My new truck/wrecked truck and the ensuing detail
Jan 13, 2010 | 12:44 PM
#1
Thread Starter
FormerVendor
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 1,134
Likes: 1
From: Boulder, Colorado
My new truck/wrecked truck and the ensuing detail
Back on December 11th I traded in the TBSS on a 2009 Avalanche... it wasn't that I didn't like the TBSS, but it just didn't have enough room for the family and I was ready to move on. Anyways... I had originally played with the idea of a Sierra Denali and a Tahoe, but I eventually settled on the Avalanche. I realize that this might not be a popular choice, but I have plans for this truck. More often than not if you see a modded Avy on the road (at least around here) its lifted. I'm gonna head the other direction with this and do an aggressive drop on 24's black this thing out and have something unique.
Anyhoo, pick up my new truck Friday night (12/11/09), the next morning I am helping out at another Detail Clinic at Stillen Performance in Costa Mesa so I hit the road around 7:30am... if anyone in SoCal remembers the 12th, it was DUMPING rain that morning. A guy in a POS 97 F150 spun across all 4 lanes of the 5 freeway and wiped me out, even better he had no drivers license, no proof of insurance, and didn't own the truck. He was in the fast lane doing 80mph in the rain, the police report later indicated that his tires were bald... perfect storm of sh*t. Good news is I walked away from the accident, spent a week off of work on Robaxin and Vicodin and still doing PT rehab for stiffness and range of motion in my neck and back. I was soooooo pissed... only had 30 miles on the odo when I got hit... that has to be some kind of record.
Thursday last week (ALMOST A MONTH LATER) I finally got my truck back, $9000 in damages and my first payment later I have my "new" truck back. The shop I used was great and went above and beyond to make sure it was as close to factory new as they could make it, and IMO pulled it off. You'd never know this thing was hit. Trying to stay positive I got them to colormatch the front end while it was in there, something I was planning on doing all along anyways.
So that brings us to today... and the detail. After sitting on a dealer lot and then at the body shop for almost a month this thing was rough... I'll update this as I get the pics uploaded, enjoy!
Day 1:
Started by documenting the condition of the paint, wanted a good basis for before and after shots. With a little help from my neighbor/friend and my new Brinkman Dual Xenon light I was able to capture the horror that is the paint on this truck.... dealer installed swirls anyone?
After documenting I spent the bulk of the day debadging and getting the dried coffee out of all the cracks of the center console. I had just picked up coffee a few minutes before the accident and knew that it would be everywhere. Also had to remove the silicone slime junk they dressed my interior with at the body shop. Gross.
Sidenote - if you're looking for a cheap and effective alternative to a "professional" paint inspection light take a look at the brinkman, as you can tell this thing is killer at helping you see the real story of your paint... for better or for worse.
Hood:
Drivers Side:
Tailgate:
Passenger Side Fender:
Front Bumper:
(remember this is fresh paint, I laughed when the bodyshop told me their guy was a pro and the truck would be better than new when I picked it up)
The Arsenal for Todays work:
Test panel inspection after SHR & FMP:
Debadge Done:
Day 1 complete, packed it in for the night and gonna be up early to resume. Bulk of the panels are done, still have a few to finish. The repaired/repainted panels didn't need anything more than 2-3 passes with the white pad and FMP @ 5000opm. There were a ton of swirls, but all of them were fairly light. The original panels are another story... looks like the dealer was washing this thing with a push broom and playground sand. Some panels are taking yellow pad + SHR @ 6000opm to make headway, but they are coming up. I've also found a few deeper scratches that will be attacked with the 4" spot pads and the cordless tomorrow.
Here it is, no wax yet. Gonna wait 30 days to seal the repainted panels, the rest of the truck will get MSW tomorrow after the correction is done.
More pictures coming...
Anyhoo, pick up my new truck Friday night (12/11/09), the next morning I am helping out at another Detail Clinic at Stillen Performance in Costa Mesa so I hit the road around 7:30am... if anyone in SoCal remembers the 12th, it was DUMPING rain that morning. A guy in a POS 97 F150 spun across all 4 lanes of the 5 freeway and wiped me out, even better he had no drivers license, no proof of insurance, and didn't own the truck. He was in the fast lane doing 80mph in the rain, the police report later indicated that his tires were bald... perfect storm of sh*t. Good news is I walked away from the accident, spent a week off of work on Robaxin and Vicodin and still doing PT rehab for stiffness and range of motion in my neck and back. I was soooooo pissed... only had 30 miles on the odo when I got hit... that has to be some kind of record.
Thursday last week (ALMOST A MONTH LATER) I finally got my truck back, $9000 in damages and my first payment later I have my "new" truck back. The shop I used was great and went above and beyond to make sure it was as close to factory new as they could make it, and IMO pulled it off. You'd never know this thing was hit. Trying to stay positive I got them to colormatch the front end while it was in there, something I was planning on doing all along anyways.
