TLC Auto Detail - Blog - TLC Auto Detail

Clear Guard Nano on a 2016 Cayman GTS

9/26/2016

Hey everyone! We have another pretty involved job that was just delivered back to our client. This 2016 Cayman GTS came to us with just the mileage from the drive over on the clock. The owner wanted to give the vehicle to most protection possible for long cruises and weekend track days. We ended up deciding on a full vehicle wrap with Clear Guard Nano to give the most protection while looking amazing. As with all of our film installs this wrap will be 100% custom with every edge wrapped for a totally seamless installation.

We started with a thorough wash and decontamination of the vehicle to make sure there was nothing that would interfere with the application of the film. To give a seamless install we removed the headlights, taillights, marker lights, all emblems, door mirrors, rocker trim, and the front bumper. This allows us to lay full sheets and wrap every edge so you won’t even know the film is there.

Here are some examples of the hidden edges around the trim, emblems, and mirrors.

As you can see the mirror housings were removed so a full sheet of film could be laid on the door and wrapped into the opening. Then the mirror was installed for a fully wrapped and seamless finish.

Same goes for the emblems. They are pulled, a full piece of film is laid, and then the emblems are installed. Most people would never know there is any film on the vehicle.

The door and window trim was lifted to allow us to wrap the film under it for a totally invisible install. Every corner is also wrapped, not relief cut, so that the film just disappears. No pre-cut patterns here.

Clear Guard Nano is the clearest and glossiest film on the market. It also has a built in hydrophobic top coat which helps protect it and make maintenance a breeze. The final look just can’t be beat by any other film on the market!

We had a blast wrapping such a cool vehicle and can’t wait for the next one to come through our doors! Thank you for taking the time to check out our work and we would love to hear your feedback!

Regards,

The TLC Auto Detail Team

2 Comments

Jaguar XF-R Correction w/ Cquartz Finest | TLC Auto Detail

10/5/2015

1 Comment

Hi everyone, today we have a 2012 Jaguar XF-R. This lovely british saloon car was booked for our Cquartz Finest Platinum Detail. When the Jag was dropped off, it was fairly clean, so we went straight to a rinseless wash with Ultima Walerless Wash Plus to remove and lingering dirt and dust from the drive over. We didn’t bother with the wheels at this point because included in our Platinum service is removing the wheels for a full cleaning and coating. After the wash we spot treated the vehicle with a Car Pro Polyshave Decon Towels to remove some spots of bonded contaminants. With the paint totally clean and free of any other products we could see the true condition of the paint.

While the paint isn’t in terrible shape by any means, it definitely did need a bit of work to get it looking near perfect prior to being coated. After several rounds of testing we ended up with a two step combination that yielded 95%+ defect removal. The heavy cutting was taken care of with Meguiars M205 on an MF pad via the Rupes 21. While this finished nicely, we wanted to add as much clarity and gloss to the paint as possible, so we followed it up with Car Pro Reflect on a green Buff and Shine pad, also on the Rupes 21. Here is how the paint turned out.

The paint wasn’t the only part of the car that required polishing. The taillights has also been swirled up and needed to be addressed. They were polished with the same combination as the paint the remove the majority of the defects.

Next on the list of correction was the exhaust. This vehicle has an aftermarket exhaust system installed that has stainless steel pipes, mufflers, and tips. None were in that great of shape, so we machine polished the rear pipes, muffles, and tips with Duragloss Metal Polish and a Porter Cable XP. These pipes would later be coated with Cquartz Finest as well to help from dulling.

Before:

After:

Next up on the list were the wheels, calipers, and wheel wells. Again, the wheels on this vehicle weren’t in terrible shape, but they did need a good bit of work to get them up to the level of the rest of the car. To do this, the wheels were removed, cleaned with Car Pro Iron X (face, rear of spokes, and barrels), the left over wheel weight residue was removed with Car Pro Tar X, and the face and barrels were machined polished with Car Pro Reflect at amp up the gloss and smooth out some minor defects. After they were looking perfect they were wiped down with Car Pro Eraser to remove any residual polishing oils and coated with 3 layers of Cquartz Finest.

Before:

After:

While the wheels were removed we also addressed the painted brake calipers and wheel wells. The calipers and wheel wells were cleaned with a combination of APC+ and various brushes. The calipers were then machine polished with Car Pro Reflect prior to being coated with Cquartz Finest. The wheels wells were dressed with Car Pro PERL.

