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Detailed: 475WHP Supercharged 2004 Cadillac CTS-V

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  • #1

    Detailed: 475WHP Supercharged 2004 Cadillac CTS-V

    Wheels/Tires:
    Meguiar's Ultimate Wash and Wax
    Microfiber Towels

    Wash:
    Meguiar's Ultimate Wash and Wax via 2BM
    Meguiar's Microfiber Wash Mitt

    Clay:
    Meguiar's OTC Clay
    Meguiar's Last Touch

    Paint Correction:
    Meguiar's G110v2 / W68DA Backing Plate
    Meguiar's Ultimate Compound / W8207 Foam Polishing Pads
    Craftsman 500W Halogen Lights

    LSP:
    Meguiar's Ultimate Wax / W9207 Foam Finishing Pad

    Exhaust Tips:
    Meguiar's NXT Metal Polish

    The owner of this beast is a friend of mine and has been asking me to detail his ride for a long time already. Life just got in the way and it has been delayed for so long. We finally found a weekend I'm free so we took advantage. In addition, the weather here in Phoenix was starting to cool off so it made it even better.

    The owner has been complaining that the reflection, clarity and gloss of his paint was just not there. Upon arrival, the paint wasn't as bad as described but maybe it's because of the silver color. Also, he keeps his car clean. He just wanted his car to look his best and he wanted me to work my magic as he said LOL!

    I wasn't able to take before pictures because the car look clean to begin with. I forgot to take pictures of the claying process as well. It's been a while since I last detailed. Let's just say that I had to throw away a new clay after doing the entire car. The following pictures are taken throughout the entire polishing process. We were only able to do a 1 step polishing because my G110v2 decided to **** out on me. This happened maybe 85% of the way through my ultimate compound. We had to finish this step by bending the cord in awkward positions. Gladly, we were still able to get it done. But we were hoping to do a quick pass of M205 after the Ultimate Compound. I guess my G110v2 had other plans.

    Driver Side Rear Quarter 50/50:


    Driver Side Rear Quarter Lower Portion Before:


    Driver Side Rear Quarter Lower Portion After:


    Driver Side Rear Door 50/50:


    Driver Side Rear Door After:


    Driver Side Front Door Handle Before:


    Driver Side Front Door Handle After:


    Driver Side Front/Rear Door 50/50:


    Driver Side Front Door 50/50:


    Driver Side Front Fender 50/50:


    Passenger Side Front Fender 50/50:


    Passenger Side Before:


    Passenger Side 50/50:


    Passenger Side After:



    You can now see why the owner was complaining of low clarity and gloss. The paint was just full of oxidation, water spots and swirls galore. This adversely affects the paint's potential to be glossy, vibrant and reflective. The side of the car looked like it was driven through a forest and parked beside a water sprinkler for months without being fixed. As a result, there were a lot of deep RIDS that I didn't feel safe chasing after. Thankfully the horizontal surfaces weren't that bad.
    2011 Car Crazy Showcase SEMA Team
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: Detailed: 475WHP Supercharged 2004 Cadillac CTS-V

    Here are some after shots.

    Please excuse the quality of my photos. I finished detailing the car late in the day and the sun was setting early. I also forgot to bring my SLR camera for my after shots. A lot of the photos may also look a little blurry because we just finished polishing so it's hard to keep the hands steady after using a dual action polisher for 8 hours straight. The reflections also aren't the best because it's so hard to capture the depth and gloss of silver. But trust me, it looked wet after.

    No I didn't forget to clean and apply tire shine to the tires. The owner specifically requested not to touch them because he doesn't want any sling on the paint. He has so much torque. Also, his rear tires are drag radials so he didn't want the tire shine to get soaked into the rubber.






































    Reflection shot of a bright lamp post light that shows how clear and swirl free the paint is:



    What do you guys think? Comments and criticisms are welcome.

    Location: Phoenix, AZ
    Time: 11 Hours
    2011 Car Crazy Showcase SEMA Team

    Comment

    • #3
      Re: Detailed: 475WHP Supercharged 2004 Cadillac CTS-V

      Looks great!

