2012 Range Rover Coated with Blackfire Crystal Coat Paint Coating

[FrankS]

A previous detailer had wet sanded, compounded and polished the paint on this Range Rover a while back but was in need of some good protection so we went with BF Crystal Coat Paint Coating.

The paint itself was in good condition with some minor swirls and scratches. Therefore my plan was to give it a light polish to remove most of the swirls, clean the paint and remove any wax that was applied previously and then apply the coating. I didn't want to do any heavy compounding since it had already been wetsanded and as we all know factory paint is thin.

Here are the before pictures

Not too bad from here but let's take a closer look.












Wheels and Tires Cleaned First

Quite a bit of brake dust on the wheels.




Several products and brushes were used to clean the wheels properly but WG Uber Wheel Cleaner was used the most.
This one of my favorite wheel cleaners.


Here's WG Uber Wheel Cleaner working...I like the foaming action.


One of the wheels after cleaning and applying Hydro2 sealant.


Hydro2 on the job providing protection.


Poorboy's Bold 'N Bright was applied to the tires.


Exhaust Tips

Exhaust tips were in need of some attention.


P21S Polishing Soap was used to clean most of the tips.
Mother's Mag & Aluminum Polish along with the P21S sponge was used for the stubborn areas inside the tips.


Another good combo for cleaning tips is Mother's metal polish with a MF towel.


Finished result on one of the tips...much better.


Plastic

The cowl was really faded, here's Solution Finish being applied.


Decontamination

After the vehicle was thoroughly washed, the paint was inspected using the baggie test.
It was in need of claying...felt like sandpaper.


I like to clay the hood just to show the customer the bonded contaminants on the paint. Here's the clay bar before.


Clay bar during...fast hand speed.


Clay bar after a section of the hood.


The hood (again) and the rest of the vehicle was done with the Nanoskin medium grade pad on a PC with Glide as the lube.
I find this method to be quicker, get better results, and less tiring on the body.


The paint was then chemically decontaminated using Iron-X.


Iron-X was sprayed on the surface, spread with a sponge and let dwell for a few minutes.
I like using the Lowes Proline sponge for this...very soft sponge.


It's difficult to see Iron-X working on darker paints but it's doing it's thing as you can see from the purple color on the sponge.


Iron-X getting into some of the hidden areas.


Polishing

Here she is all taped up and ready for polishing.




Flex 3401, white Hybrid pad and Menzerna 2500 was the winner for this 1-step process. Here's the roof after polishing.


Coating Application

After the polishing step, the vehicle is now ready for the coating to be applied.


Before the coating is applied, all polish residue must be removed. BF Crystal Coat Paint Prep being applied.


MF towels used during the coating application process were tossed into a bucket with a solution of water and DP polishing pad cleaner immediately after use to prevent the coating from hardening on the towels and to be able to use them again.


Applicators were thrown in as well.


Beauty Shots









Final Thoughts

The BF coating was very easy to apply and provided a very nice glossy look. I noticed that when eliminating the high spots, after applying the coating, that it's best to switch to a new clean side of your towel often or it can get a little grabby as your wiping, which is a good practice anyway when applying a coating.

The owner picked up the vehicle the day after the coating was applied. As I was giving the car the final inspection before he arrived, I noticed that there were some streaks on one of the exterior rear view mirrors. Apparently I had overlooked wiping the high spots on the paint of the mirror.

I tried wiping the coating off with a MF towel in order to apply a fresh coat but it was no better. I didn't want to bring the Flex out again so I decided to do it by hand using a MF sponge and some compound. It took a little bit of elbow grease but I was finally able to get it off.

That just made me realize that the coating is not going anywhere soon, it's there to stay. As long as the vehicle is taken care of properly I wouldn't be surprised to see the coating last a long time.

[fly07sti]

Looks wonderful Frank. How long did it take you? Those RR's have A Lot of paint acreage!

[spiralout462]

Great write up! The pictures are outstanding, thanks for posting!

[FrankS]

Looks wonderful Frank. How long did it take you? Those RR's have A Lot of paint acreage!

Thanks Don, since I normally do this on the weekends I had to break it up. I did the wheels, tires, exhaust tips, and the plastic trim on one day and then he brought the car back on another weekend and it took me two days to finish it.

The owner wasn't in a hurry to get it back and I took my time. It also takes a little time to stop and take pictures. I also did the wheels again, when he brought it back. I couldn't stand having the car leave with the wheels dirty. So it took me 3 days total.

[Sicoupe]

Awesome job frank!

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Beautiful work Frank! You really turned that RR around.

Nice tape up job BTW.

[haris300]

Nice job, that paint really pops! Looks like Solution Finish did a great job on the cowl as well.

[FrankS]

Awesome job frank!

Thanks!

Beautiful work Frank! You really turned that RR around.

Nice tape up job BTW.

Thanks Mike!

Nice job, that paint really pops! Looks like Solution Finish did a great job on the cowl as well.

Thanks.

One coat of Solution Finish was applied to the cowl. The cowl was so faded that after the owner brought the car back in a couple of weeks, the cowl needed a 2nd coat of SF. I ran out of time and wasn't able to apply it but told the owner to bring it back anytime for a 2nd coat.

[antti@561detailing]

Great write-up...so you ready to tackle the next one? Since you already had your practice

[FrankS]

Great write-up...so you ready to tackle the next one? Since you already had your practice

Thanks Antti....I'm ready!