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  1. #1
    Super Member The Guz's Avatar
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    2015 Impala LTZ Corrected with Rupes UHS and Coated with Optimum Gloss Coat

    This is my dad's new car. It replaced his 2002 Camaro Z28 that was stolen a few months ago. The Impala was a former Enterprise rental car. It was purchased through Enterprise car sales. It has 30K miles on it. The interior is in very good shape. The exterior has minor scratches and chips from it's abuse as a former rental car. The color is champagne silver metallic.

    I was doing small things during the free time I had during the 4th of July Weekend and hit hard for 3 days during the week with day 2 being a majority of the work.

    The goal of this task was not a show car finish but a finish worthy of a daily driver.

    Products and tools used. Clickable links provided for ease of use.

    Wash/Decon:

    Meguiar's Microfiber Wash Mitt
    Grit Guard
    Grit Guard Washboard
    Optimum Car Wash
    Griot's Garage Fast Surface Prep Mitt
    CarPro IronX
    Adam's Foam Gun

    Paint Correction:

    Rupes UHS Polishing Compound
    Rupes UHS 6" pads
    Rupes UHS 4" pads
    Rupes Nano UHS 1.5" pads
    Rupes Diamond Ultra Fine Gel
    Rupes 6" White Finishing Foam Pad
    Rupes 4" White Finishing Foam Pad

    Paint Prep/Protection:

    Optimum Gloss Coat
    Optimum Paint Prep
    Optimum Opti-Seal

    Wheels:

    Griot's Garage Heavy Duty Wheel Cleaner
    Clay Magic clay bar
    Ameridepth Polish by hand on the face only
    CarPro Eraser
    CarPro DLUX
    Wheel Woolies
    Boar's Hair Wheel Brush
    Lug Nut Brush


    Tires:

    Meguiar's D108 Super Degreaser at 4:1
    Detailer's Pro Tire & Rubber Rejuvenator
    Detailer's Pro Tire Coating
    Tuf Shine Tire Brush
    Metro Blaster SideKick


    Glass:

    Clay Magic Clay Bar
    Optimum Paint Prep
    Optimum Opti-Glass Coating
    Optimum Opti-Glass Clean & Protect

    Trim:

    Meguiar's D103 APC+ (Discontinued)
    Mothers Detailing Brush
    IPA
    Soultion Finish
    Optimum Gloss Coat

    Headlights:

    Rupes Keramik
    Rupes Nano 1.5" yellow pads
    Optimum Paint Prep
    Optimum Opti-Lens

    Tailights:

    Rupes UHS 4" pads
    Optimum Opti-Lens

    Chrome Trim:

    Meguiar's Fine Cut Metal Polish
    Optimum Paint Prep
    Optimum Opti-Seal


    Tools:

    Rupes LHR15 Mark II
    Rupes LHR75e (Mini)
    Rupes Nano Long Neck

    Interior:

    Adams Leather Brush
    Meguiar's Quik Interior Detailer
    Meguiar's D181 Leather Cleaner

    Meguiar's Leather Sealer Treatment
    Meguiar's D120 Glass Cleaner

    First thing that was done was washing the wheels. The next thing was to wash the car. This was done using the Mike Phillips Aggressive Wash Method.

    Ironx was sprayed onto the paint. It started doing it's thing after a couple minutes



    This was followed up with a rinse and wash with a foam gun and wash mitt. Once that was complete the paint was foamed again section by section and clayed with the Griot's mitt. I had gone back to clay as I was not impressed with the nanoskin fine grade sponge due to it not removing surface contaminants compared to clay. This Griot's clay mitt did a great job removing the surface contaminants. I checked one area that was completed with the clay mitt with a clay bar and it did not pick up any additional contaminants. I was satisfied with the Griot's clay mitt. This car has never been clayed since it was a rental car and thus I went with the more aggressive red mitt. The surface was very rough.

    Mike's aggressive wash method is a time saver.



