Thread: DETAIL: '06 Spice Red Metallic GTO

Recently I had a chance to detail a local owner's '06 after the March 28 Goatfest event in Central Texas. Aside from the dust, pollen and road film after 600+ miles of round trip driving, the surface was in very good shape. There were some mild fine lines and stray scratches on the surface.








After a quick rinse off to get rid of the loose dust, I started with our new citrus pre-wash concentrate in the Gilmour foam gun by spraying it on the surface and allowed it to set for about 5 minutes before washing. This will help to break down any remaining greasy dirt and road film.


First rinse after washing:


Paint coverage measurement on trailing edge of hood. 6 mils(thousandths of an inch)is about 2 sheets of paper:


Leading edge on top of roof:


Leading edge of hood:


After seeing the testing results from our previous detail demo at the end of March, I used the white "KOMPRESSOR" polishing pad on the FLEX with Menzerna SIP. It gave me the correction I was looking for without inflicting any micro-marring. Some deeper lines needed a little more follow up action to remove them.


More to follow.

Checking the buffing progress with the halogen spotlight:


For all the little panels and tight sections, the PC set up with 3.5" backing plates and 4" pads makes the work that much easier.


Be prepared when using a powdered based product like Menzerna or our Swirl Cutter, dusting is normal. Lightly misting the pad with detail spray or distilled water will minimize the chance of micro-marring and tone down the amount of dusting.

After I was done with the Menzerna use, it was easier to wash the entire car again to remove the dust and residue from the surface.


After completion of today's polishing, I applied the TC-3 "Sunburst" Sealant xP with the blue 6.5" pad at speed 3-4 on the FLEX.


With 80 degree temps in the garage, the sealant dried very fast as seen by the light haze.


After the wipedown:




After the paint/glass wipe down, I had some time to look at he CCW aluminum wheels. I was a little concerned with the cloudiness of the surface. The owner had showed me the ZOOP Seal kit recommended by the manufacturer for use on these wheels. I have not used the product before and wanted to take a closer look. I was surprised at the amount of abrasive makeup to the sealant. A quick application to the lip inflicted considerable fine lines.

I happened to a have a bottle of our TC-12 Plastic/Cleaner polish handy. This immendiately removed any residual water spotting left over after the wash/dry phase. In addition, it had started to remove of the finer scratch lines and hazing from previous wipedowns. I had switched to the black 4" pad on the PC to see if I could get further improvement by machine. This is a pretty mild combo that gave encouraging results. With a little more time and maybe a white or even orange pad could yield even greater clarity and shine.

Once completed, I would finish them off with the same sealant as used on the paint.




Plastic polish on the tips:


Questions/comments welcomed.

thats sick