900 Mile hammered FRS Opti-Coated by Greg Gellas
 

I was contacted by @blackraven1425 to correct the paint on his Raven Black FRS, then coat it with Opti-Coat with warranty. This car received two dealership washes. After a thorough wash while the owner was there we were able to see the full damage to the paint. I began with a 50/50 wash with Chemical guys Citrus wash and clear and dawn. I would never use dawn regularly, but it does strip wax off the surface. I then followed up with a Iron-X chemical decon, and finally it got a nanoskin clay mitt.

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps741f80ef.jpg

I would guess that both washes were done with a brush on a stick. This damage is not normally seen on this new of a FRS. Initally, we were going to do a single step correction, with this amount of damage I would not have made this in the time frame without some friends. I called up Franki Li, and Gary Feng, both are local friends and part time detailers that I would trust to do my own car. I had no hesitation to have them help me out to finish this car in timeframe I had. On top of that Gary was able to to photograph the work being done on the car. He is a better photographer than me.

Knowing we needed a heavier cut,and after a test spot, we all started out with a Meg's MF pad and M105 on a rupes machine. The larger panels were used with a Rupes LHR21, and thighter curves were taken care of with the LHR15. The really tight areas where taken care of with a Griots Garage Machine and a 3" pad, both areas required a two step correction.

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/a...psdb6bf5cd.jpg

Here is my help for the day correction out panels while I snap the shot. Look at the focus on both of them! They were just killing it!!!

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps15a27fe7.jpg

Ok, let me get out from behind the camera and start correcting some paint.

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps93740608.jpg

Here you can see the hazyness caused from heavier compounding. If you see how it almost appears blue at the front of the hood, that is caused from the deep compounding required to removed the rough stuff on the clear coat. At this point I have moved to a Yellow pad using Sonax Perfect finish to correct the hazing, and finish the clear coat to a glowing shine.

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/a...psd7e70341.jpg

How much correction were we able to get? Well after two steps, we achieved a 95-98% correction rate.

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps01bc6a4b.jpg

I finished down with a Rupes Yellow pad and Sonax perfect finish, here you can see some of the reflection that we got with this finishing step, even the machine is reflecting off the surface.

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps5bf8c6a9.jpg

Wiping off polish can be challenging, short wipes are ideal, longer wipes can cause a long scratch if there happens to be anything stuck in your Microfiber towel. Although I treat my towels like a surgeon treats his scalpel so that isn't a real issue :)

The reflections are coming along!

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps23d3fa15.jpg

After another wash to remove polishing residue, I moved on to an alcohol wipe down. All coatings need to adhere to the paint, no oils can be present.

As a authorized installer I thought I would share what we see when a warranty is registered with Optimum. We are able to see every warranty we have sold, and get reminders when they are ready for their yearly inspection.

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps225f4aff.jpg

OK, I know I have bored everyone by now, and your waiting for how it turned out. Even the owner when he saw it was giddy with joy!

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps22593f84.jpg

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps59bf8d8a.jpg

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps25e88a94.jpg

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps7b4c5727.jpg

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps6c204ae8.jpg

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps00d6341b.jpg

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/a...pse6897443.jpg

As always, thanks for looking! Greg :)

Great work she looks amazing after you finished

Wish you guys were in FL. Having a hard time finding anyo e who can opti-coat. Looks real good.

Looks great. Yeah, I would say if you are buying a car new don't let the dealership "help" you by prepping your car or washing it even a single time. Mine looked similar to that one, but not quite as bad before I had it opti-coated thanks to the wonderful dealership.

Just out of curiousity, how does the warranty work if they come in with mars in the paint after the opti treatment? It could be simply due to poor washing habits by the owner of the car after you have treated it versus defective coat application or normal weathering you would warranty cover. So how do you handle that?

wow, awesome

Very nice job. I'm glad we have great detailers in the northeast such as you guys.

Looks great! I told the dealer not to touch my car (only to peel the plastic off and thats it), so hopefully I can get it down to you without needing too much correction.

The first time, the car was fine coming out of the dealership - a couple of minor swirls, but it was close to the condition it's in after the correction. The second time, it was actually done by the dealership-associated body shop after they fixed the suspension, without letting me know until I picked it up - it was really terrible after this time around. They wanted to wash it again when they replaced the wheel bearing (which the body shop somehow didn't realize was still messed up after a test drive), but I obviously said "no f'in way!" after what they did the first time.

Either way, what Greg managed to do with the car in such a short timeframe is nothing beyond spectacular. I'd highly recommend giving him a visit for detailing or an Opti-Coat install!