So that brings us to today... and the detail. After sitting on a dealer lot and then at the body shop for almost a month this thing was rough... I'll update this as I get the pics uploaded, enjoy!
Day 1:
Started by documenting the condition of the paint, wanted a good basis for before and after shots. With a little help from my neighbor/friend and my new Brinkman Dual Xenon light I was able to capture the horror that is the paint on this truck.... dealer installed swirls anyone?
After documenting I spent the bulk of the day debadging and getting the dried coffee out of all the cracks of the center console. I had just picked up coffee a few minutes before the accident and knew that it would be everywhere. Also had to remove the silicone slime junk they dressed my interior with at the body shop. Gross.
Sidenote - if you're looking for a cheap and effective alternative to a "professional" paint inspection light take a look at the brinkman, as you can tell this thing is killer at helping you see the real story of your paint... for better or for worse.
Hood:
Drivers Side:
Tailgate:
Passenger Side Fender:
Front Bumper:
(remember this is fresh paint, I laughed when the bodyshop told me their guy was a pro and the truck would be better than new when I picked it up)
The Arsenal for Todays work:
Test panel inspection after SHR & FMP:
Debadge Done:
Day 1 complete, packed it in for the night and gonna be up early to resume. Bulk of the panels are done, still have a few to finish. The repaired/repainted panels didn't need anything more than 2-3 passes with the white pad and FMP @ 5000opm. There were a ton of swirls, but all of them were fairly light. The original panels are another story... looks like the dealer was washing this thing with a push broom and playground sand. Some panels are taking yellow pad + SHR @ 6000opm to make headway, but they are coming up. I've also found a few deeper scratches that will be attacked with the 4" spot pads and the cordless tomorrow.
Here it is, no wax yet. Gonna wait 30 days to seal the repainted panels, the rest of the truck will get MSW tomorrow after the correction is done.
More pictures coming...
Jan 13, 2010 | 12:44 PM
#2
Thread Starter
FormerVendor
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 1,134
Likes: 1
From: Boulder, Colorado
DAY 2 -
Started off with some easier stuff... my back was stiff from the long day polishing on Saturday. Played with varying ratios of VRT/water to get exactly what I wanted. Ended up settling on a mixture thats roughly 60%VRT:40% Water... has a nice gloss to it, but not too shiny and its still spray-able at that ratio. With this truck I'll be using A LOT of VRT
Once it warmed up a bit and I had my coffee I jumped back into the polishing. Started with a waterless wash wipe down to knock off any dust that had settled overnight and then continued to work one panel at a time and document the progress
Started on the rear drivers door and did a side by side to monitor progress.
Untouched section:
Reworked section:
Side by side:
Continued around the truck in the same manner... lost a little time to passers by and people coming over to ask questions. When you spend 2 days at a time polishing a truck it gets attention, and everyone wants to learn, I'm always more than happy to oblige, but it does slow me down if I have to teach and work at the same time.
Wrapped up around 4:30 after applying buttery wax to the back half of the truck, I had promised to take the wife and boy out to dinner. I opted not to bother sealing it yet as in 30 days I'm gonna need to strip and spot correct any problem areas when the paint is done curing, buttery will do a good enough job of protecting the unrepaired panels in the meantime.
Final shots:
I'm loving the blacked out front!!
Hood reflection:
Started off with some easier stuff... my back was stiff from the long day polishing on Saturday. Played with varying ratios of VRT/water to get exactly what I wanted. Ended up settling on a mixture thats roughly 60%VRT:40% Water... has a nice gloss to it, but not too shiny and its still spray-able at that ratio. With this truck I'll be using A LOT of VRT
Once it warmed up a bit and I had my coffee I jumped back into the polishing. Started with a waterless wash wipe down to knock off any dust that had settled overnight and then continued to work one panel at a time and document the progress
Started on the rear drivers door and did a side by side to monitor progress.
Untouched section:
Reworked section:
Side by side:
Continued around the truck in the same manner... lost a little time to passers by and people coming over to ask questions. When you spend 2 days at a time polishing a truck it gets attention, and everyone wants to learn, I'm always more than happy to oblige, but it does slow me down if I have to teach and work at the same time.
Wrapped up around 4:30 after applying buttery wax to the back half of the truck, I had promised to take the wife and boy out to dinner. I opted not to bother sealing it yet as in 30 days I'm gonna need to strip and spot correct any problem areas when the paint is done curing, buttery will do a good enough job of protecting the unrepaired panels in the meantime.
Final shots:
I'm loving the blacked out front!!
Hood reflection:
Jan 13, 2010 | 02:30 PM
#7
I use the Porter Cable buffer and the 3 pads I ordered from yall. I use that with the Mequire's 3 step system since I had about 2 or 3 bottles of each to finish using it all up. When using these pads what is the best method to use when waxing? I usually run the buffer on the 4th or 5th speed setting, polish the panels until the wax is thin and milky the go back with a micro fiber cloth to wipe off the wax left and buff the panel. I wanted to make sure with the pads I have (which are incredible) I am making the best use of what I have and getting the best results.
