First Thorough Detail of my 2017 ZL1 since new
 

I feel like I need to post about this process I’ve undertaken that I’ve dubbed “operation tittylish”. I Have a couple weeks off of work for the holiday, so I planned on a massive detail this week. I bought the car in July 2017 and immediately clayed and sealed it with 3 coats of jet seal. It is garage kept and meticulously maintained. I have waxed it once since the initial seal just for fun in October.

My plans:

0. Engine bay clean and dress (remembered this step after I made the numeric list lol)
1. Thorough interior detail w/ PERL dressing, and chem guys leather cleaner/conditioner.
2. Deep exterior/wheel Cleaning (foam pre-soak, Clean slate hand wash)
3. Chemical decontamination using TRIX, and then IronX
4. Light clay (as needed, I don’t predict much)
5. IPA wipedown
6. Essence polish with DA
7. IPA wipedown
8. CquartzUK (Hopefully 30ml will be enough for 2 coats)
9. Reload
10. Pinnacle wheel ceramic coating on wheels and calipers


Obviously there’s a ton of steps and detail to the main ones listed above. I did 0-3 today and it took me 6ish hours (I took my time and was very thorough). Surprisingly there didn’t seems to be much contamination; the spray didn’t change color anywhere. Guess I take good care of the car, plus it only has 1900 miles.

Hope to get steps 4-6 done tomorrow....maybe even 7-9. I plan on polishing a lot of the tough spots by hand. And I am new to a DA so I’m sure I won’t be a speedy as a seasoned pro. I seem to struggle with longing towels, even the tons of expensive ones I have. And I suck at glass.

Only took one pic today. I’ll definitely get plenty of finished product shots later this week.

Good plan....skip #7, you can go from 6 to 8 no prob, essence actually bonds with CQ, a better deal than taking off the essence.

I was on the fence about that one. Good tip.

But make sure with your towels you have all the essence buffed off… It just should not come off chemically with IPA.

Gotcha.

I have both foam and meguires DMF pads for my DA. I’ve seen people prefer both on here. Which do you use?

Foam....They are more forgiving…Just remember to move up ,down ,side to side , not circular…Stay away from the edges just do the big wide open spaces with the polisher, then take the pad off because it’s already loaded with product , and use it by hand on the edges and the places that the polisher won’t fit.

Med/Low speed, no faster on the polisher

Yep. I feel like I’ve watched enough tutorials on YouTube, and attended some live trainings where I got to practice myself a bit. I’m pretty meticulous and handy. Pretty confident I’ll do a good job beind a machine.

Thanks for the tips.

It really is a no-brainer, you’ll be surprised how quick it goes, without really thinking about
it. It’s a new car, it doesn’t really need correction , just coverage

Also on the CQ, don’t leave it on too long, 5 to 10 minutes and then start buffing it off if you’re in mid 70° weather.

I have the UK formula which is supposed to be better in cold weather. Will be mid 40s to mid 50s tomorrow locally. You think 30ml will provide 2 coats? FYI I generally overuse product too which I know you’re not supposed to do with coating haha.

The DMF pads are going to cut more, so only use them to correct swirls or scratches. Use foam pads for rest and go over areas you used the DMF pads with foam again.

For IronX step, i notice most iron particles on rear bumper area and lower fender behind front wheels. I get best results by spraying, let sit a few minutes, then agitate lightly with a damp microfiber towel.

Don’t IPA off the Essence, just make sure you towel buff away any high spots, and give it enough time to setup before applying the coating.

Yea surprisingly there was no visible change anywhere with either spray after sitting for 5-7 mins. But like I said, low miles, and I generally keep it showroom clean after each drive, and it was sealed from day 1.

The paint did seem noticeably different after the strip and decontamination. Hard to explain, but the Red seemed flatter and a different shade than when it had wax/sealer on it.

Preppin’. (SIGH! Damn this websites photo uploader)

DMF pads don't cut any more than a standard light cutting/finishing foam pad. When measuring with a paint thickness gauge after working a section, no difference is shown using either one. The DMC is the pad that cuts.

When using Essence, the DMF pad does provide a little more heat, which Essence likes.

Use of lighting to properly check areas being worked is the #1 overlooked thing when it comes to polishing. What looks good in the garage, may not look as good when it's in the direct sunlight. When checking your work for results using light other than sun, you don't want any light competing with the one your using to check with.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnQdy5ctlOI

Well, only got steps 4-6 done today. Put in a solid 6-7 hours. This car has to be one of the most difficult cars to machine polish on planet earth. There are just SO many curves and tight areas. Used my Rupes LRH15 and Adams mini about 50/50.....and honestly I’m not liking the Rupes. It seems SO picky on pressure and contact angle....like TOO picky. It stops rotating if things aren’t 100000% perfect which is tough on our doors for example as there are so many angles.

I did lots by hand too: Bottom 12” of doors, rockers, diffuser, DRL bezels, mirrors and hood insert.

The car has enough polish dust (not much, but still some), and places done by hand I’m going to wait for better light tomorrow, and give it a good once over with IPA BEFORE THE CQUK and reload.

Pray for my picture to be right side up