JLs Detailing: Tacoma Fire & Ice

Well after doing the Toyota Avalon my old History teacher wanted his truck done. I did pretty much the same thing to the truck with a few exceptions. I did decide to change up LSPs on this one as well. Well here's what I did:

Tires/Wheels/Wells: Well since these wheels were BBS wheels I decided to go with my Autoglym Custom Wheel Cleaner. I really had no idea that the wheels were the color they turned out to be but the Custom Wheel Cleaner did a bang up job on them. I used a variety of brushes including: my favorite wheel brush of all time the Raceglaze XL wheel brush, my Black Magic wheel brush bent to 90 degrees to get behind the spokes, lug nut brush, and green foam finger pocket.

For the tires and wells they got the ol' standby Majestic Solutions Super Green Stuff at 2:1 in a Gilmour 2 gallon pressurized sprayer (I use so much of the SGS that I needed to go to a bigger sprayer), and some of the brushes I got from Home Depot. The tires were first dressed with Megs Hyper Dressing @ 3:1 with a MSs tire applicator. I then dressed them with the same method with a TW tire applicator and my Tropi-Care tire dressing. As I've said before I don't use any other tire dressing anymore. Everything else that I had is just inferior in looks from what I get with the Tropi-Care. I'll tell you the stuff is very durable as well. Wells were dressed with Megs ASD. I then coated the wheels with MS Enviro Shield and rinsed off.

Engine: I gave the engine a quick rinse with the CR Spotless, and sprayed it down with MS SGS. There was a lot of dirt and dust in just about every crevice there was so I agitated it and re-rinsed. I dried most of the water with a leaf blower and then sprayed the engine bay down with Megs HD @ 3:1 in a Solo 418 handheld sprayer. I cranked the engine and let it run for about 20 minutes and it looked brand new.

Wash: The bugs got CGs Strong Wash and a Majestic Solutions Bug Brick. The gas filler area and all badges and emblems were soaked down with MS SGS, agitated with a Swissvax Wheel brush, and rinsed before beginning the wash routine.

You could tell while doing the initial rinse with the PW that there was no LSP on this thing but I went with my favorite LSP stripping formula and loaded up the foam cannon with 2 oz. of MS Super Foam and 1 oz. of MS Power Prep. Man this combo foams like crazy and cleans even better. Like I said in another post this combo stripped everything but the paint off! I used my CR Spotless and the 2 bucket method. In one bucket I used Autoglym Bodywork Shampoow and the other was a rinse bucket, both with grit guards. This was the first time using the Autoglym Bodywork and it was very good. The thing about the Autoglym products that I've discovered is that they just simply work and deliver every time. I used my boars hair brush on this wash.

And once again thanks to the good old NC heat, humidity, and sun I let Mother Nature dry the car for me and since I was using DI water no worries about spots.

Clay: I know it sounds like a broken record from me but, my mainstay for clay has become and always will be the Bilt Hamber and this detail was going to be no different. I used the regular clay for this one. Of course as always the lube was water from the CR system.

Glass: Glass inside and out got Autoglym Fast Glass. I used a MS blue huck window towel to apply and a Walmart WW to buff off. The outside of the glass was treated with Zaino Clear Seal.

Interior: The interior wasn't in bad shape at all but there was a lot of dust everywhere. I started by dusting everything down with my Swissvax look alike brushes from Micheals. Then I vacuumed everthing with my Shop Vac. I decided to clean everything with my Majestic Solutions Leather and Plastic Cleaner @ 1:1 with about an ounce of MS lemon deodorizer added and a MF mitt.

With everything nice and clean it was time to dress the the vinyl and plastic and it was protected with Jeffs Werkstatt Satin Prot. This stuff is great, and gives a nice matte finish.

He also had some stains on his seats from grandkids and asked if I thought I could get them out. I turned to my trusty "witchcraft in a bottle" Majestic Solutions Extraction Plus. I sprayed the seat down and blotted with a damp MF and then extracted with my Sanitare Extractor.

I cleaned the door jambs with Duragloss Citrus APC while washing. I used a Swissvax brush and rinsed with the pressure washer. I later wiped them down with Megs Final Inspection. This was my first time using the Megs Final Inspection and I was quite impressed with it.

