2012 White Mustang with Finest

**richy** · 04-13-2015, 11:17 PM

This customer found me through a referral. After discussing the 3 different coatings I offer, he chose to go with Finest. I was not going to be doing the wheels per usual as he is having some work done to them. They will be coated subsequently. I quoted him a one step polish but it ended up needing more than that. I ended up eating 2 hours but it looked so damned good that I was OK with it.

Here it is as it arrived.

Check out these very cool wheels!!

Even though I wasn't going to be coating the wheels, I still ended up cleaning them thoroughly. The barrels were cleaned with Megs HW and a big wheel woolie. The tires were cleaned with Zep 505. The wells were cleaned with LATA. The faces were cleaned with Megs HW and a wash mitt.

The car was then hand washed with Megs HW. That was followed by a second hand wash using IronX paste. The car was then clayed with a Speedy Prep towel.

The hood had the most defects. It had been repainted for the aftermarket hood. I wanted to try HD Adapt on it to see how it would do as I hadn't tried it yet. I tried it with a yellow B/S pad. The defects just laughed at this combo! I stepped it up to a black TB wool pad thinking it would be too aggressive...not at all! It got rid of most of the defects (not all) but even more amazingly, it finished down really well. Much better than you would think for wool. I know this paint was absolutely rock hard which had everything to do with how it finished down. I followed that stage with a green B/S pad + DG Squeaky Clean to inspect the work. I found my working combo! The paint, head lights, tail lights and glass excluding windshield were coated with CQF. The windshield got Fly-by-30 (2 coats too).

It was a beautiful sunny day after completing the first coat of CQF and I wanted to shoot a few pics just in case the weather didn't co-operate the next day. No trim coating yet. No tire dressing yet either.

The next day the second coat got added. I just want to say how immensely pleased I was that the CQF did not alter the appearance of the flat decals one bit! It did make them slick as Hell though. After the second coat, the trim was coated with DLux and the tires were shot with Opti Bond via my spray gun at 100%. Here are a few shots of the finished product both inside and out:

A few chip repairs got done as well:

Exhaust tips hand polished with M205 and then coated. Trim done with DLux:

Thanks for looking! Comments appreciated.

**HUMP DIESEL** · 04-14-2015, 06:25 AM

Awesome Richy!! I just started using Adapt as well and even better, my first foray was on a Mustang. I love it enough to make it a staple of my arsenal.

HUMP

**Don M** · 04-14-2015, 06:35 AM

Looks great. When I glanced at the first pic, I thought the car had fog lights turned on, but it was only you blocking out the plate LOL.

**Mike lambert** · 04-14-2015, 06:56 AM

Very nice work sir! So now you can wait for the second coat? Sounds familiar?

**Heisenberg** · 04-14-2015, 07:28 AM

Always love seeing your write-ups! Looks great.

Originally Posted by richy

I ended up eating 2 hours but it looked so damned good that I was OK with it.

It's this kind of thinking that sets certain detailers apart! Focusing on quality. It shows.

**richy** · 04-14-2015, 08:09 AM

Originally Posted by HUMP DIESEL

Awesome Richy!! I just started using Adapt as well and even better, my first foray was on a Mustang. I love it enough to make it a staple of my arsenal.

HUMP

Thanks Hump! Yes, I saw the Mustang you did and commented on it. I'll definitely be playing with it some more!

Originally Posted by Don M

Looks great. When I glanced at the first pic, I thought the car had fog lights turned on, but it was only you blocking out the plate LOL.

Thanks Don. I don't like for the plates to be seen.

Originally Posted by Mike lambert

Very nice work sir! So now you can wait for the second coat? Sounds familiar?

Thanks Mike! Familiar? Yes and no. This is the new version and its properties are different from the previous version.

Originally Posted by Heisenberg

Always love seeing your write-ups! Looks great.

It's this kind of thinking that sets certain detailers apart! Focusing on quality. It shows.

Thanks kindly!

**tenblade2001** · 04-14-2015, 08:54 AM

GREAT work! What was your process with the tips?

**Sicoupe** · 04-14-2015, 09:34 AM

Outstanding job Richy! Enjoy your work and write ups. Kyle

**richy** · 04-14-2015, 12:19 PM

Originally Posted by tenblade2001

GREAT work! What was your process with the tips?

Thanks a ton! The tips were hand polished with Megs 205 and a mf and then coated like the rest of the car.

Originally Posted by Sicoupe

Outstanding job Richy! Enjoy your work and write ups. Kyle

Thanks a bunch Kyle! I appreciate you taking the time to comment!

**ru3eng** · 04-17-2015, 03:16 PM

Amazing after pics. I love these California specials!
In my area a lot of people under polish the white paint because most customers won't notice a few imperfections, but when you go the extra mile it really shows. Thanks for doing the write up, I'm a novice weekend guy and I appreciate the informative write ups. I've been looking for a different wheel process, and I'm going to try yours. Are you using the wheel woollies?