    After this was completed I was able to get an idea of the paint defects. This was on the hood. The hood, roof and trunk showed the most defects compared to the doors.



    I pulled the car into the garage. This was a wheels off detail. So I worked on the wheels and tires first. The wheels were not to dirty considering I had washed them initially prior to washing the car. I coated the wheels with CarPro DLUX and the tires with 2 coats of DP Tire Coating. Just an idea of how the wheels and tires came out.



    In full sun



    I ended up restoring the trim on some spare time over the 4th of July prior to going to see some family. It was cleaned with APC, prepped with an IPA wipe and restored with Solution Finish. I ended up doing the same thing to the trim on the lower rear bumper and on the mirrors. I coated over both areas with Gloss Coat. The photos are further down below.

    I also coated the remaining glass with Optimum Opti-Glass Coating during the 4th of July. The windshield was done 2 weeks prior as that was my test spot. The remaining glass was clayed and protected.

    Before



    After. Much needed considering the car is only 1 year old





    I began the paint correction part. I broke out the nano to correct the pillars using the 1.5" UHS pads and Rupes UHS polishing compound. The speed was set to 3.5.

    Before



    After. Not bad for the nano. There was some RIDS left in the paint.



    Prior to me working on the paint, I did a test spot. I used the Rupes UHS combo on the LHR15 mark II one one side and I had received an order of the Griot's Boss pads. I used Meguiar's D300 on the Boss microfiber pads. Side by side the Rupes UHS removed more defects with less passes. I would have had to go over the areas with D300 and the boss microfiber pads another few passes. It was a bit hot here (about 80 degrees) and I had virtually no dust with the Rupes UHS. I did get some with D300. I opted to go with the Rupes UHS for this one as I wanted to not deal with to much dust and a one step was accomplishing what I was looking for.

    There was some deep RIDS that remained. I was not planning to chase them down. In the end it is a daily driver and not a show car. Overall I would say the paint is 95-98% defect free.

    Here is the passenger side door.

    Before



    After




    A various shot of the nano on the shark fin antenna



    Once I was done polishing the paint, I followed up with a couple of wipedowns using Optimum Paint Prep. One that was done I moved to applying 2 coats of Optimum Gloss Coat. I waited 1 hour between coats. I let that sit for aonther hour and applied 1 coat of Optimum Opti-Seal. This was recommended by Yvan Lacroix as it protects Gloss Coat from abrasion. chemical and water spots during the cure time of a week. After a couple weeks, Gloss Coat will shed opti-seal.

    Here are the final results




    In the garage looking glossy





    Pulled outside to check out the paint. Paint defects are gone other than some deep RIDS.







    Excuse the mess. I was also packing up old clothing to donate to charity.






    The chrome had some water spotting that was removed. The shine was restored and protected with Gloss Coat as well



    The tips were also cleaned, polished and protected with Gloss Coat. The trim pieces that were restored with Solution Finish were topped with Gloss Coat to add some additional protection.





    I had cleaned up the interior a couple weeks prior to working on the paint. So it received a minor wipedown with Meguiar's Quik Interior Detailer. The seats were cleaned with Meguiar's D18! Leather Cleaner and sealed with the sealer from the Gold Class Leather Sealer Treatment kit. It was also vacuumed.

    +


    Comments and questions are welcomed. Thanks for looking.


    -Mike

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  3. #2
    Super Member Marc08EX's Avatar
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    Re: 2015 Impala LTZ Corrected with Rupes UHS and Coated with Optimum Gloss Coat

    Great job Mike!!! Impala is looking sweet!
    2011 SEMA Meguiar's Car Crazy Showcase Team
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  4. #3
    Super Member Eldorado2k's Avatar
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    2015 Impala LTZ Corrected with Rupes UHS and Coated with Optimum Gloss Coat

    I just finished reading.. Great job man! That car looks way better than new.
    So that Meguiars Fine Cut Metal Polish is safe to use on plastic chrome eh? What did you apply it with?
    I picked up some Mothers All Chrome today at Oreillys since it was on sale for $5.99

    2015 Impala LTZ Corrected with Rupes UHS and Coated with Optimum Gloss Coat-imageuploadedbyagonline1468147455-569595-jpg

    It worked well on the Kias chome pieces, but did nothing for the plastic chrome trim on my Cadillac since it's pretty swirled up..

