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Chronicles of a G8 Detail

Chewy

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Chewy

Chewy

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Ok all,

 

So I set off on Saturday to get this thing cleaned and ready for the summer. My wife thought I was nuts last year for spending 12 hours on it. My goal this year was to make her think I need committed. So on Saturday I grabbed three buckets all with grit guards in them and set out to clean her. (the car... Not the wife)

 

I only have two Adams buckets so I found a an old wide bottomed bucket where the grit guard went nearly to the bottom. 2 were filled with straight water and one with Dawn and water. They were also dumped out mid wash and refilled.

 

I also used my foam applicator filled with Dawn and water.

 

This car was VERY dirty. It hadn't been hand washed since 11/06/09. I did however take it through touchless washes that blow dry so NO hands had touched the paint other than a rogue accidental brush against it here and there. Remember... This is my DD so it's not perfect.

 

So I washed it (took about 2 hours) using a new jumbo wash pad, wheel well brush, bores hair wheel brush, and A LOT of water. Then I dried it using a great white drying towel and some DS. The results were amazing... From afar... Up close it's a disaster. :willy:

 

The paint is actually pretty decent but there are some very slight scratches in the top surfaces with some longer scratches which I assume came from rogue rocks and salt. :confused:

 

So I set out with my 3M adhesive remover and a cheap MF towel to remove ALL the tar and oil from behind the wheels and sides of the car. This is MUCH better than making the clay do it all for you.

 

After removing the tar I set off with a hunk of Adams clay and a bottle of DS. It took a whole bottle of DS to get it done but it came out VERY nice IMO. The pics you'll see below have the DS dried on the car. No big deal... I PC through it. :)

 

So now for the "fun" stuff...

 

I grabbed the PC a white pad and tried out some FMP on the hood... Nope... Going to need the orange pad. I stuffed the white pad into a ziplock to keep it fresh and went to work. After a couple hours on the hood I think I have it.

 

Went to the top of the car... DANG! It was BAD up there... 3 hours and bam! Done...

 

Trunk and C pillars... 3 hours... Bam... Done.

 

Now ALL I have is the sides, back and nose of the car. The nose has a clear bra so I intend to just use clear polish and an MF applicator on it.

 

The sides of the car are pretty bad so it will take me at least the rest of this week to complete it.

 

So I am driving the truck this week... :2thumbs: The car is parked in the middle of the garage.

 

Cheers all and sorry for the LONG post.

 

Chris

 

Photos are in order... All pre-clean and the last one are the buckets set and ready...

 

More to come in a second

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Chewy

Chewy

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That thing Looks Sexy Chris... I wish i had the Patients to correct mine to that level. What % is your tint?

 

THANKS guys!

 

My tint is only 30%, but with the black interior it comes across darker...

 

So far only one ticket... :( 85 bucks... :(

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Chewy

Chewy

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More!

 

Ok so G8 wetted down.... After this I was in a rush with the sun to get it washed and dried before the sun dried it. It was cool but sunny! :(

 

Then dried and DS'd.

 

Behind the wheel well before using 3M adhesive remover. (it's the BOMB)

 

Behind the wheel cleaned with 3M AR.

 

G8 taped and ready to go!:2thumbs:

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Chewy

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Still more... :lurk:

 

Hood and trunk corrected...

 

I did the Junkman test...

 

A flash shows it all right AJ? :bow:

 

Keep in mind this is ONLY SHR and FMP and has NO wax or sealant at all. :thumbsup:

 

Ok so I have NO idea why I am doing this to my DD but it's a GREAT learning experience. :D Next year with a 6-7 month old... I don't expect this level of care... :lolsmack:

 

Cheers all!

 

More to come as I detail more of it this week.

 

Chris

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Chewy

Chewy

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You know... you might actually have a handle on this detailing stuff :jester:

 

Am I seeing WW in the foam gun canister?

 

Thanks guys!

