2018 Chevy Equinox Redline - New car prep with Cquartz

[The Guz]

For those that are not aware my brother ended up selling the 1999 Tahoe that he purchased from one of our uncles.

https://www.autopia.org/forums/click-brag-the-detailers-showcase/189197-1999-tahoe-carpro-essence-cquartz-tio2-gliss.html

He took that money and used it towards a 2 year lease of a 2018 Chevrolet Equinox with the Redline package.

The packages includes the black bow ties, black with red side badges and the black wheels with the red accents. This is an LT model on paper with a 2.0L turbo that puts out 252 HP and 260 ft-lbs of torque. Good get up and go for this little thing.

He opted to not have the dealer wash it/detail it. He also wanted a coating on it to protect the paint and last as long as his lease. Less maintenance and less worry for him.

Before I continue these are the products used.

Prep:
CarPro Ironx
McKee’s 37 Coating Prep Wash
Griot’s Fine Surface Prep Mitt
CarPro Immolube at 1:5

Polish & prep:
Rupes LHR15 MKII, Rupes Mini, Rupes iBrid Nano
Rupes Yellow Foam pad
Optimum Hyper Polish
CarPro Eraser

Protection:
CarPro Cquartz TiO2 (aka Classic)
CarPro Gliss
Wheels:
CarPro Ironx
CarPro Essence
CarPro Cquartz UK
CarPro Cquartz TiO2

Tires:
Tuf Shine Tire Cleaner
McKee’s 37 Tire Coating

Ironx in action. As seen brand new vehicles can certainly have iron contaminants. Came out kind of dark due to the shade.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/3736/IMG_3067a.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/3736/IMG_3068a.jpg

As I rinsed of the ironx there were signs that something was on the paint aka wax or sealant. The McKee’s Coating Prep Wash stripped about 85% of it and left the other areas degraded.

After the wash the paint and glass was clayed with CarPro Immolube and the Griot’s Fine Surface Prep Mitt. There were contaminants on the flat surfaces of the paint. Once complete, the paint was wiped down with Blackfire Paint Prep to remove the residue from Immolube.

I was then able to asses the paint. The good thing is that there were not a lot of defects in this paint. Not the horrendous DISO that is common on new cars. I could barely pick up the defects on cam.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/3736/IMG_3071a.jpg

I had originally planned to use Essence as I was going to be coating the paint with Cquartz but I would not have enough to do the entire thing. Barely had enough to polish out the wheels with what I had. So I then gave Sonax Perfect Finish a go with a Rupes Yellow foam pad and that worked well. I got the entire font end and stopped using it. The reason why is because I was not in the mood to clean up dust which is the annoying thing I find with Perfect Finish even after some slight adjustments. Went back into the cabinet and gave Optimum Hyper Polish a go and that worked just as good as Sonax but without the dust. The only downside is that it stains pads. My Rupes yellow pads are light green due to the blue dye of the polish lol.

I prep wipe with Eraser to remove the polishing oils as I go. Once done I come back with another prep wipe. Then I finished it off with two coats of Cquartz TiO2 and one coat of Gliss. TiO2 to me looks best on light colored paints adding that additional reflectivity from the TiO2 within the SiO2 mixture.

The glass was clayed, prep wiped and finished off with McKee’s glass coating. Used two coats on the front and rear hatch to test and see if two coats lasts longer than one.

The trim was cleaned, prep wiped and protected with Gyeon Trim. Topped with Gyeon Cure 24 hours later.

Finished results with losing daylight but highlights the gloss.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/3736/IMG_3097a.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/3736/IMG_3098a.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/3736/IMG_3104a.jpg

I had cleaned the tires during the paint correction phase using Tuf Shine Tire Cleaner and received three coats of McKee’s Tire Coating. But one week later I polished them in preparation for a coating. They were polished with my remaining Essence, prep wiped with Eraser and coated with the CQUK + TiO2 combo (one coat of each) primarily to use up the remaining coatings in these bottles. Essence removed some light defects and the gloss from this combo made the wheels pop.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/3736/IMG_3087a.jpg

In full sun.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/3736/IMG_3105a.jpg



https://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/3736/medium/IMG_3106a.jpg

One week later after the first wash with McKee`s N914 and using EcH20 as a drying aid and in the daylight.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/3736/IMG_3107a.jpg

It is now protected and will last him the entire ownership of his lease. Thanks for reading.

