First, Many Thanks to Wills and Dana Amstutz of Windows and Wheels. They do stellar work!After I got my hotpipes installed I realized that the engine compartment was getting a bit dirtier than I'd like. :- So I made an appointment with my detail guy, Wills Amstutz of Windows and Wheels, for an engine detail. I also wanted a professional exterior detail and a couple of scratches removed, likely from purses or people rubbing against the side of my SHO. It gave me an opportunity to see how the CQuart Finest coating I had him put on the car after doing a paint correction was performing. I learned a few tricks too, which are worth passing on.
There are a number of products and techniques to make a car finish a next level thing... this is the route I started 4 months ago. I hope this posting will entertain and provide a little info to everyone no matter how they maintain the paint on their ride.
All the pics can be enlarged by left clicking on them. The info about any given pic is above it.
To let you do your own comparison of the exterior then vs now, the pics original images were posted in a start to finish story of the work Wills and Dana did in mid November 2013, which was only six weeks after I took delivery, to correct the dealer's faulty car finish care.
They had the paint finish looking like new autoglass with absolutely no scratches or "spiders". These pics can be seen here (some of you guys have seen them):
http://www.autopia.org/forum/topic/132346-phoenix-detail-2013-sho-taurus-partial-repaint-water-spots-cquartz-finest/As I have posted elsewhere, I truly do not touch the car when I wash it, but it
has been a daily driver on my unpaved road and in the 20 miles of road construction I drive through every day going to work. Keep in mind that this car is not waxed in any of the pics.
But first, a few pics on the engine detail... I had blown it off with my compressor... but we started with this:
So Wills started in... He does the engine bay first always for obvious reasons
He used this fantastic AR Blue industrial pressure washer throughout... 2' x 1' x 1' including the hose reel you see at the top of the pic, 2.1 gpm flow, and adjustable from 800psi to 2100psi. Oh well, it's on my Christmas list, LOL. He also uses deionized (spot-free rinse type) water throughout.... BTW I have one of these deionizers on order as cars dry fast in AZ summers at 10% humidity and I hate to rush to prevent mineral deposits on a black car.
He rinsed the engine with the PW, then soaped it all up and used microfiber mops (like you can buy for wheels) and an assortment of paint brushes to clean things and reach into the recesses. No scrubbing with rags, stiff brushes, or use of pressure done throughout.
Microfiber towels are used in the finishing work to remove XS protectant. A few example pics follow... just to see the care he takes. He's the man!
Of course he did the entire area covered by the hood and the underside of the hood not covered by the heat blanket. He used the PW to rinse and reapply soap at intervals to prevent drying.... the the final rinse, including each time the surrounding exterior panels.
Next he used a Metrovac MasterBlaster to dry the engine compartment. (adjustable 4-8HP and about the size of three 3lb coffee cans... I do have one of these as I mentioned elsewhere and wouldn't trade it!
Looking better already!
Next the spray on water based protectant was applied from a spray bottle (so that it gets in all the recesses like the one pictured below) and allowed to bond and soak in for about 10 minutes Then all the extra was gently wiped away using MF towels and no pressure... and a lot of attention to every area and piece.
When he was done under the hood we had this... And my face cracked with the smile I had!
every bolt thread was spotless! Sorry about the glare... phone pics on a bright day ya' know.
Then Wills began the exterior detail... ...which began of course with a copious PW rinsing of the whole car .
Next he did the wheels with CarPro Iron-X (applied with the PW), followed by a PW rinse an then a PW soap wash of the tires... he does of course, use a soft brush on the rubber only... and another PW rinse
Then it was on to the general exterior detail... getting closer to what I wanted to see... Before we started I had elected to have CarPro Reload applied after it was clean.
Reload is the same silica glass type of product as CQuart finest... It lasts for 2-3 months as a sealant (not a coating)... but with the CQuart Finest on the car already (2 year warranty) it actually polymerizes to the CQuart glass coating filling the small defects that I'll explain in a minute. Reload costs about $2.20/use at retail price and only adds about 30 minutes to the job...... If you haven't noticed, like most of us I LOVE taking pics of my car, especially when it's clean and looking good!
So here we go!
First after the rinse to begin, mildly diluted CarPro Iron-X Snow Soap was applied with a foam cannon ad allowed to sit for 5-10 minutes... trick is not to let it dry even if you do sections. This is a decontamination step... Quicker than clay and a lot less work for what is advertised as the same results. However, for a car without a coating I have to recommend contacting the manufacturer before you try this step. It did get a little purple as it worked demonstrating the iron and contaminants in the coating from driving being dissolved and removed . Why this is important can be seen in this explanation on the CarPro website at:
http://www.cquartz.info/108-iron-x It shows how imbedded contaminants destroy your finish by creating pits which decrease reflectivity and, eventually undermining the finish.
You'll note that the Iron-X doesn't yield that thick layer of foam that your soap will..
Then it was a copious rinse... the actual Foam Cannon no touch wash.. and copious PW rinse again.
Start by letting the coating, or a good coat of wax or sealant you've maintained, use the sheeting action of water from a hose without pressure get most of the water off the car as seen in this 30 second video (which I also posted elsewhere... because it blows my mind every time I see it... you don't have to look at it)
http://youtu.be/DPijJ3FM35YThen use a blower to get the rest of the water off and out of all the little places that it catches in... until you drive it off....
start with the nooks and crannies, then go top down... at least that how Wills does it.
You guys know how to wash a car... and the Reload is a simple spray on (again, it is not a quick detail product) and no pressure super-plush MF towel wipe... Literally about 2-3 ounces will cover the entire SHO at a cost of <$3/car. So let's just move on to some finish pics... These are the ones to compare to the original job.
Here's the hood seen looking down from the front of the car. The Reload is only on the right side of the hood (left side of the pic) and the line where it's not smoothed out yet is visible and marked by the tip of the reflection of the wiper.
I couldn't tell the difference in reflectivity or shine... but for the money I'm putting it in my "every 60 day" regimen for the money. As wills says, "this is only a 4 month old coating and the wear and tear is microscopic... when the contaminants are dissolved by the Iron-X it leaves little pits. The reload will fix it by filling the microscopic pits, bonding to the CQuart, and help prevent future damage"
The finished finish!
Here's the hood (and reflection!) under the cover from about 3-4 feet.... I was jumping for Joy!
To orient you, the upper left corner of the pic shows the right front edge of the car just above the headlight.
Here's the top... paint looks like the glass still... and the decontamination really woke up the metal-flake in the tux black
The hood with sun on it... note the powerlines
...And one more pic... for you guys wondering what this old man looks like...
LOL
Here's the rear of the car.
Please notice the absence of "spiders" in the low angle sunlight pics. there are no signs of finish abrasion visible.
I was so blown away by Wills' work that I didn't get a pic of the whole car... my phone was dying anyway. Next report which will also be shorter.
But for now I must conclude the CQuart Finest Silica Coating still looks as good as ever after 4 months (and that was in my care... LOL)... just remember, you can't touch a car's paint without scratching it... just not possible.
For you guys who got this far... Thanks! and if I can answer any questions just post 'em. I'm far from an expert, but I'm trying to learn a new way and give folks the information they need to let them decide what they want to do as well as advise others.
