Boom! Test spot got me the job from skeptical customer!

[Mike Phillips]

Sounds like your good to go!




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mike Phillips]

I forgot to mention that the guy just bought the truck this way.

That's real common. I've bought neglected vehicles before. At one time the paint on this car looked horrible and I certainly didn't buy it new...

[KirkH]

Completed! Customer has paid and taken the vehicle. Super happy! I will post the full details and pics later this evening.

[Setec Astronomy]

Wow, looks great!

[daimler]

Wow! Great job on that!

Thank for sharing....
Just a comment...
When you deal with cars where the paint is obviously "severely" neglected, ask yourself,

How did it get this way?

The answer is usually one of the below,

1: The "new" owner purchased it used and the previous owner(s) didn't lift a finger to take care of the paint or possibility the entire car.
2: The current owner never lifted a finger to take care of the paint and/or the rest of the car.

The answer to my work that I recently posted is that the owner purchased a pre-owned car and tried to make it look better but it turned out worse because they, obviously, had no idea on what to do and what to use. But rest assured that after the work I've done, I made sure that I briefed the customer on how to maintain her cars look.

[KirkH]

You could go that route but if it were me I would have explained that the paint is thinner than a post-it note and due to the severe neglect and the fact that this car is a daily driver, not a show car on display, and if I had found out how the owner currently takes care of the car I would probably recommended using a one-step cleaner/wax and living with the results of the one-step which would still make a HUGE difference.

Thanks Mike, I took your advice and this is indeed what I ended up telling him and you're right it still made a huge difference.

[KirkH]

I’m sorry that I didn’t take more “before” pics. I think you can tell from the earlier posts what the paint was like. It was bad.

I started out with a foaming with Autogeek Quart Foamaster Foam Gun FREE BONUS and then a two bucket wash using Chemical Guys Citrus Wash & Gloss 16 oz. at a high concentration to really decontaminate. I used two of the Super Plush Micro-Chenille Wash Mitt, microfiber wash mitt, car wash mitt. For claying, I used a heavy clay from England with Chemical Guys Luber Clay Lubricant 16 oz. . There were a lot of contaminants and I used 2 clay patties.

I only did a two step polish on the hood and the roof area forward of the sunroof, a strip about 6” wide. For the rest of the car, I just used an all in one polish.
For polishing the hood, I used the Cyclo Orbital Polisher Model 5-Pro with ProGuard Backing Plates, Cyclo Pro-5 Polisher, Cyclo buffer with Lake Country 4 Inch Flat Pads 6 Pack - Your Choice!, and the Porter cable 7424xp, 7424xp, Porter Cable 7424XP Dual Action Polisher, Porter Cable polisher, car polisher, buffer, sander-polisher with Meguiars Soft Buff DBP6 DA Polisher 6 inch Backing Plate for the roof and Flex-Foam HD Rotary Backing Plate, spot buff backing plate, 3" backing plate, circular polisher backing plate for pillars.

First, I used Optimum Polish is a swirl remover, finishing polish & paint cleaner in one for the optimum shine! swirl remover polish, fine grade polish, final with orange pads. 2’x2’ areas with 4-8 slow passes, using the pressure of the weight of the machine. Next I used Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish with white pads. 4-6 passes. Followed by a wipedown of the hood with Chemical Guys Wipeout surface cleaner.

I was really trying to pull out all the stops to make this hood look better so I applied Chemical Guys Glossworkz Glaze with a blue pad. 4-6 passes on speed setting 4, according to the instructions. After that, I applied Chemical Guys JetSeal 109 Super Acrylic Sealant Formula 16 oz. with the Porter cable 7424xp, 7424xp, Porter Cable 7424XP Dual Action Polisher, Porter Cable polisher, car polisher, buffer, sander-polisher with Lake Country 6.5 Inch CCS Pads 6 Pack - Your Choice! and waited 20 minutes to remove with a top microfiber towel. I let the sealant cure for two hours, then applied Collinite Liquid Insulator Wax #845, liquid wax, heat-resistant wax, car wax. I let it dry to a haze and removed with my best towel.





On the roof, there was clear coat failure.



It was already gone on the 6" strip in front of the sunroof. I decided to see what I could do. First, I thought I remembered reading Mike Phillips had used some Meguiars #7 Show Car Glaze is a final step auto glaze to enhanced the gloss prior to wax application. Get a show car shine with Meguiars #7 Show Car to “moisturize” some single stage paint before polishing. I figured “Why not?” So I applied the Show Car Glaze and let it sit on the paint overnight. Today I used Optimum Polish is a swirl remover, finishing polish & paint cleaner in one for the optimum shine! swirl remover polish, fine grade polish, final with an orange pad. Next I used Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish with a white pad. 4-6 passes. I used the sealant and wax again on the strip.
It didn’t look great but it was better than it was.



For the rest of the vehicle I used a green pad and Wolfgang Uber All In One, cleaner wax, all in one polish wax. 4-6 passes and wipe with my best mf towel.





Other than the front, hood and roof, this truck looks great! LOL!



Paging Dr. Colorchip, Dr. Colorchip to the Emergency Room STAT!



While I was waiting for the hood and roof sealant to cure, I clayed and sealed the windshield, just because I had nothing to do and it cost me maybe, say, a nickel? Griot's Garage Glass Sealant, glass protectant, windshield sealant. I also cleaned one leather passenger seat with Vinyl & Leather Scrub Brush and Chemical Guys Sprayable Leather Cleaner & Conditioner 16 oz. to show him what I can do for the interior. I also treated the airbag cover on the steering wheel with Chemical Guys G6 HyperCoat protectant dressing to demonstrate how I can moisturize and revitalize the dash and trim.

Before the customer came to pickup, I did a quick dust wipe with Chemical Guys P40 Pro-Detailer with Carnauba 16 oz. and I sprayed the tires with Chemical Guys Blue Guard.


And when he picked up the truck, I gave him the choice of car scents and he chose Chemical Guys New Car Scent, air freshener, new car smell, car deodorizer

Final photo:


I’m sure I have forgotten things so I will update this thread if I think of it. Thanks for hanging out with me on this job!

[AllanS]

Maybe I missed it, but what was used on the wheels?

AWESOME recovery. I would love to try Collinite 845 Insulator - seems like it has incredible shine, protection & duration. That atop a great AIO, ought to look great.

Congrats on that oversized beast!

[KirkH]

Maybe I missed it, but what was used on the wheels?

AWESOME recovery. I would love to try Collinite 845 Insulator - seems like it has incredible shine, protection & duration. That atop a great AIO, ought to look great.

Congrats on that oversized beast!

Good catch! Thank you!

Wheels were cleaned with BLACKFIRE Total Eclipse Tire & Wheel Cleaner, all wheel cleaner, chrome wheel cleaner, aluminum wheel cleaner, factory wheel cleaner (that I got in a Mystery Box!) and a DeWalt cordless drill with Wheel Woolies Power Woolie 12X and a Soft-Grip 20 inch Wheel & Body Brush . Tires scrubbed with Deluxe Contour Tire Brush

[VISITOR]

kirkh,
you should post this write-up from post #37 into a separate thread (below), i think more people would like to see the awesome work you did!

Forum: Show N' Shine
Post your work and progress!