      I'm sure the photos don't do it justice, though the 50:50 shots speak for themselves.
      Originally posted by Blueline
      I own a silver vehicle and a black vehicle owns me. The black one demands attention, washing, detailing, waxing and an occasional dinner out at a nice restaurant. The silver one demands nothing and it looks just fine. I think the black vehicle is taking advantage of me, and the silver car is more my style. We can go out for a drive without her makeup and she looks fine. If I want to take the black one out, it is three or four hours in the "bathroom" to get ready.

      Comment

      • #4
        Re: Detailed: 475WHP Supercharged 2004 Cadillac CTS-V

        Trouble holding camera steady after 8 hours of buffing, for some of us more seasoned folks that's a "before" picture problem

        Nicely done Marc, well worth the effort. Clearly improved.

        "fishing for swirls in a sea of black"
        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        David

        Comment

        • #5
          Re: Detailed: 475WHP Supercharged 2004 Cadillac CTS-V

          Well done Marc. You didn't mention that you were working on a beast like this. So while I was sending you pictures of my work, you were working on a project of your own. Nicely done.
          This color is very similar to mine and i have a hard time always seeing the swirls, what are those lights you are using?

          Edit: Never mind I just re-read the first post and got it.

          Comment

          • #6
            Re: Detailed: 475WHP Supercharged 2004 Cadillac CTS-V

            well.....i was going to give some criticism about the wheels and tires, but then I read your other post.lol. Car looks great though....especially from what it started out like.

            Comment

            • #7
              Re: Detailed: 475WHP Supercharged 2004 Cadillac CTS-V

              Awesome work, Marc, as always.

              You surely know how to squeeze UC to get its maximum potential and still finish LSP ready.
              Did you use liquid or paste version of UW ?

              Comment

              • #8
                Re: Detailed: 475WHP Supercharged 2004 Cadillac CTS-V

                Originally posted by davey g-force View Post
                Looks great!

                I'm sure the photos don't do it justice, though the 50:50 shots speak for themselves.
                Thank you so much for the kind words, Davey! I'm glad the 50/50 shots came out decent. It was really hard to capture it on silver. There were times where I just wanted to throw the camera LOL!

                Originally posted by wifpd4 View Post
                Trouble holding camera steady after 8 hours of buffing, for some of us more seasoned folks that's a "before" picture problem

                Nicely done Marc, well worth the effort. Clearly improved.
                Thank you, David! I appreciate the kind words.

                I'm sure you're fine! Your photos and work have always been great!

                Originally posted by s word View Post
                Well done Marc. You didn't mention that you were working on a beast like this. So while I was sending you pictures of my work, you were working on a project of your own. Nicely done.
                This color is very similar to mine and i have a hard time always seeing the swirls, what are those lights you are using?

                Edit: Never mind I just re-read the first post and got it.
                Thanks a lot for the kind words, Chris! This car was a beast.

                Your car came out looking dripping wet too!

                Originally posted by Klitzy View Post
                well.....i was going to give some criticism about the wheels and tires, but then I read your other post.lol. Car looks great though....especially from what it started out like.
                Thanks, Klitzy! Yeah I was afraid someone would comment on that and that's why I mentioned it on my write-up. Almost 500whp can definitely sling some tire shine LOL!

                Originally posted by greg0303 View Post
                Awesome work, Marc, as always.

                You surely know how to squeeze UC to get its maximum potential and still finish LSP ready.
                Did you use liquid or paste version of UW ?
                Thank you so much for the compliments, Greg!!! That means a lot.

                There were a lot of times where I had to do 2 passes with UC. I actually wished I had my MF cutting pads/D300, which would have made my life easier. The owner also had a big compressor so it would have been perfect.

                I used the liquid version of UW. I try to reserve the paste version for black or dark colored vehicles. The smell of the liquid version is intoxicating.

                I hope all is well with you my friend!
                2011 Car Crazy Showcase SEMA Team

                Comment

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