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LAMINI bought this Envoy from a Coworker for his Dad and he asked me if I would work on it. The funny thing is I had no idea how big an Envoy was so I gave him the same price as for a MINI. When it arrived, boy was I in for a surprise.
[edited by richard] I forgot to mention that LAMINI owns a new MINI Cooper and a Classic Mini, so that's why I was surprised to see something soooooooooo big! [end of edit]
20 hours later, and I could have done another 4 to 6 hours if I had the time to really finish it off, it still looked like a new car.
I used 2 days to work on this car, but due to scheduling issues, the first day was actually at the end of a long day, so I worked from 5pm until 11pm. Sadly because it was dark, much of the buffing I did was useless as I couldn't see how effective my process was until the next day. I made several passes with M83 and the PC on speed 5, and the next day in full sunlight, it didn't look like I made any impact.
Washed with Gold Class Car Wash Soap
M80
M82
M83
M21
Quik Clay System (2 bars from old kits, not new ones that are a single split in two)
Cleaners
APC
Wheel Brightener
Tools:
PC with W8006 and W9006 pads
RB with W8006 and W9006
Dressings:
Hyperdressing for trim and tires
Wheels were dirty
Paint was swirled everywhere
Can you see the white speckles in the wheel well? It was some kind of white paint that was splattered on the rear wheel wheels and right front wheel. It took 30 minutes per side to clean that off using a stiff brush, APC, and my power washer.
Judging by the amount of dirt on the paint and inside the sill areas, this car was rarely cleaned.
To remove this amount of dirt, I presoaked it with APC, then used a pressure washer to rinse, then use Gold Class Car Wash Soap, then used two bars of clay to thoroughly cleanse the paint. Then I dried it off, and the paint was smooth as glass.
While normally white paint is great for hiding defects, even under bright sunlight you can see all the swirls. Dirt shows up really well too!
I masked off the car with blue painters tape and newspaper to protect from splatter.
After wasting half a day with the PC and M83, under the bright sunlight it was evident that I had to use the rotary. So I used it with M80 and discovered that was all I needed. I followed it with the PC and M80, then M21 Synthetic Sealent for wax.
I often get asked by people about working in the sun. The answer I always give them is you need to feel the paint and decide for yourself. Is the paint hot? If it is, then no, you can't work in direct sunlight, however if its cool to the touch, like this white paint, then it makes no difference. Working on a car this size and being black would present a lot more issues, so I was glad it was white!
With the truck being as tall as it was, there were several areas on the hood that required delicate work with the RB.
As usual, it was dark when I got around to the finishing stages, so taking photos is kind of useless.
While this job turned out to be a HUGE job, I didn't realize that the family members would be so happy as to give me two other cars to work on, so it didn't turn out all bad. But I will seriously rethink about doing any cars as large as this in the future.
[edited by richard] I forgot to mention that LAMINI owns a new MINI Cooper and a Classic Mini, so that's why I was surprised to see something soooooooooo big! [end of edit]
20 hours later, and I could have done another 4 to 6 hours if I had the time to really finish it off, it still looked like a new car.
I used 2 days to work on this car, but due to scheduling issues, the first day was actually at the end of a long day, so I worked from 5pm until 11pm. Sadly because it was dark, much of the buffing I did was useless as I couldn't see how effective my process was until the next day. I made several passes with M83 and the PC on speed 5, and the next day in full sunlight, it didn't look like I made any impact.
Washed with Gold Class Car Wash Soap
M80
M82
M83
M21
Quik Clay System (2 bars from old kits, not new ones that are a single split in two)
Cleaners
APC
Wheel Brightener
Tools:
PC with W8006 and W9006 pads
RB with W8006 and W9006
Dressings:
Hyperdressing for trim and tires
Wheels were dirty
Paint was swirled everywhere
Can you see the white speckles in the wheel well? It was some kind of white paint that was splattered on the rear wheel wheels and right front wheel. It took 30 minutes per side to clean that off using a stiff brush, APC, and my power washer.
Judging by the amount of dirt on the paint and inside the sill areas, this car was rarely cleaned.
To remove this amount of dirt, I presoaked it with APC, then used a pressure washer to rinse, then use Gold Class Car Wash Soap, then used two bars of clay to thoroughly cleanse the paint. Then I dried it off, and the paint was smooth as glass.
While normally white paint is great for hiding defects, even under bright sunlight you can see all the swirls. Dirt shows up really well too!
I masked off the car with blue painters tape and newspaper to protect from splatter.
After wasting half a day with the PC and M83, under the bright sunlight it was evident that I had to use the rotary. So I used it with M80 and discovered that was all I needed. I followed it with the PC and M80, then M21 Synthetic Sealent for wax.
I often get asked by people about working in the sun. The answer I always give them is you need to feel the paint and decide for yourself. Is the paint hot? If it is, then no, you can't work in direct sunlight, however if its cool to the touch, like this white paint, then it makes no difference. Working on a car this size and being black would present a lot more issues, so I was glad it was white!
With the truck being as tall as it was, there were several areas on the hood that required delicate work with the RB.
As usual, it was dark when I got around to the finishing stages, so taking photos is kind of useless.
While this job turned out to be a HUGE job, I didn't realize that the family members would be so happy as to give me two other cars to work on, so it didn't turn out all bad. But I will seriously rethink about doing any cars as large as this in the future.
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