Black Cadillac CTS-V Correction - TLC Auto Detail

[Flannigan]

Hi everyone. Today we've got a black CTS-V sedan booked for a correction detail. This vehicle has been rode hard, and put up wet, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. This turned out to be a big job, but I was very happy with the outcome.

As usual I started with the wheels. These wheels were NASTY! The owner is an avid track enthusiast and had race brake pads on this vehicle. Couple that with the fact that they had never been cleaned before, and there was some MASSIVE baked on brake dust build up. Since these were track wheels the goal was not perfection since the customer did not want to have the wheels removed and cleaned.

So, the wheels were first cleaned with Wolfs Decon gel, and the additional spots were taken care of with several applications of IronX gel. The tires and wells were cleaned with Blackfire APC. The wheels were sealed with BFWD, the tires dressed with Dr. Beasley's Tire Gel and the wells dressed with CG Barebones.

Before:

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/Rachel%20Ruhe%20-%20CTSV/wheelbefore.jpg

Decond Gel working:

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/Rachel%20Ruhe%20-%20CTSV/wheelduring.jpg

After, the faces came out just about perfect, but the barrels sure left a lot to be desired:

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/Rachel%20Ruhe%20-%20CTSV/wheelafter.jpg

Next I moved on to getting the paint cleaned, and prepped for correction. As usual I foamed the vehicle with Megs Gold Class and BF APC. I went pretty heavy on the APC since this vehicle was filthy!

Here is how the paint looked before hand. A thick layer of dirt, pollen, and road gunk.

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/Rachel%20Ruhe%20-%20CTSV/dirty001.jpg

Here are a few shots of the foam working. While it dwelled I agitated the fuel filler area, emblems, trim, and body seams to make sure all the hidden dirt was taken care of.

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/Rachel%20Ruhe%20-%20CTSV/foam001.jpg

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/Rachel%20Ruhe%20-%20CTSV/foam002.jpg

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/Rachel%20Ruhe%20-%20CTSV/foam003.jpg

After foaming I did a traditional wash with XMT Shampoo and a griots wash mit. After this the paint was clean, but still felt very rough like sand paper. For the claying stage I chose to use the Ultima Clay block. This is very aggressive and leavs some marring, but since A correction was being performed, it was no issue. The clay block really speeds up the claying step in my opinion, and works just as well as traditional clay.

Ok, so now we can see the true condition of the paint, and it isn't pretty.

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/Rachel%20Ruhe%20-%20CTSV/swirls001.jpg

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/Rachel%20Ruhe%20-%20CTSV/swirls002.jpg

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/Rachel%20Ruhe%20-%20CTSV/swirls003.jpg

So, the hood, roof, and trunk were the worst panels, with the deepest defects. Originally this vehicle was only booked for a one step, but after much testing a one step just wasn't going to cut it on those panels. After discussing it with the customer we decided to do a two step on those panels, and a one step on the rest of the vehicle. Due to the added work time was an issue so I didn't get many more pictures.

The nast panels got D300 on an opt cutting pad followed by 106fa on a green uber pad. This gave great correction to those panels. Fortunatly the other panels responded very well to a one step since they didn't have defects as deep. That course of action was Menzerna Powerfinish on a Yellow BS Pad.

Here is a quick 50/50 of the Powerfinish. It took care of all the swirls, and just left a few deeper rids behind.

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/Rachel%20Ruhe%20-%20CTSV/5050.jpg

And a quick sun shot. Again, time was a factor during the job so I didn't get a lot of pictures that came out well.

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/Rachel%20Ruhe%20-%20CTSV/sun.jpg

After correction the LSP of choice was Auto Finesse Spirit. I had a little trouble getting it to wipe clean, but I think it had to do with the paint being warm, and not the product fault. Either way it looked amazing. Here are some reflection and final pictures.

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/Rachel%20Ruhe%20-%20CTSV/reflec001.jpg

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/Rachel%20Ruhe%20-%20CTSV/reflec002.jpg

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/Rachel%20Ruhe%20-%20CTSV/reflec003.jpg

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/Rachel%20Ruhe%20-%20CTSV/after001.jpg

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/Rachel%20Ruhe%20-%20CTSV/after002.jpg

some other notes, the chrome and tail pipes were polished with Siwssvax Metal Polish, the glass was cleaned with Auto Finesse Crystal, and the trim was dressed with Auto Finesse Revive.

That about does it, I had a great time working on this vehicle, and the customer and I were very happy with the outcome! Thanks for looking, and I look forward to your feedback!

[soccer05]

That looks beautiful. Awesome job! What kind of pressure washer do you have?

[Y2KSVT]

Awesome work! Those wheels came out great, considering the abuse and lack of previous cleaning.

What machine did you use on this car?

