Protective coatings are quickly becoming the go to protection for automobiles, eliminating the use of wax and making the maintenance of your Tesla much easier.
The Tesla you will see in here came to my studio from FT. Myers. I was introduced to the owners (a lovely couple I must say :smile
at the National Plug In Day event that took place at the Mote aquarium. They were looking for a long term protective coating that would also enhance the gloss of their beautiful silver MS. After going thru the options they chose GTechniq C1/EXOv2, and yes you read right "options", I am one of very few detailers in the US that are authorized detailers for all major brands of coatings (22PLE, C.Quartz Finest, Opti-Coat Pro, GTechniq and Modesta) so that I can give my clients the option to choose what coating they want based on longevity, gloss and warranty.
The purpose of this post is to walk you thru the steps and procedures that should be perform on a vehicle before the coating of your choice is applied (it doesn't matter what coating it is, the procedures are the same)
The very first step is what we call a prewash..I use a ph balanced citrus based cleaner (P21S Total Auto Wash) toguether with a boar's hair brush (swissvax brushes) to remove bugs and grime on the grill, around the emblems, etc. This product is safe on your car finish.
Next is the foam presoak. This step is necessary because it help loosing up the dirt. I use a ph balanced citrus based car soap that will strip any old wax or paint sealant that might be present on the vehicle.
After the presoak I spray all painted surfaces with a ph balanced deironizer (IronX) to remove all metal particles that are embended in the paint of your car (and if you think just because your car is new you don't have this, I recommend you to pass by my studio and I'll show you everything you can't see)..The purple runs you see is the deironizer desintegrating the metal particules.
Once the car has been rinsed down thoroughly now is when I start to hand wash the car and also give it a clay treatment, leaving behind a perfectly clean surface.
Once the car has been all properly prepped for paint correction, is time to turn on the lights and discover all the scrathes this silver color hides so well (This MS looked fine under the sunlight or fluorescent lighting) but not under this lights .
After a close inspection on the car I started to look for the best pad/polish combination that will eliminated most of the scratches safely but that will also give me the finish I need to stay withing a single stage correction. (I still had to do a 2 step correction on small spots to remove some RDS (random deep scratches)). As you can see the car was carefully taped on the delicate areas. An LED light was used to make sure the scratches had been removed and no swirls were left behind.
Here are the pictures of the same previous scratched panels properly and safely polished to a high gloss.
Once the correction has been completed and the car has been checked for any imperfection left behind, I can either wipe down the car with a product made to cut any oil residue left behind by the polished used or by me touching the car or just rewash the car with the ph citrus based car soap (I rewashed the MS because the polished used left a lot of dust on the car and crevices), ensuring optimum adhesion of the coating to the paint.
Now the MS is ready for the coating. Since the owners chose GTechniq C1/EXOv2, the first part of a 2 part coating is ready to be applied.
While the C1 is curing, the car goes up and rims were removed to be properly cleaned, decontaminated and coated with GTechniq C5 Wheel Armor. (I see many pictures of detailers coating wheels still on the car...not the right way to do them. They are only coating the face of the wheel instead of the entire wheels like they are supposed to)
IronX at work again.
Coating the face of the wheel
Coating the barrel of the wheel
Second part of this 2 part coating went on the next morning (must wait 12hrs for C1 to fully cure before applying EXOv2). Some pictures afterwards. Sorry I couldn't get any pictures outside.
I would like to thank Mr & Mrs Lee for allowing me the privilege of correcting and protecting their new Tesla. It was truly an honor working on your MS and getting to know you guys..great guys.
Who's next?!!! :wink:
The Tesla you will see in here came to my studio from FT. Myers. I was introduced to the owners (a lovely couple I must say :smile
at the National Plug In Day event that took place at the Mote aquarium. They were looking for a long term protective coating that would also enhance the gloss of their beautiful silver MS. After going thru the options they chose GTechniq C1/EXOv2, and yes you read right "options", I am one of very few detailers in the US that are authorized detailers for all major brands of coatings (22PLE, C.Quartz Finest, Opti-Coat Pro, GTechniq and Modesta) so that I can give my clients the option to choose what coating they want based on longevity, gloss and warranty.The purpose of this post is to walk you thru the steps and procedures that should be perform on a vehicle before the coating of your choice is applied (it doesn't matter what coating it is, the procedures are the same)
The very first step is what we call a prewash..I use a ph balanced citrus based cleaner (P21S Total Auto Wash) toguether with a boar's hair brush (swissvax brushes) to remove bugs and grime on the grill, around the emblems, etc. This product is safe on your car finish.
Next is the foam presoak. This step is necessary because it help loosing up the dirt. I use a ph balanced citrus based car soap that will strip any old wax or paint sealant that might be present on the vehicle.
After the presoak I spray all painted surfaces with a ph balanced deironizer (IronX) to remove all metal particles that are embended in the paint of your car (and if you think just because your car is new you don't have this, I recommend you to pass by my studio and I'll show you everything you can't see
)..The purple runs you see is the deironizer desintegrating the metal particules.Once the car has been rinsed down thoroughly now is when I start to hand wash the car and also give it a clay treatment, leaving behind a perfectly clean surface.
Once the car has been all properly prepped for paint correction, is time to turn on the lights and discover all the scrathes this silver color hides so well (This MS looked fine under the sunlight or fluorescent lighting) but not under this lights .
After a close inspection on the car I started to look for the best pad/polish combination that will eliminated most of the scratches safely but that will also give me the finish I need to stay withing a single stage correction. (I still had to do a 2 step correction on small spots to remove some RDS (random deep scratches)). As you can see the car was carefully taped on the delicate areas. An LED light was used to make sure the scratches had been removed and no swirls were left behind.
Here are the pictures of the same previous scratched panels properly and safely polished to a high gloss.
Once the correction has been completed and the car has been checked for any imperfection left behind, I can either wipe down the car with a product made to cut any oil residue left behind by the polished used or by me touching the car or just rewash the car with the ph citrus based car soap (I rewashed the MS because the polished used left a lot of dust on the car and crevices), ensuring optimum adhesion of the coating to the paint.
Now the MS is ready for the coating. Since the owners chose GTechniq C1/EXOv2, the first part of a 2 part coating is ready to be applied.
While the C1 is curing, the car goes up and rims were removed to be properly cleaned, decontaminated and coated with GTechniq C5 Wheel Armor. (I see many pictures of detailers coating wheels still on the car...not the right way to do them. They are only coating the face of the wheel instead of the entire wheels like they are supposed to)
Second part of this 2 part coating went on the next morning (must wait 12hrs for C1 to fully cure before applying EXOv2). Some pictures afterwards. Sorry I couldn't get any pictures outside.
I would like to thank Mr & Mrs Lee for allowing me the privilege of correcting and protecting their new Tesla. It was truly an honor working on your MS and getting to know you guys..great guys
.Who's next?!!! :wink:
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