JLs Detailing: Toyota Avalon

Well I was contacted by my old American Democracy high school teacher about doing his cars for him. This guy was one of my all time favorite teachers so I was glad to do it. He has a Toyota Avalon which is here and a Toyota Tacoma 4 door truck (which I'll be posting shortly). Of course his wife's car got to go first, not sure if it was because she insisted or because he wanted to see how I did before I got his beloved truck, LOL. Anyway here's what I did:

Tires/Wheels/Wells: Well the wheels were in a little rough shape so out came the Megs Wheel Brightener. 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. I used DI water from my CR Spotless for the entire detail, not just the final rinse.

Oh and is it just me or does anyone else have as tough a time as I do getting Michelin Tires to look good?:shead:

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.

Exhaust: The exhaust got Megs WB and #0000 Steel wool while washing the wheels and then later polished with Autosol and buffed off with an Obessesive Detail MF.

Wash: There were lots of bugs so I used the 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 (for the entire detail like I stated earlier) and the 2 bucket method. In one bucket I used Tropi Care Premium wash and the other was a rinse bucket, both with grit guards. I used my Zymol Sponge on this wash.

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. Believe me in the heat we have been having it didn't take long for the car to dry.

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. The leather after being cleaned with MS Leather and Plastic Cleaner was conditioned with 1z Leather Care. This has become the only leather conditioner that I use now.

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 DG Aquawax.

Paint: I went with my ol' standby DG 501 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: I went with one of my favorite paint sealants, Blackfire Wet Diamond All Finish Paint Protection applied with a CGs Stage 3 applicator. It was buffed off with a Danase Phat Towel MF. The paint was soooooo slick and wet looking when I finished! I really really like the Blackfire Wet Diamond and if you haven't tried it you really should. It is the only sealant that I have reached for on darker colors in lieu of my favorite, Jetseal, so that should tell you something about it. Yet another product that Ken at Autowerkes talked me into trying and so glad he did!

LSP: Well I went with my Raceglaze 55 wax that I got from Ken as well. I tell you this wax is so eeirly similar to Vintage in my opinion that its scary. It is super soft and gives incredible depth and glow to the car. 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.

The Raceglaze is an incredible wax and delivers some stunning results. If you are looking for something a lot cheaper with similar results to Vintage then give this wax a whirl and you won't be disappointed. Paired up with the Blackfire it looked just stunning to me. After application and removal and just prior to delivering the car, I did a wipedown with Blackfire Deep Gloss Spray Sealant.

When I took it to him, I asked what he thought and the first thing he said was "When can you do my truck?" I guess that meant I did ok. Well here are the before and afters:


































A few random reflection shots:

 

Awesome transformation man. I dig the interior in that car. What year is it?

 

Great job, I like that combination for the interior as well. I don't like wood trim but it seems to fit so well with this car. Any idea of RG durability or have you not been using it long enough yet.

 

Great job JL, glad to see all the product you have picked up working so well for you.

 

Thanks, but not sure what year it is. I think they got it the same time my in-laws got their Avalon and that's a 2007. I'm horrible about asking what year the car is before I do it.

agpatel, I had this same combo on my BMW and I did that on May 1st. I stripped it off yesterday so it went for 3 months and was still protecting very well. I think I could have gone at least another month on that combo. I can't say how long RG 55 would last on its own as I never do a nuba without a sealant underneath.

Thanks Jordan. Thats what happens when you buy from knowledgeable vendors like Ken. Very rarely do you get something you don't like if you listen to them.

 

Looks amazing! Totally changed the color to the car!!!!

 

Great work, JL. Raceglaze wax looks awesome on that color! I love that depth!!!
By the way, I have Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires on my Acura and wife's BMW, and have no issues dressing them with TC tire dressing, they look good! My DD has Kumho tires, and dresses just as easy.

 

Another Fabalous Job JL :applause:

 

Many many thanks to my Jedi Master mentor!

Supercharged I wonder if its just that I get Michelins that havent' been dressed or have been done so with cheap solvent based dressings? The one's I get just seem to suck up dressing like the Mojave desert.

Thanks Flash.

 

That's not only with Michelins, I've experienced that with many tired that haven't been dressed. Matter of fact the last time I took my wheels off to clean them inside, I decided to dress the inner tire too. I did 2 coats 10 minutes apart, and it sucked it like crazy...
That was on my DD, with Kumho Ecsta ASX tires.

 

Looking great, JL! The Blackfire + Raceglaze 55 really makes that red look deep and dark, that came out really nicely.

 

2x, I have seen the same with tires that have not been dressed in a long time. Cleaned and washed my parents Pathfinder which have not had its tires dressed in a long long time and it was sucking up dressing as well.

 

Regarding tires that don't seem to take dressing well: I've also found that if a tire is showing signs of dry rot, it can be next to impossible to get them to look nice. Best I could do with the Firestones on my F250 was to make them look "okay," even with something super thick like CG's VRT.

 

It is just a matter of getting s few coats sucked in, then you won't have that problem.

If tires show dry rot, it is best to replace them, rather then taking chances of a tire blowing up on a highway...

 

Yep - I had a set of BFG Commercial T/As installed on Friday. Not only are they safer, they're also a "blank slate" that I can get started with some Tropi-Care dressing with! :headbang:

 

The atfers looks like a brochure car. Fantastic work JL

 

True that! Tires is one thing you'd rather be safe then sorry.

 

Now that is one great looking job, love the paint! :applause: Thanks for taking the time to share this with us. :worship2:

 

Lovely work JL, I love the reflection shot in the hood :thumb:

Having never seen one of these Toyota's before I must say the interior looks very 'Star Trekish'

 

Well done there JL, vehicle looks great :thumb: Love the turn around on the engine bay :cheerl: