This client drove all the way down from Colorado for me to polish his paint and I think you'll find the process to be informative and the results outstanding. The client told me that he was out of superlatives to describe his happiness and joy in seeing his car being transformed. :thumbup1:

So let's get started. I originally posted these images on my FaceBook ShowCarDetailing Fan page. There are additional comments there if you want to have a look.

Wash was ONR
Clay lube was Meguiar's Last Touch
Clay was Meguiar's C2000 Mild
Main Polish used was Prima Swirl.
Finish Polish was Prima Amigo
Wax was Prima Epic synthetic polymer
Polishers used included Makita rotary, PC 7424XP, Metabo SXE-400
Total work time was about 30 hours spread over 3 days.
These chemicals are available at www.ShowCarSupplies.com








Some holograms

Some more holograms


Vinyl goes over clear bra protection




Brought inside the shop for washing and prep.


Going to use ONR and two bucket wash method with a presoak.


For the presoak I spray ONR on with this pressure sprayer. I used refilled the bottle once for the entire car.


Presoak to soften the dirt/contamination


Using Meguiar's Tire Foam

 

Rinsing with distilled water using the Nomad


All Finished with the wheels and tires


Time for some clay

 

 

 

A quick check outside to see how the progress is coming. So far it's just been rough polished.


















Looks finished but still a lot of work to do!

 

 

My client accidentally induced scratches on his engine bay cover so I polished them out

First I removed the cover using some vacuum lifters

 

Now it's all finished!






















The client was super pleased about how his car turned out saying that he had never seen it look so good before.

He posted on the Planet-9 forum the following:
"I am currently having my '06 Cayman S detailed by Richard Lin, and at this time--even before the final product is completed!--the results are nothing short of amazing. Richard's work is an art form for him, and I have observed his mastery. The swirls, holograms and small scratches have been eliminated through multiple wash and polish steps, and he has revealed (even before wax) a metallic blue Cobalt unlike any I've ever seen or imagined. In short, I believe the paint to be better than it was showroom new...it's that good! On an personal level, Richard has provided excellent customer service. His communication skills are clearly a strong suit, and he willingly imparts knowledge and advice about process and product. He is also gracious and generous, having invited me to dinner at his sports bar and grill in Corona, CA. I have traveled from Denver, CO, to have this work done and I can say without hesitation or any equivocation there's no doubt it was worth it. Highest recommendation."

 

So did he have it trailered back? It would be a shame to get it dirty again just getting it home.

 

Nope, he drove it down to me and drove it back! I showed him how to wash it safely. The bugs won't stick and even when he brought the car down, it was only covered in dust, there weren't many bugs or other contaminants.

 

nice job.

i saw COBALT and i was like, why waste the time?? thinking you were detailing the pre-cool GM garbage. now a days i can understand people detailing their caddies and camaro's and etc.

 

very nice, was that new ONR formula ? I really want to try some of the new stuff but I still have 1/2 a gallon of the old formula. Maybe I need to go wash all the cars in my parking garage to use it up !

 

Nice! Looks great. I wish it didn't have the vinyl on the sides though

 

It's the current formula I believe (probably not the newest one). I know they've done a bunch of label changes across the line. I'm actually going to be hanging out with the ONR guys in a couple weeks in Florida for DetailFest and I'm sure I'll be bringing back some goodies.

Haha comments on the vinyl are split 50/50. Some people love it, and others hate it, But for some reason, more women hate it. The client was telling me he was at a Fat Burger and parked his car in front, and an admiring couple walked by not knowing he was the owner and gawked at it. She commented..boy that vinyl sure is ugly......I like it. It goes well with the theme of his car with the aluminum trim on the front.

 

.

He posted on the Planet-9 forum the following:
"I am currently having my '06 Cayman S detailed by Richard Lin, and at this time--even before the final product is completed!--the results are nothing short of amazing. Richard's work is an art form for him, and I have observed his mastery. The swirls, holograms and small scratches have been eliminated through multiple wash and polish steps, and he has revealed (even before wax) a metallic blue Cobalt unlike any I've ever seen or imagined. In short, I believe the paint to be better than it was showroom new...it's that good! On an personal level, Richard has provided excellent customer service. His communication skills are clearly a strong suit, and he willingly imparts knowledge and advice about process and product. He is also gracious and generous, having invited me to dinner at his sports bar and grill in Corona, CA. I have traveled from Denver, CO, to have this work done and I can say without hesitation or any equivocation there's no doubt it was worth it. Highest recommendation."[/quote]


Those are some great warm and fuzzies. Awesome job.

 

the new formula has a little gold sticker on the bottle that says "new formula" or something to that effect.

Being that you are in SoCal with the water restrictions and what-not have your tried any of the new generation of Waterless wash products ?

 

I've been using QEW and ONR for awhile now. I've gotten around water restrictions by using bottled distilled water in my Nomad pressure washers. I don't wash cars every day. At most I was twice a week, two cars a week and it's not every week. ONR allows me to use even less, but I'm still convincing myself that its safe to use. Btw, ONR isn't waterless. It's rinseless, unless you are referring to other products??

Chemical Guys has a waterless product that's basically a quick detailer with carnauba wax in it to fill in the scratches that you instill. It smells wonderful, but I don't use it on any customer cars. I still even feel a bit wary with ONR unless I know I'm going to be polishing. Like I said, I'm still convincing myself this is just as safe as traditional washing.

What waterless products are you referring to?

 

I've been using chemical guys eco-smart, it seems to be ok, a little weak on cleaning power. But the concentrate is a good deal. I got a bottle of HD Free and the cleaning power is great, but the cost is quite a bit Higher than the CG stuff. I have been cleaning the dirtiest areas with the HD Free and the not so dirty areas with the CG ecosmart.

Just wondering if you had tried any of the waterless washes and found something that worked really well and didnt cost a fortune.

 

Oh ok. I haven't done much testing on these products yet. ONR in higher concentrations as a presoak followed by flooding the surfaces with ONR in wash concentrations using the two bucket method is what I'm doing now. It works pretty well, and I'm using about half a gallon of solution for presoak and 4 gallons for the two buckets.

 

word on that street is that Optimum is coming out with a waterless wash, maybe that will be the waterless wash product I have been searching for.

 

Like I said, I will be hanging out with them for a couple days at the end of the month to discuss their products..so if you don't hear anything about it by then, I should have info to pass along.

 

cool thanks. let me know what you hear, or if you find another product or process that works well for you.

good talking with you

 

Beautiful car that deserved your royal treatment. Great results and was well worth his drive over. Thank you for posting. Did you use a low setting to polish the swirls on the tail lights and the least abrasive polish ? Do you mind sharing with me. My car that sat in the dealers lot for probably five months had quite a few swirls in the tail lights when I bought it "new".

 

Thanks! I used Prima Swirl, the same polish as I used on the paint. I set the polisher to speed 5 and used an orange pad. I used both 3" and 4" pads on different polishers. The easiest to use was the 3" pad and my Metabo, but the PC and regular 6" pads also work. The MINI lights are longer and flatter as well.

 

Thank you once again. I have a project on my hand this weekend.