`14 Porsche Cayman - Dealership `Loaner` Restored for its New Owners

[zmcgovern45]

The owners of this vehicle contacted me in search of the best protection for their newly acquired vehicle. One of their friends had told them about Opti-Coat and how he would never own a vehicle without having it coated, but upon their research, these 2 decided that CQuartz Finest sounded like the better choice for them. Since this vehicle would be coming to me from out of town, I was not able to do an inspection prior to booking the appointment as I normally would, so the condition of the vehicle was unknown until it arrived. This low mileage vehicle (8,009 on the odometer when it arrived) had been owned by the dealer as a `loaner` for the majority of its life until it was recently purchased by my clients. Unfortunately, the paint had clearly seen a fair amount of abuse at the dealership from what appeared to be damage left by automatic brush car washes. The pictures do not do the damage justice. The scratches were quite deep, especially on the plastic panels (side skirts & bumpers). I was able to remove a large amount of damage with a heavy correction process, however under the right lighting, there are still heavier defects that are visible. I am very pleased with the outcome of my hard work, and the car looks great!



Process
Tires: Tuf Shine Tire Cleaner & Tire Brush
Wheels: Sonax Full Effect, Wheel Woolies, EZ Detail Brush, Boar`s Hair Wheel Brush, etc.
Wash: CG Citrus Wash with CarPro Merino Wool Wash Mitt (2 bucket method)
Bug & Tar Removal: Meguiar`s D103 (4:1) and Stoner Tarminator
Iron Removal: CarPro IronX
General Decontamination: Fine Grade Detailing Clay with NanoSkin Glide for Lubrication (7:1)
Paint Thickness Readings Taken
Tape off all trim and areas of concern
Cutting/Correction Process: Vertical Panels (most severe damage): M101 on Meguiar`s MF Cutting Pad (two steps!), Spot Treating with CarPro Flash Pads and M101, HD Adapt on Orange LC Pad
Horizontal Panels (moderate damage): HD Adapt on Orange LC Pad all via Rupes LHR21ES and Rupes LHR75E
Foam Soak: CG Citrus Wash
Wash: CG Citrus Wash with CarPro Merino Wool Wash Mitt (2 bucket method)
Dry: Metro Master Blaster 8HP and Metro Side Kick Blower
Finishing Polish: CarPro Reflect on Yellow Rupes Pad via Rupes LHR21ES and Rupes LHR75E
Paint Prep: CarPro Eraser Wipe Down
Ceramic Paint Coating: CQuartz Finest (2 coats)
Coating baked with Infrared Curing Lamp
Protective Wheel Coating: Opti-Coat Pro
Ceramic Trim Restorer & Protective Coating: CarPro DLUX
Glass: Meguiar`s D120 & DI Glass Towels
Exhaust Tips: CG Metal Polish + Protection via MF Towel
Tire Dressing: CarPro PERL (neat)



Before

The vehicle had made a 1.5 hour journey to me, but was actually quite clean upon arrival. There were a few bugs, as you would expect.





The faces of the wheels were in pretty good shape.





The barrels of the wheels needed to be cleaned up some.






During


The vehicle was properly washed and decontaminated. During the process, tar was removed (as was iron particles and general bonded contamination)





Tar removed from lower panel





While inspecting the paint, it was clear this was going to be a challenge. What appear to be normal swirls were actually much deeper and more severe than typical wash induced swirling.





Notice how dull the paint looks. These plastic panels were in the worst shape. I imagine it is because the plastic substrates allow for easier damage compared to metal substrates.





I was going to begin my testing on the door. As you can see, it needed a lot of help.





My initial test spot made a nice improvement, but there were still many deeper defects that were bothersome to me, so I continued to experiment.





I finally settled on a 2 step heavy cutting process that would later be followed up with a fine finishing polish to remove the haze left from the compounding as you can see here.





The results of the cutting were nice. A large amount of the damage was being removed, thankfully.





Before correction, very dull.





After compounding, the panel is beginning to look better, the reflections are more crisp and the majority of the defects are gone.





True color transformation taking place.





Fender before correction





Fender after compounding











The heavy cutting was leaving a lot of dust.. further cleaning would be required before moving on to the polishing process.
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Side panel before correction. Very dull





Side panel after compounding. Much better





Door before correction





Door after compounding





In order to remove the thick layer of dust that had settled on the car throughout the correction phase, the car was foamed and carefully hand washed, then blown dry. This process also helps to remove any remaining oils on the surface.





The vehicle was then polished with a fine finishing polish to really bring out the clarity and depth in the paint. Notice how much deeper the left side (polished) is compared to the right (compounded only)

[zmcgovern45]

Once the paint was dialed in, I moved to the trim. Even though this car is essentially brand new, our Cquartz DLUX trim coating still offers dramatic improvement. The trim is now a truly deep black, and it is properly protected so it will remain looking good for an extended period of time.





After the front trim was coated, it looked great! This is how new trim should look.





2 thick coats of CQuartz Finest was then applied to all painted surfaces. After the coating was applied, it was baked with infrared curing lamps to increase curing time and surface hardness.





Climbing up to the proper curing temps.





After the car was coated, the paint was stunning! The gloss blew me away.











The exhaust had become caked with carbon buildup





After polishing, it looked great.





After


The sun was not out, but I decided to snap a few pictures of the car as it just looked amazing!














A couple of days later the sun finally came out and I was able to snap some more photos. The paint glowed in the late afternoon sunlight!









Check out those reflections!





Very pleased with the outcome. The red is vibrant and full of life! This car looks great.











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As always, thanks for reading!

[Angus]

Excellent Results!!! Thanks for sharing.

I really enjoyed this 50/50 shot. Whats your technique for working trim protectant into grooved surfaces? The left side trim looks perfect.

[wdmaccord]

Awesome work! Now that is how a red Porsche SHOULD look!

[Orinda Auto Detail]

Awesome work!!!

[cleanmycorolla]

Awesome work! You and Evan, and Jsmooth, you guys do great friggin work! But nice job, And write up as usual.

[RaysWay]

Love this shot. Great work!

[Pats300zx]

Beautiful work Zach....Nothing like a perfectly detailed Porsche

[Ronkh]

Beautiful work !!!!

[trashmanssd]

Great work looks perfect. Love the new cayman/Boxster that side scoop body line made a big difference makes it look meaner. I trade an 09 Cayman on 14 Camaro very different but both are great fun.

[XxBoostinxX]

Amazing work! I love the body lines of a Porsche.

What kind of swirl light are you using?

[tropicsteve]

very nice Zach. beautiful finish.

[zmcgovern45]

Amazing work! I love the body lines of a Porsche.

What kind of swirl light are you using?

Thanks... Depends on which light you`re talking about. I use my DIY LED dual light stand, brinkmann dual xenon, halogen work lights, and a coast HP7 LED flashlight.

[XxBoostinxX]

Thanks... Depends on which light you`re talking about. I use my DIY LED dual light stand, brinkmann dual xenon, halogen work lights, and a coast HP7 LED flashlight.

Got ya. I just did a DIY sun gun a couple weeks back and love it. Next I want to do a DIY LED stand. I`d love to know what stand you are using for yours.

[jtford95]

Awesome Job Zach! Looks wet. Just superb