Before/After:

Of course once the wheels were re-installed on the vehicle, the lug nuts were torqued down to the factory specs. With the wheels back on the vehicle we then wiped the paint, glass, and all of the trim down with Car Pro Eraser to prepare it for Cquartz Finest. Finest went on in 3 layers, and was then baked under IR curing lamps to make sure the coating was cured and ready to give maximum protection. Here is how it all turned out.

That about does it for this one! As usual we had a blast working on this vehicle and we are very happy with the results. If you would like any additional information regarding our services or the products we use, don’t hesitate to email or call us! Thanks!

1 Comment

Most common question

9/11/2015

1 Comment

One of the most common questions I get asked after completing a detail for a client is, “What products do I need to do to maintain this finish in between details?’. Most clients are looking to make a small investment in quality products and tools that will allow them to maintain the look their vehicle has when it leaves our shop. Different people are comfortable with different levels of detailing, so today I will talk mainly about the products, tools, and tips for washing and applying a spray sealant to your vehicle.

Most of the vehicles that leave our shop receive a paint correction detail of some sort and a lot of them even have Cquartz Finest applied for maximum gloss and protection. While having an amazing product like Cquartz Finest on your vehicle will lower the effort needed to maintain a vehicle, the tools, products, and procedures are the same for maintaining a vehicle with a traditional sealant or a paint coating like Cquartz Finest.

Before we dive in, I want to let everyone know that all of our products come from Corey who runs Car Pro USA. Car Pro is the company that produces amazing products like Cquartz Finest, Iron-X, Reload, and many others. TLC Auto Detail clients are privy to a special discount through Corey’s website. Go to www.carpro-us.com and use the code “TLC” at checkout to receive a 15% discount on your entire order. All of the direct links to purchase these products will be provided at the bottom of this article.

First we will start with the products and tools you will need to wash your vehicle. First you will need two 5 gallon buckets (available through CarPro USA or at your local hardware store), two grit guards, a wash media (sponge,pad, mitt etc.), soap, and a method to dry your vehicle. Five gallon buckets are available for sale in the Car Pro US store, but you can also pick them up locally at a hardware store to save on the bulky shipping. To fill your buckets you will also want to pick up two Grit Guards. One will go at the bottom of each bucket allowing you to release the dirt from your vehicle into the bucket with just a quick scrub. The dirt will be released into the water and held below the grit guard so it will not be reintroduced onto your vehicle’s finish. This is very important, and a very simple way to keep from instilling swirls into your vehicle’s paint.

Next you will need soap to add lubricity and cleaning power to your water. It is very important to use a quality automotive soap and not cleaner designed to clean pots and pans. An automotive specific cleaner will have additives to lubricate the solution allowing your wash media to glide over the paint, again helping to prevent swirls. Automotive specific products will also have the proper ratio of cleaning additives to do a great job cleaning the paint, but not striping your layer of protection. (The striping of protection only applies to traditional waxes and sealants, as Cquartz Finest is chemical resistant.) The product we use in our shop, and always recommend to our clients, is Car Pro Reset. It offers tons of lubricity as well as has great cleaning ability to safely remove the dirt and dust from your vehicle. It also rinses away totally clean without leaving anything behind that might interfere with the drying process or future protection that might be added to the finish. The best part is it is super concentrated. You will use very little product per wash saving you money and space by not having to keep large bottles of product on hand.

Now that we have our bucket, grit guards, and soap picked out we need something to actually facilitate getting the soap solution from the bucket to the vehicle, as well as get the dirt from the vehicle back into the rinse bucket. There are hundreds of different products you can use as wash media. There are natural sea sponges, synthetic sponges, boars hair brushes, microfiber mitts, and countless other options. At TLC Auto Detail we only use the Incredipad from Microfiber Madness. It is an ultra high quality wash pad that is covered in super soft microfibers that hold tons of soap solution and pull dirt away from the surface and deep into the pad to prevent swirls from grinding the dirt into the paint. It’s extremely durable and can be machine cleaned on a regular basis. Microfiber Madness also makes an Incredimitt that has all the same benefits, but has a pocket built in for your hand. It can be used in the pad’s place if you prefer a mitt type wash media.

