Zach McGovern
Certified Finest Installer
The owner of this vehicle contacted me late last year because he had noticed that his brand new vehicle was already showing swirls in the paint. We had decided to pursue a one-step correction and then top it with a paint coating to remove the majority of the lighter swirls to really maximize the appearance of the paint, and then top it with a coating to protect the surface and keep it looking nice for a long time.
The paint on this vehicle was some of the softest I have ever encountered. After spending an hour testing various product & pad combinations, I finally dialed in my process and was able to achieve some pretty drastic improvement for a one-stage correction process. This paint pushed my patience to the limits at times, as even my softest towels would leave some marring if I used too much pressure when removing polish... and then I would have to quickly polish that area again. When it was all said and done, the paint looked great. It was an overwhelming bright red that really popped in the sunlight.
Enjoy the pics!
Process
- Tires: Meguiar's D103 (10:1) w/ Tuf Shine Tire Brush
- Wheels: CG Citrus Wash with various brushes/tools and sheepskin mitt
- Wash: CG Citrus Wash
- Decontamination Step 1: IronX
- Decontamination Step 2: Fine Grade Clay with Nanoskin Glide (10:1) as lube
- Paint Thickness Readings Taken
- Taped Off Trim & Emblems Where Needed
- Correction Process: Menzerna SF4500 on White LC pad via Rupes LHR21ES (5.5" pads) and Rupes LHR75E (3" & 4" pads)
- Coating Surface Prep Step 1: Diluted IPA (~20% solution)
- Coating Surface Prep Step 2: Citrus Wash Foam Soak
- Coating Surface Prep Step 3: Eraser Wipe Down
- Coating Application: CQuartz UK
- Coating Cured in Sunlight
- Coating topped with Reload
- Tires: CarPro PERL
Before
The car arrived fairly clean with just some light dirt and water spots
There was literally no ground clearance on this car... time to get started with the wash.
During
As always, wheels were first. I started by cleaning the barrels of the wheels.
Next I moved onto the faces of the wheels
and finally cleaned up the lug nuts and bore
The vehicle was then degreased, carefully washed, and then blown dry with the Master Blaster
Once the paint was clean, I was able to inspect the condition of the paint. It was definitely in worse shape than you would hope a vehicle with only 3500 miles would be.
The next morning I was able to pull the car out into the sun to truly reveal the condition of the paint. There were a lot of swirls covering the entire vehicle. Significantly more than you would expect for a relatively new car.... this should have been my first clue that I was going to be dealing with soft paint.
After a lot of testing, I dialed in my process and due to the very soft paint, was able to achieve very good correction.
Hood before polishing
Hood after polishing
How about that gloss & depth!
50/50 shot on the pillar
50/50 shot on the door
The paint on this vehicle was some of the softest I have ever encountered. After spending an hour testing various product & pad combinations, I finally dialed in my process and was able to achieve some pretty drastic improvement for a one-stage correction process. This paint pushed my patience to the limits at times, as even my softest towels would leave some marring if I used too much pressure when removing polish... and then I would have to quickly polish that area again. When it was all said and done, the paint looked great. It was an overwhelming bright red that really popped in the sunlight.
Enjoy the pics!
Process
- Tires: Meguiar's D103 (10:1) w/ Tuf Shine Tire Brush
- Wheels: CG Citrus Wash with various brushes/tools and sheepskin mitt
- Wash: CG Citrus Wash
- Decontamination Step 1: IronX
- Decontamination Step 2: Fine Grade Clay with Nanoskin Glide (10:1) as lube
- Paint Thickness Readings Taken
- Taped Off Trim & Emblems Where Needed
- Correction Process: Menzerna SF4500 on White LC pad via Rupes LHR21ES (5.5" pads) and Rupes LHR75E (3" & 4" pads)
- Coating Surface Prep Step 1: Diluted IPA (~20% solution)
- Coating Surface Prep Step 2: Citrus Wash Foam Soak
- Coating Surface Prep Step 3: Eraser Wipe Down
- Coating Application: CQuartz UK
- Coating Cured in Sunlight
- Coating topped with Reload
- Tires: CarPro PERL
Before
The car arrived fairly clean with just some light dirt and water spots
There was literally no ground clearance on this car... time to get started with the wash.
During
As always, wheels were first. I started by cleaning the barrels of the wheels.
Next I moved onto the faces of the wheels
and finally cleaned up the lug nuts and bore
The vehicle was then degreased, carefully washed, and then blown dry with the Master Blaster
Once the paint was clean, I was able to inspect the condition of the paint. It was definitely in worse shape than you would hope a vehicle with only 3500 miles would be.
The next morning I was able to pull the car out into the sun to truly reveal the condition of the paint. There were a lot of swirls covering the entire vehicle. Significantly more than you would expect for a relatively new car.... this should have been my first clue that I was going to be dealing with soft paint.
After a lot of testing, I dialed in my process and due to the very soft paint, was able to achieve very good correction.
Hood before polishing
Hood after polishing
How about that gloss & depth!
50/50 shot on the pillar
50/50 shot on the door
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