 

Nah... Dawn... I wanted to strip what ever was left on it. I don't go straight up with my soap like you. I get a heck of a froth too but I am going to try straight with the Adams wash next time.

 

My biggest issue was using less product. It's a hard habit to break. I learned more in the last two days than reading here though. It's not the first time I've done this but it's the first time I tried hard to completely correct the paint.

 

The sides are worse than the top so I can't wait to kill myself on those...

 

I wore my back belt all weekend which helped immensely. (I've had back surgery)

 

Cheers,

Chris

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Chewy

Chewy

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I cannot wait for this semester to end. I can go home and put the G8 in the garage and give it some loving. I am going to try and get it perfect except for the couple of stone chips.

 

Oh ya... I have those as well... The clear bra helps a crap ton but they like the lip in front of the wipers... Oh and the trunk!!!! WTF? :o

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whiterp199

whiterp199

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I do not have any on the trunk, I do have one on the front pillar, and a nice gouge in my rear bumper right behind the left wheel. Somebody must have hit my car with a snow shovel during all the snow we had. It had to be the girl who was parked next to me. I wanted to kick her door in.

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Zeus_SVT

Zeus_SVT

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Looking good so far. I'm gonna be knocking mine out sometime after the first week of may before I leave for vacation. Took an extra few days off just for this. Wanna get it ready for the Texas summer we have coming. :willy: I have a few rock chips in my bumper already and only have 5k miles on mine......I have a feelin its gonna look like crap in a few years if I dont do something about it. How is the clear coat on these cars? I haven't hit mine with the PC at all yet.

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Zeus_SVT

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It's not bad but it's thin as heck! Overall paint quality sucks on these but the clear is fairly hard and takes some work to correct.

 

Chris

 

 

Good to know....mine is a mess right now so I have a feelin I'm gonna be spending some serious hours on it too. :willy:

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McDuff

McDuff

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Chris its interesting reading of what all you are doing. I am going to be embarrassed in PA this weekend at the Adams Clinic that my G8 has swirl marks in it, but I have been spending all my time with the bathroom remodel. I probably won't have time before Friday to get the clay and PC working on the car. I spend all my time working in the bathroom but at least my wife was cutting tile and helping me out yesterday. She is tired of hearing me ***** about all the time it is taking. It started out as a replace the fiberglass shower/tub with a whirlpool. Six weeks later I am still working on tile but it is getting close. My wife told her coworkers at Lowes that the silly man thought he was reusing everything else. I look forward to more of your posts about working on the G8. Us G8 boys need to stick together with all of these Vette boys around here. LOL

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Chewy

Chewy

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Hey tile work looks good though!

 

Liking the shop light... Nice...

 

I know my limitations... I pay people to do this sort of work in the house. lol

 

Chris

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whiterp199

whiterp199

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Tom do not worry. My G8 is showing the signs of a winter in use. No swirls, but there are a few scratches that need to come out. I will not have the ability to get out the PC before the clinic so I am going to throw a coat of BSG on it and hope I am not run out of town.

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Chewy

Chewy

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OK well I've met my match on this car... The rear bumper is all but impossible to correct. Not sure what the deal is with it, but it is bloody near impossible.

 

I'm posting up pics for AJ and Dylan to look at.

 

These ARE before last nights go round. They are about 50% better NOW than what these pics show.

 

There's something about the plastic... It's just killer to correct the paint. If this was steel, I'd have been done two days ago me thinks.

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McDuff

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Thanks for the encouragement. I wish I had hired someone to do the tile work but I just couldn't bring myself to pay $900 just to put the tile up. I tell myself that it will be worth it when my old body can lay in the tubeless whirlpool tub and go ahhhhhhh. Ray make sure you look me up. Are you making dinner Friday night?

The work light is my fancy one/ LOL We use it as a night light and we have motion detector set up. It is nice at night when we need to use the bathroom, except now it is a trip down the steps.

I will have to settle for the justification of a daily driver this year.

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