Twin Turbo Lamborghini Gallardo refreshed by AutoLavish

[dengelson]

Hey TM you have gotten some great info from everyone. I have used FI II by hand and with a PC. As you would guess it works better with the PC. However if you just had some small scratchs or small area of swirls you could make the FI II work by hand. But if you are talking about doing a large area or the whole car the PC is really the way to go.



fwiw I`ve had great results following the FI II up with SMR both by hand and PC.

[muttgrunt]

The first I heard of this Showroom concerning the polymer sealant not bonding to the Meg`s/3M glaze. With all due respect...where did you receive this info from ?

[BradE]

It`s pretty much common knowledge. For a polymer sealant to bond to the surface properly the surface must be perfectly clean of any oils, dirt, old wax etc. Even the oils in a caranuba wax will not allow the sealant to bond properly.



If you apply a sealant over oils in a glaze like Meguiars or IHG, or even caranuba for that matter, the sealant is trying to bond to the oils on the paint, not to the clearocoat itself. So after a few washings when the oils in the glaze wash away....so does your sealant.



Don`t use any glazes before applying a polymer sealant, or you just wasting your time applying sealant.

[muttgrunt]

I assumed that most polymer sealants have some cleaning properties and these would remove any of the substances (oils) that would interfere with the bonding process.

When I use these glazes, it is not for the filling/hiding properties but rather as a very refined polishing before the protectant topper, be it carnauba or Poly.



Also...I assumed, perhaps incorrectly, that being paint shop safe meant adhesion/bonding would not be a concern for the poly topper.

[BradE]

You are right, some poly sealants do have cleaning properties. If you apply a glaze, and then a sealant with cleaning properties the sealant will strip off the glaze that you just put on. Not all sealants have cleaning properties though, that`s why you must becareful about what you put on before you apply a sealant.



Glazes are really just makeup for your car. They are fillers and oils that are ment to fill in scratches and swirls and have no abrasives. But some abrasives do have oils and fillers in them. 3M SMR is a good example, it`s a very mild abrasive, but it also contain fillers and oils.



This stuff get`s kinda complicated huh?

[JonB]

Just Finessed the dark green Mustang with a PC/white pad. Left a slight haze. Blackfire polished with PC/white pad....no more haze. If I am not in the hospital tomorrow with my back in a sling, I will finish with Blackfire Protectant, probably applied by hand, maybe removed with the PC/MF bonnet. Pictures will surely follow.



PS.. 2 passes with SMR did not remove a few scratches. Two more passes with FI 2 got most of them. The Blackfire finished them off! So far so good...

[muttgrunt]

Any particular reason why carnauba does not have these bonding issues with the glaze products ? I am aware of the petro distiliates in carnauba as well as in poly, yet I can have full confidence in a carnauba properly bonding without any interferance from a glaze product ? Possibly the non cleaning poly formulation contains

compounds that would interfere or visa versa ???



Yes....it can get complicated...which is why perhaps our cars look

so good compared to the swirly masses

[BillNorth]

Carnuba doesn`t "bond" to your paint. There is also no molecular crosslinking going on with a carnuba. Carnuba is just wax that sits on top of your finish.



On the other hand, polymers do bond with the finish and crosslink.



Were talking apples and oranges here. There is no comparison between the two.

[BradE]

Bill is correct. Caranuba does not bond to the surface like a polymer product does. That is why glazes can be used with caranuba and not polymer.

[muttgrunt]

Despite being over 6 years old, the styling of the Lamborghini Gallardo still has a commanding presence on the road. Smaller, lighter, and arguably more driver friendly than the Murcielago, the Gallardo isn`t only well built for an exotic (something you wouldn`t say of many past Lamborghinis), it has some amazing potential if an owner is daring enough to tap into it. This Gallrdo is one such example.

