shane@detailedreflections

I agree. Of my polishers this is my least favorite even though it was my first. The Rupes correct much faster for me. When working with a partner I'll use the cyclo for finishing polish. But any heavy compound or correction goes to my Rupes 15 or mini. The cyclo is a great machine. But I don't think it's the best.

Agreed on the swirl killer polisher. Good combination or value and performance. You can get the combo of SK and SK Mini for just about what I paid for one of my polishers. Definitely a good deal.

I'm intrigued as I've been considering various lift options. Especially after doing the Lotus which doesn't easily go on jackstands. Instead I took the wheels off one at a time, coated then and reinstalled. Then repeated the process again to boost them. A low or mid rise lift would be a massive time saver. And since that doesn't have to stay on the floor all the time, it's even better. Which model did you go with? I saw they have a few. I'd like something that can do smaller cars as well as a typical truck? Although a truck is easy enough to jackstand.

Yup. Should be about right. If you find you want lubrication, you can add rinseless and it'll work. I mix with distilled water.

Good call on ON!!!!

I've been going through more strip wash lately than regular car wash. Every detail starts with the strip wash and I haven't been doing much regular washing.

Nice work cleaning up your car. Welcome and don't be afraid to ask questions you might have. But don't get upset when we start spending your money for you on new products. It's an addiction we all share.

Just dilute it down. I use a few ounces in a 32 ounce bottle. Doesn't take much. But you can adjust to what you feel sufficient.

I use my Rinseless Wash to make a more cost effective clay lube as well as I'll use it straight to spot clean something that's being difficult to remove. I love the product and can find a lot of uses for it. Same thing with waterless wash. I use it all the time in door jambs and areas I don't want to put a considerable amount of water.

Is that a portable lift on the floor in one of the pics with the Porsche?

Nice work and a sweet ride! And I'll also toss another vote for working with a partner for coatings. Actually, working with a partner on any detailing job is great.

Your surgical suite it looking awesome. Can't wait to see what lighting you choose to use. I've debated putting new lighting in my garage.

Thanks for the compliments guys. I'm glad to do the write up. I know the coatings are new and a little intimidating for some people. I know the more I read the more confident I feel. So it's my way of doing my part to give back and contribute. I've been trying to be better about writing up different jobs I've been doing recently. I sometimes forget to take pics of work in progress. Lately I've been better about it though I think. The writing part is actually the easiest. It also helps me reflect on the process and where I can change or improve. Thanks again for the compliments on the work and the car. The car is a lot of fun. I didn't take it out though once it was done. It went right back in the garage. It's still cold here and the roads a bit messy. I can't say I wasn't tempted though. Hopefully soon! At least the project is done. As better weather approaches, I'm sure I'll have more work to do write ups on. Already a couple of coatings on the schedule and working on getting the final commitments on some others. A couple of classic mustangs and a Vette that come to mind. If I can land those jobs, they'll be a lot of fun!

After the car sitting since Friday night, we finished it up today. Full boost throughout and in the door and trunk jambs was applied. Tires dressed, boosted and reinstalled. Calipers received the same treatment. Windows done and a final vacuuming completed. All told it has about 18 hours into it with two of us working on it. We can't say we were disappointed when we rolled it out of the garage and into the sun! On a side note, I got to use the new Glass Cleaner today. I didn't use it on internal windows since it says it may not be safe for aftermarket tints. I did use it on the exterior glass. A little bit goes a long way. It foamed up nicely and wiped off clean. I used two towels as standard practice. One to remove the heavy stuff and another to buff to perfection. All glass was sealed afterwards and cleaned again. Enjoy and as always ask any questions you may have! I'll be happy to answer.

It depends on if the wheels are raw metal or coated. Most wheels today are clear coated so they polish just like paint. In playing with the paint thickness meter, I've found wheels have a pretty thick coating on them which allows for polishing rather well. If they're raw metal, metal polish is the way!

I've used them on tips and on metal trim on older classics. The product does work well. It takes time to do. If it's an open enough area I'll polish the metal with my Rupes Nano with a 1.25" pad to help speed it along. Here's a set of tips I did. I did the outsides. The inside where it's dull I didn't really get into.

