Wills.WindowsAndWheels
03-06-2013, 08:09 PM
Well this is a first for me, I'm doing a write up on a car we just finished yesterday. I'm trying to stay on top of these things more!
A few weeks back we had done a different FRS, this one was Asphalt Grey - and in very bad shape. Only a few months old but hammered already from the local hand wash joint. We were able to save his car and ''wow'' him with the results (literally). Well the owner of this Raven Black had heard about proper paint care, Opti-Coat and US from the Asphalt Grey owner. He contacted us a couple weeks back and we set up a date for him to drop it off with us to take care of.
Upon delivery, it was FILTHY. BUT, this was ok - honestly we'd rather have a filthy car that WE wash rather than a clean car with added swirls in the paint because it was improperly washed. We had requested that the owner just let us wash it rather than risk extra damage...so thats what he did!
Here she is, with a nice protective layer of dirt on it lol:
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050823_zps0a86a234.jpg
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050824_zpsc4a5e62c.jpg
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050830_zpsa7c661b5.jpg
OH yeah, she's dirty lol
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050831_zps4574398d.jpg
Always gotta pull that license plate to be sure to get that caked up grime behind it...and this is after only about 1,000 miles of driving!
Some areas had been hit by water and spotted up, thus leaving some water spot etching for us to deal with. Part of the spots were just topical mineral build up, but the others had actually etched into the paint already:
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050835_zps9cc39e7b.jpg
Tires were uhm..yeah...just...yup:
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050834_zps5a2522b2.jpg
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050833_zps1face9c2.jpg
Dirt coating!
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050827_zps9a87d028.jpg
About 5 different brushes along with 3 different cleaners were used just to get the tires, rims and wheel wells back into shape. 1 brush for the tires, another for the wheel faces, 2 different types for the wheels barrels and then a 5th one for the wheel wells. Notice the bucket full of brushes. Also note this water was ONLY used for the tires and wheel wells.
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050829_zps999d018a.jpg
After the tires were done, the car was rinsed, then covered in foam to help break down the dirt...and hand washed. We rinsed it clean, dried it off and pulled it inside the garage to being with the clay bar decontamination process of it. Both the paint and windows were all very 'grabby' from contaminants, but we were able to get rid of those bonded contaminants without much fuss.
Then it was paint inspection time....here's the damage. First the etched in water spots:
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050841_zpsc3190be9.jpg
Then of course, the swirls. Most were straight line scratches going lengthwise with the body of the car. I'm thinking its pretty safe to assume that this was mostly from the dealership wash.
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050842_zps4287babc.jpg
More goodies:
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050840_zps62d03165.jpg
Close up, not pretty is it?
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050839_zps6d7fdf71.jpg
A few deeper ones were present in some areas:
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050836_zpse2895a02.jpg
OUCH!
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050837_zpsae534629.jpg
Of course around the door handle always gets scuffed up:
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050838_zpsdce72fca.jpg
So now that we saw what we were working with, it was time to do a test spot. With new cars, we typically try to get all the correction we need with a 1-step polish. So first we tried a Buff & Shine Blue light polishing pad with some Meguiars 205 polish. After doing a section...it came out very nice, but there were still quite a few deeper scratches left. SO, i bumped up the pad aggression to a green medium polishing pad and tried again.
Unfortunately, the results were the same....it was good, but not good enough. I finally went and set up a Megs Microfiber cutting disc along with some Megs D300 compound and did the area again. It left noticeable haze, but the swirls and deep scratches were gone. My sister followed up behind me with the blue pad and 205...and MAN did it look sweet!
Knowing the combo that was needed, i sent a message to the owner letting him know extra work would need to be done and it would take extra time, but we did not want to Opti-Coat a 'pretty good' looking car. He said he totally understood and appreciated the extra work.
So, round and round we went:
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050845_zpsc336522a.jpg
Light looks ridiculous but it is needed to see what type of results im getting as I'm compounding.
