2007 Cobalt SS/SC Polish

[joshs07redss]

Hi guys! I had some free time this weekend and was able to get my personal car cleaned up. I did a big two step a little while ago so this time it only needed a light polish to bring back the shine. Enjoy the pictures and as always, any comments are welcome!

I took care of the interior on Friday night. I didn't take any pictures of it because it wasn't that dirty. I shampooed and vacuumed the carpets and mats using 409 carpet cleaner (which is great by the way) and a shop vac. The plastics and vinyl were treated with 303 and the seats received a wipe down of Lexol conditioner. The windows were treated with Stoner's Invisble Glass both inside and out.

My process for the exterior was as follows:

Wheels and tires:
P21S Wheel Gel
Uber Spoke brush
Swissvax-like brush
MF mitt
Optimum Opti-Bond

Wash:
Pre-rinse to remove any loose contaminants
Foamed with Dawn and let sit for about 3-5 minutes
2BM with Pinnacle shampoo
Home Depot grout sponge
Dried with PakShak WW drying towels

Clay:
Mother's yellow clay
ONR as lube

Paint:
Dewalt 849
LC backing plate
LC Blue 5.5" CCS pad
3M Ultrafine Finishing Polish
CG Premium MF

LSP:
Poorboy's World Natty's Blue Paste

Onto the pictures!!

Here are what my wheels looked like before and after the cleaning. They were a mess. I was able to use the Uber spoke brush to reach back into the barrel, but I also followed that up with a scrub down using a MF towel as I'm able to reach my hand all the way to the back.






Here is P21S Gel just dwelling for a little bit:


The Uber spoke brush is probably the nicest wheel brush I've used. Now I haven't used the EZ Detail brush, but for under $10, the Uber is hard to beat.


After:



Here are a few before pictures of just how dirty my car was.









Next up was to rinse and foam the car. For this I used a healthy dose of Dawn and let sit for 3-5 minutes to loosen up as much contaminants as possible.




I then washed using the 2BM with a Home Depot grout sponge and Pinnacle shampoo. I then brought it into the garage to clay with Mother's yellow clay and ONR as lube. Here is what the clay looked like after my hood.



I was planning on doing a two step using M205 as well, but after inspection, I decided that my paint was in amazing condition and two steps wasn't needed. I don't have any during or 50/50 shots because this wasn't a correction detail. I just needed to bring back the gloss that my paint had a few months ago.

[joshs07redss]

These are all the after shots of just using 3M Ultrafine polish and a 5.5" Blue LC CCS pad using the Dewalt 849 at 1500 RPMs, and after a coat of Poorboy's Work Natty's Blue paste wax.

I apologize in advance for the bad quality sun shots. It was overcast and the sun was just not cooperating. I even planned on getting a few today, but it's just not sunny out.





























Thanks for taking the time to check out my detail! I think it's kind of nice knowing that I really won't have to ever do a big correction again because I'm able to maintain the finish with proper washing techniques. Any comments or questions are welcome!!

[O.C.Detailing]

Really nice looking color and car. Great job on the detail and thanks for sharing!

[joshs07redss]

Thanks O.C.!

As an update, of course after I posted these up and went to lunch, the sun came out. I snapped a few sun shots.












That is a strand of dog hair from sitting in the garage overnight...not a scratch.

[ziggo99]

Excellent color. It looks maroon in overcast but it pops to an orange-ish maroon in the sun.

[CieraSL]

Nice job! The flake really stands out!

[joshs07redss]

Originally Posted by ziggo99

Excellent color. It looks maroon in overcast but it pops to an orange-ish maroon in the sun.

Yeah I noticed that...it almost has a purple color to it when it's darker out.

Originally Posted by CieraSL

Nice job! The flake really stands out!

Thank you!!

[lefty101]

awesome job

[joshs07redss]

Originally Posted by lefty101

awesome job

Thanks bud!

[Harleyguy]

Great job there Josh i see your taking Dana's advice and using it.We just put one of my techs colbalt on the dyno .First pull 335 at the wheels and yes that was on juice.