We just added some photos of this Audi RS5 to our Portfolio. The car looked great for 20 feet away but it had a ton of swirl marks all over along with lots of dirt and contamination. It took us a solid 2 days to finish all the detailing and paint correction, which turned this paint around completely. After the paint correction we applied Paint Protection Film to the entire front end of the car, then coated everything with CQuartz Pro ceramic coating. Check out the portfolio page for some before and after photos!
Tag Archive for: LUSTR
After planning this for a while, we finally made a quick little video to introduce ourselves at Lustr and show a few of the cars we work on every day. The plan is to do a few simple videos monthly with some input on what we do as well as provide detailing tips and tricks for our fans and clients. Check it out and leave any feedback as we greatly appreciate it.
Here’s a quick video summarizing the extensive work we performed on a black Ferrari F12. The paint was in bad shape for a new car, riddled with swirl marks, buffer holograms and many random sanding marks. We did 3-4 stages of paint correction to restore it to perfect condition and make it a shiny, new Ferrari.
After the paint correction, Suntek Paint Protection Film was applied to the entire vehicle. On top of the PPF we applied GTechniq CSL protective coating for added gloss, ease of maintenance and extra protection. Enjoy the video and definitely watch in HD!
A few months ago we were contacted by a client to prep his brand new Porsche GT3RS before a full car PPF/clear bra application. While it’s a brand new car, it definitely suffered from bad swirl marks, buffer holograms and even sanding marks left over from the factory. By performing a very thorough paint correction, we were able to make the paint look like it should have for a brand new Porsche.
After we were done with it, the Xpel PPF was applied to the entire vehicle for the best protection. Finally, 22PLE protective coating was applied for added gloss, ease of maintenance and extra protection. Check out the video below showing the process we performed on this gorgeous GT3RS.
A year ago we teamed up with Big Media Productions in their series portraying the Dodge Viper. Two Dodge Vipers were brought to use for a thorough paint correction and coating. We performed a 2-stage paint correction on the vehicles and then protected the paint with a long lasting protective coating.
Recently, our episode on correcting and protecting paint was completed and can be viewed on Youtube so please check it out and let us know how you like it. We’re very happy with how it came out.
Here’s a quick article I wrote for Detailed Image a while back highlighting some tools/accessories that I like to use on an almost daily basis. Some of My Favorite Detailing Accessories include:
These little containers can be used for claybar, but also other items like storing steel wool, small screwdriver bits, nuts and bolts, etc.
These plastic blades are great for removing stickers from cars, but also cleaning wax residue and dirt from hard to reach areas between panels.
Whether in a shop or home garage, these are great at keeping the vehicle carpets and mats clean from footprints, especially during winter time.
These work great for just about any liquid and are much easier on the hand as you don’t have to constantly pump the sprayer of a typical spray bottle. Just build up some pressure and they’re good to go for a little while.
This stone works VERY well on removing pet hair as well as other fibers from the carpets and upholstery. A must have if you transport animals.
It seems that 95% of the time we are doing some level of paint correction and applying a ceramic coating to a vehicle. That is our specialty and what most clients need for their vehicles. However, we also do quite a few additional services. These include interior detailing, headlight restoration, paint protection film (PPF), etc.
In this case, we were asked to bring back to life some old and weathered headlights on a client’s Chrysler Pacifica. The car came in dirty, so we were hoping most of the haze on the headlight would wash off.
Unfortunately, much of the haze was in the actual headlight lens and would need to be thoroughly corrected.
A close up shows the damage from regular driving and road debris. This not only looks bad, but can greatly limit the light output of your headlights and be a huge safety concern.
We decided that in order to correct these headlights, we needed to fully sand the plastic lens and then polish them to perfection. First, we masked off the adjacent paint to protect it.
We then completely sanded the lens leaving a very hazy finish. This was required in order to remove the deep scratches, chipping and faded layer.
Sanding was followed by two stages of machine polishing in order to correct the haze and bring back perfect clarity. We were extremely pleased with the results as the lens looked almost brand new.
Even up close, the headlight was near perfect and improved greatly over the previous condition. The fade was gone and light output was now 100%.
We normally apply a protective coating after a headlight restoration, which keeps the lens from fading for up to a year, sometimes more. This time though, the headlights turned out so well that the client decided to have us apply some protective film before we put the coating on, for even better protection and preservation.
The protective film (PPF) is only visible if you’re a few inches from the lens and looking around the edges. Otherwise, it’s invisible to the naked eye and looks great on the headlights. Not only does it allow light through easily, the film helps to protect the lens from UV radiation as well as daily road debris causing damage to the headlights.
Needless to say, our client was extremely pleased with the results and we were as well. The photo clearly show the huge improvement made by correcting the headlight. These headlights are now protected for years to come and only maintenance will be to replace the film for under $100 after a few years depending on how it wears.
For these headlights the protective film investment may not have been a “must”, but when you consider most cars these days come with HID headlights and many luxury manufacturers charge well over $1000 per each headlight, it becomes a great investment.
You can see some a full list of our car detailing and additional services on our Services page. Don’t hesitate to call or email us with any questions or to schedule your appointment today.
Paint correction is our specialty at LUSTR and we always try to do our best with each vehicle. We educate clients on what’s possible and what’s practical when correcting paint on various vehicles. Sometimes multiple stages of polishing can yield a perfect finish, which provides the best looks and paint quality. Other times a single stage polishing detail will greatly improve the finish, make it look great and be practical as well as economical for a daily driven car. In the article Different Levels of Paint Correction I try to explain in depth the amount of correction we’re able to accomplish and what it means for different vehicles.
This Audi A7 belongs to a regular client, who comes roughly once every 1-1.5 years for paint correction and protective coating application. In this case we also replaced the Xpel PPF/clear bra on the hood due to it being fairly worn after almost 2 years of use. The car required two stages of paint correction to achieve a nearly perfect finish, which we then protected with the 22PLE paint protection coating. The A7 came out extremely glossy and is now well protected for 1-2 years with the paint coating. We apply the 22PLE paint coating on top of the Xpel PPF both to make it look glossy and offer great protection, making it much easier to clean going forward. For the complete article, please visit Audi A7 Paint Correction Detail & 22ple Paint Coating Application on the Detailed Image Blog.
Check out some of our recent work performed on a few very nice cars. The BMW i8 came to us brand new from the dealer for a major protection package. The paint was polished and then protected with Xpel Paint Protection Film as well as OptiCoat paint protection coating. The BMW M3 received a very similar treatment except with the CQ Finest paint coating. Both cars had a wheels off detail with coating included. Lastly, the BMW 540i was brought back to life with two stages of paint correction, then protected with GlossCoat paint coating. Click the links below for more info and photos.