2009 IS250 Starfire Pearl Revival

Discussion in 'Show and Shine' started by Darkstar752, Jun 11, 2010.

  1. Darkstar752

    Darkstar752 Horizon Detailing

    This car came to me from a friend looking to refresh her car, I haven't seen it in at least a year. That's probably not the only thing it hasn't seen for a year, I would say a wash is up on the list too. This car had the toughest brake dust I've come across so far. Also, I was using my sister's DSLR, and I lost it for a good chunk of the detail so I apologize for the lack of correction pictures.

    This was just a one-step detail, just looking to bring a little life back into the paint. Please excuse the dirty garage, we just moved into the new house and we're still trying to clean it up and get everything out of the way. Sadly, a couple days after the detail, an old man managed to back up into her car and smash the front bumper :shakehead:


    Wash:
    Meguiars Gold Class
    2BM w/ Grit Guard
    Sheepskin mitt
    Uber red and blue WW drying towels

    Clay:
    Riccardo Yellow Clay
    ONR Clay lube
    Uber red towels

    Paint:
    Makita 9227C/3M Perfect-It backing plate
    3M Black Waffle pad/Menzerna P203S
    Uber Original MF Towels
    M105 inside handles

    LSP:
    Gloss-it Concourso Gloss
    Uber Red notched applicator
    Uber No Name Super Plush towel

    Misc:
    303 Aerospace
    1Z Cockpit Premium
    Various Brushes and MF towels
    Meg's Wheel Brightener
    Folex
    Meguiars Hyper Dressing
    Meguiars APC +
    Meg's Endurance Tire Shine
    Leather Master's Vital Reconditioning Cream
    Lexol Leather Cleaner
    UQW in door jambs
    Surf City Grime Destroyer
    Stoner's Tarminator
    Meguiars All Metal Polish
    0000 Steel Wool
    Poorboy's Wheel Sealant
    1Z Gummi Pfledge
    Black WOW

    Here's the car as it arrived:
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    Caked-on brake dust:
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    APC soak for front bumper and all lower panels:
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    Trim agitated:
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    Here's how dirty it was, driver's side door not done yet. After shot of the rim cleaning, now these rims took 4-5 round of wheel brightener EACH. The most I've ever needed before was 2 rounds at the most. This is when I realized this car was gonna be harder then I thought:
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    Clay bar:
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    The car was rough:
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    PTG readings taken, the car was showing consistent healthy readings of 160-150:
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    Some of the defects present in the car, it was very hard to capture these. Hard water spotting:
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    Random spots on the car looked like they had been washed with a brillo pad. Also a deep scratch in this picture.:
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    Hazy headlight correction. Before:
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    After. No wetsanding, just a polish to clear up the haze:
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    Tails also corrected:
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    Sorry no paint correction pics! Here are the afters. Please Excuse the minor streaking in the first one:
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    The pearl really popped and shimmered. Here's it reflecting the light onto my garage door :picture:
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    Only 2 daytime during correction pics:
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    Clean rims, but sadly the brake dust had just been on for too long. There was nothing I could do :shakehead:
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    Thanks for reading :thumb:
     
  2. GDAL

    GDAL Guest

    Great work Bobby!! I really like how that pearl really popped after the correction.

    Glad to see that the paint meter is working for you!! Did you verify its accuracy? Those readings seem kinda high for a lexus.

    That garage is way bigger than the one at the old house. It has a lot of potential.
     
  3. Darkstar752

    Darkstar752 Horizon Detailing


    Thanks man! The pearl did look sick after correction, I wish I could have seen it in the morning but the car was picked up at 2 AM and I finished at midnight. And yea, thanks for the meter man! I have to go back and check the box for the test strips but I think it's pretty accurate, I just pulled it out of the box and went around like a little kid testing the paint on all of the cars I could find. Does the highline read hoods? I'm guessing the HF doesn't since the hood was aluminum(I think). I believe the readings were higher since it's a tri-coat pearl or something.

    I'm real excited about the garage :applause2: It's still cluttered as hell from the move, but I'm workin' on clearin it out. I can't wait till it's cleaned up, but it still needs a lot of work and repair. We also still need to refinish the driveway, since the house sat for so long the asphalt crumbled and it's pretty much dirt and rock now.
     
  4. vtec92civic

    vtec92civic Nuba Guru

    looks good man. I had a similar issue the other day on a previous clients BMW. It's like some folks just don't wash their cars. I hit it with several apps of Wheel Brightener and even stepped it up a bit from that and did several rounds and there was still a ton left.

    Car looks great though man . . . . . sucks that someone nailed the front bumper though.
     
  5. domino

    domino Welcome to Detailing

    great job

    that after pic of the clear coat failure on the wheel is crazy

    did you fix up the front lip?
     
  6. Darkstar752

    Darkstar752 Horizon Detailing

    Thanks man, and yea I hear ya on the brake dust. What did you step it up to? WB is the strongest stuff I have, and even getting a little splatter on some bare skin will make me woozy for a good couple hours... I'm scared of stronger stuff haha.


    Thanks man, apparently some people have gotten it fixed under warranty as another detailer just let me know, hopefully she can too. And TBH, not really. I hit it a little bit while I was doing the front bumper which made it better on the most visible parts, but I was getting paid for a one-step and I made sure she knew that, she wasn't expecting to get it fixed. Turns out it doesn't matter anyway since it's getting re-painted or a new one since the old guy nailed it a couple days later.
     
  7. supercharged

    supercharged DB Forum Supporter

    Great job, lovely color!
     

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