Small pads for small areas:
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050844_zps3c71d7a7.jpg
Coming along behind me was Dani doing the final polishing:
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050846_zps96fe76cb.jpg
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050847_zpsa0eb687c.jpg
Again, checking the condition of the paint to be sure all hazing/marring left behind was removed. She would also check to see if there were any deeper scratches i missed while compounding...which she found a few, so i'd come back and touch up that spot to get rid of the deep guys...and then she'd re-polish it to glossy perfection:
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050848_zps5b1ca51e.jpg
We finally finished with the polishing - so it was time to spray down each panel with isopropyl alcohol and do a rinseless wash on the car to make sure all polishing oils were removed.
Now it was time to Opti-Coat. I would be using a new method this time for application. I took a tire dressing applicator sponge and wrapped it in plastic wrap...this was to make sure that the sponge wouldn't absorb the coating:
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050850_zps2cf11b43.jpg
Next i put my suede applicator on top of the sponge:
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050852_zps6adff8c9.jpg
Then i primed the cloth with Opti-Coat...and began applying:
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050853_zps6dfa8dfd.jpg
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050856_zpsf82c740a.jpg
I found this to apply the coating MUCH smoother than using a foam pad. It took a bit more to prime the cloth, but once after about a panel or so it was pretty well primed and didnt require so much coating for each following panel.
I went around and coated all of the paint while Dani went around and cleaned all of the wheels and coated them. She also applied it to the hard plastic on the back, the head and tail lights and even coated the exhaust tip :)
After i finished the paint, i coated the windshield wipers and the hard plastic under them as well.
The polishing was done, the coating was done, but the DETAILING was not....i think all too often these things are all lumped into one. A paint polisher isn't always a good detailer...and a detailer MOST times is not a good paint polisher. While paint polishing correctly i feel is an art form and requires a great amount of skill, time and knowledge...I think that if you leave the DETAILS out of your job, you're not giving your work the best presentation possible.
So, thats why after several hours of work, we still had more to do. We went around wiping down all the door jambs, trunk jamb and hood jamb...cleaned all the windows...and even though this was not an interior detail...Dani vacuumed out the inside and did a wipe down of all dirty surfaces.
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050858_zpsd49e1e06.jpg
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050860_zpsbd008ca3.jpg
Having this type of work done should be an all around excellent EXPERIENCE for the owner...so if we can do a few extra things to make it just that...then thats just what we do :)
Now for the fun part, we got to pull it out and take a look at our work!
A few weeks back we had done a different FRS, this one was Asphalt Grey - and in very bad shape. Only a few months old but hammered already from the local hand wash joint. We were able to save his car and ''wow'' him with the results (literally). Well the owner of this Raven Black had heard about proper paint care, Opti-Coat and US from the Asphalt Grey owner. He contacted us a couple weeks back and we set up a date for him to drop it off with us to take care of.
Upon delivery, it was FILTHY. BUT, this was ok - honestly we'd rather have a filthy car that WE wash rather than a clean car with added swirls in the paint because it was improperly washed. We had requested that the owner just let us wash it rather than risk extra damage...so thats what he did!
Here she is, with a nice protective layer of dirt on it lol:
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050823_zps0a86a234.jpg
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050824_zpsc4a5e62c.jpg
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050830_zpsa7c661b5.jpg
OH yeah, she's dirty lol
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050831_zps4574398d.jpg
Always gotta pull that license plate to be sure to get that caked up grime behind it...and this is after only about 1,000 miles of driving!
Some areas had been hit by water and spotted up, thus leaving some water spot etching for us to deal with. Part of the spots were just topical mineral build up, but the others had actually etched into the paint already:
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050835_zps9cc39e7b.jpg
Tires were uhm..yeah...just...yup:
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050834_zps5a2522b2.jpg
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050833_zps1face9c2.jpg
Dirt coating!
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050827_zps9a87d028.jpg
About 5 different brushes along with 3 different cleaners were used just to get the tires, rims and wheel wells back into shape. 1 brush for the tires, another for the wheel faces, 2 different types for the wheels barrels and then a 5th one for the wheel wells. Notice the bucket full of brushes. Also note this water was ONLY used for the tires and wheel wells.
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050829_zps999d018a.jpg
After the tires were done, the car was rinsed, then covered in foam to help break down the dirt...and hand washed. We rinsed it clean, dried it off and pulled it inside the garage to being with the clay bar decontamination process of it. Both the paint and windows were all very 'grabby' from contaminants, but we were able to get rid of those bonded contaminants without much fuss.
