Shine Tire Brush
- Wheels: Sonax Full Effect & Various Brushes
- Wash: ONR
- Polish: M205 on Crimson LC Pads via Rupes LHR21ES and LHR75E (speed 3ish)
- Coating Prep: Eraser Wipe Down (x2)
- Opti-Coat topped with CarPro Reload after curing for 24 hours to make the surface slick to the touch (since OC is not slick on its own)
- Wheels: HydrO2
- Tires: Optimum Opti-Bond Tire Gel
- Glass: Invisible Glass
- General Interior Cleaning
... that is all I can remember on this one


Only after shots in this one... the car was washed, decontaminated, lightly polished, and then coated for ultimate protection and shine.


This is one mean looking SUV.

2006 Toyota Rav4 - Premium Exterior Enhancement Detail w/ Opti-Coat & Engine Detail


The goal of this detail was just a very deep cleaning inside and out. This vehicle hadn't ever been polished, and it's last detail of any kind was about 2 years ago. I started with a very thorough cleaning and decontamination process, followed by a one-stage paint correction to remove light surface defects and embedded contaminates. The paint is MUCH brighter now and very glossy for a light paint color. The paint was then protected with Opti-Coat for many years of durable protection and ease of maintenance.

- Tires: Tuf Shine Tire Cleaner & Tire Brush
- Wheels: Sonax Full Effect and various tools/brushes
- Foam Presoak: strong mixture of CG Citrus Wash
- Wash: CG Citrus Wash
- Tar Removal: Tarminator
- Iron/Fallout Removal: IronX
- Decontamination: NanoSkin Fine Grade Mitt
- Paint Correction: M205 on MF Finishing Pads via Rupes LHR21ES and Rupes LHR75E
- Surface Prep: IPA & ONR Wash
- Opti-Coat (topped with Reload after curing for 24 hours to make the surface slick to the touch)
- Interior was thoroughly vacuumed, dusted, steamed, and dressed
- Glass: CarPro Fast Glass
- Wheels: Sealed with CarPro HydrO2
- Tires: Meguiar's Endurance Gel
- Engine was degreased & scrubbed with D103 (4:1), blown dry with master blaster sidekick, and then dressed with 303



After polishing the hood, it was evident that there was a lot of contamination that had become embedded into the paint. You can see how dirty the upper pad had become after being used on only one panel.

The metallic flake really came to life after polishing removed below surface contaminates and swirls

Paint had a new shine after polishing

I will admit that cleaning the glass is my least favorite thing, but the inside of this windshield was in desperate need of some cleaning. (Left original, right clean)

After - I didn't have much light, but you can see the paint was nice and shiny.

The interior was steamed and all plastic/vinyl was dressed.

The engine cleaned up nicely

Thanks for looking! My next thread will be a little more interesting...... full write up will follow in a few days!

 

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Beautiful work and pictures as always Zach!

Will have my eyes peeled for that little FRS!

 

[GenesisCoupe]

Awesome work as usual!

Is it me, or do Toyota's get the "smokers fog" inside the most? From any vehicle i have ever detailed, Toyotas always had that issue.

 

[Sharpie]

NICE! What did you use on the plastic trim of the Murano? Was it the Mequiar's Endurance Gel?

 

[dcjredline]

Did anyone even recognize their cars when they came to pick them up?

 

[10secdream]

Great job Zach. I am sure the owners were thrilled with those results!!

That is one slammed FRS.

 

[zmcgovern45]

Beautiful work and pictures as always Zach!

Will have my eyes peeled for that little FRS!

Thanks Mike! FRS will be corrected and coated with UK this weekend... write up (and maybe photo shoot) will follow shortly afterwards!

Awesome work as usual!

Is it me, or do Toyota's get the "smokers fog" inside the most? From any vehicle i have ever detailed, Toyotas always had that issue.

Thanks! The inner windshield 'film' is pretty common among most vehicles... it is an area that most people will never clean.

NICE! What did you use on the plastic trim of the Murano? Was it the Mequiar's Endurance Gel?

Thanks... I wouldn't recommend EG on trim. I use either 303 or CQuartz DLUX for trim depending on the owner's request/budget.

Did anyone even recognize their cars when they came to pick them up?

haha yes, they did... but they were all quite pleased with their new appearance.

Great job Zach. I am sure the owners were thrilled with those results!!

