The Gloss Boss
You Mirin'?
My dad recently took delivery of a brand new Ford Escape SE with the 2.0 Ecoboost motor. These things have come a long way over the years. My mom had a ’05 model and much has improved. Once he ordered the car I talked to him about getting it coated and he agreed to let me get my hands dirty with it. This was my first go round with a semi-permanent paint coating and I was a little nervous/intimidated. Just ask Nathan/mrclean81, haha. However, common sense and detailing experience prevailed and I successfully applied a coating that not only looks great, but performs to my expectations. I used 3 different coatings on the exterior in order to experiment. I laid a foundation of C1 Crystal Lacquer on the paint and wheels after prepping. I choose to use CQUK on the trim and glass since it seems to be more suited for and safer to apply to those surfaces. The next morning I applied EXOv2 over the C1. For the tires I applied 1 coat of Tuff Shine Tire Clear coat to give it a nice satin finish that matched the trim on the vehicle. In my opinion EXO was much easier to work with than the other two coatings. EXO had a longer play time and was easier to spread around and buff off. I could do the whole hood and both fenders with EXO before it began its “reaction”.
Anyway, here is more on the prep process.
Wheels: IronX, Honeydew Snowfoam, EZ-detail brush, Wheel Woolies round brush, boar’s hair wheel face brush.
Tires: Bleach White, Tuff Shine tire brush
Wheel wells: Snowfoam, generic long handle brush
Prewash; Foamed with Meg’s super degreaser, Dawn, and Honeydew snowfoam. Allowed to dwell and then rinsed.
Main wash: Re-foamed with Snowfoam only, then two bucket wash with snowfoam in my bucket and chenille washmitt.
Decon: IronX and OPT light paint eraser
Polish: M205 on a white LC polishing pad. GG6 Speed 3 and GG3 with cyan pads on speed 3. Paint was a little grabby even after decon, so this is why I decided to buff it. Paint was quite smooth afterwards.
Wipedown: CarPro Eraser. Paint still felt slick after this step so I guess the buffing was needed. I did noticed a little more pop in the paint.
And everyone’s favorite part, pictures.
Wheels were a little dirty and grimy
IronX doing its thang
Car was a little dirty after a few days of driving before I had time to get to this detail.
Foam Cannons make washing fun!
Thoroughly cleaned up and buffed out. Ready for coatings!
Forgot to include the bottle of EXO in this shot. Guess because I didn't apply it till the following morning.
Looking pretty "glassy" after C1 and UK on the trim and windows!
1 coat of Tuff Shine was perfect!
24 hours later....Those beads though.
Some decent sunshots 48 hours after application
Killer reflections for gray!
Total time to prep, polish, and coat was 12 hours. Thanks for looking!
Anyway, here is more on the prep process.
Wheels: IronX, Honeydew Snowfoam, EZ-detail brush, Wheel Woolies round brush, boar’s hair wheel face brush.
Tires: Bleach White, Tuff Shine tire brush
Wheel wells: Snowfoam, generic long handle brush
Prewash; Foamed with Meg’s super degreaser, Dawn, and Honeydew snowfoam. Allowed to dwell and then rinsed.
Main wash: Re-foamed with Snowfoam only, then two bucket wash with snowfoam in my bucket and chenille washmitt.
Decon: IronX and OPT light paint eraser
Polish: M205 on a white LC polishing pad. GG6 Speed 3 and GG3 with cyan pads on speed 3. Paint was a little grabby even after decon, so this is why I decided to buff it. Paint was quite smooth afterwards.
Wipedown: CarPro Eraser. Paint still felt slick after this step so I guess the buffing was needed. I did noticed a little more pop in the paint.
And everyone’s favorite part, pictures.
Wheels were a little dirty and grimy
IronX doing its thang
Car was a little dirty after a few days of driving before I had time to get to this detail.
Foam Cannons make washing fun!
Thoroughly cleaned up and buffed out. Ready for coatings!
Forgot to include the bottle of EXO in this shot. Guess because I didn't apply it till the following morning.
Looking pretty "glassy" after C1 and UK on the trim and windows!
1 coat of Tuff Shine was perfect!
24 hours later....Those beads though.
Some decent sunshots 48 hours after application
Killer reflections for gray!
Total time to prep, polish, and coat was 12 hours. Thanks for looking!
