With the move to Colorado it was time to get my wife something new for winter driving. Her FWD 08 Equinox on summer tires wasn't gonna cut it. So a week ago today we picked up a 2013 Equinox LT2 V6 with AWD and a couple of other goodies like nav, backup cam, mylink, etc.
The color is unusual, but I like it - Steel Green Metallic... looks gray sometimes, looks kinda green others.
Gotta say I'm thoroughly impressed with this little suv... leaps and bounds ahead of what we had in the 08. Fit and finish is great, and the V6 has some serious get up and go for a crossover. Much more pep than the Edge we had driven and ultimately decided against.
So heres the start... not in horrible shape. Based on the build date it hadn't been on the lot long and the 'damage' was pretty light. Just looked a little dull... paint was very rough so clay was a definite need.
Started with a complete and very heavy foaming... the 36* weather when I started was not pleasant, but I can no longer be accused of only detailing in nice California weather.
Clay revealed the typical new car nastiness... lots of rail dust and fallout. After just a 2x2 section it was clear I needed to spend some time with the clay.
After claying I gave it another blast with the pressure washer, misted heavily with detail spray and pulled inside to start drying with a Great White Drying Towel
After she was dry out came the Porter Cable 7424xp, Flex 3401, and some new prototype pads I'm working on. Don't worry... they're still a ways off.
Each panel was worked individually... some required a prototype cutting compound to make real headway, the rest just a pass of FMP. Because this was partially testing in addition to a new car prep I bounced back and forth between the machines to test.
Next I had to pull the dealer badge/sticker off the back. Luckily b/c it was still fresh it peeled off pretty easy. A little APC and the corner of my great white drying towel did the job or removing the tiny bit of adhesive left behind.
Buffed it out with 4" focus pads and you'd never know it was there.
Next was trim dressing. Super VRT was applied to all exterior trim using a super block sponge. I also treated the engine compartment using Super VRT where I could reach. The tires got a healthy dose as well applied with a pro-tire hex grip applicator. I went back over and hit hard to reach areas with In & Out Spray.
Since I am going for all out protection on this for the winter I opted to apply Machine Super Sealant using the Flex 3401 and a Gen4 Gray pad.
So with a layer of Machine Super Sealant setting up and a colder/damp day outside I figured I had 45minutes to an hour of cure time to be on the safe side.
The color is unusual, but I like it - Steel Green Metallic... looks gray sometimes, looks kinda green others.
Gotta say I'm thoroughly impressed with this little suv... leaps and bounds ahead of what we had in the 08. Fit and finish is great, and the V6 has some serious get up and go for a crossover. Much more pep than the Edge we had driven and ultimately decided against.
So heres the start... not in horrible shape. Based on the build date it hadn't been on the lot long and the 'damage' was pretty light. Just looked a little dull... paint was very rough so clay was a definite need.
Started with a complete and very heavy foaming... the 36* weather when I started was not pleasant, but I can no longer be accused of only detailing in nice California weather.
Clay revealed the typical new car nastiness... lots of rail dust and fallout. After just a 2x2 section it was clear I needed to spend some time with the clay.
After claying I gave it another blast with the pressure washer, misted heavily with detail spray and pulled inside to start drying with a Great White Drying Towel
After she was dry out came the Porter Cable 7424xp, Flex 3401, and some new prototype pads I'm working on. Don't worry... they're still a ways off.
Each panel was worked individually... some required a prototype cutting compound to make real headway, the rest just a pass of FMP. Because this was partially testing in addition to a new car prep I bounced back and forth between the machines to test.
Next I had to pull the dealer badge/sticker off the back. Luckily b/c it was still fresh it peeled off pretty easy. A little APC and the corner of my great white drying towel did the job or removing the tiny bit of adhesive left behind.
Buffed it out with 4" focus pads and you'd never know it was there.
Next was trim dressing. Super VRT was applied to all exterior trim using a super block sponge. I also treated the engine compartment using Super VRT where I could reach. The tires got a healthy dose as well applied with a pro-tire hex grip applicator. I went back over and hit hard to reach areas with In & Out Spray.
Since I am going for all out protection on this for the winter I opted to apply Machine Super Sealant using the Flex 3401 and a Gen4 Gray pad.
So with a layer of Machine Super Sealant setting up and a colder/damp day outside I figured I had 45minutes to an hour of cure time to be on the safe side.
