Flannigan
New member
Hey guys. Today I had a correction job scheduled on a Southern Comfort Edition Chevy Avalanche. I had never seen this specific model before, but it was pretty cool. This edition includes the custom faded paint, color matched trim, 20" chrome wheels, as well as several interior upgrade.
This vehicle hadn't seen a real detail in all it's life. It was by no means in terrible shape, but it did need some TLC. As usual I started off with the wheel, wheel wells, and tires. The wheels were cleaned with Wolfs Decon Gel and then polished and sealed with Collinite Metal Wax. There was a bit of pitting in the chrome that couldn't be removed, but nothing too bad. The tires and wells were cleaned with Blackfire APC 3:1. The tires were dressed with Blackfire Tire Gel and the wells dressed with CG Bare Bones.
Before:
After:
Next up I turned my attention the the paint. The vehicle was pretty dirty, but nothing crazy. There was a thick layer of dust on most of the paint (in the first picture you can see the mark from someone who touched the paint in the dust). Also there was a good bit of gunk built up in the body seams and between the trim.
As usual I started by foaming the vehicle with Meguiars Gold Class with some Blackfire APC added for good measure. While the foam dwelled I spent some time agitating the body seams, trim, and fuel filler area with a Raceglaze Brush. This made sure that nothing would be left behind after the wash stage.
After the foam was rinsed the vehicle was washed with Blackfire Soap and a Griots MF Wash Pad. The paint felt very rough so it was then clayed with an Ultima Clay Block and CG Luber for lube. I then used Wolfs Decon Gel on the paint to remove any left over iron deposits. There wasn't much left, but a few small spots of purple did appear.
The vehicle was then washed again to remove the residue and dried with a few WW MF towels. Now that it is clean and dry we can take a look at the defects in the paint. It was touch to capture the defects in the lighter shade, but they are very obvious in the darker sections.
After a few test spots, a two step approach was decided on. The first step was Menzerna FG 500 on a Yellow BS pad via athe Dewalt 849x rotary polisher. This combo removed about 90%+ of the defects, and actually left a near LSP ready finish. I did however want to improve the clarity a bit so I followed the first step up with Menzerna 106fa on a green BS pad on the Meguiars G110V2 DA machine. Here are a few sun shots showing the correction. Very few rids remained behind, pretty much everything was removed. The paint was on the hard side, as with most GM paint, but the Mernzerna polishes had no problem with it.
The LSP of choice today was Autoglym HD Wax. Two coats of this wax were applied by hand a few hours apart to ensure even coverage. Here are a few reflection shots after the LSP was applied. At first I didn't think I liked the color scheme on this vehicle, but after it was all finished up I really started to dig it.
Finally the glass was cleaned with Auto Finesse Crystal, the trim was dressed with Auto Finesse Revive and the rest of the chrome trim was polished with Collinite Metal Wax. Here are some final pictures.
That about does it. While the Avalanche isn't a rare vehicle, it was pretty cool to work on one with the Southern Comfort package on it. As I mentioned I really like how the paint looks when it is all cleaned up. So thanks for looking, and I look forward to your feedback!
This vehicle hadn't seen a real detail in all it's life. It was by no means in terrible shape, but it did need some TLC. As usual I started off with the wheel, wheel wells, and tires. The wheels were cleaned with Wolfs Decon Gel and then polished and sealed with Collinite Metal Wax. There was a bit of pitting in the chrome that couldn't be removed, but nothing too bad. The tires and wells were cleaned with Blackfire APC 3:1. The tires were dressed with Blackfire Tire Gel and the wells dressed with CG Bare Bones.
Before:
After:
Next up I turned my attention the the paint. The vehicle was pretty dirty, but nothing crazy. There was a thick layer of dust on most of the paint (in the first picture you can see the mark from someone who touched the paint in the dust). Also there was a good bit of gunk built up in the body seams and between the trim.
As usual I started by foaming the vehicle with Meguiars Gold Class with some Blackfire APC added for good measure. While the foam dwelled I spent some time agitating the body seams, trim, and fuel filler area with a Raceglaze Brush. This made sure that nothing would be left behind after the wash stage.
After the foam was rinsed the vehicle was washed with Blackfire Soap and a Griots MF Wash Pad. The paint felt very rough so it was then clayed with an Ultima Clay Block and CG Luber for lube. I then used Wolfs Decon Gel on the paint to remove any left over iron deposits. There wasn't much left, but a few small spots of purple did appear.
The vehicle was then washed again to remove the residue and dried with a few WW MF towels. Now that it is clean and dry we can take a look at the defects in the paint. It was touch to capture the defects in the lighter shade, but they are very obvious in the darker sections.
After a few test spots, a two step approach was decided on. The first step was Menzerna FG 500 on a Yellow BS pad via athe Dewalt 849x rotary polisher. This combo removed about 90%+ of the defects, and actually left a near LSP ready finish. I did however want to improve the clarity a bit so I followed the first step up with Menzerna 106fa on a green BS pad on the Meguiars G110V2 DA machine. Here are a few sun shots showing the correction. Very few rids remained behind, pretty much everything was removed. The paint was on the hard side, as with most GM paint, but the Mernzerna polishes had no problem with it.
The LSP of choice today was Autoglym HD Wax. Two coats of this wax were applied by hand a few hours apart to ensure even coverage. Here are a few reflection shots after the LSP was applied. At first I didn't think I liked the color scheme on this vehicle, but after it was all finished up I really started to dig it.
Finally the glass was cleaned with Auto Finesse Crystal, the trim was dressed with Auto Finesse Revive and the rest of the chrome trim was polished with Collinite Metal Wax. Here are some final pictures.
That about does it. While the Avalanche isn't a rare vehicle, it was pretty cool to work on one with the Southern Comfort package on it. As I mentioned I really like how the paint looks when it is all cleaned up. So thanks for looking, and I look forward to your feedback!
