autoLAVISH: Beat Up Black Brought Back to Beauty

[jlb85]

First I'd like to say hello. I've been a long time lurker on autogeekonline, and a customer of autogeek for years, but never really posted much since I've been more active on other forums and busy with school and the business. Further, this site is full of SOOO many extremely talented people that I find it hard to add anything to the discussions. Every time I sit down and log on I spend hours just reading and looking at details in awe. So I tended to visit the sites that I could get through quickly, smaller sites. But I made a resolution to get more active on autogeekonline, so here is one of my latest details. I hope you enjoy!

This has also been posted on s2ki and mol, so please forgive me if you have seen it already!

On to the story:


So I'm washing my car in my driveway the afternoon before a track event, and one of my neighbors walks up to me. She asks me what can I do to restore a black Envoy that has never been waxed... ever... in 7 years. I finish drying the M3 and walk over to her driveway with the Brinkmann, PTG, some Z6 and a Eurow Shag. The Envoy had 100,000+ miles and had never been detailed. I explained that the significant swirling would have to be removed by machine polishing, no amount of wax would make it glossy. I gave her an estimate for a one step polish, exterior only (the interior was very clean), and set the date for Monday morning.

It was good to be able to work at home after so many details at client's garages. I was looking forward to a nice, relaxing day. In all I expected a decent 6 hour detail, taking our time. This was going to be a really nice day!

Marc and I got started around 11 am. I drove the client's car from 2 houses over to my driveway. We set up the canopy and proceeded to wash the SUV. We did the engine bay (as a bonus) and wheels first. The engine was very dusty, but in good condition overall. No oil leaks, no other leaks, I was impressed with how good it looked after 100k+ miles other than the torn hood liner. We dosed it off with Meg's Super Degreaser at 4:1 and pressure washed it. We did this twice, brushing during the second application (once I could see the stubborn parts!).

engine before:




engine during:




The wheels were sprayed with Meg's Wheel Brightener at 4:1 (high strength), and the fenders with Super Degreaser 4:1. At the same time we sprayed the tires with APC+ 4:1. This is the 3rd car that is "regularly washed at Jax" (a local car-wash) that I've worked on, and as soon as the APC hits the tires: some nasty yellow/orange film comes floating off the rubber. I do not know what they use to dress them, but it needed to come off! The wheels were scrubbed with the Daytona brush, and the swissvax-imitation small brush for the lugs and weights. APC at 10:1 was also sprayed on the lower body panels and the fuel door opening (rubber boot was also removed for cleaning off 7 years of deposits).

wheels before:





wheels during:







fuel door



Next it was time to wash and clay. We used Megs NXT wash via foam gun and the two bucket method to wash.
washing:


For the claying there was only one option: Megs Aggressive Clay. This SUV had spray paint over-spray, fossils in the fascias, water spots, you name it. Aggressive clay is the only thing that can deal with this stuff, and boy how it does! I wish I had bought this stuff before. Marc recommended we use Aggressive since the vehicle was going to be polished.

[jlb85]

For polishing the goal was more gloss and a little paint revival, not correction. We tried some M205 on orange LCC on the Flex rotary. But the swirling was so bad that there was not enough correction to achieve acceptable gloss with this combo. Anything more aggressive would leave hazing, which would put us into a 2-step polish. Because there was no getting around our stubbornness that the vehicle needed to live up to our expectations first to be able to satisfy our customers, we decided to go ahead with a 2-step and get it as good as possible. Break out the M105 and the Reverse Osmosis Water Spray. Using the same pad, this combo provided a fierce bite that took care of all but the nastiest of scratches. There were quite a few of these, but the result is still outstanding.

50/50 M105:


After the M105 we tried out the new Flex DA with M205 on a black pad. Here, the fender is corrected with M105/M205 while the door is untouched yet.

50/50 M205:




We did this around the entire vehicle. The amount of cut with the M105 + water was clogging up my pad halfway between a panel. Clear-coat was gumming up and sticking onto the finish requiring more M105 or IPA wipes to clean off. Further, the hazing I was putting into the paint was significant. After finishing a whole side of the vehicle and getting some direct sunlight as the sun set Marc noticed the M205 on the Flex was not enough to clean up the hazing. We went back over the side and the rest of the car with the Vector rotary and M205, which finished down perfectly.

After polishing it was time to wash and get all the gunk out from the crevices. We mixed up some Zaino Z7 (the only non-wax wash I have right now as all my others ran out) and let it work its magic. The pressure washer helped convince the gunk to be removed.

final wash:



For LSP we wanted something durable, and my experience with the Klasse Twins when used together is very positive. Other than the sealant being a little hard to remove, the Klasse twins combo is a winner and looks great! I applied Klasse AIO via PC7424 and a blue finessing pad. Applying with the PC helps get it on as thin as possible. I use less than a quarter by PC than I would by hand. Set the PC on speed 3, put on a MF bonnet over a foam cutting pad, and add a few drops to prime the bonnet. Then apply to the paint slowly and evenly. This way, wipe off is a breeze.

LSP:


We did the same with the Klasse Glaze. By the time we finished, the dew point had dropped to ambient temperature, and the glaze was streaking off. We delivered the vehicle that night and scheduled a final wipe-down in the morning.

afters:




The next morning all it took was a quick wipe with Zaino Z6 QD and a shag MF towel and all was well again.

Here are the daytime afters:








After washing (final wash) the fenders were dressed with Meg's Hyper Dressing 1:1, as was the engine. The tires received Megs Endurance Tire Gel (after final wash).

In the end we spent twice the amount of time we expected, but also achieved much more. The owner was very pleased, and decided not to part with her Envoy just yet

[ewiesner]

Great job; nice pictures!

[FREAKAH]

Excellent turnaround!!

I can understand why she decided to hold on to the car longer. It's like she just brought home a brand new car!

BTW, kinda made me cringe when I saw the pic of the pop-up tent's leg that close to the car during the wash.

[jlb85]

Thanks guys!

I'm in need of a larger tent, so I need to be creative with this small one, requiring the close proximity But this day there was no wind, and we could work our way around it easily. Further, the first place it would hit is the side moulding, so I was not worried, this time But you are right, one should keep the tent legs as far away as possible. All it takes is a little whiff of wind and the tent gets moving.

[ryandamartini]

Good improvement. I bet the owner was happy.

[SRHTX]

Thanks guys!

I'm in need of a larger tent, so I need to be creative with this small one, requiring the close proximity But this day there was no wind, and we could work our way around it easily. Further, the first place it would hit is the side moulding, so I was not worried, this time But you are right, one should keep the tent legs as far away as possible. All it takes is a little whiff of wind and the tent gets moving.

Nice job!

btw - I found a 10 x 15 @ Pep Boys the other day. It cost $200.00.

[jlb85]

Is is easy to transport and set up/take down? The one I have right now I can do by myself easily, but it is on the heavy side. I fear if I go larger, I will need to change my methods of transportation.