Scottwax

Super busy month, probably going to end up my busiest month ever. Really odd for January but I'll take it.

2008 Nissan GTR. Main customer complaint was that the soft black Nissan paint was just too hard to wash without marring and swirling. After reading through several forums and talking to a few people, he felt that Optimum Opti-Coat would be his best bet to put a hard enough finish on his car to resist swirling and marring.

He's had the GTR detailed about a year ago, there were some buffer holograms from that and what appeared to be drying streaks in the sides. Big problem with black cars down here, by the time you get the top dried, the sides are mostly dry and starting to spot. So you wipe them harder to remove the spots and end up with streaking and marring. I did go over ONR washing with the owner, I've found that pretty much eliminates any issues with the car drying out and spotting before you get a chance to dry it.

A few before shots-terrible trying to get good ones in the winter with the low sun angle.









Took a while to figure out what was going to work best. The back end of the car took Optimum Hyper Compound using an Optimum microfiber cutting pad (all polishing done with my Porter Cable 7424 XP) but it was definitely hazing the paint, a bit too aggressive for this car except for the worst areas. I then switched to Meguiars #105 mixed 50/50 with D300 using a Meguiars microfiber cutting pad and went over the whole car. Still getting some hazing from that combo but it was removing or greatly minimizing the swirls, marring and other defects. This was not going to be an all out correction so I needed to balance how hard I hit the paint with how much hazing I could remove in two more polishing steps so #105/D300 seemed to do that the best.


I then switched to Meguiars #205 using an orange Optimum cutting pad which really did a great job removing the hazing from the previous step. We then let the car sit in the sun to help bake out the oils (nearly 70 on a bright sunny January day!) while we grabbed lunch. When we got back, I inspected the car again in the sun, looking for any potential problem areas after the sun flashed off the polishing oils. Not finding any, again using #205, I went over the whole car with a yellow Meguiars polishing pad.





















I then washed the whole car down with straight water and isophoric alcohol (two quarts alcohol, 4 quarts water). As expected, the water/alcohol blend laid flat on the paint, no beading. Gently finished washing it down using my softest MF towels to avoid marring the paint.

I then carefully applied Opti-Coat 2.0 (I prefer the slightly slower curing time, more margin for error) to the entire car, including the wheels. By then, it was late afternoon and we'd lost any chance of direct sun. The paint had a very wet, almost glassy look to it. Every customer whose car I have used the coating on has commented on how nice it looks. They hear on the forums about the protection but not too much on the appearance so all have been quite pleased with how it looks.

Scottwax

2006 Mercedes S600. I've detailed this one on and off for about 3 years now. He'd had some hail damage and the hood and rear bumper had been repainted. The shop got overspray all over the passenger side and used a rotary and wool pad to remove it.

ONR wash, Clay Magic blue clay
Optimum Hyper Compound and Optimum microfiber cutting pad with my PC 7424 XP on the passenger side to remove rotary swirls
Meguiars #205 using an orange Optimum cutting pad, PC 7424 XP on the whole car
Clearkote's Carnauba Moose wax
Armor All on tires/fenderwells













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2007 Cadillac DTS, last car we had for the law office this winter. Like the rest of them, it was a basic (1 polishing step) full detail.

ONR wash, Clay Magic blue clay
Optimum Hyper Polishing using an Optimum MF polishing pad and my PC 7424 XP
Optimum Opti-Seal to protect
Armor All on the tires/fenderwells













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2009 Toyota Camry. Just a one step exterior detail. Car has enough issues that even a full correction won't make perfect so owner just wanted it polished and protected. Same process as the DTS. BTW, all three cars in this post were done on the same day.

Scottwax

2006 Honda S2000. Originally scheduled for an exterior detail a couple months ago, I was five minutes away from the job when the owner called to tell me someone backed into the front end and did enough damage it needed to be repaired and refinished. Once he got the greenlight from the body shop that the paint could be sealed, he called to set up an appointment.

The repaint looked really good, no buffer swirls that I could see. However, from the doors back, there were a lot of spider swirls which would need removing.

