JCDetails S&S #1: 2015 Jaguar F-Type R Coupe

[JCDetails]

Well I've been talking about it long enough, but yesterday I finally got around to working on my father's new toy for him: A British Racing Green Metallic over two-tone tan/black Jaguar F-Type R.



A little background on the car. It's a 2015 with right around 4300 miles on it. My father traded an 08 SL550 toward it at a dealership down in Florida. The vehicle had been previously owned by a Jag enthusiast who only traded it in to get it's even more psychotically fast cousin, the F-Type SVR.

This car is certainly no slouch; I've been in a lot of quick cars in my day but this thing is what I'd define as 'silly fast'. 550hp/502tq 5.0L supercharged v8 mated to an 8 speed dual clutch trans and a valved exhaust that, even in quiet mode, will snap necks going down the road. It's done in a color that they call BRG but it's a metallic rendition that doesn't resemble the real BRG we all think of. The interior sports two very racy buckets done in a really nice two tone of mostly black, but tan on the seats and tan stitching throughout. Lots of hammered/brushed metal accents as well.

So, to start with the car had not been detailed by the dealer at my father's request, and hadn't been touched since he brought it up here. It's been in storage since about October or November and saw it's first light of day yesterday. The interior was probably 98% clean save for a light vacuuming of carpets and mats, and a wipedown of the leather and glass. Exterior condition was also pretty decent, mostly dust from storage but there were some water spots and drip lines down the rear that thankfully ended up being above surface and not etched.

Inspection completed, let's get this party started



Work began with a thorough wheel/tire cleaning utilizing Meguiar's D143 non-acid at a strong 1.5:1 dilution, as well as varying brushes and wheel woolies. They were then rinsed as well as the wheel arches with a reduced 900psi 40 degree pressure wash. I did a test on the nose of the car to see if there was any Iron using Gtechniq W6 falout remover, and after 3 minutes with no color change, I decided it was not a necessary step for this car. From there, the car was foamed down with CG Citrus Wash (the old, good Red one) and left to dwell for a few minutes. That initial foaming was intended to remove as much of the storage dust as possible and it did the job. I then lightly foamed the car once more for added lubrication and performed a standard contact wash on it, finishing with a thorough rinse, and pulled the car inside the garage.

Luckily I had the use of my uncle's newly built garage that actually has excellent lighting for the job and ample space. A 'rubber glove test' was performed on various areas of the car and erring on the side of caution with such soft paint, I deemed a clay treatment also unnecessary. Unfortunately, I found the notoriously soft BRG paint to be a little bit hurt after stripping whatever was on the car:



Swirls on the driver's door, followed by swirls on the passenger door and roof, as well as some scattered RIDS:






I went around the car taking measurements and trying to find any other more severe defects. There was a pretty deep scratch to the left of the rear license plate, but other than that the pictures above are pretty representative of the paint's overall condition. The car measured at between 100 and 120 microns, with a low of 95 and a high of 124, but consistent enough that I was confident I'm working with factory paint that has yet to be polished. Multiple measurements in the door jambs came in between 45 and 65. Using the method I saw in one of Larry (AMMONYC)'s videos, the door jamb is where a minimal amount of clear is used because it's not exposed to the elements. Take your average reading of the exterior, in this case about 110, and subtract the average from the door jamb, in this case 55. Result is 55 microns which *should* be about the amount of clear coat left to play with in removing defects. Should, of course, being the operative word, and this soft paint would be approached with the appropriate level of caution.

I started out with a test spot using Jescar ultra finishing polish and a Griot's garage yellow perfecting pad on the G15. I tested this combo on the nose of the car, just below the hood line because it's a non-metallic surface that likely would prove to be more challenging than the metal parts. After 2-3 section passes I was able to pull out 60-70% of the defects, removing almost all the swirls and leaving behind only some deeper RIDS that were reduced with the polish/pad combo. There would be similar RIDS in other areas of the car but I had already spoken to my father ahead of time, and with this car being intended to be driven regularly, a full 2 or 3 stage correction was not in the plan, so I continued on with what I'd deem a 'gloss enhancement' one step polish over the entire car. In addition to the G15, the Rupes 75e with a yellow Rupes 4" pad saw some action, as did the long neck nano (Finally!) with a 1" yellow pad as well, on the black painted lower portions of the side skirts and the center bar and lower portion of the grille. The hood and roof were a little more stubborn, so I did switch to a Griot's orange Correcting pad for those as I was able to pull a bit more correction out without leaving any haze.

Unfortunately, having gotten totally in 'the zone' thanks to a really good flow of music, the only shot I have for comparison is this one of the roof, when I was blown away by the depth and clarity I was getting with what honestly is a pretty gentle combination. I credit that to the soft paint being VERY responsive to this combo.



Now, one thing I suffer from on all my jobs is tunnel vision, but not the traditional kind. I tend to focus in on the stuff I couldn't get out rather than seeing the bigger picture of what I was able to do. This car was different. I was actually using my scangrip knock-off light to inspect my polishing progress on a section of the roof, and was quite literally stopped in my tracks by what you see above. I hope it comes across in the photo, I was so blown away that I stopped what I was doing, grabbed my phone and took a picture. The depth of that flake, and the overall color on the car is just astounding. The car looked great before, but it was starting to get even better.

