'07 Escalade on factory 22's, Excursion, G35, OPS durability update

Scottwax · 11-22-06, 10:38

2004 Ford Excursion. Last polished out this past spring and sealed with Poorboy's EX, touched up with Optimum Car Wax in early summer. Still looked pretty good considering it had been about 4 months since the application of OCW. I wash it about once a month, the rest of the time it goes through the local tunnel wash. He has me come out every two weeks to wash their cars but usually only 2 of the 3 are there and the Excursion is there the least. Considering the tunnel washing, I was pretty happy how the finish was holding up. It had some light swirling but nothing major. Since he goes to Colorado in January every year in the Excursion, I decided to hold off any heavy polishing until after that trip. I went with Optimum Poli-Seal using a white LC polishing pad via PC. I went with the PC over the Cyclo for two reasons-one, no new polishing pads to use with OPS (finishing pads probably wouldn't have been aggressive enough) and two, OPS give such excellent results via PC and a polishing pad. OP-S did a great job on the light defects and left a really deep, wet finish.

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I applied OPS via PC on this BMW 750Li 6 weeks ago. I wash this car conventionally so it gets no help from the added slickness of ONR. The paint is still slick to the touch, both by hand and towel. The beading isn't as pretty as some other products, as in not the tiny round beads you tend to get from many products but the beading characteristics have not changed during the 6 weeks, so that leads me to believe Poli-Seal's protection hasn't diminished much.

I took this picture about 45 seconds after blasting the hood with high pressure water from my fireman's nozzle. As you can see, most of the water sheeted off.

Scottwax · 11-22-06, 10:47

2004 Infiniti G35. Regular customer, she has me seal the paint about every 5-6 months. I was last out in early June and I polished it with Prime and sealed with one layer of Acrylic Jett. The car is garaged at night, parked in the high school parking lot where she teaches during the day. Yes, she. And yes, the car has the Brembo brakes, 6 speed and a Borla exhaust! Pretty cool car for high school teacher who appears to be in her mid-50s.

Here is how it looked after an ONR wash. The door already has a fresh layer of Acrylic Jett, the fender is a 5 1/2 month old application of AJ.

I think the very minor improvement in appearance after a fresh layer of Acrylic Jett shows how well AJ holds its look.

The headlights had some light haze...

Meguiars #80 by hand using a microfiber pad and about 60 seconds later...

The wheels were cleaned with ONR. Tires and fenderwells dressed with Armor All.

The car didn't need any polishing, so I simply applied two layers of AJ by hand.

Scottwax · 11-22-06, 10:55

2007 Cadillac Escalade. They have only had it 10 days but it has already been to Houston and back (500 mile round trip). Plus it had been hit with sprinklers on the left front fender and half the hood. So much for a simple coat of wax. Since Poli-Seal did such a good job on the water spots on a Trailblazer a couple weeks ago, I went ahead and used it via PC and a white LC polishing pad on this Escalade. Like with the Trailblazer, it removed the light water spots in only a few passes under moderate pressure.

Overall, the new Escalade is a big improvement over the previous model, especially the interior. Not a huge 'bling' fan but it isn't as overboard as the new and hideous Navigator! Excessive orange peel in this one though.

And yes, that cat was following me around the whole time. As soon as the buffer was off, he was coming up to me, expecting to be pet.

altez · 11-22-06, 11:06

I always enjoying seeing your post and work!

35TH LE · 11-22-06, 11:19

Great work man... that Caddy is really nice lookin!

Lightman · 11-22-06, 11:48

Nice work...having a big truck myself I know how much time goes into detailing those monsters, there is so much paint!

thesacrifice · 11-22-06, 11:58

Scott,

Would you mind snapping a shot of how your application of OPS looks on a panel prior to being worked in? Maybe even a shot of how saturated your pad is while being worked in? Thanks

Bigpoppa3346 · 11-23-06, 06:38

Excellent to hear the updates on Poli-Seal, sounds like it is a great product. I recall you using it as a base for AJ, so keep us updated on how AJ holds up over PS. I will definitely be picking some up when they come out with the smaller(32oz) size.

All the cars look excellent, that Excursion really looks like a mirror. Great Job.

topnotch · 11-23-06, 07:24

The poli seal beading pics are great. I like the way OPS just melts into the paint at which point you know when to stop polishing and give it nice wipe down. Great work Scott

ZaneO · 11-23-06, 08:05

Very nice, Scott!

audicoupej · 11-23-06, 08:14

Great work as always Scott!

You're making me want to get some Poli-seal for the one step jobs I get.

On the G35, how long did you wait between coats of AJ? Also, how does the Borla sound on those? Does it get rid of the moan sound the stock exhaust has? TIA

Gen2 · 11-23-06, 09:04

First class work on all the cars you have done

The Excursion simply looks fantastic, the depth is great and it reflects like a mirror too

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