    Did you apply anything to the black plastic trim on the grill? Is it honeycomb? Or vented fins?

    What's your fathers reaction when you do all this to his car? Lol.

  5. #4
    Super Member mcate's Avatar
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    Re: 2015 Impala LTZ Corrected with Rupes UHS and Coated with Optimum Gloss Coat

    Beautiful work. Those Impalas are sharp looking cars!

  6. #5
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    Re: 2015 Impala LTZ Corrected with Rupes UHS and Coated with Optimum Gloss Coat

    Great job. Really like the new impala
    IGL Authorized Coating/Kenzo Installer

    Final Inspection Auto Detailing- https://www.facebook.com/FinalInspection

  7. #6
    Super Member Jeremy1976's Avatar
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    Re: 2015 Impala LTZ Corrected with Rupes UHS and Coated with Optimum Gloss Coat

    Looks great! Nice thorough job bud!

    Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

  8. #7
    Super Member ronkh57's Avatar
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    Re: 2015 Impala LTZ Corrected with Rupes UHS and Coated with Optimum Gloss Coat

    Really nice work!

  9. #8
    Super Member The Guz's Avatar
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    Re: 2015 Impala LTZ Corrected with Rupes UHS and Coated with Optimum Gloss Coat

    Quote Originally Posted by Marc08EX View Post
    Great job Mike!!! Impala is looking sweet!
    Thanks Marc.

    Quote Originally Posted by Eldorado2k View Post
    I just finished reading.. Great job man! That car looks way better than new.
    So that Meguiars Fine Cut Metal Polish is safe to use on plastic chrome eh? What did you apply it with?
    I picked up some Mothers All Chrome today at Oreillys since it was on sale for $5.99

    2015 Impala LTZ Corrected with Rupes UHS and Coated with Optimum Gloss Coat-imageuploadedbyagonline1468147455-569595-jpg

    It worked well on the Kias chome pieces, but did nothing for the plastic chrome trim on my Cadillac since it's pretty swirled up..

    Did you apply anything to the black plastic trim on the grill? Is it honeycomb? Or vented fins?

    What's your fathers reaction when you do all this to his car? Lol.
    Thanks. I used a foam applicator with it and not a lot of pressure. It was heavily water spotted.

    The black grille is vented plastic. No honeycomb. I used plastx on it. Prepped it with optimum paint prep and used gloss coat on it.

    He was ecstatic. He liked how glossy it looked. He liked the look of the trim (front cowl) and chrome as those were in rough shape.

    Quote Originally Posted by mcate View Post
    Beautiful work. Those Impalas are sharp looking cars!
    Thanks.

    Quote Originally Posted by Justin@FinalInspection View Post
    Great job. Really like the new impala
    Thanks. They do have a great look compared to the previous generation.

    Quote Originally Posted by Jeremy1976 View Post
    Looks great! Nice thorough job bud!

    Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
    Thanks.

    Quote Originally Posted by ronkh57 View Post
    Really nice work!
    Thanks Ron.

  10. #9
    Regular Member WT Taggart's Avatar
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    Re: 2015 Impala LTZ Corrected with Rupes UHS and Coated with Optimum Gloss Coat

    Mike, the vehicle looks fantastic, great transformation.


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

  11. #10
    Super Member The Guz's Avatar
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    Re: 2015 Impala LTZ Corrected with Rupes UHS and Coated with Optimum Gloss Coat

    Quote Originally Posted by WT Taggart View Post
    Mike, the vehicle looks fantastic, great transformation.


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
    Thanks.

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