With the polishing completed I took a lunch break to get out of the garage and clear my head a bit. When I came back, I switched gears and cleaned up the interior surfaces and glass. Once that was done, along with a thorough wipedown with Gyeon Prep, it was time to protect my hard work:



Protection on this one came in the form of Gtechniq's Crystal Serum Light for the painted surfaces, and Carbon Collective's Platinum Wheels for the satin and machined wheels. I'll start by reviewing the CC Platinum Wheels.

Overall, CCPW went on very easily. It's highly regarded as one of the better wheel coatings out there, and comes at a very reasonable price of just $35 for the 15ml bottle you see here. It comes in a package with half a dozen cotton applicators, which I'd liken to my wife's makeup remover swabby disc things. Truthfully, they kinda suck and I wish I had thought to use the GTechniq included applicator instead, but it is what it is. CCPW applies very easily with just a few drops to the applicator, wipe on, take a deep breath, get your MF towel ready and buff off within 1-2 minutes of application. I separated the wheels into 5 individual triangles and worked one at a time just to ensure I did it all right. I noticed a definite 'deepening' or 'enrichment' of the satin black surfaces and a very, very slick feeling. Carbon Collective states 1-2 years durability which I imagine is a stretch, even without the carbon ceramic brake upgrade you can see poking through. Carbon Ceramics run very hot and I imagine will be a stout opponent for Platinum Wheels. To coat all four 20" wheels and all 4 exhaust tips on this Jag with one coat, I used approximately 1/3 of the bottle, making it exceptional value for the money. Only downside: the good folks at CC have made a sincere attempt to make this coating smell like sour apple. Unfortunately, it falls short. But, it does smell better than CSL.

Onto Crystal Serum Light. Believe it or not, this was my first attempt at ceramic coating a car...yes, I'm a glutton for punishment. Unfamiliar product, unfamiliar procedure, and NOT the car I'd want to screw it up on. Based upon comments here and elsewhere, I ditched the GTechniq included applicator in favor of Gyeon's foam block and microsuede cloths. CSL and this applicator choice were a match made in heaven. A couple full measures from the pipette to prime the cloth, and then a few drops here and there as needed. The coating is a little thicker than I expected but not overly so. Instructions state work half a large panel or one small panel at a time, and immediately buff off. I found that with the conditions in this garage, 30 seconds to a minute was a good place to be at for easy removal. I started on all the horizontal surfaces to leave the ones I might brush up against for last. There was a noticeable darkening of the surface making it easy to see where I had been and where I needed to buff off. I made an initial light pass with a TRC pearl weave towel and then a secondary pass with the longer nap side of an Edgeless 365 to ensure I got everything. To coat the entirety of this car I used a little less than half of the 30ml bottle. While I was coating it was hard to notice a difference, until I managed to stop and look down the completed passenger side of the car, at which point I noticed the hard candy gloss and 'glassiness' as my uncle put it. I'll describe in more detail, but here's some eye candy:






Again, to disclaim: I didn't begin with a totally trashed vehicle. However, the pop, slickness and gloss that CSL gave this metallic paint is absolutely amazing. All together, including my 45min lunch break, I had 9 hours in this car. I'm thoroughly pleased with the results and can't wait to see the reaction when my father goes to pick it up. I also did some math on the time, product cost breakdown, and an appropriate buffer for this kind of work, and I would probably charge someone between $650-700 for this job. That's 9 hours at $50 an hour, plus product cost and a little buffer to make that time worth my while. For someone who owns a vehicle like this, garage queen weekend toy with an owner who's very enthusiastic, I think it's a very sellable service that delivered in a big, big way.

Complete breakdown of the products used is below. Happy to answer any questions, and apologies in advance for the photography. I'm much better at detailing than I am documenting my progress in pictures!



Exterior:

-AR610 1350/1.9 pressure washer with MTM foam cannon
-Chemical Guys Citrus Wash red
-Meguiar's D143 non-acid wheel & tire cleaner
-Wheel woolies, various brushes
-MF Chenille wash mitts, grit guards and HD homer buckets
-GTechniq W6 Iron and General Fallout remover
-CarPro TarX
-Griot's Garage BOSS G15, Rupes LHR75e and Rupes iBrid Nano long neck polishers
-Jescar Micro Finishing Polish
-Griot's Garage 5.5" BOSS correcting and perfecting pads
-Rupes 4" Yellow pads
-Rupes 1" and 2" Yellow Pads
-Gyeon Prep
-Gyeon Tire
-Carbon Collective Platinum Wheels coating
-GTechniq Crystal Serum Light paint coating w/ Gyeon applicator block and cloths
-Various MF towels from The Rag Company and other sources
-Highline Meter paint gauge, Astro Pneumatic inspection light, Rupes swirlfinder pen light

Interior:

-Gyeon Leather
-Meguiar's quik interior detailer
-Drillbrush
-redacted brand carpet shampoo and glass cleaner
-various MF and cotton terry towels


For anyone that read this far, thank you for your time and I look forward to hopefully posting some more exciting vehicles as the season goes on!

[JCDetails]

For some reason a few of the pics auto-rotated on me. Sorry for that! I also can't go back and make the pictures any bigger now.

[Sizzle Chest]

Excellent work and pics on a beautiful vehicle!!!