2005 TL: "My son took the snow off with a steel shovel"

[G35stilez]

I thought the same thing...


I went and visited mgm2003 this weekend in Delaware. It was more of a leisure and post college planning visit, but he asked for my help on his friend's TL. It's a 2005 that hasn't been cared for well. He had to run inside for something and while doing so his young son decided to clear the snow off his TL with a steel snow shovel. John attached only 3 pictures when I heard about this but upon further review, this thing was cut up bad.

The hood, I was almost sure, would need a respray. He really took the paint with him on there. The fenders were both bruised nicely as were both the A-pillars, rear bumper, roof, and skirts. I didn't photograph every area as I wanted to get cracking on this one. I ended up touching up for about an hour straight! If I had to estimate, there were well over 50 R.I.D.S. and the ones on the hood were far longer than 6 inches.

The rest of the vehicle wasn't too bad. The clay picked up a lot of junk on the rear bumper and was rather normal for the rest of the vehicle. All in all, not an Autopian owner . Here's what we did:


Cleaning
-Optimum Wash with vinegar pre-soak
-Optimum Clay
-Poorboy's Spray and Rinse on wheels
-Optimum APC on tires/wells
-Flitz on exhaust
-Natural Look on wells/tires


Scratches
-PrepSol wipedown on all scratches
-Touch up each scratch very gently with enough paint to allow a "blob"
-Allow to dry for 60-90 minutes in heated garage
-Sand with variations between 1000>2400 grit papers (3m and Micromesh)
-Menzerna Powergloss via rotary and LC Foamed Wool Cutting Pad @ 1500-1700 rpm x 2-5

These steps took about 3 hours in total



Polishing and Protecting
-Menzerna Final Polish II via PC @ 5 on vertical surfaces (John polishing)
-Menzerna Final Polish II via rotary and LC Finishing Pad @ 1500 rpm on horizontal surfaces (me polishing)
-IPA wipedown
-Z5 on paint, wheels, windows, and tailpipes
-Z8 final wipedown



Before



Before :down


After



Before


After



Before


After



After polishing





After Zaino





A critic





I want to thank John for this opportunity. While it was a lot of work, it was great practice for touching up and sanding. I became very confident over the course of this detail. On portions of the hood, I Powerglossed 4-5 times. The owner wanted it good enough that the dealer wouldn't notice when he turned it in for a lease. I'd say the scratches were 90% as new. You could see minor scarring on some spots of the hood but only up close and under certain lighting.


Questions/Comments, feel free.

[MARTIN]

Questions/Comments, feel free.

WOW!! that´s a very nice work!

[Bigs]

OMG... The results came out great! Man I got a head ache now just thinking that would happen to me... Whoa...

Great work to bring it back!

[joyriide1113]

WOW! JUST FRIGGIN WOW!

you really have some skill and patience. amazing how u can make something that looked soo bad, look soo good again...

SHOWOFF!

my wetsanding jobs look soo mediocre i try not to do them.

[agentxc_02]

don't feel bad!!
I did the exact same thing when i was younger. It was after we got a big snow. I decide to clear the snow off our silver honda civic hatchback and i regret it to this day. Darn my younger years. All I can say we all make mistakes.

[cwcad]

This is a classic. What a wonderful procedure. I could of said process but chose procedure because this was an operation of talent and expertise.

You have truly honed your skills as a detailer. Something that you should be as proud of as I am in awe of your work. This a Hall of Fame type post. if there is such a thing on this forum!!

Interesting choice of pads with FPll after using the rotary and Powergloss. I would have use a more aggressive pad but I am not any where in your league as far as detailing expertise is concerned. Having used Powergloss on other vehicles I needed IP as well as FPll to complete the look.

[Jngrbrdman]

Very nice work. What would you charge for that job? I'm finally getting to the point with my touch up skills that I feel comfortable offering it when I see an opportunity. I don't know what to charge on it since it is a lot of work and takes some time.

[jaybs02]

Great Job Sean.
The guy must be thrilled, and I'm sure that you saved his plenty of money with that

"J"

[G35stilez]

Thanks folks .

cwcad: The foamed wool pad from LC finishes cleaner than standard wool, but cuts just as hard. I like it a lot and saves a step of polishing .

Jngrbrdman: I would normally charge $30-40/hour for standard procedure detailing and $50/hour for touching up/wetsanding work. For the same vehicle all over again, the price for the exterior alone would be about $300...Add another $50 for the interior. I think $50/hour is fair if you are really putting your time/effort into making sure the owner doesn't need to repaint.

[05SilverTRD]

That is freakin amazing. I am very impressed with that.