After your vehicle is washed and all of the soap is rinsed off you will need to dry the remaining water off of the surface. IF you have had Cquartz Finest applied to your paint, there will be very little water that hasn’t already sheet off of the paint. In our shop we use an electric blower, the Metro Master Blaster to be exact, to dry the vehicles we wash. This is a no touch drying method that makes sure the water is removed from the surface and all the nooks and crannies without the chance of marring the surface. It costs about $250 so it may be more than most are willing to spend to maintain just their own vehicle(s), and that is no problem at all. Microfiber Madness also offers a super high quality drying towel called the Dry Me Crazy. It is an ultra soft, extremely plush high quality microfiber towel that absorbs tons of water without marring even the softest paint. It much larger than most microfiber towels so one will be plenty to dry most vehicles. If you have a large sedan or SUV it would be a good idea to pick up 2 of them just in case. These can also be machine washed when they need to be cleaned, just make sure to use a detergent that is scent and dye free (All Free and Clear is what we use).

After your vehicle is washed and dried you have the decision of adding protection to the finish. For this we use a product called Car Pro Reload. It is made specifically by Car Pro to work in conjunction with Cquartz Finest, but you can also use it as a stand alone sealant. Reload is a spray sealant that is very easy to apply. A light spray on a panel will get spread out with one towel, and then buffed off with another dry towel. It takes about 20 minutes to seal most vehicles and the protection will last about 6 months depending on your climate and how the vehicle is stored. If your vehicle is already coated with Cquartz Finest you don’t NEED to add additional protection, but applying a product like Reload will boost the durability of the coating by about 6 months per application. If your vehicle isn’t coated it’s a good idea to wax, or in this case seal, the paint 2-3 times a year depending on your weather conditions and how the vehicle is stored. Reload is to be used very sparingly, so one bottle will last most people several years. One spray per panel, or maybe two sprays for a large panel like the hood, is all that is needed. When you apply Reload you will want to use a high quality microfiber towel to make sure you aren’t undoing all the hard work that went into your paint’s finish. There are tons of towels available, but we use the Crazy Pile also by Microfiber Madness. It’s a super high quality, ultra soft, plush towel that will allow you to spread and buff off Reload with ease. Keeping 3 to 4 on hand will be enough to seal most vehicles a couple times a year. Be sure to store them in the plastic bag they come with to prevent dust or dirt from settling on them between uses.

That about does it for the products that most people will need to maintain their vehicle in between detailing services. If you have any questions about any of the products please don’t hesitate to contact myself or Corey at CarPro-US.com. We are both more than happy to make sure that everyone has the proper tools, products, and knowledge to keep their vehicle looking perfect! Check out the links below to purchase the products discussed in this article!

Wash Bucket: http://www.carpro-us.com/5-gallon-wash-bucket/auto-wash/
Grit Guards: http://www.carpro-us.com/grit-guard-insert/auto-wash/
Car Pro Reset Shampoo: http://www.carpro-us.com/auto-wash/reset-intensive-car-shampoo-500ml/
Microfiber Madness Incredipad: http://www.carpro-us.com/microfiber-madness/microfiber-madness-incredipad/
Microfiber Madness Incredimitt: http://www.carpro-us.com/microfiber-madness-incredimitt/
Microfiber Madness Dry Me Crazy drying towel: http://www.carpro-us.com/microfiber-madness-dry-me-crazy-25-x-17/
Car Pro Reload Spray Sealant: http://www.carpro-us.com/exterior-surface-protection/carpro-reload-500ml-new-version-now-25-more-product/
Microfiber Madness Crazy Pile towels: http://www.carpro-us.com/microfiber-madness-crazy-pile-16-x-16/

DON’T FORGET TO USE THE CODE “TLC” WHEN YOU CHECKOUT TO RECEIVE A 15% DISCOUNT!

1 Comment

Clear Guard Nano on a 2016 Cayman GTS

Jaguar XF-R Correction w/ Cquartz Finest | TLC Auto Detail

Most common question

Author

Archives

Categories

Clear Guard Nano on a 2016 Cayman GTS ﻿

Jaguar XF-R Correction w/ Cquartz Finest | TLC Auto Detail﻿

Most common question

Author

Archives

Categories

Clear Guard Nano on a 2016 Cayman GTS

Jaguar XF-R Correction w/ Cquartz Finest | TLC Auto Detail