48 Hour Restoration - 07' Black Escalade - Correction & Opti-Coat

I'd first like to say, this was probably our biggest turn around so far...and not just due to size. We both took a lot of time to do this baby, and additional time went into taking the pics and making the write-up, so, if you have the time...take a minute to read through and not just scan it please lol

This SUV....this SUV was special. Special in that - it's paint was more destroyed than any other vehicle we worked on at that point. Then factor in that it was black...HUGE, and it was done in the middle of summer in Arizona - well, you have one hell of a detail on your hands. This was a sink or swim kind of detail...it was either going to be an incredible turn around...or a fail.

Here is a quick idea of what i mean:




Thats just to hold your attention for now. Before we got to even considering correcting the paint...we had a lot of cleaning to do. And again, this was during the middle of the summer in Arizona, where we were working it 110+ degrees. Over the next two days, the two of us would be removing bug, grime, road paint, DEEP swirls & scratches, and 100's of water spots that covered the entire roof.

Our client (my sisters Orthodontist actually) had just purchased this big baby used. And while the previous owner took good care of the inside, they did NOT know what they were doing with the outside.

Cactus...CACTUS is what came to mind when we saw the paint, because it looked like it had been driven though it, literally. On top of that, well...there were the bugs:




Yeah, the bugs were well...plentiful.






Even the windshield was splattered:






The side mirrors...








Oh and i forgot, the writing on the paint....you can tell by the pose my sister is striking that she was NOT happy about this. She wasn't shy about what she felt when she saw that lol:





The wheel wells were as dry as the desert we were working in...I dont think they'd ever seen dressing or anything resembling it:




The tires were dry as a bone too, the rims...quite filthy and HUGE:






The exhaust tips...yeah well...I'm sure you can guess:






And the road paint...yeah don't forget that:





Of course it had to get slung ALLLLLL the way to the back of the wheel well:




Tar-X, a bug sponge and a lot of elbow grease was needed to remove this, but it was ALL removed. Tar-X actually worked quite well in this circumstance to remove the paint splatter...but it was difficult to keep the Tar-X from drying to the plastic, so constant re-wetting was needed. Eventually though, it was all removed.


After hanging upside down for a while all the blood started to rush to my head lol...can you tell from the big vein popping out!



There was some damage that was beyond our repair, but it was segregated to the front bumper mostly:









And unfortunately the clear coated hard trim around the windows had begun to flake away as well:





Then for the nasty rims, lots of cleaner was needed to rid of all the brake dust and grime that had been baked on:





And then the water spots. The hood had some, but was nothing compared to the roof (pics of that to come soon)





After washing, removing the bugs, the paint splatter, the God knows what on the rims and tires...we pulled it in and clayed it. Of course there was still plenty of bonded contaminants left on the paint, but the clay helped to smooth it out. After that though, it was time to address the bigger issues...the swirls:


















I'd just like to take a moment to say....FML! Thank you and please, enjoy the rest of the write-up.












Light source didn't matter as you can see above. LED light, Sun Gun, or the direct sunlight...it was HAMMERED in any and every light.




There were some deep ones too, as seen here:







It was time for the test spot. Tape line down the center of the hood and then it was time to break out the big guns:








While the bigger 6" pad was nice to work with on the hood...it wasn't giving the cut we needed on the vertical panels. We had to kick it back down to the 5.5" pads we usually use to help concentrate the cut.









Concentration:




Slow passes, and MULTIPLE passes were needed to get the cut we were looking for, but slowly we were, section by section, taking a wreck like this:






And cutting it down to this:






Lower areas required a smaller pad. While the 5.5" would fit just fine...again...it wasn't giving the cut needed on the edges coming out about 3" or so. Plus the fact that the lower panels were EXTREMELY bad..even compared to the rest of the vehicle, the small pad was needed to really give a heavy cut on those deeper swirls.




Left side done, right side not:







And then, the full area done:








Yes, slowly but surely, we were winning. It was taking a LOT of work, even MORE patience and every bit of know how we had to get this paint to this point....but it was happening. The first day we didn't even polish, we just cut and cut and cut some more...we were trying to get this thing as close to perfect as possible. We both lost about 5 lbs during these 2 days just from how much we were sweating in that garage. Most of the time with the door closed and a hot halogen at our back.

As soon as we'd get one section looking awesome, we were faced with more of this:






Do you see why all i could think was "CACTUS!"


