New car “love” usually means repairing damage it received at the factory or the dealership, yes new cars need love too! Beyond what is obvious, it means that the automobile is protected with a variety of products and services. Our goals are to make long term care easier on the owner and the surfaces as well protected as possible.

Typically, we will have a consultation with a client prior to beginning any work. This gives the client an opportunity to get to meet us and know what Detailed Designs Auto Spa is all about. This also gives us a great opportunity to get to learn more about the client, his car, a budget they may be working with and what is important to them. From there we can work towards the best solutions for their concerns.

In the case of this 2014 Stingray convertible, it was ordered from a dealership in Chicago and driven back to Atlanta during the snow/ice storm that practically covered the whole USA in January of 2014. The car’s owner said the drive was intense the whole way. What he came home with was a car that had endured the break-in period but was covered in all kinds of grime. Instead of leaving all of the grime on between the time he drove it and his appointment, he sprayed it down with a pressure washer. What was left was a car coated with a fine film of salt, road junk and marring/scratches/defects from the factory.

The owner was interested in doing whatever it took to clean up the interior, make the paint “shiny” with some paint correction, protect the body from rock chips or other road debris with a clear bra installation, cQuartz Finest application, Opti-Guard’s professional fabric and leather coating, the wheels removed for detailing and application of cQuartz Finest, flyby30 glass coating, fabric convertible top water repent coating, ceramic window tint and some carbon fiber vinyl accents. Our load was full and it was time to get to work.

These extensive projects all start the same way, clean it and decontaminate it. Our method consisted of an extensive 2-bucket wash, Iron-x decontamination, clay and dry.

As Jolene (owner’s name for it and custom plate) was when she arrived.

The interior before we got started.

Straight from the factory goodness.

All of the wheels and calipers were in really rough shape.

Exhaust tips come from the factory custom rough-looking, we can fix that.

Wheels were removed for a thorough detailing and cQuartz Finest coating. Here’s our very own Tim cleaning these bad boys up.

cQuartz Finest shows off these factory black wheels nicely.

Calipers were detailed and coated with cQuartz Finest.

The finished product.

Suspension hardware was covered and the fabric coated with 303 High Tech Fabric Guard. 303 High Tech Fabric Guard will assist with ease of care moving forward for the owner. The convertible top was treated with 303 High Tech Fabric Guard as well.

All wheels are mounted and torqued to factory specs with our digital tq wrench.

Windows received a 35% ceramic window tint. Our 25 year window tinting vet removes door panels to provide the best installation. Does it take longer to do it this way? Sure. The pay off is less fluid making its way into the door and a better looking install.

The owner was looking for something flashy. He asked for some carbon fiber accents and what we came up with was wrapping the bulges behind each seat and a carbon fiber “Stinger” stripe on the hood. The “Stinger” stripe photograph was taken after paint correction on the hood was completed.

One of the areas that tends to receive a lot of abuse is the tail lights. Considering the exterior has not been touched by the owner except for being sprayed off with water, it’s unfortunate that these tails lights look like this while being essentially brand new. We’ve worked on a lot of brand new cars with the exact same issue. The plastics used on tail lights tend to be very soft and prone to damage. We used a Makita 9227 rotary along with an orange 4″ Lake Country pad and Menzerna 1500 for the initial cut. Because the plastics are soft, it was not necessary to use a heavy cut compound which would no doubt leave heavy marring behind requiring multiple steps to finish it down properly. With an experienced hand, Menzerna SIP can be finished down perfectly. We decided to go ahead and follow up with Meguiar’s M205 on a Griot’s Garage DA on a gray pad, after a Carpro Eraser wipe down to ensure there wouldn’t be anything to pop up on the owner later. Please note that it is important to tape off edges that could be damaged from a backing plate or machine bumping. The few pictures here do not do all the taping that was necessary justice.

After a few treatments it looked 10x better. 10x better wasn’t good enough. As soft as the plastic was I knew we could get perfect.

A bit closer…

Bingo.

One of the other lights:

Exterior Wash and Decontamination Supplies:
Our Custom Blend Detailed Designs Auto Spa Shampoo
Grit Guard x2 Found Here
Bucket x2 Found Here
Wool Wash Mitt Found Here
p21s Total Auto Wash Found Here
Iron-X Found Here
Clay Bar Found Here

Fabric Convertible Top:
303 Fabric and Vinyl Cleaner Found Here
Horse Hair Brush Found Here
303 High Tech Fabric Guard Found Here

Wheels and Wheel Wells:
Sonax Full Effect Wheel Cleaner Found Here
p21s Total Auto Wash Found Here
EZ Detail Brush x2 Found Here
Wheel Woolies Found Here
Boar’s Hair Brush Found Here
Meguiar’s All Purpose Cleaner Found Here
Eraser Found Here
303 High Tech Fabric Guard Found Here
3m Adhesive Remover Found Here
Countless el Cheapo/throw away microfiber towels
cQuartz Finest

Forced Air Dried Found Here

Tail Light Restoration:
Makita Rotary Found Here
4″ backing plate Found Here
4″ Orange LC Pad Found Here
Menzerna SI 1500 Found Here
Griot’s Garage DA Found Here
6.5″ Gray LC Pad Found Here
Meguiar’s 205 Found Here
Eraser Found Here

Join us in Part 2 where we will review protection of sensitive surfaces, paint correction and the completed shots from this project.