This is one of my older details that I had done, but forgot all about doing a write up on it. This job was over 25+ hours over the course of 2 1/2 days and I was just bout ready to slit my wrist half way through, lol. The GM clear coat is so hard, it's like trying to cut a Diamond sometimes.


This Escalade came to me in pretty rough shape and I only had 2 days to complete. Lets begin, and see how it turns out on todays episode of Tru Life: I'm a detailer


Here is what i was brought





















First the wheels and tires and Fender wells were cleaned with APC and Diablo wheel gel using various brushes









Then I foamed down the Escalade with my Karcher Foam gun and Karcher pressure washer







The Foam really helps breakdown and suspend the dirt up off of the vehicle keeping it from causing more harm to the paint.

I left the foam to dwell for a bit to help "roll off" some of the dirt with it.





I ended washing the truck 2-3 times to get all of the grime out of all the concealed areas. it was Mitt Washed using the 2 bucket method and then rinsed thoroughly.




After all of the dirt was finally washed away, here is what the paint really looked like.







Next was getting it prepped and clayed, It was pretty bad, more then likely has never been clayed, this was just after one half of the hood. I had to fold the clay bar numerous times on this one.



Now lets check out the paint close up and see what we have.



I did a test spot on the front fender and dived right into it using the Purple foamed wool pad with M105 on the FLEX 3401.



This clear coat was rock hard. I knew I was in for some late nights with this one. It took about 4-5 passes to get to the level I was looking for.



So I started making my way down the driver side using this combo.



Here is the sun beaming through the garage door window



here it is after cutting the door



This is the hood 50/50 shot








And this is the rear hatch before and after










to remove all of the crud in between all the emblems. I used M105 on a Cue-tip.





So lets use the magic of time and skip to the Finals. after compounding the paint was polished using M205 and the Tangerine Hydro tech pad. then the paint was sealed using Black Fire Wet Diamond.

here are the finals.



















Thanks for viewing, Have a blessed day!

 

Simply unbelievable.

With the clear being so hard, wouldn't that make it less susceptible to marring and damage?

 

man it looks great and i cant wait til i get to your level

 

Almost crazy to see how well it turned out compared to the state it was in when it was brought to you.

 

you do some amazing work sir

 

Very nice job, came out looking new!

 

this came out perfect, good ****

 

For a job like that, do you charge by the hour or a flat rate?

 

you would think, but when people have these things, no one wants to wash them by hand properly, so lots of brushes or automated car washes do this for them?

LOT's and Lots of studying, just keep your goal in front of you and you will get there. just dont take short cuts, even if your not getting paid enough. in the long run it will come back to you.

Thanks everyone. more to come. Lots of cool cars getting scheduled

 

why not just use a rotary for the 105 with a hard clear coat and that level of damage?

 

either way it's a battle to level out these GM clear coats, and if I chose to Rotary cut it then it makes it harder to do the polishing stage. I just prefere how the Flex and PFW cut so nicley but finish down so smooth and then all that is left is easy polishing. and then there are NO chance or buffer trails and holograms in the paint when I am done. a lot comes into factor but both Rotary and FLEX have a tough time cutting it. but the flex leaves such a smooth finish rather then a lot of deep swirls with the rotary that you have to deal with. I have a new method that I will be trying out now. the same DA and pad I used on the Impala. But we will see on the 23rd. I have another Black tahoe scheduled

 

wow,, my biggest question is how did it get that much swirl in it anyway?

 

danm.. i bet this car was smelling pretty good at the end too, wasn't it?!

Good job!

 

damn I need this done as of yesterday. Great stuff!

 

Wow that is an amazing job!