Trim and Chrome: All trim got Stoners Trim Shine and the chrome grill and bumper got Fukken Wax.

Paint: I changed up a little bit and went with Jeffs Werkstat Acrylic Prime to clean the paint. I used my Makita @ 600 rpms with a black 3M pad. I buffed it all off with a Super Fly MF from Justin at Obsessive Details.

Protection: Well with the LSP I had planned it was only natural to go with Blackfire Wet Diamond All Finish Paint Protection applied with a CGs Stage 3 applicator. It was buffed off with a Danase Phat Towel MF. Yet again the paint was soooooo slick and wet looking when I finished!

LSP: Well I finally had my Blackfire Midnight Sun wax so it was time to see how the Blackfire Fire and Ice combo looked. Well the application was a breeze and so was removal. I applied it with a 4" red LC applicator on a polishing pal. It goes on and off super easy. I applied it and waited about 15 minutes and buffed it off with a CGs Green Edgeless MF.

All the stuff I had read on this was how wet it would make the paint look and it didn't disappoint. It also made the flake in the paint really pop. This is a great combo. I had been told by a trusted member here that Midnight Sun wasn't spectacular by itself but in conjunction with the Wet Diamond AFPP it really was.

Well here are the before and afters:


































Some random reflections:

 

Wow! Great work JL! I'm going to have to try waiting some time before removing midnight sun. It says on the jar to buff off immediately, but I noticed it smears sometimes when I do that.

But I do agree, the flake pop and wetness brought to the paint is second to none!

 

Another great job, the Fire & Ice really brought out that blue. Do you find that AB clay leaves any marring when using water as a lube?

 

Another great looking Toyota from you! :worship2: That is definitely blue! :headbang:

 

Those rims were GLOWING! Really nice write up, enjoyable read :thumb:

 

Thanks Aaron. Yeah I tend to wait about 15 minutes before removing any wax and it's worked quite well for me.

No never seen any and Bilt Hamber Clay states that you should use water for lube. That is the beauty of this stuff.

Thanks DLR much appreciated.

Thanks bro I was really proud of the way the wheels came out. Glad you enjoyed the write up.

 

JL..super job on the Toyota! The blue just glows for sure. You KNOW I'm a fanatic when it comes to wheels and you really made those BBS look fantastic...great job!

 

I know you don't know how to use Photoshop (I don't either), but basically every car you do looks like a different color car. THAT is what impresses me time and time again.

And all that from an NC State graduate. Who knew. oke:

 

aye now! What is that suppose to mean now, all that from a state grad! :fs:haha

 

I'll let JL explain our little inside joke.

 

Another great turn around man. The finish looks great.

 

Thanks richy. The truck really looked so much better with the wheels clean.

Hey I don't even think I could figure it out with Photoshop for Dummies! Appreciate the compliment though.

Dude what do you expect from an Orange County Community College grad!!!! LOL!

Thanks dd!

 

+1 on agpatel's post. They really look that different. Great job JL!!!

 

Great work on the truck, JL! That teacher actually keeps his truck pretty clean. Truck came out beautiful, and I absolutely love Ice over Fire combo myself. By the way, what's your application on sealant? Do you apply it and let it haze? I seen Todd (TH0001 - Bella Machina) have been posting where his favorite method was apply it thin, and then remove it immediately. I never tried that method though...

 

Great job JL. Glad you're liking the Blackfire. Thats a beautiful blue.

 

Thanks Heath much appreciated.

supercharged the Fire over Ice is a great combo for sure. Thanks for the tip on that one. As far as sealant goes I always apply and let it haze before removal. I wonder if immediate removal interferes with the cross-linking therefore the curing process.

Oh yeah Ken I'm really loving the Blackfire stuff I've tried so far. The Wet Diamond AFPP, Midnight Sun wax, and the QD are all excellent products.

 

Looks great! I liked the combo too, but was disappointed with the midnight sun wax so i did a test to see if using a different wax as a topper would produce better results, and IMO it did, ill pots up about it later

 

Nice Job JL. Nice color on that truck

 

Picture perfect JL, the blue is truley radiant

 

Very nice work mate! LOVED IT! And let me say: cleanest wheels and tires!

I would like to see a little more gloss on the tires though, were the tires giving you issues?