A Shiny Red G8 GT... showing the benefits of a one step correction on a daily driver.

[zmcgovern45]

The owner of this car contacted me through my Facebook Page and was interested in cleaning up this gorgeous red G8 GT. This car is driven most of the year, but gets put away for bad weather and in the winter. It is a lower mileage vehicle, with the odometer reading under 30k, and needed a bit of work to restore some lost gloss and depth in the bright red paint.

The majority of the defects were typical swirls that I would assume had been introduced during washing and drying. They were fine scratches, but they covered every square inch of the paint which created a duller appearance. This vehicle is also used to haul the owner's kids to and from various sporting events, so it showed some signs of abuse that comes with carrying passengers and equipment on a regular basis.

Clear coat preservation was a concern of the owner, therefore we decided a one-stage correction would be a great choice to restore the lost gloss and clarity, while also removing a minimal amount of material. I was able to achieve great results with my correction process, the vast majority of the swirls were removed and only the deeper defects remained.


Process

Exterior
Wheels: CG Diablo Gel (4:1) with various brushes and wheel woolies
Tires: Tuf Shine Tire Cleaner
Pre-Wash Foam: CG Citrus Wash via Gilmour Foammaster II Foam Gun
Bug & Tar Removal: Stoner's Tarminator
Wash: CG Citrus Wash
Iron/Fallout Removal: Iron X
Decontamination: Nanoskin Fine Grade Mitt
Dry: DI Waffle Weave Towels
Tape: Automotive Masking Tape
Paint Thickness Readings Taken
Polish: Optimum Hyper Polish on an Orange Light Cutting Pad via Rupes LHR21ES w/ 5.5" Pads and PC7424XP w/ 3" & 4" Pads
IPA Wipe Down: ~15% IPA Solution (diluted with distilled water)
Paint Protection: Sonax Polymer Net Shield
Tire & Trim Dressing: Optimum Opti-Bond Tire Gel
Glass: CarPro Fast Glass Towels
Exhaust Tips: CG Metal Polish + Protection via #0000 Steel Wool


Interior
Thorough Vacuum
Rubber Floor Mats: Scrubbed with Meguiar's D103 (10:1), Rinsed, Then Blown Dry
Trim & Door Jams: Cleaned with Megiar's D103 (10:1) then dressed with 303 Aerospace Protectant
Leather: 303 Aerospace Protectant
Vinyl & Plastic: 303 Aerospace Protectant
Glass: CarPro Fast Glass Towels


Before

The car showed the usual signs of use. The wheels had some brake dust buildup, and many of the faces had small scratches and other imperfections.






There were hard water spots on the entire car - a very common sight.










There was dirt buildup in all of the hard to reach areas.






During


As always, I began by cleaning the wheels. First, I sprayed CG Diablo Gel liberally onto all wheel surfaces and barrels as seen in the photo below. I allowed the Diablo Gel to dwell for a short period of time before beginning to agitate.




After giving the cleaner a couple of minutes to begin breaking apart the dirt and grime, I began by cleaning the barrels of the wheels with my wheel woolies as shown below. This step is particularly important on a vehicle with wide open wheels that allow you to easily see the barrels of the wheels.




I then proceeded to clean the faces of the wheels with my soft wheel brush.




Once the rims were clean, they were thoroughly rinsed and I began cleaning the tires. Notice the brown color on the tires and the large brown stain forming on the ground beneath the tire. This is the grime caused by dirt and buildup of old tire dressings. It is important to remove this buildup from the face of the tire so that your new dressing has a clean surface to soak into.




Notice the dirt and grime being washed away beneath the tire.




All cleaned up... much better! Now time to start working on the paint.




Well, it was getting dark so I have no photos of the washing and decontamination process. The car was foamed with a heavy mixture of Citrus Wash, then hand washed using the proper two bucket washing method, afterwards the car was treated with Iron X and then decontaminated using the Nanoskin Autoscrub Fine Wash Mitt.

The car was then put away for the night, and I started bright and early the next morning with a thorough inspection. You can clearly see that the paint was covered in swirls and scratches. It had a faded and dull appearance instead of the deep, rich color that red should have.








Pulling the car out into the sun gives you a better idea of how the paint looked. The swirls refract light in all different directions which leads to a dull looking finish.










I typically begin by polishing the hood, then work my way to the roof, the trunk, and then around the sides. Here is a section of the hood prior to polishing.




Optimum Hyper Spray Polish on an Orange Lake Country Light Cutting pad proved to be the best choice for removing the majority of the swirls while still producing a nice glossy finish that does not need to be refined with a finishing step.




Nice 50/50 shot of the spot on the hood. The polished area looks deep and rich, exactly how red paint should look.




Here is the trunk before correction.




The trunk after polishing (note, the spoiler was done later with smaller pads).




Here is a shot of the door before correction.




And after correction you can see the clear difference in color.




50/50 shot of the door. The vast majority of swirls have been eliminated, however you can see some of the heavier defects that remain.




50/50 shot between door panels.




Here is a great shot of the passenger fender prior to polishing. Notice how dull the finish appears.




It looked great after correcting. The clarity had been restored and the paint was now very glossy.

[zmcgovern45]

The other fender before correction.




And after polishing. Again, a great transformation.




50/50 shot of the driver's door.




Another 50/50 shot... looking great!




This vehicle had a clear bra applied to the front portion of the hood, bumper, fenders, etc. The clear film was swirled and etched with bug splatter.



I was able to improve the finish and remove the swirls, but the etching was simply too severe. I suppose it is best that the damage is inflicted in the clear bra and not the paint.




These heavy scuffs were on the side skirt below the driver's door. They were quite the eye sore as the drastic contrast made them very noticeable.




They were removed using 3" cutting pads and M105 and then polished.




After polishing was completed, the car was put away for the night. It looked absolutely gorgeous!




I didn't realize how big this car was until I saw it right next to mine.




The next day I started with the interior... it wasn't in bad shape. Just dirty from normal use with kiddos in the back seat.




Door jam before




Door jam after




Back of passenger seat before




Back of passenger seat after




Door jam before




Door jam after




Scrubbing the all weather mats




The exhaust tips had probably never been cleaned. You can see the outer tip has been polished, while the inner tip is very dull and corroded. Unfortunately there were many areas in which the chrome had suffered permanent damage and I was unable to completely restore them, but they sure looked a lot better!




After



Afterwards, the car looked fantastic. This relatively basic process was able to restore the paint to it's original glory. It now had a deep, dark, very glossy finish.




Wheels and tires looked great



Fantastic reflections!








The paint looked dripping wet.








It looks like a completely different color!






The gloss was extreme, and it looked amazing.














As always, thanks for looking!

[281]

Wow amazing work! It's a shame they let the car get in that condition!

[Sicoupe]

As always, amazing work my friend

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Thorough dedication to the job at hand Zach!!! Nicely done!

[lawrenceSA]

Awesome turn around - I bet the owner was ecstatic

[vet]

That Poncho looks great now!

[TheCougarGuy]

Excellent work! Great looking car.

[zmcgovern45]

Wow amazing work! It's a shame they let the car get in that condition!

Thanks!

As always, amazing work my friend

Thorough dedication to the job at hand Zach!!! Nicely done!

Thanks Mike!

Awesome turn around - I bet the owner was ecstatic

^He was quite pleased! Thanks for looking!

That Poncho looks great now!

Excellent work! Great looking car.

Thanks! Definitely one of my favorite sports sedans.

[FrankS]

Outstanding job and excellent pictures and write-up!