2013 Toyota Tacoma - 2 Step Paint Correction & Opti-Coat Pro by Mr. Sparkle Detailing - Long Island,

Mr. Sparkle · Feb 19, 2014

Fellow Tacoma World forum member contacted me about getting his truck protected with Opti-Coat Pro. When providing the initial estimate I found the usual swirl marks but also a lot of contamination on the paint. Given the truck was white, the contamination was pretty obvious. We planned for a 2 step correction in prep for the coating.

Truck was dropped off and it was pretty dirty. We have had a number of consecutive snow storms on the island so every vehicle has been arriving really filthy.

Started with the wheels, tires and wheel wells, then moved onto the paint. Foam cannon followed by 2 bucket wash.

Getting all the tight areas with my race glaze brush

Once the loose dirt was removed the contamination revealed itself again. There was some road tar scattered about but more importantly, rust blooms.

A 'rust bloom' starts typically as a hot particle of metal dust. This is typically from brake pads (yours or others on the road) or from friction between a train car and rail (many new cars are transported by freight). The hot metal dust particle settles onto your paint and sticks. Over time, the natural elements cause that speck of metal to rust. It gets a bit larger, and much more obvious, now showing itself as a small orange / brown spot. This is often more obvious on white paint. Black paint will show scratches more easily and white paint will show you surface contamination. A rust bloom can not be removed with soap and water.

Up close of what a rust bloom looks like on the vehicle in question

Something like this can be removed mechanically (with a clay bar) or chemically. In order to save time, and my clay, I chose to use CarPro IronX which is designed to dissolve such contaminants. The product is clear, then turns purple where it contacts any particles of iron.

The areas of tar were treated with Stoner's Tarminator. All the of the paint was gone over with the Speedy Prep Towel to be sure it was bare.

Got to looking at the paint and as I mentioned earlier, there were some swirls.

Did some test spots and settled on a combo of the Flex 3401 and Griots DA along with Meguiars MF pads and M100. Finishing was done with Menzerna Power Finish and LC white pads. This yielded about 90% correction or better

Hopped in the bed to get easier access to polish the roof (correcting paint under LED lighting only)

Few more shots after the correction

Prepped the paint with CarPro Eraser. Applied Opti-Coat Pro to exterior paint, all exterior plastic trim, door jambs, wheels, etc. Glass treated with CarPro FlyBy30

Did a quickie on the interior as well but no photos. Scrubbed the weather tech mats, vacuum, cleaned glass, cleaned leather (Optimum Power Clean 10:1 with horsehair brush), conditioned leather, treated all interior plastic with Megs Quik Interior Detailer

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