C
C. Charles Hahn
Guest
A member of the Hellcat.org forum who is also very active in the Michigan Mopar Muscle Club contacted me a month or so ago regarding CQuartz Finest for his new Challenger; after some weather delays (thanks for the long nasty winter, Michigan!) he delivered the car late last week on a trailer.
With only 33 miles on the odometer and having never been touched by the dealership, this cat's paint was in very good shape overall, save for a handful of minor issues:
This meant that the car would need very little in the way of paint correction (a pleasant surprise compared to what some have faced); a simple one-step polish would rectify the minor marring and enhance gloss prior to the application of three coats of CQuartz Finest. We'll get to that in a bit.
First up, attention was turned to the interior, which had become soiled during shipping and storage:
Although the owner requested that remaining factory labels and decals be carefully preserved in place, there was some residue from the factory window sticker (which had already been removed) which would require some attention:
A simple vacuuming and wipe down with a mixture of waterless/rinseless wash concentrate and distilled water left all surfaces clean and fresh, without affecting the appearance of materials or finishes, and leaving the "new car smell" intact.
With the interior fully dialed in to "assembly line fresh" condition, attention was turned back to the exterior. The owner dropped off an extra pair of wheels wrapped in Nitto drag radials to be cleaned up and coated for easier removal of brake dust, tar, and rubber deposits accumulated on the strip.
After carefully stripping away the layers of mounting lubricant and mold release agents, the wheels were coated with Finest. These tires were left in their clean, natural rubber state (not dressed).
Next on the list were the remaining wheels, wheel liners, and suspension. All were slated to receive a thorough cleaning, and the brake calipers, liners, and wheel barrels were all coated with CarPro DLUX, intended to provide long lasting good looks and make clean-up after driving much easier by preventing grime from sticking. A heavy duty floor jack and stand were used to raise the car to working height.
Due to production and transport during the winter, these areas were looking rather soiled:
Attention with an industrial-grade vapor steam cleaner brought them back up to a proper standard:
An added bonus of having the wheels removed was the ability to fully access the Brembo brake calipers, which were hand polished prior to being coated with DLUX:
With the wheels and tires fully cleaned, coated, and dressed, the entire assembly (with wheels properly torqued to the 111 ft-lb. spec, of course) presents as fresh and crisp as the SRT designers and engineers intended:
The entire process was repeated for the front wheels as well; and as a side note, the 15.4" rotors and 6-piston calipers are MASSIVE! As impressive as they are with the wheels mounted, seeing them bare was quite a sight...
With all of the interior and undercarriage cleaning tasks out of the way, attention could be returned to the paint. After carrying out a "rinseless" wash and going over the paint with a clay bar to remove any bonded contaminants from the finish, trim areas were carefully masked off to prevent damage, and in the case of the hood vents to prevent any polish splatter or dust from entering the engine bay:
Due to the very minor defects noted earlier, a single polishing step consisting of a fine grade finishing polish (intended to remove as little material as possible) was carried out to enhance gloss in preparation for three coats of CQuartz Finest. The results after polishing were as follows:
After the coating was applied and allowed time to properly cure, it was time to reveal the results to a very happy owner. The metallic/pearl in the Redline Red really pops under the sun, as you can see:
Thanks for looking!
With only 33 miles on the odometer and having never been touched by the dealership, this cat's paint was in very good shape overall, save for a handful of minor issues:
This meant that the car would need very little in the way of paint correction (a pleasant surprise compared to what some have faced); a simple one-step polish would rectify the minor marring and enhance gloss prior to the application of three coats of CQuartz Finest. We'll get to that in a bit.
First up, attention was turned to the interior, which had become soiled during shipping and storage:
Although the owner requested that remaining factory labels and decals be carefully preserved in place, there was some residue from the factory window sticker (which had already been removed) which would require some attention:
A simple vacuuming and wipe down with a mixture of waterless/rinseless wash concentrate and distilled water left all surfaces clean and fresh, without affecting the appearance of materials or finishes, and leaving the "new car smell" intact.
With the interior fully dialed in to "assembly line fresh" condition, attention was turned back to the exterior. The owner dropped off an extra pair of wheels wrapped in Nitto drag radials to be cleaned up and coated for easier removal of brake dust, tar, and rubber deposits accumulated on the strip.
After carefully stripping away the layers of mounting lubricant and mold release agents, the wheels were coated with Finest. These tires were left in their clean, natural rubber state (not dressed).
Next on the list were the remaining wheels, wheel liners, and suspension. All were slated to receive a thorough cleaning, and the brake calipers, liners, and wheel barrels were all coated with CarPro DLUX, intended to provide long lasting good looks and make clean-up after driving much easier by preventing grime from sticking. A heavy duty floor jack and stand were used to raise the car to working height.
Due to production and transport during the winter, these areas were looking rather soiled:
Attention with an industrial-grade vapor steam cleaner brought them back up to a proper standard:
An added bonus of having the wheels removed was the ability to fully access the Brembo brake calipers, which were hand polished prior to being coated with DLUX:
With the wheels and tires fully cleaned, coated, and dressed, the entire assembly (with wheels properly torqued to the 111 ft-lb. spec, of course) presents as fresh and crisp as the SRT designers and engineers intended:
The entire process was repeated for the front wheels as well; and as a side note, the 15.4" rotors and 6-piston calipers are MASSIVE! As impressive as they are with the wheels mounted, seeing them bare was quite a sight...
With all of the interior and undercarriage cleaning tasks out of the way, attention could be returned to the paint. After carrying out a "rinseless" wash and going over the paint with a clay bar to remove any bonded contaminants from the finish, trim areas were carefully masked off to prevent damage, and in the case of the hood vents to prevent any polish splatter or dust from entering the engine bay:
Due to the very minor defects noted earlier, a single polishing step consisting of a fine grade finishing polish (intended to remove as little material as possible) was carried out to enhance gloss in preparation for three coats of CQuartz Finest. The results after polishing were as follows:
After the coating was applied and allowed time to properly cure, it was time to reveal the results to a very happy owner. The metallic/pearl in the Redline Red really pops under the sun, as you can see:
Thanks for looking!
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