[Mike Phillips]

Nice work as is your norm Dave... and you're right, this paint was thrashed...

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/Rachel%20Ruhe%20-%20CTSV/swirls003.jpg



:xyxthumbs:

[WRAPT C5Z06]

.

What machine did you use on this car?
I'm assuming a traditional DA(GG, PCXP, G110v2). Right, Davey?

The Optimum MF cutting pads are awesome!

Niceeeeeeee job, Dave! :props:

[Flannigan]

That looks beautiful. Awesome job! What kind of pressure washer do you have?
Thank you! I use a Katcher electric pressure washer.

Awesome work! Those wheels came out great, considering the abuse and lack of previous cleaning.

What machine did you use on this car?
Thanks man! Mark is correct, this was done with a PCXP.

Nice work as is your norm Dave... and you're right, this paint was thrashed...

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/Rachel%20Ruhe%20-%20CTSV/swirls003.jpg



:xyxthumbs:
Thank you Mike, I appreciate your feedback, as usual! :props:

I'm assuming a traditional DA(GG, PCXP, G110v2). Right, Davey?

The Optimum MF cutting pads are awesome!

Niceeeeeeee job, Dave! :props:
You are correct Mark, it was the MF pads on a PCXP, thanks buddy! :dblthumb2: I actually have a G110V2 on the way to replace a 10 year old PC that crapped out on me last week, so I'm looking forward to seeing how it works.

[WRAPT C5Z06]

I actually have a G110V2 on the way to replace a 10 year old PC that crapped out on me last week, so I'm looking forward to seeing how it works.
I just picked up a second G110v2 a couple days ago, and on speed 4, it's no where near as powerful as my original one. The same thing happened with my second GG. :mad: Let me know what you think of the power.

What speed did you use with the PCXP and the Optimum MF cutting pads?

[LuxuryMobile]

Great job Dave!

These clear coats on these can be a pain to work on. You have this CTS-V looking right.

[LMAutoDetailing]

Wow what an impressive turn around! I second Stephan's comment about the clear coats being stubborn. Top notch work.

[NFA]

As always nice job! I have a V coming in next week and it's in similar condition.

[Flannigan]

I just picked up a second G110v2 a couple days ago, and on speed 4, it's no where near as powerful as my original one. The same thing happened with my second GG. :mad: Let me know what you think of the power.

What speed did you use with the PCXP and the Optimum MF cutting pads?
For the OPT cutting pads I used them full blast. Since I knew I was going to have to do a second step I wan't too concerned about marring. I wasnt them to cut, and cut fast.

I will let you guys know how I like the G110V2. I've never used one before so I'm pretty excited to give it a try. I had a Griots unit and it broke, got a new one, and it broke two. I had a third and finally just sold it. I've come to the conclusion it's a great machine for people just detailing their own cars, or maybe some friends cars, but for someone using it for 10 hours straight several times a week, it's just not up to snuff. Thanks for your input Mark! :dblthumb2:

Great job Dave!

These clear coats on these can be a pain to work on. You have this CTS-V looking right. Thanks man! I've worked on quite a few black GM cars and I think I have them down fairly well at this point. Now that I've said that the next one will give me hell I'm sure...lol. Basically I've found that to get them to finish you have to use a DAT polish (Powerfinish/106fa) and you have to do a couple final passes at a very low speed with slow arm movements.


Wow what an impressive turn around! I second Stephan's comment about the clear coats being stubborn. Top notch work.
Thank you! It is stubborn for sure!

As always nice job! I have a V coming in next week and it's in similar condition.
Thanks! Very cool, I hope it goes smoothly for you! Be sure to post up some pics!

bumb ubm!http://www.camcorderdcr.com/dfgf.gif
:nomore::nomore:

[Mike Phillips]

I actually have a G110V2 on the way to replace a 10 year old PC that crapped out on me last week, so I'm looking forward to seeing how it works.



Last week just for fun I used Meguiar's 7" Soft Buff Yellow Polishing Pad with Ultimate Compound to remove the sanding marks in this thread,

Video: Wow! 3M #5000 Grit Polishing I mean Sanding Discs! (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/wet-sanding-cutting-buffing/50222-video-wow-3m-5000-grit-polishing-i-mean-sanding-discs.html)


Just for fun I pushed down really hard to try to get the pad to stop rotating and while I could get it to stop rotating it was a challenge and I was bending the sheetmetal. A sane person would never buff out an entire car pushing this hard.

While 7" pads are kind of large for buffing out modern cars with thin panels, the G110v2 does work really well. Just imagine using 5.5" pads on it.


Put it through the wringer Dave and let us know what you think...


:)

[Flash Gordon]

http://www.3sgto.org/images/smilies/bawc/hal.gif Nice Work!! http://www.3sgto.org/images/smilies/more/5.gif