Divine Detail - 2008 Cadillac CTS4

Discussion in 'Professional Detailer's Studio' started by Divine Detail, May 2, 2009.

  1. Divine Detail

    Divine Detail DB Pro Supporter

    This vehicle was booked for a minor correction, which meant a day and a half. Considering the colour of the vehicle this was going to be a challenge, but on with the show. The vehicle is a:

    2008 Cadillac CTS4

    This is how the vehicle arrived:
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    First the vehicle is washed via ONR and the two bucket method:
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    Next the rims, wheel wells and tires are treated to steam:
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    The rims needed some more attention, so Red P21S Gel is used:
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    The inside of the rims are agitated with the EZ Brush:
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    The face of the rims are agitated with a Zymol brush. Leaving the following:
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    Here is how the rim finished off:
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    A closer look:
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    Next step is to clay the vehicle. The clay of choice is Riccardo, here is how the clay finished off:
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    Once the entire vehicle had been clayed came the taping of the vehicle followed up with the inspection with the help of the 3M Sun Gun:
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    Found some nice scratches on the rear bumper.

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    The driver side fender had these lovely scratches along with the following deep scratches:
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    This is a nice rock chip, regrettably I didn’t’ get the touch up paint for this vehicle, I ran out of time so it couldn’t be taken care off properly.

    Well once the inspection was done it was time to take paint gauge readings, first up the PosiTector 6000:
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    As you can see the vehicle has healthy readings, in fact a bit too healthy, some readings as high as 300 microns :confused:
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    For the composite areas the PosiTector 200 was used:
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    Next it was time to find the best one step polishing combo that would hold up well against the nice looking swirls and scratches, first combo:
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    Menzerna Intensive Polish partnered with Menzerna Polishing pad with Metabo and Yellow 3M UK Backing Plate.

    Here is the test panel (passenger side fender) taped up, before:
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    After:
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    Another before:
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    After:
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    This combo delivered exceptional results so the area was further inspected with the 3M Sun Gun:
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    50/50’s of the passenger fender:
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    Well this combo delivered great results but no where near 100%, regrettably this will have to do as the customer only wanted a minor paint correction process. So this is the combo that was decided to proceed with the paint correction. Here is the rest of the driver side fender before:
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    After:
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    Excuse the polish residue but as you can see good results, far from 100% but overall good results, the deeper scratches would have to stay behind. Well on with the correction.

    Hood before:
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    After:
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    Hood again before:
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    After:
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    Driver fender before:
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    After:
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    Again driver fender before:
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    After:
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    Front bumper before:
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    After:
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    Lower part of front bumper before:
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    After:
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    Roof before:
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    After:
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    Roof before:
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    After:
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    Roof before:
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    After:
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    Driver side pillar before:
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    After:
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    Driver side rear pillar before:
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    After:
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    Passenger mirror before:
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    After:
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    Lower passenger door before:
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    After:
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    Passenger door before:
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    After:
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    Rear passenger door before:
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    After:
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    Rear panel before:
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    After:
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    The trunk was quite impressive the difference made by a single pass of Intensive Polish:
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    This is with out the 3M Sun Gun. Here is a 50/50 of the trunk with the 3M Sun Gun:
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    The trunk comes with a tail light on it. Here is a 50/50 of the taillight:
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    Rear bumper before:
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    After:
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    The taillights also needed some attention, before:
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    After:
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    Well as you can see the correction proceeded quite smoothly, even though the customer only wanted a one stage pass leaving the vehicle with one stage pass would be poor judgment. So the vehicle is followed up with Menzerna 85RD with a Blue 3M UK partnered up with a Gray 3M UK Backing plate:
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    Once the refining step was done the owner opted to go with a sealant, for this DG #601 followed up with #105 was used, here is the sealant bonding to the vehicle:
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    The rims were also sealed with the same combination of sealant. All exterior plastic trims were dressed with Black WOW, all parts that applied that is. Tires were dressed with Optimum Tire Shine, glass was taken care of with Stoners Invisible Glass partnered up with a Glass micro fiber towel. Exhaust tips were refined with Autosol. Lastly the sealant was buffed off with several Cookie Monsters.

