Starting the year with some American Muscle! 2013 ZL1 Polished & Coated

[zmcgovern45]

This vehicle belongs to a returning client who had purchased this Camaro recently. We decided on a one step correction process to remove the majority of the swirls in the paint to create a deep, wet looking shine. The paint was then protected with Americana Car Care's Americoat Acrylic paint coating for added protection and ease of maintenance. In the end, the car looked great. We were able to achieve a good amount of correction for just one step, and made a great improvement to the appearance of the vehicle.


**note: the front end was not worked on at this time as the bumper was just painted**




It is technically Spring, however we were working in temps near freezing for the majority of this project. Hopefully temps will get back up to normal before our next project (another Camaro).








Process


Tires: Tuf Shine Tire Cleaner & Tire Brush
Wheels: Citrus Wash, Wheel Woolies, Boars Hair Brushes
Wash: ONR
Decontaminate: Nanoskin Fine Grade Wash Mitt with Nanoskin Glide
Paint Thickness Readings with Defelsko PosiTest Combo Gauge
Tape Trim & Areas of Concern with CarPro Automotive Tape
Correction: HD Adapt on White Lake Country Polishing Pads via Rupes LHR21ES, Rupes LHR75E, and Griot's Garage 3rd Gen
Surface Prep: CarPro Eraser
Paint Protection: Americoat Acrylic Coating
Tire Dressing: CarPro PERL
Wheel Sealant: CarPro HydrO2
Metal Polish: CG Metal Polish
Glass: Meguiar's D120
Trim: 303 Aerospace Protectant








Before


Inspecting the car before we got started. Swirls and scratches were clearly visible on all surfaces.

The wheels were not too bad, but needed some cleaning. The satin black finish also showed signs of improper care as there were stains that indicated a harsh cleaner may have been used in the past.

During




We began by cleaning the tires. They were covered in a greasy tire dressing and plenty of dirt. Notice the grime that is running off of the tires as the tire cleaner goes to work.

Once the rubber was clean, we began cleaning the wheels with a gentle soap and water solution

The wheels were then sealed with CarPro HydrO2

After the paint was thoroughly cleaned and decontaminated, the car was brought inside for further inspection. The paint looked considerably worse after it had been properly cleaned and the bare paint was revealed.

Rotary holograms were found on several panels

Swirls appeared to be rather deep

Etched water spots were found on most horizontal surfaces

Our test spot yielded a sizeable improvement. The paint is now mostly defect free and a much deeper shade of red.

Video of the test spot

Carbon fiber before corection.

Carbon Fiber before correction

Carbon Fiber after correction

50/50 on quarter panel under ambient lighting showing the dramatic color difference. The orignal conidition now appears quite dull in comparrison.

Fender before correction

Fender After correction

Door Before Correction

Door After Correction

Quarter Panel Before Correction

Quarter Panel After Correction

 

[zmcgovern45]

A close up of the metallic paint

Matt focusing in on the gorgeous carbon fiber detail on the hood

Car looked great after correction was complete. It was then wiped down with CarPro Eraser and was ready for coating.

Americoat was applied to all painted surfaces.

The coating was then baked to accelerate curing and to promote higher surface hardness.

While the coating was curing I started cleaning the exhaust tipes. There were not too dirty to start with.

They cleaned up quickly and easily with some metal polish

Rear end looking good

After


The car looked great afterwards. The paint was deep and very glossy

Swirls were greatly reduced, and the paint glowed in the sunlight

Loved this carbon accent on the hood

As always, thanks for reading!

 

[ShaneB]

Spectacular work! I really gotta get a rupes, blown away how well that cut and finished with adapt on a white polishing pad

 

[House of Wax]

Hell of a difference in the shade of Red. Awesome job

 

[The Guz]

Looks fantastic. Americoat looks really nice. Makes the car looks like it's dipped in glass.

 

[zmcgovern45]

Spectacular work! I really gotta get a rupes, blown away how well that cut and finished with adapt on a white polishing pad

Thanks! The Rupes machines have worked great for us over the past couple of years. Love the mini Rupes!

Hell of a difference in the shade of Red. Awesome job

Thanks! It was a truly different color afterwards.

Looks fantastic. Americoat looks really nice. Makes the car looks like it's dipped in glass.

Thanks! Americoat isn't in our typical lineup of coating products, but we figured it was fitting on this American beauty.

 

[zmcgovern45]

More pics...

 

[Pats300zx]

Great stuff Zach. Pretty impressive for a one step with Adapt. I can't wait to give my bottle a try.

 

[broker99]

The car looks outstanding. I think that might be one of GM tint coats. Did you see any paint on the pad? I did a vette awhile back with tint coat. Scared me to death when i saw paint on the pad at first.

 

[Ronkh]

hhmmmm, my comment from before didn't show up

Beautiful work !! (as always)

 

[zmcgovern45]

Great stuff Zach. Pretty impressive for a one step with Adapt. I can't wait to give my bottle a try.

Thanks!

The car looks outstanding. I think that might be one of GM tint coats. Did you see any paint on the pad? I did a vette awhile back with tint coat. Scared me to death when i saw paint on the pad at first.

Thank you... this was not a tinted clear. We've done 2 of these Camaro's and neither showed any color transfer.

hhmmmm, my comment from before didn't show up

Beautiful work !! (as always)

Your other post is on AGO lol

Thank you, sir!

 

[Ronkh]

Thanks!


Thank you... this was not a tinted clear. We've done 2 of these Camaro's and neither showed any color transfer.

Your other post is on AGO lol

Thank you, sir!

oops

 

[MooreImpressive]

had one of these in the shop last summer for a few weeks (we also store cars for clients when they need it temporarily.) It was for our best dealer client who is also a very cool guy in general. this one had been sent to Lingenfelter straight from the dealership to have the engine redone, seats removed, roll cage installed, etc...engine was right at 1,000 horsepower and about 875 at the wheels. our shop is the last building on a dead end road, but the road extends about 1/8 mile past our shop, so we pretty much use that as our drag strip on occasion. long story short, the car is virtually undriveable on regular roads with street tires. the back end was coming around on every gear, you couldn't keep the tires locked on the road at all. also the meanest sounding car I have ever heard outside of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (I live in Indy). thing was just nuts.

 

[zmcgovern45]

had one of these in the shop last summer for a few weeks (we also store cars for clients when they need it temporarily.) It was for our best dealer client who is also a very cool guy in general. this one had been sent to Lingenfelter straight from the dealership to have the engine redone, seats removed, roll cage installed, etc...engine was right at 1,000 horsepower and about 875 at the wheels. our shop is the last building on a dead end road, but the road extends about 1/8 mile past our shop, so we pretty much use that as our drag strip on occasion. long story short, the car is virtually undriveable on regular roads with street tires. the back end was coming around on every gear, you couldn't keep the tires locked on the road at all. also the meanest sounding car I have ever heard outside of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (I live in Indy). thing was just nuts.

lol this one is bone stock and it still gets completely sideways when you stomp on the gas... can't imagine what a built model would be like. Definitely a fun car.