ONR wash, Clay Magic blue clay
Optimum Hyper Compound and Optimum microfiber cutting pad with my PC 7424 XP from the doors back to remove the spider swirls
Optimum Hyper Polishing using an Optimum MF polishing pad and my PC 7424 XP
Optimum Opti-Seal to protect
Armor All on the tires/fenderwells
Optimum Metal Polish on the exhaust tips





















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2006 Ford F-250. I've been taking care of this since new, but only see it once or twice a year. Three daughters, plus both parents are very active in community events, cycling, gymnastics, cheer, etc that finding a time when it sits long enough to detail is tough. Unfortunately, this time it had been zapped by some nasty overspray, so the bulk of my time budgeted went to removing that.

ONR wash, Clay Magic blue clay
Optimum G-P-S using a Meguiars microfiber polishing pad, PC 7424 XP
Armor All on tires/fenderwells
3D Trim Protectant on the bumpers, tube steps, etc









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Also did a quick wash and wax on a customer's 2008 Mercedes E550. It had recently needed spot repair and refinishing on the rear bumper and the owner felt that while the paint was swirl free, it did need some added protection.

ONR wash
Test sample of Clearkote's Silky Moose Wax
Armor All on tires/fenderwells.

The new wax I am trying out from Clearkote is currently blue in color (though that may change) and has a pleasant berry scent. It doesn't have quite the depth of Carnauba Moose (as it contains no carnauba) but has a really nice, wet gloss and should be as durable as Carnauba Moose, maybe even a bit more durable.

Scottwax

2007 Infiniti M45 and Lexus IS350. We took care of these two on the same day, both full details. The M45 was a recent purchase and the goal was to improve upon the dealership's detail. The IS 350, the goal was to remove as many swirls and defects as possible in 2 steps.

ONR wash, Clay Magic blue clay
Optimum Hyper Polishing using an Optimum MF polishing pad and my PC 7424 XP
Optimum Opti-Seal to protect
Armor All on the tires/fenderwells











ONR wash, Clay Magic blue clay
Meguiars #105 mixed 50/50 with D300 using a Meguiars microfiber cutting pad, PC 7424 XP
Optimum G-P-S using an Optimum microfiber polishing pad, PC 7424 XP
Clearkote's Carnauba Moose Wax

Headlights wetsanded with Meguiars Uni-grit 2000, polished with Optimum Hyper Compound using an Optimum microfiber cutting pad and my PC.













As an added bonus, here are the pictures my customers took of the car later that day: https://plus.google.com/photos/11062...CKTQ2eLzhcXEcg

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

I shuddered when I saw the F250. That thing is huge How long did that take?

Scottwax

Just did the outside (vacuumed inside), took about 3 hours to wash, clay and do a 1 step on the paint.

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

GTRRRRRRRRRRRR....dude you should take some rev up videos of the vehicles too....it will help us determine how good of a wax job you do

ohsixMTee

iTrader: (2)

Trucks are intimidating to detail, way to take care of it! My father in law has a black 05 F150 FX4 and it takes quite a while to massage it with my 7424XP. Not to mention he car wash scrub brushes it....which never helps matters.

One actually downshifted and hauled ass past me on the highway this evening, I was thinking, dude.....you already proved the car's badass even when sitting still. No need for those shenanigans. lol

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

Busy month indeed, Scott! Nice shots.

Scottwax

I've got some videos of customers cars on my youtube channel (same user name), including rides in another GTR and a twin turbo Ford GT that did 224 in the Texas Mile in March 2010.

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

looking u up right nowwwwww

v|nsan|ty

Wow busy man! That GT-R is a dream.

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

Post links for those that are lazy

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

^^^ if the OP doesnt mind

jwr0ng626

iTrader: (1)

wow how do you have the energy to do 3 cars in a day haha props to you!

Scottwax

My son helps me.

J.TL

Hey scott great job on all those cars. Very lucky to have that kind of weather in january. The detail bug is getting bad over here. starting to detail things around my house to keep me ocupied. taken care of my car and family cars, but business is dead so damn mucky outside. Anyways, thats me venting, GT-R looks Diiiiiiiiiirty.......good dirty, nasty mean and clean dirty

bRunCL

iTrader: (1)

very nice assortment of vehicles

mrhiguy

Nice