The owner of this 2015 was looking to get the paint in the best possible condition with protection to match. 22ple’s VX- Pro ceramic coating was decided upon as the coating of choice due to its outstanding gloss with no darkening effect, allowing the entirety of the paint’s metallic flake to shine though, while providing protection that lasts two years. At the onset the car didn’t seem like it would need much work; the paint had marring but nothing that looked severe, aside from a few small scratches, and the wheels were relatively clean given the carbon ceramic brakes.
Before:
The marring was visible but slightly obscured by the metallic flake in pictures:
The paint on the rear spoiler was slightly softer and showed more marring than usual:
The slats of the engine cover had plenty of marring and given the tight working space, much care would have to be used with the Rupes Ibrid Nano 2″ polisher to correct these areas:
After a wash, chemical and and clay decontamination process to prep for correction, the car was dried and all trim was taped off. Next, various pad and polish combinations were tried to maximize defect removal while leaving the finish as refined as possible. At this point I discovered that the paint was very hard/scratch resistant, and as such the marring that was present was a result of very inappropriate washing/drying and was deep. Normal combinations of polishing or light cutting pads with moderate to heavy compounds failed to remove more than 70% of the defects, even with the power of the Rupes Mk II polisher, slow arm speed and many passes. Ultimately Optimum’s microfiber cutting pads were found to remove 95%+ of the defects when paired with Meguiar’s M100 compound mixed with a small amount of D300 to reduce dusting and leave a more refined finish. This combination was used with the Rupes 21 Mk II on speed 6 with moderate pressure on the larger panels, while the Rupes 75E was used for tigher areas including the A-pillars, rocker panels and mirrors, while the Rupes Ibrid Nano with 2″ pads was used for the hardest to reach areas such as the engine cover. To remove the micro-marring (hazing) caused by the compounding step, the Rupes polishers were used again, this time with Rupes fine grade pads and Meguiar’s D300. This left the finish with no perceptible micro-marring, but it was discovered that a final pass with Lake Country black foam finishing pads and a mixture of Meguiar’s D300 and HD Polish left provided even more gloss and depth, so this process was performed over the entire car. Following this, the car was washed to remove dust and polishing oils, dried and then wiped down twice with CarPro Easer to ensure proper bonding of the coating. Then, 22ple’s VX-Pro coating was applied to the body and wheel faces, allowing the metallic flake to really shine through.
After:
Here you can see the hood showing a lack of marring and the resulting richness, depth and gloss:
