Cadillac DHS and it's "pop" factor

Jakerooni · 06-12-09, 06:24

I've done this car before. A little over a year ago. The owner got ahold of me and wanted me to get it back in shape for him. When it came in I was really impressed with how good of shape it was still in. He said he wanted the paint to just "PoP" and the carpets to be clean. Give it a good leather treatment and just for giggles he wanted the engine bay to look good again. I was like "Is that all?? LOL" So I had to put a little thought into it. The inside still needed to be de-winterized with salt and such. And the grandkids marred up the back seats pretty good so I could definatly make an improvement there. But the paint was still in very good shape. How does one make it pop even more than it is? mmmm???

Befores:

The engine bay was even in fairly decent shape..

The aftermarket rims could use a little help..

So I give it a good bath and pull it in for what I think is going to be a quick clay job... Ahhhh... So i see kemosabi... There are a few issues here... The clay pulled out a lot of unseen contaminants..

Well back to the original question of how to make it pop even more than it was. I figured a quick 2 step might do the job So a run over with some of Danase's swirl abolisher light compound with a light cut foam followed by 205 should get me where I want to be. Used the Makita with a black buff-n-shine finish pad at about 900 RPM's nice and slowly to really bring the gloss level up.

Decided the next enhancement was to really clean all the rubber trim up before hand dressing it.. ( you'd be suprised how often this step is overlooked) even if it's not a perfection detail it really makes a difference. I see alot of detailer just shining it up without cleaning it off first.

Then the engine bay is looking good again... Up to the customers specs.

Jakerooni · 06-12-09, 06:33

So after the polish I had to get some sun pics to see if I got it "popping" again LOL. I think I got it to the point that made the difference.

The deck lid looking like it just rolled off the assembly line

Got the rims looking good again as well. A little APC and a MF towel was really all it took here.

And of course got the carpet back in new looking order. All the nasty winter salt and grime gone. One of the reasons I really love working on Caddy's... The carpets clean up sooo well......(usually)

And one last decent shot in the sun...

Another fun detail. I really love how well the interior turned out on this one. The customer was thrilled. His daughter loved it too and booked her car in for next week. Just a real good day for the detailing world here LOL.

Thanks again as always guys.

ajnavo61490 · 06-12-09, 06:56

jake, you are the master at interior turnarounds... haha, but you missed a spot on the passenger window!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jakerooni

Jakerooni · 06-12-09, 07:27

LOL yea the little bugger flew out after I got back in there.

bufferbarry · 06-12-09, 07:33

jake nice work as always that rear carpet looked like it was pretty bad! great turnaround! that was such a nice color. good job on this one!

mshu7 · 06-12-09, 07:54

Dang Jake, awesome turnaround. Nice work!

mrclrider · 06-12-09, 08:00

Looks nice and wet.

What is your method to get the back of the seats looking so good again from the shoes??

Jakerooni · 06-12-09, 08:06

I have this product called "Jet clean" it's an emulsifier that literally melts dirt and grime away on contact. It's a great product but it's insanely expensive. The only reason I still have any is because I bought a case of it awhile back and still have 2 bottles of it. It's super concentrated so a little goes a very long ways. But it's my goto product for stubborn stains and dirt. Also works great on built up brake dust too. Not sure what I'll do when I run out. I really can't afford to buy more of it but I've yet to see any other product on the market even come close to it.