DETAILED: Tesla Model S Prototype
03-07-2011, 04:11 AM
#1
FormerVendor
Thread Starter
DETAILED: Tesla Model S Prototype
So here it is... the main event. 
Tesla reached out to us recently for some help getting their prototype Model S ready for an unveiling/press event at their Boulder Colorado showroom, definitely not the kind of request you take lightly when you consider this car is essentially priceless. Billions in research and years of work have gone into this car and its one of one!! We were absolutely honored by the request and had a lot of fun with this car. Being a prototype mock up there were some things we had to work around. The car for example hasn't been tested to be water tight so a traditional wash was out of the question and not being built to 'road ready' production specs we wanted to take the every caution, being careful not to damage anything.
We started by vacuuming out the interior and then doing a complete waterless wash of the exterior. Each panel was saturated with cleaner and then wiped with a waterless wash waffle weave towel. 1 towel was used per panel.
The most staggering part was how bad the aluminum trim was. Adam spent a lot of time rubbing out every inch of it by hand using Metal Polish 1 & 2. The 4" white focus pad was used to address deeper scratches in the trim.
I took on the paint opting for the flex. There were some concerns about excessive vibrations on the car as its not a road ready production car the potential for loose panels or trim exists so the smooth operation of the flex seemed optimal. Most panels were easily corrected with 1 or 2 passes of the white pad with fine machine polish... a few required the orange pad + swirl & haze remover either via the flex or 4" focus pads and drill.
Once corrected the entire car, including the freshly polished trim, and wheels was treated to a coat of Brilliant Glaze by hand which was removed with single soft towels. That was then topped with 2 thin coats of Americana paste wax and removed double soft towels.
Adam spent some time polishing out the door sills (more aluminum) with Metal 1 & 2... then coated the entire door jamb and trunk surround with Brilliant Glaze.
The glass was cleaned inside and out with Glass Cleaner and Glass towels, then coated with Brilliant Glaze.
The interior was in relatively good shape, all that was needed was a wipe down with Leather & Interior Cleaner and a quick application of Leather & Interior Conditioner. The massive center stack touch screen control center was wiped with a fresh single soft towel and Detail Spray.
Last the tires and trim were dressed using Super VRT and In & Out Spray.
The car was rolled into the showroom where it was given a final inspection and any missed areas were touched up before a final detail spray wipe down.
Enjoy the video and pictures... still can't believe I got to buff this thing out - just one more reason I love my job.
Products Used:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mY8ikFGr0o&hd=1
Tesla reached out to us recently for some help getting their prototype Model S ready for an unveiling/press event at their Boulder Colorado showroom, definitely not the kind of request you take lightly when you consider this car is essentially priceless. Billions in research and years of work have gone into this car and its one of one!! We were absolutely honored by the request and had a lot of fun with this car. Being a prototype mock up there were some things we had to work around. The car for example hasn't been tested to be water tight so a traditional wash was out of the question and not being built to 'road ready' production specs we wanted to take the every caution, being careful not to damage anything.
We started by vacuuming out the interior and then doing a complete waterless wash of the exterior. Each panel was saturated with cleaner and then wiped with a waterless wash waffle weave towel. 1 towel was used per panel.
The most staggering part was how bad the aluminum trim was. Adam spent a lot of time rubbing out every inch of it by hand using Metal Polish 1 & 2. The 4" white focus pad was used to address deeper scratches in the trim.
I took on the paint opting for the flex. There were some concerns about excessive vibrations on the car as its not a road ready production car the potential for loose panels or trim exists so the smooth operation of the flex seemed optimal. Most panels were easily corrected with 1 or 2 passes of the white pad with fine machine polish... a few required the orange pad + swirl & haze remover either via the flex or 4" focus pads and drill.
Once corrected the entire car, including the freshly polished trim, and wheels was treated to a coat of Brilliant Glaze by hand which was removed with single soft towels. That was then topped with 2 thin coats of Americana paste wax and removed double soft towels.
Adam spent some time polishing out the door sills (more aluminum) with Metal 1 & 2... then coated the entire door jamb and trunk surround with Brilliant Glaze.
The glass was cleaned inside and out with Glass Cleaner and Glass towels, then coated with Brilliant Glaze.
The interior was in relatively good shape, all that was needed was a wipe down with Leather & Interior Cleaner and a quick application of Leather & Interior Conditioner. The massive center stack touch screen control center was wiped with a fresh single soft towel and Detail Spray.
Last the tires and trim were dressed using Super VRT and In & Out Spray.
The car was rolled into the showroom where it was given a final inspection and any missed areas were touched up before a final detail spray wipe down.
Enjoy the video and pictures... still can't believe I got to buff this thing out - just one more reason I love my job.
Products Used:
- Waterless Wash
- Waterless Wash Towels
- Flex Polisher
- Orange Flex Pads
- White Flex Pads
- Swirl & Haze Remover
- Fine Machine Polish
- Detail Spray
- Metal Polish 1
- Metal Polish 2
- Microfiber Applicators
- Edgeless Utility Towels
- 4" Focus Pads w/ cordless drill adapter
- Brilliant Glaze
- Americana Paste Wax
- Americana Hex Grip Apps
- Single Soft Towels
- Double Soft Towels
- Glass Cleaner
- Glass Towels
- Leather & Interior Cleaner
- Leather & Interior Conditioner
- Red Foam Interior Apps
- Super VRT
- Foam Block Apps
- In & Out Spray
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mY8ikFGr0o&hd=1
Last edited by Dylan@adams; 03-07-2011 at 10:34 AM.
