Show off that REFLECTION.

Not war Machine quality, but....

 

Crisp bro solid work.

 

Don’t sell yourself short that truck looks awesome.

 

I’ll join in on the fun. Lunar rock pro today. Got to finally bust out the vortex for a run. @War Machine
https://vimeo.com/562251098
https://vimeo.com/562250940

 

It's the long days for me....

 

some serious transformation going on there

 

Nice work!!

 

We doing videos now?

https://vimeo.com/562466998

 

Pure war machine quality!

 

Would you mind going through your process, especially the products you used? I realize there really aren't any shortcuts but I struggle getting my boat to look good.

 

This could take forever, but I'll try and keep it brief.

Outside gets pretreated with APC for oxidation (APC 3:1 will remove a good chunk of oxidation off the surface) and Rust Aid below the water line (typically where you'll see browning and staining occurring). I'll use a wash mitt to agitate the surface then spray it off. Foam soak the hull then spray off. Then wash with a wash mitt. I'll use detail brushes for the rub rail and any crevice where the mitt wont reach (ports, drain plug areas, etc). While the surface still has soap on it from the wash, I then use a clay mitt (aggressive yellow mitt) to scrub much of the remainder surface oxidation off. Spray everything down and dry.

This boat only got a one step polish. So for that I used the Dewalt Rotary with a Meguiar's aggressive cut wool pad (7.5") with 3M Finesse polish. A heavy cut pad with a polish will cut oxidation down well and still leave a smooth finish due to the diminishing abrasives in the products. I tried a LC White pad with 3M Compound and it didn't produce as great of results. Smaller areas get hit with a 3 or 1 inch pad on a new machine I'm testing for Flex (I recently got hooked up with someone in R&D development for polishing machines and they sent me a quick change Flex mini cordless polisher and it is absolutely fantastic). Anything that can't reach, ya gotta do it old school by hand and a microfiber sponge or rag.

This combo allowed me to get out roughly 85% of the oxidation and defects. There are still some lightly faded spots on the hull, however they would need at minimum a multistage polish and I'd venture to say a few spots needed wet sanded to get out completely. The client paid for a one step, so they got a one step. Just this boat took 9 hours and it's only a mid-level package. The multistage on a boat like this would take roughly 18 hours split into 3 days (wet sanding, compounding, polishing, waxing). End result was waxed with Meguiar's Flagship wax.

For any hull/fiberglass/gel coat staining, a product by Davis Instruments called FSR is wonderful. Expensive, smelly, and will burn your hands...but anywhere where bronze or stainless cleats, hardware, etc. is in contact with the glass I'm sure you've seen staining there before. FSR will pull those stains out almost entirely (even on the worst of them). May need to do several rounds with the product...but I haven't found anything that comes remotely close to being able to pull stains out of fiberglass like that.

Top deck just gets a solid vacuuming and pressure washing. All areas are pretreated with APC and scrubbed. Anywhere with mold gets pretreated with 10:1 Clorox solution. This gets hosed off, then the deck sprayed with nonskid deck cleaner and scrubbed then rinsed. Air dry, vacuum, make sure drain ports are cleared. FSR used on any staining in the glass top deck. Stainless hardware polished with Mother's mag/aluminum and 0000 steel wool. Nonskid deck wax applied to keep it shiny. Aerospace 303 on the vinyl and seals. Rain-X on the glass (although I have been upselling Glassparency windshield kits to a lot of boat owners lately. That shit truly is amazing and well worth the price).

This was as brief as I could keep it without rambling. If you have any questions, shoot me a PM I'd be more than happy to help.

 

Mine was actually a gif. But if I figure out how to turn some into those vimeo ones, I'll do it. If anything, it'll give yall a boost in confidence comparing yalls to mine

 

https://vimeo.com/562494435

 

Most excellent Ckatz53, thank you!!

I'll definitely shoot you a pm if I have any other questions.

Thanks again.

 

Boom

 

16 hours total on this thing over two days. IGL Coatings Quartz+ 4 year coating (ceramic with graphene reinforcement).

 

Doing work!!

 

that is a thing of beauty

 

95% rotary work too! This things paint was on BMW/Mercedes level for some reason. Super hard . The G9+heavy cut micro pads were barely touching it. Had to toss around the Dewalt and some LC orange foam cut pads.

And to think my rabbit-hole interest in detailing all began with your wisdom on this forum.

 

You should see his first clay bars.

 

This is not reflection but it does show the importance of a decon. The contamination we don’t see easily can cause problems we never knew existed.

 

Hah one small panel after it was cleaned and Iron-X'd.

 

So good.

 

And to think my rabbit-hole interest in detailing all began with your wisdom on this forum. [/QUOTE]
That what I’m afraid of!

 

Decent reflection even with the morning mist and drops….. and the board is NOT touching the paint….lol

 

The board was the first thing I noticed when I looked at it... Was like:

Good to hear no harm was done in the making of this reflection.

 

That what I’m afraid of![/QUOTE]

It is both a blessing and a curse

 

2012 Tacoma 3 stage with 3-1 as the sealant at the end.

 

De-con wash, clay, second de-con wash and then a coat of Griot's 3 in 1, and then an interior detail.........

 

Had a freak out moment….Wife’s Sequoia covered in huge water spots…. She tells me she hosed it down before going work… parked under a palm tree in the sun…..I was out there at 6am fixing that mess