[mikenap]

I had first seen this car last year after it had been "detailed" by another local shop. At the time, it was shiny and black...but still had some light holograms poking through. Some time had passed and those light holograms became less and less "light" so the client contacted me to come in and finally make his black car look right again. Surprisingly, after a year had passed, I still found TONS of compound residue in every conceivable area of the car.

I grabbed a few before pics, but was ready to jump into it so a lot of them didn't come out too well.




















One issue I ran into was the wheel barrels. They probably have never been cleaned since the car was purchased, and laughed off everything I threw at them. I started with Sonax, then moved to Brown Royal 1:1 and finally Meguiar's Wheel Brightener 4:1. When WB didn't make a dent, I just had to cut my losses and move on.





Not a huge improvement.

The car was foamed with Meguiar's Shampoo Plus, then pressure-washed off and brought inside to ONR wash and clay it. This was from behind the license plate, easily the dirtiest part of this car. Other than that, the car was pretty contaminant-free.




Correction consisted of a MF pad primed with D300, compounded with original version M105. Finishing was done with a B&S green pad with Menz 106fa. Machines used were a GG6 DA and Meg's G110. Most of the paint was healthy, save for the driver side fender which was very low. The following pictures are after compounding, before final polishing.






















The following day, David Strum (aka weekendwarrior) came by and offered to lend a hand finishing up the car. Anyone who has met David will agree that not only is he a great detailer, he's also an all-around great guy and good friend. I'm always glad to get a chance to work with him. While I continued compounding the last remaining panels, David got to work finishing the paint. Afterward, we foamed the car with CG CWC (with some remaining Shampoo +, that's why the bottle looks blue!) and applied Meguiar's 26 liquid to the paint. Tires and wheel wells got Hyper-dressing 3:1.































Thanks for looking!

[ccraig13]

Exceptional work! I wish I lived close enough for you to do my car!

[mikenap]

Originally Posted by ccraig13

Exceptional work! I wish I lived close enough for you to do my car!

Thanks for the kind words! I see you're from NJ, so you've already got some of the best talent in the country close by! Let me know if you want me to recommend anyone, but a couple of those guys already post here so you may already know them! Take care.

[Envious Eric]

awesome clean up

[mikenap]

Originally Posted by Envious Eric

awesome clean up

Thanks Eric!

[Marc08EX]

Great job Mike!! You brought that car back to life.

[mikenap]

Originally Posted by Marc08EX

Great job Mike!! You brought that car back to life.

Thanks Marc!