LED lighting just amplified how bad it was:




But, like i said...we were winning:




When i said this was a fight, thats no exaggeration. On a job like this when you are facing paint in THIS bad of shape, with temperatures as extreme as these were, with THIS much real-estate to cover...thoughts can try to creep into your head like "Thats good enough" or "NO ONE but us will ever see this area, a few deeper scratches left won't ruin the job." Any honest detailer will tell you he/she has faced those thoughts...but a determined mind set and dedication to the job at hand is more important than any product, machine, tool, camera, picture or anything else. Its about the job...its about doing what you said you'd do...so you go over that "good enough" panel again to get it better...even if its just an extra 4-5% better...its still what needs to be done. And if we were able to get it better, thats just what we did.



Top to bottom:





Why? Cause of this:




Because we took this:



And made it this:







Remember that test spot from earlier? Well, by the time we had finished that half of the hood, the sun wasn't in a great position to show the progress we were making...but we knew we'd be back the next day bright and early. So when we arrived, when the sun was high in the sky, high noon...literally, we backed her out and captured this:















After spending 13 hours the first day on that thing and never polishing anything, just compounding...and STILL having the severely water-spotted acre of roof left to do, seeing something like THAT, was inspiring. It made it well worth the extra passes and extra time we took to get it as close to perfect as we could. Once the fun was done though, reality was still facing us:



We had a lonnnnnng ways to go. But like i said, inspiration was on our side and knowing we were getting what we wanted...we just pressed right on:






Custom light holder!





While we had the Escalade out in the sun, we were able to get some more pictures of some areas we hadn't done yet....this front passenger quarter-panel was one of the worse...with quite a few severe scratches that we'd be taking head on later:








Wow...thats all i can think when i flip through these pics lol.


Some areas like this took several passes with the 3" pad. A small 6" area that took more time than i'd care to think about:






It too was a part of that passenger quarter panel. The scratches were so deep on that panel and on the back hatch, that direct light wasn't even needed to see the damage:








Light didn't help any:





Even in the indirect light...it was clear to see how bad the paint was swirled and scratched. But at this point, we really didn't care...cause we were going to win:









Son of a b****!!!!

Sorry, thats what all i could think when i saw this.


But we were going to win:







Lights need love too:




And after:




Before:




After:







Dani, after working the rest of the vertical panels that needed compounding, polished this baby to a serious shine. Gloss...was finally finding it's way to this beast:




Then...something awesome happened...clouds. Lots and lots of almost mystically shaped clouds began to roll in. Well, who were we to pass up such an opportunity?




Insane?













Some of our best reflection photos to be sure. Now while i LOVE looking at those pictures...there is also a lesson here....the deception of reflection. While most of the pics are focused on the drivers side (the finished side), the passenger side however, hadn't been TOUCHED. But yet it still looks so glossy and beautiful right? Well....trained eyes will be able to see the defects still left here:







I post this with the interest of honesty being the primary point. Pictures can be deceiving...thats why we always try to get as many angles, light sources and direct sun shots as we possibly can to show the paint REALLY DOES look as good as we say it does.

Now, that being said, you can bet your bottom dollar that passenger side turned out just as sweet as the drivers!



Back to work...the roof...the roof that had NEVER been dried in its 5 years of existence! Why do i say that? Because if it had, this couldn't have been up there!







They too would fall:




A few left on the edges to work on some more, but you can see they were getting knocked out too:






Let me say something about this roof. This roof is what occupied MOST of MY 2nd day. Dani was able to compound both bumpers and then polish then ENTIRE Escalade, with the exception of the roof, in the time it took me to compound the roof. I had to take a 3" pad and do the ENTIRE roof...small section by small section. Bigger pads were not doing it. Even after attempting to remove the spots chemically, there was still serious serious etching left...so the 3" pad was the weapon of choice...it did however, get the job done.

After the roof was done being compounded, we polished it and got it looking right. But there was still ONE area that still was a thorn in our side...yes, thats right...that damn quarter panel:




Ill say it again, cactus!

Polishing that panel just made these deeper scratches stand out like sore thumbs.

3" pad did nothing to them...so i got out the sand paper and spent some quality time with these scratches. It took me about 3 times but...i finally got them down. All of the smaller ones were completely removed...the one longer scratch however, wasn't totally removed. The part going closer to the front was just too deep to safely chase...but there was still a huge improvement:




After 8 hours straight with only quick breaks in between to drink, it was time to wash this monster again and get it ready for Opti-Coat.




So we began coating....and the sun went away, and we were still coating. All we had was a street light outside and our own lights to be able to try to check to be sure everything was being coated properly and there was not streaking and high-spots. Needless to say this took even more time than usual...but to come this far and slack off at the end would just not make for a happy ending now would it.

