dsms detail- Crystal Gray STi / Signature Gloss

dsms · 07-12-08, 08:31

This detail was about as short notice as you can get. I was woken up this morning (at 10:30) by a call on my cell phone. It was from guy who I had been talking with about detailing over on IWSTI for some time. He's been wanting to schedule something for a while but just didnt have the time. Well this morning at 10:30 he found out that he did have the time, and asked if I could fit him in, today! Now he lives about 45minutes away from me which was also a conflicting factor. Now today was a supposed to be a day off but I decided I would do this detail anyway. So at around 12 this afternoon, exactly 1 hour and 30 minutes after he called, He (Jay) was in my driveway with this beauty and I began the detail.
This was an exterior only job btw.

This STi was done very tastefully! Coilovers, 35% tints all around, Limited front lip and of course as you can see there is NO UBER SUBY WING:headbang: At first I thought it was a limited but as the owner informed me it was a stock 06' which he tweaked a bit.

I began right away with the wheels, nothing to unusual here.

I decided to go with a safe bet using P21s gel after a thorough pressure wash.

While I let that dwell I went to work on the wells using the black wheel shmitt and super degreaser, the tires were scrubbed with safe degreaser 3:1.

After the wheels were finished I moved onto an ONR wash w/ a pair of shmitts, followed by claying with sonus. I was really shocked to find how smooth the paint was prior to claying. I figured the super unaggressive sonus would do fine.

Not to many bonded contaminants

I found that bees seem to really love the smell of Megs last touch QD

After the wash and clay...

Next I pulled the car in for some light polishing. The car had a few fine swirls so I went with Ultrafina and a white ccs. I decided to use the Flex 3401 instead of the Makita this time, lately the Flex has been designated to glaze and sealant application so I figured I'd do some polishing instead.

Post polishing

The LSP of choice was something very special. Its made by Gloss It and its called Signature Gloss. Its a polymer based sealant that has outstanding clarity and gloss, more so than Gloss Finish which is Gloss It's leading synthetic sealant. You can't buy Signature Gloss from Gloss It like any of their other products, its something that only certified Gloss It detailers are able to use, its still being beta tested and I was sent a sample from Rich Light, the founder of the company. The idea behind this super sealant is to have something which will keep customers comming back to Gloss It detailers instead of just buying a sealant for themselves to use. The real beauty of Signature Gloss is its durability...12-14 months durability:yikes: And no im not joking.

I applied only 1 coat of Signature Gloss to the STi and it looked really great! I used the flex with a blue finessing pad to apply it. After letting it cure for about 15mins it buffed off super smooth and then I wiped the car down with Gloss enhancer QD.

Some shots in the garage...

I applied wheel wax and let it cure for about 10minutes

More shots

The sun was going away so I did the best with the outside shots

I was pleased with the outcome, Signature gave it that extra bit of gloss and wetness. Now when I poured some water on the rear quarter I was amazed at how fast the water sheeted off. I asked the owner if he would keep me updated with the durability of the sealant.

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NCZ13 · 07-12-08, 10:42

great job.

thats a really super clean sti... (pun intended)

how long did the whole process take?

tdekany · 07-12-08, 10:48

Looks very wet!!!!

Backer1 · 07-12-08, 10:54

Excellent work!

John Henry · 07-12-08, 11:20

That thing looks like it screams! The Brembos and BBS's are a great combination.

Nice job!

RickRack · 07-13-08, 07:30

Looks incredible!

porta · 07-13-08, 12:47

Looks very wet. Tell me more about this Gloss It...

roadmaster_Tx · 07-13-08, 01:27

Looks great!! How does one become a "gloss it detailer"?

dsms · 07-13-08, 08:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by porta

Looks very wet. Tell me more about this Gloss It...

...its really great stuff!

Got_Leather · 07-13-08, 08:57

Looks great! Good Job..

dsms · 07-14-08, 04:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Got_Leather

Looks great! Good Job..

Thanks, CGM is a pretty color IMO.

evenflow · 07-14-08, 05:53

Very impressive! that car looks brand new!

Question: Did you use your black wheel schmitt to clean the wheels after using it to clean the wells? Wouldn't all of that dirt that you scrubbed off the wells marr your wheels?