Then it was paint inspection time....here's the damage. First the etched in water spots:
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050841_zpsc3190be9.jpg
Then of course, the swirls. Most were straight line scratches going lengthwise with the body of the car. I'm thinking its pretty safe to assume that this was mostly from the dealership wash.
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050842_zps4287babc.jpg
More goodies:
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050840_zps62d03165.jpg
Close up, not pretty is it?
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050839_zps6d7fdf71.jpg
A few deeper ones were present in some areas:
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050836_zpse2895a02.jpg
OUCH!
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050837_zpsae534629.jpg
Of course around the door handle always gets scuffed up:
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050838_zpsdce72fca.jpg
So now that we saw what we were working with, it was time to do a test spot. With new cars, we typically try to get all the correction we need with a 1-step polish. So first we tried a Buff & Shine Blue light polishing pad with some Meguiars 205 polish. After doing a section...it came out very nice, but there were still quite a few deeper scratches left. SO, i bumped up the pad aggression to a green medium polishing pad and tried again.
Unfortunately, the results were the same....it was good, but not good enough. I finally went and set up a Megs Microfiber cutting disc along with some Megs D300 compound and did the area again. It left noticeable haze, but the swirls and deep scratches were gone. My sister followed up behind me with the blue pad and 205...and MAN did it look sweet!
Knowing the combo that was needed, i sent a message to the owner letting him know extra work would need to be done and it would take extra time, but we did not want to Opti-Coat a 'pretty good' looking car. He said he totally understood and appreciated the extra work.
So, round and round we went:
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050845_zpsc336522a.jpg
Light looks ridiculous but it is needed to see what type of results im getting as I'm compounding.
Small pads for small areas:
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050844_zps3c71d7a7.jpg
Coming along behind me was Dani doing the final polishing:
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050846_zps96fe76cb.jpg
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050847_zpsa0eb687c.jpg
Again, checking the condition of the paint to be sure all hazing/marring left behind was removed. She would also check to see if there were any deeper scratches i missed while compounding...which she found a few, so i'd come back and touch up that spot to get rid of the deep guys...and then she'd re-polish it to glossy perfection:
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050848_zps5b1ca51e.jpg
We finally finished with the polishing - so it was time to spray down each panel with isopropyl alcohol and do a rinseless wash on the car to make sure all polishing oils were removed.
Now it was time to Opti-Coat. I would be using a new method this time for application. I took a tire dressing applicator sponge and wrapped it in plastic wrap...this was to make sure that the sponge wouldn't absorb the coating:
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050850_zps2cf11b43.jpg
Next i put my suede applicator on top of the sponge:
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050852_zps6adff8c9.jpg
Then i primed the cloth with Opti-Coat...and began applying:
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050853_zps6dfa8dfd.jpg
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050856_zpsf82c740a.jpg
I found this to apply the coating MUCH smoother than using a foam pad. It took a bit more to prime the cloth, but once after about a panel or so it was pretty well primed and didnt require so much coating for each following panel.
I went around and coated all of the paint while Dani went around and cleaned all of the wheels and coated them. She also applied it to the hard plastic on the back, the head and tail lights and even coated the exhaust tip :)
After i finished the paint, i coated the windshield wipers and the hard plastic under them as well.
The polishing was done, the coating was done, but the DETAILING was not....i think all too often these things are all lumped into one. A paint polisher isn't always a good detailer...and a detailer MOST times is not a good paint polisher. While paint polishing correctly i feel is an art form and requires a great amount of skill, time and knowledge...I think that if you leave the DETAILS out of your job, you're not giving your work the best presentation possible.
So, thats why after several hours of work, we still had more to do. We went around wiping down all the door jambs, trunk jamb and hood jamb...cleaned all the windows...and even though this was not an interior detail...Dani vacuumed out the inside and did a wipe down of all dirty surfaces.
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050858_zpsd49e1e06.jpg
http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff374/Wills_WindowsAndWheels/Reid%20Raven%20Black%20FRS/P1050860_zpsbd008ca3.jpg
Having this type of work done should be an all around excellent EXPERIENCE for the owner...so if we can do a few extra things to make it just that...then thats just what we do :)
Now for the fun part, we got to pull it out and take a look at our work!