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Paint/Body/Clear Wrap/Ceramic Coat

2K views 8 replies 6 participants last post by  Afroman 
#1 · (Edited)
I've not posted here for quite some time. Well, with nothing but time on my hands right now, I figured why not?

I polished through a small spot on my hood in the summer of '18. I was chasing a defect and got a bit carried away. Oh well, happens.

The car had a Clear Bra on it that was installed in the spring of 2008, it was time to remove it anyways. So an appointment was made with a top of the line body and paint guy, Andy Arter owner of Kessis Body Shop in Hanover, PA, to take care of the paint and body work, and a with a shop that does wraps, etc for after the paint gasses off.

First the old Clear Bra needed removed. I'd also talked with Shane Weldon, who would be wrapping the front of the car after the paint work was done, he said to make sure I used heat to remove the old Clear Bra. Guess I should have listened.


Oops...



Hind sight being what it is, I shouldn't have ripped the Clear Bra off like a Band Aid, not such a good idea. The SAP Side Skirts were painted after I bought them in 2007 and there were a couple sags in the paint, so I figured now was a good time to get them taken care of too. While at it, the SAP Spoiler needed a bit of work from a small repair I wasn't satisfied with that was done after I first bought the Spoiler. Arrangements were made to have Hood, Side Skirts, and Rear Spoiler taken care of by Andy.

Lesson learned, heat was used to remove the remaining Clear Bra over the front SAP Bumper Cover Extension. The 10 year old Clear Bra material was starting to yellow, and due for replacement.

The Side Skirts and Spoiler were removed and thrown into the back of my Dodge Magnum. Charlie, skipopeye, and I headed off to Kess's in Hanover, PA to drop the car and parts off for the paint and body work.
 
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#2 · (Edited)
I got the car and parts back looking as good as the rest of the vehicle. The parts had swirls from the cut and buff (which was expected), but the color and texture of the paint was a perfect match. Once home I polished the trunk lid to flawless perfection before reattaching the SAP Spoiler, I then replaced the Side Skirts and polished them, and polished out the hood. All done in preparation of the new Clear Wrap.

I let the car sit, undisturbed, in the garage until June. All the solvents would have gassed off from the paint work, so it was time to get the Clear Wrap on.

I removed the hood liner, hood scoops, washer nozzles, and side emblems then took the car to Shane Weldon, owner of InShane Designs in Lemoyne, PA. My previous Clear Bra was pretty much just the front end of the car, with a small amount on the fronts of the fenders and hood. This time I had the entire front clip done. Shane wrapped the SAP Front Bumper Extension, the Front Bumper Cover, The Headlights and Fog Lights, the Hood and Hood Scoops, both Front Fenders, the leading edge of the Side Skirts, the leading edge of both Side Mirrors, the rear Wheel Arches, and the lower area, behind the rear wheels of the Rear Bumper. Shane reinstalled the Hood Scoops and Washer Nozzles.
The new XPEL material is the self healing type and should last 10-12 years on this garaged car, a definite upgrade from the material available and installed 10 years ago.

One of Shane's employees, alexthespangler on IG, snapped a few pics while it was in their possession







I've contacted Alex about doing a photo shoot sometime this spring.
 
#3 · (Edited)
A few more of Alex's pics





Once home I waxed all the areas of the car with a Ceramic Paste Wax by Adam's Polishes, and planed to Ceramic Coat all the Clear Wrap material when I have some time.
Fall arrived and I pulled the wheels to polish them; fronts, lips, and barrels. Once polished I applied a Ceramic Spray Coating by Adam's to protect them.

All done by hand with Adam's Metal Polish #2
 
#4 · (Edited)
Okay, so now it's March and the Coronavirus hits the US. As of two weeks ago my job, as most everyone else's begins to change, where I'm now not to be on the road unless an emergency, and work as much as I can from home. I finished most all my work last week on Thursday and began work on the GTO mid Friday morning. Check out the link, taking you to a write up I did on Adam's forum:
I'd decided to only Ceramic Coat the wrapped and re-sprayed areas so I could still get to the OEM paint (under a traditional glaze and wax) if/when there were any scratches, or other marring more easily. Also, so I wouldn't change any of the characteristics of the OEM paint from the Ceramic Coating.
 
#9 ·
Looks great!
 
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