We gave the estimate for this car to the owner 10 months prior to working on it. After he saw the end result (not even full correction - the goal here was presale prep), he made it known the replacement would be getting the AutoLavish treatment at the beginning of his ownership rather than towards the end. Though the PPG Cerami-clear shell has been holding up well, it was still plaqued with light swirls, excessive marring, and other problems due to improper washing techniques which overall led to a big lack of clarity. Lack of clarity and cleanness is the number one issue in a vehicle looking older than it should. The scratches, swirls, marring, and other visual impairments refract incoming light so that the color doesn`t shine true to the eye. Fixing such issues allows for proper reflection of light resulting in a more vibrant appearance that looks crisp and sharp: these are the exact type of things that truly add to resale value of a car.

With Jacob suffering from badly strained back muscles (happened when we had three cars in three days which started with a 13 hour marathon on a turbo NSX), I was lucky enough to have a good friend of mine able to lend me a hand. Nate is not only a car enthusiast, but a motorcycle mechanic with a good grasp of how things work. It also helps he`s dabbed into detailing a little which allowed me to be able to assign him tasks of what to use, how to use it, what to look for, and why, and he could get it done. Putting your reputation on the line as a person and business is not a light decision, so I`m glad I had someone trustworthy to lend a hand.

Upon arrival, the "pre washed" Gallardo was waiting for us.








The owner was most concerned with making the engine bay look as nice as possible. After a custom twin-turbo install, you need to be able to show off the goods. The light build up needed to be safely removed to bring back the looks.










Intake not looking as shiny as it should...



Nor did the exhaust tips.



Standard build up in the gas cap area. Nothing too bad, but in need of some light help.




Door jams rarely are cared for with most cars - here you can see the dirt that has settled.




I began on the engine bay with a boar`s hair brush and P21S Total Auto Wash to help loosen all grime. While TAW might be on the expensive side, there is little I`d trust more on an expensive customized engine bay. It is not only safe - but effective.






Nate began with treating each wheel to a nice layer of P21S Wheel Cleaner Gel. The beautiful aftermarket wheels could have easily been damaged with the wrong type of cleaner, so P21S got the call to action. Not only the wheel faces and lugs, but inside of the wheel, the brake calipers, and behind the spokes were all treated. Here the calipers are cared for with a 1inch boar`s hair brush



Lug`s already treated and finishing off the calipers - it was a little awkward for me to be working with a right handed guy like Nate when it`s normally two correct-handed individuals doing the work, but I knew I had to take it easy on him; he`s still learning



Yes - even the emergency brake brake caliper was properly cleaned. When you come to us - you`re going to have it all done, and done the right way.




Steel wool (#0000 of course) and a stronger dilution of Meguiar`s All Purpose Cleaner Plus helped the exhaust tips come back to life. Of course the owner is running restrictive exhaust and double cats, so I`m sure they`ll stay clean for a long long time....




While Nate played clean up with the exhaust tips, I got to the door jams and other harder to reach / sometimes over-looked areas.










With many exterior surfaces now cleaned, we could foam down the car to help loosen anything on the paint, as well as neuturalize and remove any chemicals still on the car that weren`t completely flushed.






Wait 5-10 mintues (10 here as the sun wasn`t out to bother us) and flush off!






Then it was time to re-foam and actually wash the car: microfiber mitts were used of course.

[muttgrunt]

Once finally rinsed again, the blower was brought out to assist with drying. In this case, it was only good getting standing water out of hiding places such as the inside of the mirrors as the car wasn`t slick at all (rarely if ever waxed, and lots of contamination needing to be removed with clay) and thus towels truly NEEDED to be used to remove the extremely hard water. Once complete, we pulled the Gallardo inside the garage to continue to work without having to worry is the sun would come out to annoy us.



The garage was also the home to the fuel used to keep this baby going strong - these two 55 gallon drums of racing fuel and another 5 or so 5 gallon jugs.




Claying commenced with Dodo Juice Born Slippy and Detailedimage.com`s fine grade clay on all painted surfaces to include inside the engine bay.



