First Detail - Adamized the Raptor

[AdamsPolishes]

Would've done a before but got attacked by a shiny object and a squirrel.

I'd like to say I am truly impressed. After washing I thought sandpaper and new paint was the only way to fix it. But the Clay bar (are they supposed to be nearly black with gunk after one panel. lol) gave me hope and then just the first polish with the cutting pad convinced me.

Looks drippin' wet! Very nice job on the polishing!

The Clay Bar really does a good job of pulling off the bonded contaminates. Having it turn black after one panel is quite extreme. Does your truck get exposed to diesel exhaust or road oil?

Did did you apply some Paint Sealant for protection?

 

[RAPTORSV]

Got a chance to try out the Adams tire cleaner this weekend in between rains. Stuff is amazing.

 

[Grunzen]

Looks drippin' wet! Very nice job on the polishing!

The Clay Bar really does a good job of pulling off the bonded contaminates. Having it turn black after one panel is quite extreme. Does your truck get exposed to diesel exhaust or road oil?

Did did you apply some Paint Sealant for protection?

Lots of highway miles and when I lived in Colorado I was 3 miles off the highway. They used a coating on the road to keep the dust and erosion down. That stuff caused the granite/sand.dirt to stick real bad.

I'll be ordering some soon along with a new clay bar. Was planning to polish again once the paint chip repairs were finished and cured.

 

[D1ESEL]

I thought I had one of the cleanest ones out there with a full ceramic pro coating on my truck!!!

raptor4 by Chris, on Flickr

 

[TheWolf]

I thought I had one of the cleanest ones out there with a full ceramic pro coating on my truck!!!

Your truck looks good!

Was the paint machine polished before the coating was applied?

 

[TheWolf]

If your tires are really dirty or have a lot of oxidation (look brown), then you may need to scrub with Tire & Rubber Cleaner more than once. After scrubbing, and the lather turns brown, rinse the tire and then scrub with Tire & Rubber Cleaner again, until the lather stays mostly white. This lets you know that all the dirt and oxidation has been removed.

Really bad tires may even need more than two scrubbings the first time they are deep cleaned. Just scrub, rinse, repeat until the lather stays mostly white.








If you don't already have some Tire & Rubber Cleaner, get the Tire & Rubber Cleaner Collection which also includes a gallon refill and the Tire Brush. This is definitely a product where you want to take advantage of the discounted 'cost per ounce' in the gallon refill.

 

[TheWolf]

Polishing and Coating

It had been about 2.5 years since the Raptor was polished, and while there were no swirls or major scratches, there were a few minor scratches that needed to be removed prior to coating. In addition, a full polish is advised before applying Ceramic Paint Coating, so that the coating can get the best bond to a fresh surface of clear coat, as opposed to clear coat that has been exposed to the elements.

The steps for this detail:

1. Wash, clay, then wash again, towel dry
2. Tape off all plastic and rubber trim (to avoid contact with polishing)
3. Spot polish any scratches with Heavy Correcting Compound and the Rupes Nano
4. Machine polish with Correcting Polish
5. Machine polish with Finishing Polish (to get the most shine)
6. Strip wash, and scrub all trim with Tire & Rubber Cleaner, rinse well
7. Dry with Master Blaster (to get all the water out of the cracks)
8. Let sit overnight to ensure it was completely dry prior to coating
9. Prep all surfaces with Coating Prep and a few clean Single Soft Towels
10. Apply Ceramic Trim Coating
11. Let the trim cure for a day
12. Wipe the paint again with Coating Prep and a clean towel, to remove any light dust
13. Apply Ceramic Paint Coating
14. Let the paint cure for a day
15. Apply Ceramic Boost

Washing and Prep Tips:

I did not Strip Wash to begin with, since I was going to do a full polish anyway.

Towel drying instead of using the Master Blaster prevents the issue of having dirt or other grit blown out of the cracks, where it could get picked up in the polishing pad and do major damage. Having sneaky drips during polishing is not really an issue.

Scrubbing all the trim with Tire & Rubber Cleaner during the post-polish wash allows for complete rinsing of the TRC residue, which is more effective and also saves time during Coating Prep (ie not having to try to remove all of the TRC residue with just a towel and CP).




The post-polish Strip Wash ensures that all polishing residue and oils are removed from the paint. This is much more effective than trying to clean the polishing residues with towels and Coating Prep. The cleaner the paint, the better the bond for the coating, the longer it will last. This photo was taken after the polish, and before the Strip Wash. It shows the rain water beading up on the polishing oils.




Forced air drying after the post-polish wash is needed to get all the water out of the cracks. Sneaky drips can ruin a coating application.



Polishing Tips:

Taping off all the trim allows for polishing right to the edge of the paint, without getting polish on the trim. Even though it takes a bit of time to tape, I think it is less work than cleaning off residue.




If you are polishing with multiple machine sizes, switch off between the machines as you make your way around the vehicle, instead of polishing the whole vehicle with the large machine, then going back and doing all the tighter areas with the smaller machine. Switching off with the different machines allows the pads time to cool off, as overheating pads with these long-throw machines can ruin the pads. When I finish a panel with one machine, I will give it a shot of Detail Spray to keep the pad from drying out while I use the other machine. The extra liquid also helps cool the pad.




When wiping off the polishing residue after completing an area, don’t wipe off the leading edge of the residue. Leaving just this leading edge reminds you were you left off with the polishing, so you don’t waste time re-polishing an area you already did on an adjacent area.




When your polish bottle starts to run low, use a small cup to keep it inverted between uses, so the remaining product will stay in the dispensing end.