Might I ask why no water in the engine bay? I haven't worked on a GT500 but engine bays are generally designed with the ability to get wet. I wouldn't use a pressure washer or anything, but a little water will most likely help the task along. A little APC, a soft brush, some water and then dress in VRT. An alternative would be a steamer.

Nice work. Did you use heavy correcting compound with the blue pads? And you managed to skip the middle step of correcting polish by going straight to finishing? Looks great!

So work continued today on the Lotus. We managed to put in a solid ten hours or so on it and got it nearly complete. A few more hours on Sunday, and it'll be complete. But with that, here's the write up... We started the day by pulling wheels off the car. Since the jack pads are small, we couldn't put the car on jackstands. It was a process of jack the car up. Pull the wheel. Clean the wheel. Coat the wheel and caliper. Put the wheel back on. Lather, rinse and repeat four times. Some more depth on the wheel cleaning process though. Once the wheel was removed, it was sprayed with wheel cleaner to decontaminate the wheel on the faces and barrels. Once this was agitated and rinsed away, the tires were hit with Tire & Rubber cleaner. After the wheels were sufficiently clean, it was time to spray with coating prep followed by the ceramic itself. After the ceramic starts to cure, buff it off. Pretty simple really. Calipers were cleaned with all-purpose cleaner and prepped and coated as well. Same procedure. While the wheel cleaner was out, the engine cover was coated using the wheel coating. The more I thought about it, the more the heat resistance made sense to me. So it was cleaned, prepped and coated. While my partner was handling the wheels, I continued polishing. Panel by panel I made different choices of polishers, pads and compounds/polishes. I used everything from a 6" pad to a 1.25" pad to get everywhere. The sills and inside the doors were even tackled. Everything from heavy correcting compound to Revive Hand Polish came into play. I tried to remove every last defect, but it seems to be an impossible goal. There are defects that I see because I know what I'm looking for and where they are. I'm guessing 98% of the people who see the car will never pick up on them. It takes the right light and set of eyes to see them. But...I know they're there. After hours of polishing, it was time to take care of the trim coatings. The car doesn't have much for trim. But what was there needed to be cleaned with tire and rubber cleaner, coating prep and then coated and leveled. The largest part of the coating job was the paint. We elected to coat the underside of the hatch, inside all the door surfaces and door jambs. So all of those got prepped and coated. The coating is very easy to use. The cooler temperatures led to slower curing times before buffing off. Now the car will sit until Sunday morning when we boost everytbing, take care of the glass and some small odds and ends. Then it'll be time to admire. For those curious, it's taken two of us working on the car and we have about fourteen hours into it so far. Here's some photos with more to come Sunday. Enjoy.

Nice work. I've often toyed with the idea of going to a junkyard and getting a hood or something just to play around with to show clients the differences and what can be saved versus what can't be saved. You did a nice job turning that around!

Looks good! And the pumpkin is a fitting name for the truck. Post up when you do the full on detail as well.

Thanks guys! I have both. So I'll go with the trim coating on it. I just wasn't sure how it would work with the heat from the engine compartment.

Hey dan. Thanks for the quick reply. It's a pretty smooth cover. It unsnaps. I could remove it, but it would detract from the appearance. It goes in the engine bay of a Lotus Evora. The cover is completely visible through the rear glass when the trunk is closed.

So my car is a rear engine car that has a plastic cover that goes over it. This cover is visible through the rear hatch. I was debating doing the cover in ceramic, but wanted thoughts on it? I'm thinking with the engine compartment being warm, the wheel coating is the better way to go? Thoughts on yay or nay? And which coating? Paint or wheel? Thanks!

Yes to wax. As far as polishing you'll get a variety of answers. I take care of the PPF on my car with Revive Hand Polish. It's super gentle and I don't have to worry about heat buildup on the film since it's only done by hand. There's people that say to polish film like paint...personally I don't think I'd take it that far and I haven't found the need to do so. The films are pretty forgiving and Hand Polish works well.