    Time was running out, actually the owner was kind enough to give me a few minutes to snap the only after shots:
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    Well that concludes this detail, hope you enjoyed it.
     
  2. 911Fanatic

    911Fanatic DB Pro Supporter

    Nice save on that guys. The paint on that is almost as bad as the vintage Rolls I'm working on. Haven't had a chance to use the Menz pad you have. How do you like it?
     
  3. sal329

    sal329 Nuba Guru

    What a great job, the car looks fantastic now
     
  4. richy

    richy Guest

    carlos...the car looks great. i won't bring a job in unless i can have my way with it. my time is too valuable as i only have weekends to do it but so far that has not been a problem. did you find the cc to be the typical hard, hard gm clear? if so, it seemed to correct fairly easily. how many hours did you spend on it? btw, i love how you have the flourescent lights down low at the sides...very smart positioning there!
     
  5. Buddy

    Buddy Getting to know Detailing

    NICE...It came out looking great...Way to go...:thumb:
     
  6. SANTOS29

    SANTOS29 Any Rag Vehicle Washer

    Great work, and with only one pass that looks really nice :thumb:
     
  7. kei169

    kei169 Wax on..Wax off

    really really nice one with the one pass polishing!
     
  8. mrgolfrider

    mrgolfrider DB Forum Supporter

    awesome results!! Very good use of the products you have.
     
  9. Smith2287

    Smith2287 Welcome to Detailing

    Great job on that car guys, the owner must have been more than pleased with the results.
     
  10. dsms

    dsms DB Forum Supporter

    Awesome work Carlos, the split 50/50's under the SG are very impressive!
     
  11. Denzil

    Denzil Guest

    Looks superb for the time given Carlos!
     
  12. Carn

    Carn Welcome to Detailing

    Lovely work, the end result is superb :thumb:
     
  13. Nica

    Nica Banned

    Glad you enjoyed it 911 :peace: Menzerna foam pads take a bit to get used to as they are quite stiff but the good thing is that they start stiff, very stiff for that matter, but once you prime them properly (with polish that is) they give quite a bit and partnered up with the right polish they deliver great results. I'm very pleased with the Menzerna pads and have plenty of them in my collection :thumb: Look forward on seeing the Rolls :popcorn:

    Thank you, glad you enjoyed it :peace:

    :nod: I agree with you richy but the owner of this vehicle was a referral and well long story short it was more like a test ;) As for the clear coat, yes I found it a bit tough, not as hard as that 2009 G37x I did recently but still a bit tough. Mind you though I only used a polishing pad with Menzerna Intensive Polish but there were some RIDS left behind as the pictures showed them. I would say the clear coat was in the mid range. As for the lights, they sure come in handy :thumb: Thank you for the feed back richy, get better soon buddy :comfort:

    Thank you, glad you enjoyed it Buddy :chest:

    One pass made quite a difference...but I feel I could do better if I had just a bit more time...something tells me I'll see it again some time soon though :thumb: Oh by the way you know what I was thinking and I forgot to tell you this, I wouldn't mind giving the Menzerna pads a shot on your vehicle, I didn't give the Menzerna pads a try on your vehicle, I should have but I recently found my stash of Menzerna pads and have put them to good use and fond they do a great job on hard clear coat and so I though of your car...any who I'm sure I'll be seeing your car again...oh just a hunch :whistle:

    The one step helped this vehicle, not 100% but more presentable, glad you enjoyed it and thank you for the feed back :peace:

    Thank you glad you enjoyed it.

    The owner was quite satisfied with the end results, even though I know I can do better I'm glad the owner was satisfied....but that darn feeling knowing I can do better is terrible :doh: Thank you for the feed back.

    Thank you, glad you enjoyed it :peace:

    Boy I don't like time limits but I sure had to hustle for this car, that's okay though it's always good to change the pase :thumb: Glad you enjoyed it.

    Thank you Carn, glad you enjoyed it :peace:
     
  14. P1et

    P1et Official DB Moderator

    Super nice work, those boot shots really show the correction. Nice work!
     
  15. Nica

    Nica Banned

    Thank you P1et, glad you enjoyed it :chest:
     

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