The End of an Era - 2015 Chevy Suburban - Paint Correction & Coating - My Last Detail at Attention to Detailing

[zmcgovern45]

My "What We've Been Up To in 2016" thread got a lot of great attention, and a couple of people had wished us well in 2017... I had debated posting this information at the time, but I think it is worth sharing...

As some of you may know, my family and I decided to make some changes in 2017. On March 1st, we moved back home to the St. Louis area to be closer to our families. We wanted our son (and future kids) to be close to their grandparents. With the decision to leave Peoria, I decided to sell my business to my long time friend who had been working with me for the past 4 years and is responsible for a lot of the results I have shared over the years.

At this time I have no intentions of starting up any sort of detailing business in the St. Louis area. It is time to redirect my focus back towards family, and perhaps enjoy some normal, work-free weekends for once. I absolutely loved my detailing work, and my journey as a professional detailer changed me in so many excellent ways, but at the end of the day there just simply wasn't enough time in the day to maintain a full time engineering career, grow a small business, spend time with my family, and have any sort of social life. For now, I will return to "obsessed enthusiast" status and hope to continue to add value to the detailing community without being labeled a true professional.

I do intend to remain involved in the detailing world through my own product testing/experimentation, detailing/upkeep of my personal vehicles, forum participation, and keeping in touch with some of the local professionals in this area. For those who might be wondering, Detailed Image has asked me to continue producing content for their Ask-A-Pro Blog as time allows, so I am happy to be able to continue doing that.


Anyway... here are some photos of my last job as a professional detailer from earlier this year.


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This 2015 Chevy Suburban was recently acquired by the current owner, and the paint had seen better days. After discussing the extent of the damage with the owner, we determined that a multi-step paint correction process would best meet his specific expectations. He also wanted to have the paint, plastic, glass, and wheels protected with various nano coating options.

I apologize as I do not recall the exact process and products used as this was many months ago, nor do I have many photos to share, but these few should allow you to see the awesome enhancement that was made.

Wash: Meguiar's Hyperwash
Decontamination: Tarminator, IronX, and Nanoskin Mitt w/ Glide for Lubrication
Paint Correction (x2): Griot's Garage Fast Correcting Cream on Microfiber Cutting Pads via Rupes LHR15 MKII, LHR21 MKII, and LHR75e
Polishing: Meguiar's M205 on LC White Polishing Pads via Rupes LHR15 MKII, LHR21 MKII, and LHR75e
Prep Solvent: CarPro Eraser
Paint Coating: CarPro CQuartz Finest
Glass Coating: CarPro FB30
Wheel Coating: GTechniq C5
Plastic Coating: CarPro DLUX
Tire Dressing: CarPro PERL





This was a 3 step correction process... the first cutting step removed the vast majority of defects, leaving only some of the deeper, straight line scratches. Another cutting step was then performed to level almost all of these deeper defects, however the surface was left quite hazy. The clarity was then restored with a fine finishing polish.















The crew: Myself, Nick (helper), Matt (new owner), Nathan (helper)
You can follow along with Matt's work on Instagram @theglossdoctor and on the Attention to Detailing Facebook Page.

[custmsprty]

Congratluations Zach and best wishes in your future endeavors. I've enjoyed all your details and posts over the years.

[gr8almty1]

Been following you for a while and learned quite a bit from you. Best of luck!!!!


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[bodidly]

Enjoy retirement Zach.. much to be said of slowing down and taking stock of what is truly important in life.. Family. Wish you and the family all the best.

[atgonzales]

All the best to you Zach and Matt, we look forward to updates from both of you

[haris300]

Best of luck dude. Always love reading your articles and posts.

[Buster906]

I wish you a smooth transition from professional detailer to hobbyist. Enjoy continuing the engineering career

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[VISITOR]

best of luck to you and the family!

[fly07sti]

Good for you Zach. Enjoy the additional time with your family.

[Marc08EX]

I think it's a great move to spend more time with your family. You've always done amazing work Zach and provided lots of info and insight to the detailing community. Thanks for that.