Hello everyone!
Here is a beautiful 2008 Toyota Highlander in Salsa Red! It was purchased last year and has not received any proper detailing until now. I was glad to be able to work on this, as I really wanted to see just how vibrant the colour could look. The dealership had done a relatively good job of caring for the vehicle in the time it sat at the lot and got driven by a few potential customers. Yes, there were some swirls, but nowhere near as bad as I’ve seen Toyota paint. Up to this point the vehicle had only received a couple of washes, so I expected the rims to be quite bad.
Walkaround:
Engine bay was in need of some attention:
To begin, the engine bay was cleaned. The fuse box, distributor, battery and alternator were covered with plastic bags and tied securely to prevent any water from causing damage to the electronics. A pressure washer was used to rinse excess dirt off. Pressure setting was set to 1/3 full to reduce the risk of water entering unwanted areas. Following this, P21S Total Auto Wash was liberally sprayed over the entire bay and left to sit for 3 minutes while I prepared my wash solution. Upon returning, the components inside the bay were agitated using a
Meguiar’s Versa-angle brush, and rinsed with the pressure washer at 1/3 full pressure. After removing the plastic bags, the engine was started and left to run for approximately 5 minutes to help evaporate water. After the detail, the rest of the bay was dried with towels and dressed with Shining Monkey Tire Shine
Engine Bay Afters:
On to the body...
Washed with CWG @ Paint Cleanser dilution and dried with WW MFs.
Wheels were cleaned with P21S Wheel Gel. Wheel wells were cleaned with Kleenol and a stiff bristled brush.
The paint was quite contaminated on the lower portions of the vehicle, as indicated by the following picture:
After claying was completed, the entire vehicle was wiped with Isopropyl alcohol to help remove the polymers from ONR clay lube that would interfere with polishing.
For polishing,
Menzerna Intensive Polish and an LC Black pad were used at 1400 RPM.
After the paint was carefully polished to a high gloss, it received a foam wash to remove the polishing oils from the
Intensive Polish and create a proper bonding base for the LSP.
For LSP, I chose 476S for it’s durability, and distinct look that really made this paint shine. Unfortunately by the time I was done, the sun had gone down, so these pictures are the best I could get.
Final Afters:
Thanks for looking!
Kaval
Make It Shine: 2008 Toyota Highlander
Linear Mode