That is one slammed FRS.

Thanks! The FRS is definitely low. going to be fun to polish the lower panels without a lift. Guess I'll be laying on the ground again

 

[jamesboyy]

Marvelous work as always

 

[Paul Mitchell]

Great work as always. The reflections on the 4Runner are some of best I've ever seen!

 

[zmcgovern45]

Thanks guys!

The metallic grey of the 4runner was stunning... my fence also adds a nice contrast for reflection shots, so that helps show off how crisp the reflections were

 

[Tato]

If this is not too exciting, what in life would be!?

Wonderful work as always, thanks for sharing.

On the first car you've demonstrated 2000 grit headlight sanding then polishing.

Can you please, describe a bit what kind of sanding you've done (how long does it take, and some other details), please?

Then you said 'polished', can you describe how you polished (product, pad, passes, etc), please?

I'm to do my first full headlight restoration the coming week. Although I've done minor headlight restorations until now, I generally use only a compound and a cutting pad.

I've also read a lot, and saw many videos at youtube of different techniques to achieve expected results.

However, I'm not feeling 100% confident yet.

Can you please, based on questions above, describe which would be the care needed to sand down and polish a headlight without compromising it?

Like the headlight I'll be dealing with is very blurred, yellow and is old, I'm afraid of this 'bomb exploding in my hands'.

Any tips would be great,

Thanks you in advance,

Kind Regards.

 

[zmcgovern45]

On the first car you've demonstrated 2000 grit headlight sanding then polishing.

Can you please, describe a bit what kind of sanding you've done (how long does it take, and some other details), please?

Then you said 'polished', can you describe how you polished (product, pad, passes, etc), please?

...

Can you please, based on questions above, describe which would be the care needed to sand down and polish a headlight without compromising it?

Like the headlight I'll be dealing with is very blurred, yellow and is old, I'm afraid of this 'bomb exploding in my hands'.

Any tips would be great,

Thanks you in advance,

Kind Regards.

This car was sanded by hand with 2000 grit until the plastic had a uniform appearance (as shown in the pictures). I then compounded with M105 on a 3" MF cutting pad via the Rupes LHR75E to remove the sanding marks. Then polished with M205 on a white 3" polishing pad. The headlights were then sealed with Reload. Done.

Process was ~15 minutes per light.

If your headlights are more severely damaged you will need to start with more aggressive sand paper and work your way up before compounding and polishing. The plastic is much thicker than clear coat, therefore you can be very aggressive (comparatively) without coming close to compromising the lens.

 

[Tato]

Thank you very much my friend. This answer came right on time.

Today I've prepared the car (wheels and inferior, wash (maybe 6 times), iron out, clay, began doing some interior as well, touch up paint, etc).

I've also ordered Plastx, 600 grit sanding paper (the two extremities of what I have in mind doing), the rest I already have here that I use for paint on spots (1200, 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000, 4000, 5000, you name 'em!).

I'll start with the least abrasive method first to see how things evolve, stepping up as needed.

I've already polished many headlights using compounds and polishes with great results, but I never faced a 'so trashed' headlight, that's why I was in need of more knowledge to be able to tackle it correctly.

I also ordered PlastX because customer wants me to work on panel (gauge) plastics, I will try it on headlamp as well.

Your info was very helpful, and tomorrow (today!) by the morning I'll work them to see how they will come out.

Can't waste much time on it because I have dull, scratched and very swirled paint, also a nasty interior to deal with... everything to end up by a coating of PBL surface.

Thanks for taking your time helping me out,

Kind Regards.

 

[Tato]

Done!

So like I've said, I've prepared all my 'sanding apparatus' to end out using ~only 3-4 applications of PlastX with tangerine Hydro-tech pads.

When I was doing the paint, on finishing step using M205 I went over headlamps to finish even better. But improvement over PlastX results were little noticeable.

I know PlastX have some 'UV protection' that I may had removed with M205 polishing over, but I then polished with PBL cleansing polish and applied PBL surface coating. Hope that holds up.

Here is a before / after picture:

****Your comments were very important for my before (planning what to do), during (how to do) and for final results. I also would like to thank Etienne from Creative Car Detailing who supported me on this task as well.

Thanks AG friends for everything.

Kind Regards.

 

[Deranged_9n3]

Great outcome !!

Only a pleasure for the assistence

 

[zmcgovern45]

Looks good