nc_detail_garage

Nice! I saw some posts about this an thinking about trying it on my car. I've been playing w/ the dynoshield that Michael sent a little while back.
 

Hello All,
 
I've been reading past articles for awhile now and figured an introductory post was in order. I work in finance full-time but have been detailing for clients out of my home for the past year. I only do about 3-4 cars a month but mainly focus on corrections and coatings. I completed the 3M training at Star Shield Solutions in June and have been slowly tackling projects since then.
 
Since the class, it was time to swap to my wife's vehicle and she became fixated on the Levante after seeing one at the local mall. After trying to sway her in another direction for a few weeks, I gave in and started the hunt. I ended up finding this one as a '17 hold-over down in Charleston thankfully we were already heading that way for a little vacation. I was super eager to put my new 'skills' to the test and ordered the film shortly after taking delivery. I went w/ 3M pro, pre-cut bumper, headlights, mirror, and deck lid. Bulk 60"x66" for the hood.
 
Despite having 200miles on the odo, the paint was dull, contaminated, and swirled after sitting on the dealer lot for a year. I spent the next three weekends doing a two step correction then protecting with Wolfgang's Deep Gloss Sealant and SwissVax Mystery. Now that the paint was proper, it was film time. I debated about only using a spray sealant on the surfaces that were to be wrapped but wanted to see how the film would play w/ a slick surface.
 
I split the film work over two weekends, with the first being to tackle the hood. My only film experience was the 3 day training. I think I spent 30minutes just staring at the film and car before getting the nerves to get cracking. Removing the backing paper proved my biggest (first) challenge. I basically drenched the thing the best I could and peeled away. Once removed, I played tug-of-war getting the film in a decent location before tacking the ends by the a-pillars. Then tacked at the headlights and started in the middle to work outwards. I struggled with the forward lip by the grill the most but the end result is decent. My wrapped forward edges left a little to be desired but it's on there and my first full solo hood was complete. 
 
mid process shots
mashood_1 by Larry Bishop, on Flickr
 
mashood_2 by Larry Bishop, on Flickr
 
mashood_3 by Larry Bishop, on Flickr
 
My next little job was the b-pillars on my s4. I'm starting to play with a roll of dynoshield that Micheal at STEK sent a little while back. After correcting and prepping the billars, the film went down. I used #10 scalpel to cut the edges and pretty happy with the end product. I like doing these smaller pieces as the risk is low and I feel that every chance I get to use the film is a learning opportunity.
 
bpillar_1 by Larry Bishop, on Flickr
bpillar_2 by Larry Bishop, on Flickr
bpillar_3 by Larry Bishop, on Flickr
 
I had suntek ultra done on the full hood, bumper, mirrors, and headlights by a local shop last year. Maybe I'll remove it at some point for my install but it's working just fine. I did change up the protection recently though. I corrected the paint to remove the minor swirls and the old coating to make room to try Feynlabs Heal Lite coating. This is a self healing coating that I'm eager to try out. Given it's not safe for ppf, I used Feynlab Ceramic Lite and TopCoat for the rest of the painted surfaces. It's super slick and working well thus far.
 
Thanks for reading,
Larry 
IMG_0167 by Larry Bishop, on Flickr
s4_4 by Larry Bishop, on Flickr