There are details…and then there are DETAILS. This beauty came to us from an owner in Gilbert,Arizona. After setting up a time to take a look at the car and the condition as well as get an idea of what all the owner wanted to have done…we came to the conclusion that this owner wanted well…everything.
On the list of services for this baby would be: Full nose paint protection film aka “clear bra” (front clip, full hood, full fenders, mirrors and behind those fat rear wheels) Full paint correction (removal of all swirls, scratches and paint defects) CQuartz Finest paint coating (with 2 year warranty of course) Full interior detail with CQuartz Fabric and CQuartz Leather coating application CQuartz Dlux on exterior plastic Full wheels pulled detail (wheels removed, decontaminated, coated front and back, wheel calipers coated and wheel wells detailed) “DODGE” badging taken off of the back This was lining up for one great detail…so, let the games begin The FIRST THING we came across was pretty disturbing on a brand new Hellcat. Tons of glue behind the paper plates, this was fun to clean up. Yup yup…gotta love that! Next up was to chemically decontaminate the paint of all bonded iron particles (rail dust, brake dust, fallout etc) All the purple you see is the chemical reacting to the iron particulates, safely dissolving them off of the paint. Then of course, she was given a nice foam bath Lastly we finished the decontamination process by clay barring the entire exterior – just incase anything was missed. In our case we use a decontaminate block (or sponge). Next up, she was pulled into the garage where Dani and I would split up to tackle two tasks at once. I would begin working on removing these monster matte wheels to get them prepped for CQuartz Finest coating while she was busy doing an interior cleaning to prep for CQuartz Leather and CQuartz Fabric coatings. I love pulling wheels because it gives the detail that finished look. While ALMOST all dirt and grime can be cleaned with wheels on…its just so much more complete by pulling them so that you can get to all this he tire on both the front and back would be cleaned and the matte would also be carefully chemically decontaminated: Yeah, yuck. Brown tires are my nemesis…i hate brown tires: Once completely cleaned both the front and back of the tire was dressed with CarPro’s PERL at 2:1 ratio…2 coats Then the wheel faces were cleaned with Eraser, making sure the surface was completely free of anything that would hinder CQuartz Finest from bonding properly to the surface. Finally it was time to coat: Ah yes, thats how they should look! Dani in the mean time was working her magic on the inside; Being that the seats were two different materials (part fabric part leather), she had to use the appropriate coating for each section. Its great having the interior coated while the car is NEW. It really helps to preserve the appearance and greatly reduces the risk of an accidental spill creating a bigger problem. Plus out in Arizona, having the extreme UV protection of the leather coating is always a smart thing to do. Not to mention clean up only requires a damp microfiber cloth. I was back working on the wheel wells and calipers: Day one was quite long, but we accomplished a lot. The next day and a half we would be doing the paint correction and then applying Finest to the exterior…as well as doing an engine bay detail, sealing the door jambs and doing any final touch ups that were required. White is a difficult color to capture defects on camera..but you can still see the scratches that were visible in direct light Then of course…time for the star of the show, CQuartz Finest…to lock in that perfect paint and add some serious gloss and protection. First we had to do an Eraser wipe down…again, making sure there is no polishing oils of any sort left on the paint that could interfere with the coating bonding correctly: Thanks everyone for taking the time to read…hope you enjoyed as always.
2 Comments
A couple of months back we had the pleasure of doing a full paint correction and apply the CQuartz Finest treatment to this beautiful black Hellcat. This would be the 6th Hellcat in Arizona receiving this treatment.Being a few months old, it already had some signs of wear, but we’ll get to that shortly. First up was the prep wash!For those who haven’t seen, this is the wash area of our new shop! Here is where we clean the tires, rims, wheel wells and all the other nasty stuff prior to pulling it into the garage. As always, spotless water making life easier when having to wash in full sun out in Gilbert, Arizona.Once pulled in, we clayed the paint to remove any remaining bonded contaminates. Then, Dani did her taping magic to protect all the plastic trim pieces on this baby. The red and black looked pretty cool.
Next it was time to inspect the paint under some high-powered LED lights. While the overhead lighting in our shop is great, it still falls well short of being able to spot the defects we’ll be going after.While this paint was metallic black, as usual black is quite easy to see defects on. Once we spotted our enemy, it was time to figure out our attack plan. This is where we go about doing a “test spot”…which lets us know what combo of pads, product, pressure and machine will best work for this specific car. Once we’d cracked the code, it was time to get on the grind and make this beast look the way it should.The paint started showing its true colors …The metal flake really started to pop…Make no mistake, there is a LOT of paint to polish on these big boys. But, that doesn’t mean you forget about all the small areas..Ouch !A nice improvement! A little clean up needed around the badging, but the paint cleaned up nicely.Slowly but surely these….Turned into this,Paint selfie: Once the paint had be polished to its glossiest state, it was time to do an Eraser wipe down, prepping the paint for CQuartz Finest. This step insures there is no polish residue, finger print oil or anything else that could interfere with Finest bonding to the paint. Once prepped it was time to apply the most exclusive, best looking and best protecting paint coating available. Id say thats glossing up nicely Not to be forgotten…the wheels too were prepped to receive Finest. This helps a lot with clean up of brake dust during maintenance washes. Tires were dressed with Carpro’s PERL Once two coats had been applied and allowed to cure…it was time for some beauty shots. Gloss like this doesn’t come from your over the counter wax or corner car wash….gloss like this comes from taking hours to pamper every inch…in prep, polish and protection. The end results say it all…Id say you could shave in thatThe owner of this car was none other than the 2010-2011 NCAA 125 lbs weight class wrestling championship (an ASU home town hero!) The license plate was very appropriate….when we asked him about it…he said it was a quote from one of his favorite movies, “Tombstone”. Anyone who’s watched this movie would agree Val played the best Doc Holliday ever…just saying. End of the day, we made the ugly paint “say when” and left this baby looking the way it should. |
Windows & WheelsCheck out our Monthly Blogs Archives
February 2021
Categories
All
|