2013 Kia Optima SXL - CQuartz UK 3.0 and STEK Dynoshield

[The Critic]

Ok, it has been a while since I have detailed a car. The entire car was washed and then decontaminated using Optimum Ferrex, then it was clayed using Meguiars C2000 Fine Clay w/ONR. Certain areas were spot-compounded with Griots Fast Correcting Cream and a Meguiars DMF6 pad. The entire car received a one-step polish using Optimum Hyper Polish and Rupes Yellow Foam Polishing Pads. I used the Rupes MKIII 15, MKIII 21 and the LHR75E machines for the polishing work. After the polishing work was done, the entire front-end of the car was custom-wrapped with STEK Dynoshield PPF by someone else. The front-end PPF included the hood, bumper, mirrors, lights, fenders and a portion of the roof. Once the PPF was completed, I wiped down the remainder of the car with Optimum Paint Prep and applied one coat of CarPro CQuartz UK 3.0. Prior to taking the pictures, the PPF portion of the vehicle was wiped down using Pinnacle Crystal Mist QD to remove the water marks. The tires received three coats of McKee's 37 Tire Shine SiO2 Enhanced.

 

[PimTac]

Looks great.

 

[Irishman]

A job well done. Thank you. Irishman

 

[KGMtech]

Polished the front badge right off !!

 

[cb450sc]

Looks fantastic! What is sticking out underneath the doors?

 

[parshisa]

How's the KIA's paint? Was it responsive to FCC? Did it leave too much marring behind? Also, can you put some details on how did UK3.0 went down at your specific ambient conditions (Temp, humidity etc). I'm waiting for my knee to heal up after ACL reconstruction and have a fresh CQ uk3.0 to go on my wife's pilot. It's been two years since i polished her car and had CQ TiO2 applied, still mostly going strong although some panels are showing coating degradation. Plus some swirls/scratches installed by kids and wife. Anyhow, looking forward for some details from a fellow detailer/BITOGER!

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted by KGMtech

Polished the front badge right off !!

Haha - the owner requested for the body shop to not reinstall the front badge so that the PPF can be tucked in.

Originally Posted by cb450sc

Looks fantastic! What is sticking out underneath the doors?

Chrome trim.

Originally Posted by parshisa

How's the KIA's paint? Was it responsive to FCC? Did it leave too much marring behind? Also, can you put some details on how did UK3.0 went down at your specific ambient conditions (Temp, humidity etc). I'm waiting for my knee to heal up after ACL reconstruction and have a fresh CQ uk3.0 to go on my wife's pilot. It's been two years since i polished her car and had CQ TiO2 applied, still mostly going strong although some panels are showing coating degradation. Plus some swirls/scratches installed by kids and wife. Anyhow, looking forward for some details from a fellow detailer/BITOGER!

I only used FCC on a small area of the hood (OEM paint) and on the trunklid (repainted). I used it with the Meguiars MF finishing pad on a Rupes MKIII 21 at speed 4, which is fairly aggressive. It required a follow-up step, but the FCC finished out fairly well for a compound. I have not worked with Kia paint before. This was also the first time I used the Rupes MKIII line of polishers; the upgrade in performance from my MK1 is quite significant. The condition of the Kia's paint was quite good (for 7 years) but it did have defects. I was a bit surprised by the amount of correction that was achieved in a single step. For all of those reasons, I am not sure where I would rank Kia paint...but I would guess "medium."

 

[WhizkidTN]

Wow, that looks really good!