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Cadillac CTS-V full paint correction and coating!


This Beautiful Cadillac came in for the full package. Full paint correction, paint coating and rim coating, interior detail. First step in any major detail being done is to wash and clean the exterior thoroughly. License plate is removed to clean behind it and to ensure to dust or debris comes out when polishing on the trunk lid. 2 buckets for the paint, one to rinse the mitt the other for the soapy water. The vehicle is first snow foamed to help lift dirt and road grime and lubricate it reducing the chance of doing any minor damage to the paint. Gas cap area, around emblems, grill and window cracks are cleaned with a detail brush because these areas are normally missed when using a traditional wash mitt. ( its all in the details) Wheels got a nice thorough cleaning with sonax wheel cleaner, readying them for the coating a little down the road. After the vehicle is cleaned a clay mitt (pictured below) was used to remove any contaminates that were still on the paint. These contaminates could be tar, pollen, industrial fall out, rail dust, tree sap ect.... This is a critical step before any polishing is done, should any of these contaminates become lodged in a polishing pad it can do some damage and hinder the final results.

Clay mitt
Sonax Wheel cleaner

Now that the vehicle is washed and decontaminated the metro vac was used to blow dry all cracks and crevices, grille and emblems and the rest was hand dried using the Gyeon silk drying towel. Next was to mask off trim and emblems to keep them protected during the compounding and polishing stages. The paint on this Cadillac was not in to bad of shape some light swirl marks and some deeper scratches were on the hood and a few other problem areas. I ended up doing a two stage over the entire vehicle since a coating was being applied. Its important to remove as many defects as possible before applying any coating because once the coating is on, the defects with be there through out the life of the coating. The majority of the polishing and compounding were done with the 5 1/2 inch Rupes mark 2 polisher. For the smaller areas the 3 inch porter cable was used along with the 1 inch pad on the rotary.

Before and After

1 inch pad with the rotary

For the coating we used the Kamikaze Miyabi glass coating. Protection length is 18-24 months with one coat. Ceramic and glass coatings are the new age wax and sealant. When applied properly these coatings help preserve and keep all contaminates off of your vehicles factory clear coat and also help prevent swirl marks and scratching. Not to mention the ridiculous level of gloss that they add to the paint. The coating bonds directly to your clear coat forming a hardened bond on a molecular level. They are by no means a miracle proper maintenance and car car is still highly recommended. Though they do make the washing process a lot easier because nothing wants to stick to the paint. For the wheels Gtechniq wheel armor was used . Having your wheels coated will help protect them from break dust (acidic) corrosion, pitting and will make them a lot easier to clean and a lot easier to clean. Wheel coatings can last up to 2 years depending on the number of coats applied and the brand of coating used.

Nothing major was done on the interior. Just a basic detail with some leather treatment. We also detailed the engine bay as well. This whole detail took about 35 hours to complete. The final out come was better than when this car was brand new.. Below are come after shots of the Cadillac after this detail!!!!!!

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