weekendwarrior
New member
Just as a brief history on this car: I was contacted by this client last year, to detail their Escalade. When I finished the Escalade, the client was so happy, they told me to have a look at their Jaguar. Well, they opened the garage, and what I saw was a car so hammered with buffer trails, I was in disbelief. The client went on to say the previous detailer had done that (I think it was a detailer at the Jag dealer's body shop), and they figured they were stuck with the "swirlies" as they called them. I told them I could definitely make an improvement with the car (I always like to underpromise ;-) ) Well, I corrected the car last year, and they were so thrilled, they then let me correct their SL500, and their Jeep Wrenegade. They have me come out twice a year to polish all 4 cars, and are GREAT Clients.
Flash back to last year...this is how the WHOLE car looked:
And this is a 50/50 shot after my first 2 passes at removing the buffer trails:
So, I went back out and touched the car up today. I was pretty happy with what I saw...basically just wash induced defects from the past 7 or 8 months, since my detail.
I won't bore you with the interior...I simply vacuumed, and wiped down EVERYTHING (leather, dash, etc...) with Optimum's Protectant Plus. This has become my favorite interior protectant, as it can be used on every surface, and leaves a matte look, with no greasey feel. The client has sheep seat covers, but I did use the OPP on the leather underneath. Here's a couple of after shots showing the finish the OPP leaves:
And a better (better lighting) shot:
I polished the metal door plates with M105 and a foam applicator:
Next, I made my way to the trunk. It wasn't bad, just a little dirty:
I pulled the trunk floor out, and detailed the spare tire / battery area. I wiped down everything with an ONR/Water mixture. I then dressed the spare tire with Giovanna Tire Gel (Thanks Angelo and Eric for the 2 bottles you gave me at DF). I hit the spare tire with Opti Seal. After:
And, back went the floor:
I then pulled the car outside for a wash and evaluation. Befores:
It had these pollen tags stuck all over it:
I had gone there with the intention of doing a QEW wash, but figured I would be better to foam it to remove the pollen and pollen tags. I foamed it with Gold Class, on the next to highest setting on the Gilmour Foam Gun:
While the foam was working on the paint, I hit the cloth top with a soft bristled brush. It is important to use a very soft bristled brush on cloth tops, so you don't snag any threads.
I then rinsed, refoamed, and washed the vehicle with a sheep skin mitt, rinsing the mitt in my rinse bucket after each panel. I then foamed the wheels and wells.
This is my homemade brush for getting inside the wheels. You can get 10 of these foam brushes for like $2. I throw the brush out at the end of the detail and get a frest one. Notice that I tape the entire shaft of the screwdriver with duct tape, to avoid it scratching the wheels:
And, the Swissvax brush for the tight areas:
I then rinsed the wheels, wells, and car one more time, and moved it in the garage to dry. I used microfiber drying towels to dry the car.
To be continued...
Flash back to last year...this is how the WHOLE car looked:
And this is a 50/50 shot after my first 2 passes at removing the buffer trails:
So, I went back out and touched the car up today. I was pretty happy with what I saw...basically just wash induced defects from the past 7 or 8 months, since my detail.
I won't bore you with the interior...I simply vacuumed, and wiped down EVERYTHING (leather, dash, etc...) with Optimum's Protectant Plus. This has become my favorite interior protectant, as it can be used on every surface, and leaves a matte look, with no greasey feel. The client has sheep seat covers, but I did use the OPP on the leather underneath. Here's a couple of after shots showing the finish the OPP leaves:
And a better (better lighting) shot:
I polished the metal door plates with M105 and a foam applicator:
Next, I made my way to the trunk. It wasn't bad, just a little dirty:
I pulled the trunk floor out, and detailed the spare tire / battery area. I wiped down everything with an ONR/Water mixture. I then dressed the spare tire with Giovanna Tire Gel (Thanks Angelo and Eric for the 2 bottles you gave me at DF). I hit the spare tire with Opti Seal. After:
And, back went the floor:
I then pulled the car outside for a wash and evaluation. Befores:
It had these pollen tags stuck all over it:
I had gone there with the intention of doing a QEW wash, but figured I would be better to foam it to remove the pollen and pollen tags. I foamed it with Gold Class, on the next to highest setting on the Gilmour Foam Gun:
While the foam was working on the paint, I hit the cloth top with a soft bristled brush. It is important to use a very soft bristled brush on cloth tops, so you don't snag any threads.
I then rinsed, refoamed, and washed the vehicle with a sheep skin mitt, rinsing the mitt in my rinse bucket after each panel. I then foamed the wheels and wells.
This is my homemade brush for getting inside the wheels. You can get 10 of these foam brushes for like $2. I throw the brush out at the end of the detail and get a frest one. Notice that I tape the entire shaft of the screwdriver with duct tape, to avoid it scratching the wheels:
And, the Swissvax brush for the tight areas:
I then rinsed the wheels, wells, and car one more time, and moved it in the garage to dry. I used microfiber drying towels to dry the car.
To be continued...
Nice job David. Great recovery last year on those buffer trails!
)