[BadgerRivFan]

Terrific write-up and explanation Guz! Your posts are greatly appreciated.

[BudgetPlan1]

Curious on the Iron-X: Do you wash and dry car first? Do you agitate/spread the Iron-X after applying?

[Oneheadlite]

Guz - I always look forward to your write ups. Very well written, and your final product is always outstanding!!!

Another awesome job! Your brother is lucky to be able to have you get it so dialed in!

[Ronkh]

Great stuff as usual.

[Marine Clerk]

Interesting that you used Tuf Shine Tire Cleaner and McKees 37 Tire Coating.

Any feedback on not using Tuf Shine Tire Coating?

Otherwise the metal flake shows real great pop and the finish really looks sharp.

Nicely Done!

[The Guz]

Terrific write-up and explanation Guz! Your posts are greatly appreciated.


Guz - I always look forward to your write ups. Very well written, and your final product is always outstanding!!!

Another awesome job! Your brother is lucky to be able to have you get it so dialed in!


Great stuff as usual.

Thanks guys.


Curious on the Iron-X: Do you wash and dry car first? Do you agitate/spread the Iron-X after applying?

I generally do this depending no how dirty the paint is. No agitation needed and saves me time. Although I clayed it with a dedicated clay lube this time.

https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/2009-to-2017-how-to-articles-by-mike-phillips/86146-aggressive-approach-washing-car.html


Interesting that you used Tuf Shine Tire Cleaner and McKees 37 Tire Coating.

Any feedback on not using Tuf Shine Tire Coating?

Otherwise the metal flake shows real great pop and the finish really looks sharp.

Nicely Done!

Thanks. Tuf Shine tire cleaner is pretty hard to beat. One does not need to stick with the McKee`s Tire Rejuvenator to use their tire coating. I find Tuf Shine to clean better between the two tire cleaners.

I own the Tuf Shine tire coating as well. I just chose to go with McKee`s newest tire coating formula this time. It is more glossy than Tuf Shine and the shine for McKee`s seems to stick around longer than the matte finish Tuf Shine leaves.

[SGM2008]

As always, great post and nice work Guz!

How do you like the Griots Prep Mitt, is it just as effective as traditional clay or does it leave a little bit behind?

I was thinking of trying one of the mitts, and the Griot`s is 2X the price of the Blackfire. Just wondering if it`s twice as good.

[The Guz]

As always, great post and nice work Guz!

How do you like the Griots Prep Mitt, is it just as effective as traditional clay or does it leave a little bit behind?

I was thinking of trying one of the mitts, and the Griot`s is 2X the price of the Blackfire. Just wondering if it`s twice as good.

Thanks. The mitt works good. Same results as the nano skin fine grade I used to have.

On my personal car I still use clay. Clay to me still picks up more. For other cars I will use the clay mitt as it still does a good job and I haven’t had any issues with any LSP failing prematurely.

[atgonzales]

As always, Guz, nicely done

[The Guz]

As always, Guz, nicely done

As always thanks. Good to see you around.

[Sizzle Chest]

Nice work, pics and write up! That`s a great looking ride he picked up. Looks very nice and is protected for the future!

[The Guz]

Nice work, pics and write up! That`s a great looking ride he picked up. Looks very nice and is protected for the future!

Thanks. Like you said at least it’s protected until he decides what to do with it in 2 years.

I was not aware that it was redesigned for 2018. The Redline Package is on a few other models like the Malibu, Camaro, Traverse, Cruz, Silverado, Colorado, and the Trax.

[dcjredline]

nice work. That grill is UGLY to me. OMG.

[The Guz]

Quick update. My brother was sent for training in the Palmdale, CA area. While staying at the hotel, his car was the victim of the hotel sprinklers along the entire drivers side. Unfortunately I forgot to give him a bottle of EcH20 to use for occasions like this before he left. It sat for about 3 days before I was able to get to it.

Today was a rinseless with N914 and EcH20 as a drying aid.

Because the gallery has issues, I have to host the photos elsewhere. This needs to be fixed soon.

The door before

https://i.imgur.com/4l3tpnY.jpg

After

https://i.imgur.com/uadstHT.jpg

An example on one of the wheels

Before

https://i.imgur.com/MUBcPU2.jpg

After. Other than towel lint, they are clean and free of water spots.

https://i.imgur.com/PTnezLF.jpg


Moral of the story is that water spots don`t always cause issues on a coating.