 

[TheWolf]

Coating Tips:

Number one tip, you need EXCELLENT LIGHTING! While you can get away with polishing in less than optimal lighting by using a flashlight to spot scratches or swirls, when you are applying coating, you have to be able to see that the application is uniform, see the coating “rainbow”, and have to be able to see that all the residue is wiped off. You will not have time to mess around with flashlights. If you typically use a task light (such as a light stand) for detailing, then get a helper who can move the light around as you work, so you can maintain progress on the coating application.

If you are going to be coating both the trim and paint, then apply the Trim Coating first. That way, any trim coating that gets on the paint can be easily cleaned off. If you were to apply coating to the paint first, then any Paint Coating that gets on the trim will be noticeable, and cannot be cleaned off.

When prepping the plastic and rubber trim with Coating Prep and a towel, allow the trim to completely dry before applying the Ceramic Trim Coating. Plastic and rubber trim is porous, so it can soak up some of the Coating Prep, and if this is not all the way dry, it can prevent the trim coating from curing properly. I would recommend at least an hour of drying time after prepping the trim (may need to be longer in cooler temps or higher humidity).

When using the coating applicators, apply the coating to one of the sides adjacent to the side that has the raised closure stitching. On each applicator, there are three panels without seams, the two sides adjacent to the raised closure seam, and the side opposite the seam (which most people tend to use). Since the coating ends up soaking around the edges of the side you are using (and cures), if you use the side opposite the raised closure seem, then you really only have one surface that is useful. Since you may need to switch to a fresh side if you pick up any grime (or drop it), then using the side shown facing up in this photo would allow you to switch to the opposite side, and still have a useful application surface that does not have any seams.




When applying the Ceramic Trim Coating, be careful not to get any on the paint, as it will interfere with the bonding of the Ceramic Paint Coating. If you do get some on the paint, wipe it away with a clean plush towel.

For any areas on the trim that do not look uniform after the Trim Coating has dried for an hour, reapply Trim Coating so that it looks uniform.

On any trim areas that are difficult or impossible to get to with the applicator pad, use a detailing swab for application of the Trim Coating. This photo also shows that I removed the hood and fender vents for coating applications, which was easier than trying to coat these items properly while still on the truck.






When using the Coating Prep on the paint (after the Trim Coating has been applied and cured overnight), pay special attention to the areas around the trim that were previously coated. Any Trim Coating that may have gotten on the paint, which you wiped off, probably left some residue that is not easily seen. However, when you wipe with the Coating Prep, any residue will show up with a rainbow effect, allowing you to see it (until the Prep dries). Clean these residue areas with some Revive Polish on the corner of a clean plush towel, and then re-clean the area with Coating Prep to remove the residue and oils from the polish.

The grill was cleaned and prepped using detailing swabs, to make sure all the areas were cleaned.




Before starting the Paint Coating application, walk around the vehicle and come up with a plan on how you are going to break down each panel into 2’x2’ or smaller application areas. Just starting without a plan may result in applying the coating to too large of an area. Applying to too large of an area will not give you enough time to level the product before it starts to cure. If you find that the applicator starts to drag before you get over the area with two opposing passes, then make the application area smaller.

Planning how to apply to each panel also helps with this tip: do not overlap the application area too much with the preceding application area. The fresh coating that is overlapped with the area that was just coated will not flash (rainbow). Wiping off too much of this overlapped coating is going to build up too much residue in the towel, making the residue removal less effective, which creates more work and slows you down.

If you didn’t catch this in the previous tip, the coating that is applied to an overlap area will not rainbow, so don’t sit there waiting for it to rainbow before removing the residue. Start wiping the residue from the application area as soon as you see the coating in the main application area rainbow. The coating in the overlapped are will stay wet (clear).

For wiping the residue, fold the towel into quarters, and keep track of what part of the towel you are using. You do not want to just randomly use any part of the towel, since the coating residue will cure in the towel during the application. After using one surface of the towel for one or two panels, you will find that is becomes less effective at removing all of the residue. When switching faces on the towel, I marked the ‘used’ face with a Sharpie, so that I would not use that face again.




Let the effectiveness of the residue removal tell you when to switch to a fresh towel surface. Once your find that the towel is not removing the residue as effectively (and leaving streaks), finish that application area, then switch to a clean surface for the next application area. Also, when you switch to a new towel surface, go back over the previously applied sections and re-wipe them with the fresh towel face to remove any missed residue.

Detailing swabs were used to apply the Paint Coating to the grill. While some might be inclined to skip coating the grill, I think the extra time to prep and apply coating it is worth it, to make keeping it clean much easier.




When applying the Ceramic Boost the day after the coating (so the coating has time to cure), take your time to look for any missed coating residue, and remove it by wiping with the Ceramic Boost, and buffing with a clean plush towel.

Do not over-apply the Ceramic Boost, or you will have to spend extra time buffing out the streaks.

Unless your garage has a ton of lighting, then you are likely going to find some coating residue the first time you pull it out of the garage and into the sunlight. Try removing the residue or streaks with Ceramic Boost. If that does not work, try some Brilliant Glaze.

The dark bottles and dripper insert make it nearly impossible to keep track of how much coating is left in the bottle. Use a postal scale, or other small accurate scale, to measure the weight. The empty bottle weighs about 100g, and each ml of coating product weighs about a gram. You can either tare the scale with an empty bottle, or subtract 100g from the total weight, to approximate how much product is left.




To keep track of stock, I mark the bottle with the date it was received, and also how much product is remaining in the bottle.

 

[TheWolf]

Here's a couple shots that I took in the early morning, before driving it to work a few days after finishing the detail, and then getting rained on.

 

[Hamm3r]

Ugh, I always think I'm taking such good care of my vehicles until I hop onto a thread so detailed (I can't believe I just made that pun) as this.
Good job, sir. Your truck, even 4 years later, *still* looks better than it did new.