bilyblooshoes: GMC 2500 HD Turbodiesel

just a forewarning, this is going to be a long one guys.

the truck is a GMC 2500HD Turbodiesel w/ Allison trans. the owner is a friend of mine who also happens to be the chief of my fire company, so i really had to make this one good, but to say the least, this bad boy wasnt going to play nice with me. AT ALL. this detail was one that had me pulling my hair out, fighting the paint, every step of the way. i want to first give a big thanks to two fellow DB members. both Ken at Autowerkes Exclusive and Roger (slanguage) were a HUGE help. since i rarely work on american cars, let along GM trucks, i was completely unaware of the insane stickiness and softness of the GM clearcoat. the car was booked for a one step, which i had initially planned to carry out with powerfinish and green pads via flex rotary. well needless to say, once i got going on the first panel which was the front passenger side door, the polish was gumming up almost immediately, and the flex was hopping all over the place. this really threw me off, and just to make sure i wasnt losing my marbles, i gave a call to Ken at Autowerkes. he laughed and immediately confirmed that i was dealing with a clearcoat "that is made in hell". following kens advice, i had to find me a DA polisher, or i was looking at possible suicide. i then phoned Roger to ask if i could borrow his new Megs G110 V2, and being the good guy he is, he obliged, but i wouldnt be able to pick up the polisher until the next morning. after getting the polisher, i had to step up my correction process to a yellow Uber pad and powerfinish to carry out the one step, as the paint was in far worse condition after wash and clay than when i had seen it soiled a week earlier. 2 or 3 passes were carried out on every panel, and a drop of 85RD was added to the pad to aid with lubrication. i wish i could have taken this one farther, as it really is a nice truck, but i had to stick with one step, as time and money would not allow for more. i would say 80% correction was achieved.

the truck on arrival












Wheels were tidied up first with AG CWC, wells were cleaned with Grime Reaper 4:1. then wheels were gone over a second time with P21S Polishing soap to remove some oxidation, pitting, etc






Powerwashed, foamed, then 2BM. obviously no LSP present after initial rinse. oh and check out my new water reclamation mat. i'll be testing it for a while and let you guys know how it works out ;-)







Clayed with Bilt Hamber Soft and ONR at Lube Dilution, then all masked up with miles and miles of tape

 

this is where it gets ugly. this first set is during and after attemping powerfinish with green uber vis flex vrg. as you can see, some decent correction was achieved, but the finish was nothing near an acceptable level by any means. the paint was so sticky that i could barely control the machine. a few befores, and then some 50/50s
















here's the end of day one. decided to call it quits until i could get my hands on a DA the next morning. thanks again Roger! the megs G110 V2 rocks!

 

Day two, with Megs G110 V2 in hand. this was interesting for me, as i've been using a ratary my entire career detailing. i've only used a DA a few times to apply LSP at random times, and have never even owned one. needless to say after this job, i'll be ordering one as soon as im done with this writeup. results with the Megs DA are much better as seen here
















More carnage and 50/50's











Pre-LSP






All finished up. LSP was Collinite 845. sorry about some of these shots. seems the sun fouled them up a bit, but yet i could not seem to get any straight on direct sun shots. only a few.


























Fin.

 

lol@ GM's clear being manufactured in the pits of hell :giggle:

That thing has some major rids. I think your in for more then a 1 step :yikes:

Look forward to the afters on this one Bill :kilt:

 

Wow, that was fast. I replied the first time to day #1 :thud:

Looks 100% better. Great Job :applause:

 

That is a whole lot of truck! Good job dude!!

If you are going to be getting a DA, look into the Griots. The Meguiars is probably a very nice DA, I was happy with my V1 of it. The Griots IMO is an amazing DA and will be money well invested!

 

Lol! Love that final shot Billy. That's a great job man, paint looks really amazing. I always enjoy kick ass 50/50s.

 

That was some f#$%ed up, Bill! I was a bit worried after your call lat night so I called suicide prevention and gave them your name. LOL Looks like the owner got his washmitt confused with a GARDEN RAKE!! Nice correction work given the parameters you had to work within.

 

that's a huge truck, and it must of been a lot of work!!! BTW, this is my favorite shot:

 

Wicked!

 

Great job. That was a ton of work. I commend you on such a job.

 

thanks philbert, appreciate it. i always appreciate your comments.

yeah it was quite the endeavor. a lot of 'real estate' on this bad boy. thanks for the advice. im going to either buy something used or get a new G110 most likely.

thanks man!

lol, ken, you crack me up some times. to be honest, the owner is pretty anal about his trucks, and plans on keeping this one nice. he bought it used off of someone else in this condition. once again, thanks for your "counseling" over the phone and for your kind words. you the man.

yeah it really was a lot of work. glad you like the pic. i knew some of you would!

thanks!

thanks for the kind words!

 

You did a great job at the end ...

 

Nice Bill!

Order the DA yet?

 

Nice work!

but i heard that paint was Bush's fault def a great sticker

we may need a politics forum! i'll mod that.

 

looks great, nice job!

 

Awesome job Bill....Trust me my truck will be easier lol...

 

thanks

thanks roger. just ordered it tonight. looking forward to getting it.

lol yeah. all bush's fault. just like 9/11, the economy, and the deep water horizon disaster.

thank you

thanks pat. i hope to god yours isnt so bad, lol. how's the paint on dodges? don't think i've ever worked on one before...

 

dodges shouldnt be too bad. clear wasnt sticky on the last dodge truck I did.

 

cool good to know.