zmcgovern45
New member
- Sep 5, 2012
- 3,443
- 0
The owner of this car contacted me through my Facebook Page and was interested in cleaning up this gorgeous red G8. This car is driven most of the year, but gets put away for bad weather and in the winter. It is a lower mileage vehicle, with the odometer reading under 30k, and needed a bit of work to restore some lost gloss and depth in the bright red paint.
The majority of the defects were typical swirls that I would assume had been introduced during washing and drying. They were fine scratches, but they covered every square inch of the paint which created a duller appearance. This vehicle is also used to haul the owner's kids to and from various sporting events, so it showed some signs of abuse that comes with carrying passengers and equipment on a regular basis.
Process
Exterior
Wheels: CG Diablo Gel (4:1) with various brushes and wheel woolies
Tires: Tuf Shine Tire Cleaner
Pre-Wash Foam: CG Citrus Wash via Gilmour Foammaster II Foam Gun
Bug & Tar Removal: Stoner's Tarminator
Wash: CG Citrus Wash
Iron/Fallout Removal: Iron X
Decontamination: Nanoskin Fine Grade Mitt
Dry: DI Waffle Weave Towels
Tape: Automotive Masking Tape
Paint Thickness Readings Taken
Polish: Optimum Hyper Polish on an Orange Light Cutting Pad via Rupes LHR21ES w/ 5.5" Pads and PC7424XP w/ 3" & 4" Pads
IPA Wipe Down: ~15% IPA Solution (diluted with distilled water)
Paint Protection: Sonax Polymer Net Shield
Tire & Trim Dressing: Optimum Opti-Bond Tire Gel
Glass: CarPro Fast Glass Towels
Exhaust Tips: CG Metal Polish + Protection via #0000 Steel Wool
Interior
Thorough Vacuum
Rubber Floor Mats: Scrubbed with Meguiar's D103 (10:1), Rinsed, Then Blown Dry
Trim & Door Jams: Cleaned with Megiar's D103 (10:1) then dressed with 303 Aerospace Protectant
Leather: 303 Aerospace Protectant
Vinyl & Plastic: 303 Aerospace Protectant
Glass: CarPro Fast Glass Towels
This is just a very brief look at what was done to this car. The rest of the photos will be featured in a full length article on the Detailed Image Ask-A-Pro Blog in the near future.
Before
Wheels were in pretty good shape. Typical brake dust buildup, and the barrels needed a good cleaning.
Hard water spots all over.
During
Tar spots were safely removed with tarminator. You can see the tar deposits dissolving as they react with the tar remover. They are then easily wiped away.
After the car was washed and decontaminated, the true condition of the paint was revealed. A very swirled finish that left the paint looking dull.
Clarity and depth were restored with a one-stage polishing process that removed the majority of lighter swirls and defects.
Fender before correction - notice how dull the reflections are.
Fender after correction. Notice how clear and vivid the reflection is after polishing. What a great transformation!
As usual... Had to snap a pic of my car looking good outside while I'm working (my car was recently washed, decontaminated with IronX and then topped with CarPro ReLoad).
Interior door trim before cleaning. Plenty of built up dirt and dust.
Interior door trim after cleaning with Mequir's D103 and dressing/protecting with 303 Aerospace Protectant.
After
Paint was incredibly smooth and glossy. Looked fantastic! Stay tuned for the complete write up that will be published on the Detailed Image Ask-A-Pro Blog in the near future!
Again, this is just a very brief look at what was done to this car. The rest of the photos will be featured in a full length article on the Detailed Image Ask-A-Pro Blog in the near future. Thanks for looking!
The majority of the defects were typical swirls that I would assume had been introduced during washing and drying. They were fine scratches, but they covered every square inch of the paint which created a duller appearance. This vehicle is also used to haul the owner's kids to and from various sporting events, so it showed some signs of abuse that comes with carrying passengers and equipment on a regular basis.
Process
Exterior
Wheels: CG Diablo Gel (4:1) with various brushes and wheel woolies
Tires: Tuf Shine Tire Cleaner
Pre-Wash Foam: CG Citrus Wash via Gilmour Foammaster II Foam Gun
Bug & Tar Removal: Stoner's Tarminator
Wash: CG Citrus Wash
Iron/Fallout Removal: Iron X
Decontamination: Nanoskin Fine Grade Mitt
Dry: DI Waffle Weave Towels
Tape: Automotive Masking Tape
Paint Thickness Readings Taken
Polish: Optimum Hyper Polish on an Orange Light Cutting Pad via Rupes LHR21ES w/ 5.5" Pads and PC7424XP w/ 3" & 4" Pads
IPA Wipe Down: ~15% IPA Solution (diluted with distilled water)
Paint Protection: Sonax Polymer Net Shield
Tire & Trim Dressing: Optimum Opti-Bond Tire Gel
Glass: CarPro Fast Glass Towels
Exhaust Tips: CG Metal Polish + Protection via #0000 Steel Wool
Interior
Thorough Vacuum
Rubber Floor Mats: Scrubbed with Meguiar's D103 (10:1), Rinsed, Then Blown Dry
Trim & Door Jams: Cleaned with Megiar's D103 (10:1) then dressed with 303 Aerospace Protectant
Leather: 303 Aerospace Protectant
Vinyl & Plastic: 303 Aerospace Protectant
Glass: CarPro Fast Glass Towels
This is just a very brief look at what was done to this car. The rest of the photos will be featured in a full length article on the Detailed Image Ask-A-Pro Blog in the near future.
Before
Wheels were in pretty good shape. Typical brake dust buildup, and the barrels needed a good cleaning.
Hard water spots all over.
During
Tar spots were safely removed with tarminator. You can see the tar deposits dissolving as they react with the tar remover. They are then easily wiped away.
After the car was washed and decontaminated, the true condition of the paint was revealed. A very swirled finish that left the paint looking dull.
Clarity and depth were restored with a one-stage polishing process that removed the majority of lighter swirls and defects.
Fender before correction - notice how dull the reflections are.
Fender after correction. Notice how clear and vivid the reflection is after polishing. What a great transformation!
As usual... Had to snap a pic of my car looking good outside while I'm working (my car was recently washed, decontaminated with IronX and then topped with CarPro ReLoad).
Interior door trim before cleaning. Plenty of built up dirt and dust.
Interior door trim after cleaning with Mequir's D103 and dressing/protecting with 303 Aerospace Protectant.
After
Paint was incredibly smooth and glossy. Looked fantastic! Stay tuned for the complete write up that will be published on the Detailed Image Ask-A-Pro Blog in the near future!
Again, this is just a very brief look at what was done to this car. The rest of the photos will be featured in a full length article on the Detailed Image Ask-A-Pro Blog in the near future. Thanks for looking!
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