Corrected 175k Miles of Auto Washes on a Black Tahoe
01-25-2015, 11:34 PM
#1
Safety Car
Thread Starter
Corrected 175k Miles of Auto Washes on a Black Tahoe
Kyle, a friend from my truck forum I visit, recently picked up a black 2007 Tahoe. He picked this one mostly because the interior was near mint. The exterior was a different story as it was not only black, but appeared to have been ran through auto washes on a regular basis. I feel like the previous owner took very good care of the truck, they just didn't know any better when it came to the outside.
Condition upon arrival.
Exterior:
Interior:
Interior wise, I steamed the seats and cleaned the steering wheel. Not much else was really needed.
Interior after being steamed:
Kyle had planned to debadge the truck, so it made sense to do it before the paint correction. I removed the "TAHOE" lettering along with the "LTZ" and "Flexfuel" badges.
Paint underneath the badges is what the truck looked like when new:
This truck went through dealership "prep" from what I could tell. As you guessed, they did pretty much nothing except grease up the seats and engine bay
After washing and claying the truck, it was time to bring it into the garage for the better part of a day.
Condition of the paint under my lights, yikes!
50/50 after compounding with my Rupes 21:
Passenger fender condition:
After a few passes:
I was able to achieve pretty good correction, even on some of the more extreme defects:
Complete!
In all, I spent around 15-16 hours on this truck. While it took a lot of work, a two step correction was necessary due to the condition of the paint upon arrival. My Rupes 21 really shined on the huge flat panels and it would have been a much longer day without it. While the truck was huge and seemingly never ending, I have to say it was fun to watch the paint coming back to life as I worked the panels. Overall, I enjoyed it as this was one of the tougher paint corrections that I've done and challenged me quite a bit.
Condition upon arrival.
Exterior:
Interior:
Interior wise, I steamed the seats and cleaned the steering wheel. Not much else was really needed.
Interior after being steamed:
Kyle had planned to debadge the truck, so it made sense to do it before the paint correction. I removed the "TAHOE" lettering along with the "LTZ" and "Flexfuel" badges.
Paint underneath the badges is what the truck looked like when new:
This truck went through dealership "prep" from what I could tell. As you guessed, they did pretty much nothing except grease up the seats and engine bay
After washing and claying the truck, it was time to bring it into the garage for the better part of a day.
Condition of the paint under my lights, yikes!
50/50 after compounding with my Rupes 21:
Passenger fender condition:
After a few passes:
I was able to achieve pretty good correction, even on some of the more extreme defects:
Complete!
In all, I spent around 15-16 hours on this truck. While it took a lot of work, a two step correction was necessary due to the condition of the paint upon arrival. My Rupes 21 really shined on the huge flat panels and it would have been a much longer day without it. While the truck was huge and seemingly never ending, I have to say it was fun to watch the paint coming back to life as I worked the panels. Overall, I enjoyed it as this was one of the tougher paint corrections that I've done and challenged me quite a bit.
01-26-2015, 09:40 AM
#2
Drifting
Great job, as usual. Thanks for posting how much time it took to get the paint corrected. I don't detail anymore, but it was funny to hear people wanting there cars corrected in a couple hours. They couldn't understand why I needed it for 2-3 days.
