Getting the Tacoma ready for winter...

budman3

Detail time!
Up to the plate this weekend was the Tacoma and since it was a long, warm weekend, I decided it’d be best to get a head start on winter prep. I last time that I detailed it was in May and all I did then was clay, SSR1, JW AJ and some AW & OCW side by side. This combo lasted very well throughout the summer. There were some random deep swirls here and some very minor water spotting which I wanted to remove this time around. Polish of choice was Menzerna Nano Polish 106ff, with a 5.5” orange lo-profile pad with the UDM on 6. I normally don’t use light cut pads because of their abrasiveness. I knew if I used the 106ff I’d still be able to be LSP ready and I really wanted those random swirls gone. However, they still remained… this is only the 4th time that the truck has been polished in 30 months and I still don’t want to get overly aggressive yet. I’ll live with the random swirl here and there that are left and be happy with the amount of clear left and more importantly the shine.

Process:
Wash- Gold Class, Ulti-Mitt, dried w/ guzzler
Polish- Menzerna Nano 106ff, 5.5” orange pad, UDM, speed 6
LSP- Jeffs Werkstatt Acrylic Jet, UDM finishing pad
- 24 hours later Collinite 845 by hand w/ PB MF applicator

I don’t have any outside before pictures … there wasn’t much to see anyways ….
All taped up:
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Swirl detection w/ Brinkmann w/ lights off:
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Swirl detection with halogens:
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Amount of 106ff used on 2x2 area (no primer):
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2x2 area before (ok, its 20” x 26”):
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106ff spread on the panel, machine off:
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106ff ready to be removed = fully broken down, 2-3 minutes:
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Side by side after:
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Both side polished, note deep swirl:
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And I think the only negative to 106ff:
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I wasn’t planning on doing the full treatment to the Tacoma this weekend so I didn’t wash the tires or wheels when I did the rest of the truck. No big deal. The tires have several coats of Klasse SG so a little Poorboy’s Spray and Wipe and they were clean. The wheel wells also got S&W and then were dressed with Stoner’s Trim Shine. The tires were fairly dirty and I would normally use Poorboy’s Bold and Bright because BnB not only shines and protects the tires, it also cleans it as well. But I figured I’d give Surf City’s Tire Dressing a shot on these tires. The application of the dressing was a major pain but the results are worth it. IMO Surf City products are very nice but their tops aren’t that great. The metal polish one leaked even when closed and the tire shine is so liquidy it’s almost impossible to get it on an applicator without making a mess. I tried a trigger sprayer in the bottle and it worked very well, so the tire shine in a trigger form would be a great thing to see from Surf City. None the less, the results are outstanding. The tires are not greasy at all, they are clean, they hold a nice shine and are deep deep black.

Before:
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Wheels and wells cleaned, tires dressed:
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Wells w/ Trim Shine:
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The engine wasn’t that bad at all, just a little dusty. I wiped everything down with a terry cloth towel and then applied some CD2 engine detailer, let sit and wiped excess off with a terry towel. Don’t mind the lint from the terry towel in the after pictures … I’m guessing that I shouldn’t have wiped off the excess, but it still looks good.

Before:
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After:
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Now that the minor details were done, I applied Poorboy’s Trim Restorer to all plastic pieces and the windows were cleaned with Stoner’s Invisible Glass. The AJ / 845 combo looks great and should last a very long time!

Random afters:
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Roof panel:
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Flake shots:
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Silver is pretty hard to make look impressive. This is a new combo for me and I think the Jeffs Werkstatt looks better than Klasse SG. I’m thinking the Tacoma may need a coat or two of Natty’s Red tonight … along with some OCW…

Questions, comments, concerns??
 
A comment on the "deep swirl" - I have an 07 4Runner in the same color, and that paint is awfully soft. When I first got it I was doing the ole clay routine and scratched (softly I might add) with my fingernail at a glob of tar. You guessed it, a rather large marr that took some time to remove. It's been a couple of months now, and it's still as soft as ever.
 
A comment on the "deep swirl" - I have an 07 4Runner in the same color, and that paint is awfully soft. When I first got it I was doing the ole clay routine and scratched (softly I might add) with my fingernail at a glob of tar. You guessed it, a rather large marr that took some time to remove. It's been a couple of months now, and it's still as soft as ever.

It surely doesn't take much at all. I've heard of a lot of people complaining that the paint is not only soft, but this as well. I guess a lot of people have gotten a lot of rock chips. Thankfully there are only 2-3 minor chips, one deep scratch (1/4" long), and one small ding. Other than that and those darn swirls, the paint is flawless :cool:
 
My wifes Sequoia which is a 2001 (also silver) has held up quite nicely and has very few rock chips. The paint has held up better then my Murano which is three years younger.

The Tacoma looks great...to bad that winter is around the corner.
 
Yep, there was a lot of rock chipping issues going on right as the 05's came out. Lots of people got repaints out of it, at least from Southeast Toyota. Or so I heard.....
 
Thanks for the thread with the pictures and comments. Guess my detailing eye has gotten lazy these last few months. I just don't see the swirls. I should be so lucky to have a swirled truck such as yours.

The truck looks great!!
 
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