Claying took more than twice as long as expected mainly because of the clear-bra that was installed on the car. The edges of paint protection film is known for causing headaches once dirt begins to get lodged there. Gently claying the edges in very short motions going with the cut of the film was time consuming, but yeilded great results.
Here you can see on the left the dirt layer removed, while on the right side, the line of trapped dirt is very apparent.




Done, the piece doesn`t stand out nearly as bad and blends in much better with the paint.








Another:



Not 100%, but a lot better






Claying complete, a quick rewash removed any film of clay lubricant left behind, and once redried, we could begin masking off the car.




One of the neighbors coming home after a cruise




The owner wanted to clean the paint up, but wasn`t looking for perfection with the car potentially changing hands. He opted for like-new condition rather than better-than-new condition. Here`s how that turned out.




Before: missing clarity, swirls, marring, and overall a more dull look in the paint.



After on the ajacent panel:




Because of the pearl color, Halogens just white-washed everything without providing the needed inspection ability like the Brinkmann Dual LED could provide.



With the clarity of the paint coming back, the color nearly changed infront of our eyes. The orange was BRIGHT BRIGHT orange.








Getting close to finished!




The paint protection film needed to be treated as well (it`s surface is even softer than the paint`s), but needed to be done gently. I switched pads and polish to slowly bring back the clarity which made the film even harder to see.




Nate helped to bring the deep black color of the underside of the hood out using 303 Aerospace protectant on a microfiber applicator. This was done in 5 thin layers.




Being finally done with the hard to reach areas of the engine bay, I could finish polishing with doing the rear bumper and tail lights.

[muttgrunt]

The tails were tinted by one of the best guys in the nation, and couldn`t quickly, easily, or cheaply be redone. I used a light polishing combination to slowly work the surface without allowing too much heat to build up. They came out much better than they started, but I forgot to get direct pics - check the finals for one or two that show the result pretty well with the halogen light hitting it

While I played with the rear end, Nate used NevrDull on the exhaust tips and various other metal pieces inside the engine bay.
Wiped clean, the shine was much better!




Dodo Juice Red Mist Tropical gave the first layer of protection to the paint. In the mean time, Nate applied Optimum Opti-Seal to the wheel faces, calipers, and inside the wheels. The results were really becoming apparent after being at the client`s house for over 9 hours.




I finally went over the entire car with Optimum Opti-seal to include the gas cap, clear bra, and all painted surfaces. Afterwards I treated the honeycomb inserts with Meguiar`s Trim Detail spray while Nate used a microfiber towel to even out the sealant on the wheels to insure perfect coverage without streaking.

The finals:
































Thanks for looking!




A few days later, the owner added these kind words:

Marc,

Thanks a lot for the post. A couple of things I would like to say....

First and foremost, thanks so much for the Autolavish team for coming out and taking the time to detail my car despite the mishap with Jacob`s back issue. I had informed Marc that my schedule is very hectic and that day was the only day I was able to get the car detailed for a while, and he promised me that it will get taken care of. Low and behold, he showed up with Nate who ended up doing a great job as well.

The end result met my expectations at first, but exceeded my expectations AFTER the job was done. Meaning, when I drive the car around now, regardless of how dirty it gets, it seems like one swipe of a microfiber towel and any debris/residue/whatever comes RIGHT off. So not only does the look great now, but it`s keep up to look the same has never been so easy.

In conclusion, I HIGHLY recommend the Autolavish team to perform their work on ANY vehicle, and I can guarantee that their work will not be anything but phenomenal. Thanks so much, Marc and Nate, (and thanks to the forum members for the kind words) and here are some shots from my end:

[Street Dreams]

Awesome awesome work! :cornut:

[Old Pirate]

Great job guy`s, great letter from the owner seals the deal.

[Todd@RUPES]

Great work guys. David F told me there is no work in Michigan, but it looks like you are proving him wrong with a vengeance! Thanks for sharing