Exterior Detail on 2000 Toyota Camry

[FrankS]

I had applied Opti-Coat 2.0 on my Mom's 2000 Toyota Camry back in July of 2014 on the hood, roof and trunk lid. I was finally able to polish and coat the sides during the Holidays and the exterior is now complete...for now (seems like there's always something you can do :))

Car was washed before the final beauty shots - wanted to try the new Griots Car Wash.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=89514

Nice foam and good lubricity Foam pre-wash
Rinsed with pressure washer
Foamed again
2BM (two bucket method) using micro-chenille wash mitt, a different MC wash mitt used for the lower sections
Different (black) MC wash mitt for the wheels & tires - wheels & tires were previously cleaned just needed a little cleaning
Rinsed using CR Spotless attached to PW
Sun dried for about 30 minutes then blew off remaining water with Master Blaster, no drying towel was used - no water spots thanks to the CR Spotless!http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=89515

Thick foam - used about 4oz of CG Car Wash and the rest with water in cannon.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=89516

Seems like I always get good foam using this PW no matter what soap I use - rated at 1500 psi & 2 gal/min.
I think it's the flow (2 gal/min), more than the pressure, that produces good foam from the cannon.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=89517

I had previously removed some old pinstripping and some areas didn't come out too good.
You could see some ghosting of the old pinstripe in some places.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=83965

There was one area where I burned through the paint with an eraser wheel trying to completely remove the pinstripe.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=83966

New pinstripe was placed to cover up the area of the ghosting and the area that was burned through.
This was the area that burned through, not visible anymore.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=89521

It was a little more difficult to place the new pinstripe over the previous pinstripe but I finally managed to get it done.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=89522

The front bumper on the passenger side had some damage.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=83287

This was my attempt at repairing the damage. I thought it came out pretty good but the paint didn't match.
My mother was okay with it but I wasn't, so I had a local body shop paint the entire front bumper with basecoat/clearcoat for $150.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=83288
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=83289

This is how it came out after wetsanding the repainted bumper with mainly 3000 grit sandpaper to remove some orange peel and paint defects.
Some areas were done with 1500 grit and then 3000 grit. Then compounded with Menz FG400 with Rupes blue pad and polished with Menz 4000 with Rupes white pad using the Rupes mini polisher.
Coated with Opti Gloss-Coat.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=89530
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=89529
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=89523

Sides weren't that bad since the car was polished about 1.5 years ago.
Sides were polished with Menz 2500 using the Flex 3401 with white hybrid pads and then coated with Opti Gloss-Coat.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=89518
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=89519

New Michelin tires were purchased about a week ago.
After thoroughly cleaning the tires, two coats of DP Tire Coating were placed on the passenger side and two coats of Tuf Shine Tire Coating were placed on the driver's side.
This was a good opportunity to compare the two coatings and I will be updating the longevity of each.

Two coats of DP Tire Coating - Front passenger side.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=89524

Two coats of Tuf Shine Tire Coating - Front driver side.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=89525

Couple more shots.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=89526
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=89528

These shots were taken after a rain a couple days before the final wash just to show that Opti Coat 2.0 is still going strong after about 5 months.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=89531
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=89532
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=89533

[johnpingol]

Frank, nice work.

[The Guz]

Nice job. Out of curiousity what paint did you try the repair with?

[FrankS]

Frank, nice work.

Thanks John!


Nice job. Out of curiousity what paint did you try the repair with?

It was a single stage paint out of a spray can. A local paint and body shop supply used the paint code from the car and put it in a spray can.

[Nick McKees37]

Great write up Frank!

*Subscribed* for updates on Tuf Shine vs. DP Tire Coating. :dblthumb2:

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Fantastic work Frank! Hard to believe that Camry is 15 years old now but after your work it looks much newer. Nicely done.

[FrankS]

Great write up Frank!

*Subscribed* for updates on Tuf Shine vs. DP Tire Coating. :dblthumb2:

Thanks Nick, I'll keep you updated.


Fantastic work Frank! Hard to believe that Camry is 15 years old now but after your work it looks much newer. Nicely done.

Thanks Mike, she was thinking about trading it in for a new car but now she wants to keep it :).

[runrun411]

Very nice Frank, a year and a half and the polishing still looks great? Only a detailer. Nice work.

[Setec Astronomy]

It was a single stage paint out of a spray can. A local paint and body shop supply used the paint code from the car and put it in a spray can.

I'm gathering you took it to a different shop to have the bumper done, since it matches the rest of the car now? Can you imagine having a panel repaired at that shop and having that be the match? Although if they had the car I guess they might do better since I understand they use computer matching these days rather than just mixing to the paint code.

[Zelfiris]

Great work!

[FrankS]

Very nice Frank, a year and a half and the polishing still looks great? Only a detailer. Nice work.

Thanks for the compliment, but maybe I need to clarify, a couple weeks ago I polished it with Menz 2500 and then coated it, it was previously polished about 1.5 years ago.


I'm gathering you took it to a different shop to have the bumper done, since it matches the rest of the car now? Can you imagine having a panel repaired at that shop and having that be the match? Although if they had the car I guess they might do better since I understand they use computer matching these days rather than just mixing to the paint code.

To get the bumper repainted I took it to a local shop that actually does paint and body work and it does match the rest of car now. I'm assuming they used computer matching since it matches so well.

Previously, when I attempted to do the repair myself, I took the car to a different paint and body supply shop where they just sell supplies and mix paint but don't do any actual body work. I don't know if they had computer matching, at least the girl attending me never mentioned it, she just used the paint code to mix the paint.

At any rate, I'm glad I had the entire bumper repainted since there were some other small areas that needed to be touched up and I had it done for what I thought was a good price.


Great work!

Thank you!

[AZ Mike]

Nice job. I am interested in how the Tuf Shine vs DP Tire Coating test progresses.

[Setec Astronomy]

Previously, when I attempted to do the repair myself, I took the car to a different paint and body supply shop where they just sell supplies and mix paint but don't do any actual body work. I don't know if they had computer matching, at least the girl attending me never mentioned it, she just used the paint code to mix the paint.

Oh sorry, I read too fast and didn't see you were at a paint store. Still, that's a horrible match unless the car is faded from 15 years of FL sun (which I guess is why the body shops scan the actual paint on the car).

Anyway, looks great now!

[FrankS]

Nice job. I am interested in how the Tuf Shine vs DP Tire Coating test progresses.

Thanks, I'll be updating periodically.


Oh sorry, I read too fast and didn't see you were at a paint store. Still, that's a horrible match unless the car is faded from 15 years of FL sun (which I guess is why the body shops scan the actual paint on the car).

Anyway, looks great now!

No problem, I don't think I made myself too clear the first time. I have to agree that it wasn't a very good match the first time. Perhaps using a different paint system (single stage paint) had something to do with it also. I'm sure the paint has faded somewhat over the years but not that much.

At any rate, the can of paint was only around $25 so I didn't lose that much, thought it was worth a try.

[WRAPT C5Z06]

Nice job on the re-paint, the color matches very well. That's not the case most of the time.

Car looks great!