FK1000P on a Black Tahoe

[TheMeanGreen]

Here she is, in all of her unfinished, slightly un-fully-cured FK1000P hazy glory. The gloss on this thing is intense.




Tahoe1.jpg

[Ronkh]

Nice stuff

[Stokdgs]

TheMeanGreen ---
Wow ! Beautiful clarity and gloss !!!!
You killed it !!!!
Thanks for all that hard work !!!
Dan F

[Lonnie]

The gloss looks a good as any wax or coating I`ve seen for a daily driven vehicle. No wonder Accumulator and others are singing the praises of Finish-Kare`s Hi-Temp FK1000P wax!! When you say hazy, you mean the gloss gets better as FK1000P "cures"??
TheMeanGreen:
Would you care to elaborate on your detailing processes to get the Tahoe looking like it does in the photo; IE, Like compounds/polishes used and buffing machine(s) and pad types?

What year is the Tahoe and how many miles are on it? Judging from the partial view of the front lights it looks relatively new(er).

[TheMeanGreen]

The gloss looks a good as any wax or coating I`ve seen for a daily driven vehicle. No wonder Accumulator and others are singing the praises of Finish-Kare`s Hi-Temp FK1000P wax!! When you say hazy, you mean the gloss gets better as FK1000P "cures"??
TheMeanGreen:
Would you care to elaborate on your detailing processes to get the Tahoe looking like it does in the photo; IE, Like compounds/polishes used and buffing machine(s) and pad types?

What year is the Tahoe and how many miles are on it? Judging from the partial view of the front lights it looks relatively new(er).

@Lonnie, The Tahoe is a 2015 with 16K on the clock, it is a special occasion Daily Driver, lives in a garage, and has only ever been handwashed and detailed once before. The owners are fanatical about it. The haziness that I speak of is in the first photo of the front of the vehicle, if you look at the sun spot, there is minor *psuedo* hologramming that is a result of buffing off the FK1000P residue to imperfection. When it comes to FK1000P, I like to buff of the majority of the residue, as in this example, and then let the rest sit on the paint until the next day or even the next wash. That film that is left, assures me that there is a little bit more than preferable, left on the surface, as well as assures me that there is less of a chance of towel marring until the fully FK1000P cures.


My process:

Decon:
*Wheels/wheel wells: Super Clean @ 3:1, Tires were SuperClean @ Full strength
*Fallout removal: 3D BDX @ 2:1
*Foaming with Purple Power Boat & RV: 3oz in PF22 canon
*Rinse w/ 1700psi @ 5gpm (This does wonders for prewash)
*One bucket wash on this one: 3D Pink
*Claying specific areas: N-914
*Major drying done with a quality MF and then followed up with a Rustoleum Wax & Grease Remover as a QD

Polishing:
*Localized corrections using Griot`s FCC and Megs 3" Cutting Disc
*Localized corrections polished with a mix of Griot`s CC/PC, 3" Griots Yellow Perfecting Pad on high speed
*All other 3" work was done with the mix of Griot`s CC/PC
*Polishing comprised of Griot`s Yellow Perfecting Pad with the BOSS G15, CC/PC mix, with stepped speed passes
*Refinement came in the form of Griot`s Black Finishing Pad and pure Perfecting Cream on the BOSS G15, with stepped speed passes
*The roof was polished with Drive Auto Appearance Victory Nano Polish and Seal (this is a longevity test for it), so the middle majority of the roof is far from perfect, but section of the rear lift gate roofing and the portion just above the front windshield was polished and refined like the rest of the vehicle.
*During the polishing and refining process, the pads were blown out after every set of passes, praise the Lord for compressed air.
*The vehicle was then stripped of all polishing residues via a pretreatment of Rustoleum Wax and Grease remover followed by an N-914 waterless wash, carried out panel by panel.

LSP Application:
*Carried out via frigid cold FK1000P with a LC Hydroshred by hand.
*The next day, the vehicle got a WW via N-914 mixed with D156 to cut the FK1000P hazing down to zero, as shown in the last photo.
*The wheels were hit with D156 to spruce them up
*The Tires currently have nothing that I have applied left on them. The shine is due to whoever detailed them last as it has been a complete bear to remove via SuperClean full strength. For the sake of the wheels, I will let the tires be and let whatever dressing naturally break down over time.

Disclaimer:
The vehicles finish still has some, now super minor and what would be considered RIDS that were once swirls. Complete perfection was not the goal, preservation was the name of this game, of course the localized corrections are exempted from preservation.


Thanks for the comments guys, this vehicle definitely took some time and I, myself, am amazed at the finished achieved and really with how the FK1000P sits on the paint. FK1000P has somewhat of a reputation clouding the finish of dark vehicles, but I think that the clouding can be combated with a refinement stage. GM has done with a good job on the paint system of this particular color (only GM color I have yet to work with), it was a DREAM to work with, not absurdly hard, but middle to hard. Overall, really satisfying.

[acuRAS82]

Great job and awesome summary! Thanks.

[Accumulator]

TheMeanGreen- Huh, I`d never heard of the FK1000P clouding, but I`m glad you`ve found a technique that works well for you.

What`s the idea behind using "frigid cold" FK1000P?

[JustJesus]

What`s the idea behind using "frigid cold" FK1000P?

Wondering the same.

[TheMeanGreen]

TheMeanGreen- Huh, I`d never heard of the FK1000P clouding, but I`m glad you`ve found a technique that works well for you.

What`s the idea behind using "frigid cold" FK1000P?

The shop often reaches 95F, this summer, so "frigid cold" FK1000P is due to it sitting right next to the ice pack in a cooler by my station; it`s more about preservation of the wax at high temps to keep it from breaking down.

[TheMeanGreen]

[TheMeanGreen]

S`more.... Forgive the slight "hologramming" i.e. lint, I have been fighting the dryer for the past few weeks.

Tahoe.3.1Edit copy.jpg

Tahoe.4.1Edit copy.jpg

[TheMeanGreen]

[TheMeanGreen]

Update to vehicle: The Tahoe was finished today with MME, a mix of Hyper Dressing/All Season Dressing, and tooth-picked before it departed at the end of the day.

[Accumulator]

TheMeanGreen- Ah, OK...thanks for explaining about the chilling. I have the thermostat set at 90°
these days, been so long since my previous shop that I forgot all about how hot things can get.

[TheMeanGreen]

Yeah, things can get pretty hot and that can also get pretty expensive if not monitored.