Apparently the neighbors called the owners and said "They're STILL working on it!?"...yes...we're STILL working on it lol. We got a few odd looks...you know, being outside at 8 and 9 at night, slowly circling around the big fella with a syringe in one hand and a foam pad in the other...looked a bit strange im sure.


Obviously we could not get any after photo's that night, but the next day..we returned...it was...all that we had hoped it would be:








Rims coated, tires dressed, wheel wells dressed.


A bit better wouldn't you say?
















Roof wasn't too shabby either:







Neither was the quarter panel:



The hood, well, you know how we do it:





We were...EXHAUSTED. 13 hours the first day, 11 the second...a total of 24 hours each....48 hours in total. But the result was beyond worth it...and the reaction the owner and his wife had made it worth every second we invested into their ride. A few cool things happened after that...

First, the wife of the couple effectively taught her very young children to NOT touch the paint...like seriously...she did. We've done several follow up washes on this baby since the detail and well....we dont find finger print or any more writing on the paint...we like that!

Second, the owners almost every single time we come, have another story to tell us of where, someone was asking them how they keep their ride looking so good ALL the time....well, she gives us the credit.

Third, the owners were out at lunch a few weeks back....and while they were sitting near a window in the restaurant, they noticed someone come up and just circle...and stare and stare some more at their ride! Apparently he just keep looking and going around it in amazement...pretty cool in my opinion!

Lastly, apparently a friend or acquaintance of the owners came up while we were working to visit for some reason...and this acquaintance went to the wife of the couple and was telling her that her boyfriend or husband does detailing (this was WHILE we were doing a follow-up wash mind you) and that if she wanted he could take care of her SUV instead. Well...she told her absolutely not! Then went on to tell her how we spent an entire weekend just working on the exterior...and elaborated about all the work we had put into it....needless to say, the lady backed off .


We now do washes about every 3 weeks on this baby...the beading and sheeting is everything you'd expect it to be. It still looks in extremely good shape...the back hatch has gotten a few lighter swirls, but its an area that is used quite often...the rest of it though, still looks very good.

I hope you all enjoyed the write up and pictures...as long as it may have been...and well..i leave you with this:

 

Vfn!!!

 

amazing. where in arizona are you?

 

GREAT WORK!!! :worship2:

 

Epic!

It's awesome that the owners appreciate it and continue to have you guys wash it.

 

Ultra awesome save !!!!!!!!

 

awesome works Will and Dani!

 

Awesome work the both of you! The hard work really shows! Hopefully the owner of the truck loved it too!

 

Thank you. We're in Gilbert, are you in Az too?

Hahaha, thanks guys. They literally talk about what a great job and how happy they are everytime we see them...and its been almost a year now. Really feels good to know how much they appreciate it and that they are STILL enjoying it even all these months later

Hahaha, ultra awesome response

Thank you much and thanks for checking it out!

Yes they definitely loved it....especially the wife of the couple. Super nice lady and super happy with how it turned out, its definitely her baby

 

really nice work. i lived in tracy, ca and did a lot of cars in 107 degrees. you get major props for both your determination and zeal. i am in awe. an orthodontist hum, a full set of dentures? dave in sweet home

 

lol, maybe :-D

 

You were one of the lucky ones to escape this rotting cess pool. Sigh...................

Nice work on the Escalade, I had a 2007 Yukon, man these are not easy trucks to work on, especially the roof. PROPS for posting up pics of the roof.........

 

Wow... well done!

 

That is NO lie...the biggest pain to me was those damn racks up top! Have to keep moving them so i could get under them properly...and they dont exactly slide effortlessly. I swear my back was about dead by the time i was done up there. Standing on top of one of those big tires to get the rear part was real fun too...not exactly a lot of clearance for my foot to fit lol

Thank you much

 

I got one of those platforms they sell at lowes, it helped. But man the other issue is the metal, if you put too much pressure it buckles.


Again.
Outstanding job.

 

I have one of those too, it has gotten its fair share of use . Are you saying the metal on the platform buckles?

 

Fantastic job and fantastic write-up

 

Amazing work! Maybe it's time to pick up a a rolling swivel chair or two? My butt hurt watching you two sit on those buckets haha

 

Amazing job! Congrats.

 

Thank you and thank you

lol hell so did mine! Actually have been bringing our little "Scoot n' Do" with us (Good lord it literally takes up the LAST bit of space we have in the car!) Scoot N Do Gardening Seat & Cart in One - $50 (Hebron, CT) for Sale in Hartford, Connecticut Classified | AmericanListed.com

I dont think they make em like that anymore, but its awesome. Soft seat, big wheels...a tray to set everything on...eaaaaasy to roll around on. Makes life better

Thank you 1