2004 Cadillac CTS-V - 88K Mile Correction by Oakes

[Oakes]

Black is always the most revealing color, and its proven once again with this significantly defected Cadillac CTS-V. This 2004 model came from a performance shop local to me (2 buildings over) County Corvette, after having some work done. The goal was to get the car looking new again, refreshed, and not like it's been through 88k miles of car washes. The pictures are worth more than a thousand words in this case, so I will certainly let them do the talking!

The car as it arrived:

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt90/oakesdetail/Cadillac/1.jpg

The wheels were by no means terrible, but certainly needed some treatment. Before:

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt90/oakesdetail/Cadillac/53.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt90/oakesdetail/Cadillac/54.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt90/oakesdetail/Cadillac/55.jpg

After:

5. http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt90/oakesdetail/Cadillac/56.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt90/oakesdetail/Cadillac/57.jpg


After the full prep process, which entailed full citrus degreasing, citrus wash, clay/decontamination, rewash and alcohol wipe down, the paint was inspected. You can see for yourself what I was against:


http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt90/oakesdetail/Cadillac/7.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt90/oakesdetail/Cadillac/8.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt90/oakesdetail/Cadillac/9.jpg
10. http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt90/oakesdetail/Cadillac/11.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt90/oakesdetail/Cadillac/12.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt90/oakesdetail/Cadillac/14.jpg


Being a straight non metallic black, meant anything and everything was sticking out like a sore thumb on this car. The paint also comes from the same time as the notorious rock hard paint shared on the later model C5 Corvettes, as it was taking a lot of effort to fully correct this V. Here are some 50/50 shots of the progress as well as some before/afters:


http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt90/oakesdetail/Cadillac/19.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt90/oakesdetail/Cadillac/21.jpg
15. http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt90/oakesdetail/Cadillac/27.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt90/oakesdetail/Cadillac/29.jpg

Before/After:

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt90/oakesdetail/Cadillac/24.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt90/oakesdetail/Cadillac/25.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt90/oakesdetail/Cadillac/22.jpg
20. http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt90/oakesdetail/Cadillac/23.jpg

Some finished paint shots out in the sun and under the halogens:

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt90/oakesdetail/Cadillac/32.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt90/oakesdetail/Cadillac/34.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt90/oakesdetail/Cadillac/35.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt90/oakesdetail/Cadillac/41.jpg

After 2 applications of Menzerna Powerlock after Paint cleansing, here are the finished reflection photos and profile photos of the vehicle after 30 hours:

25. http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt90/oakesdetail/Cadillac/43.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt90/oakesdetail/Cadillac/42.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt90/oakesdetail/Cadillac/44.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt90/oakesdetail/Cadillac/38.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt90/oakesdetail/Cadillac/39.jpg
30. http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt90/oakesdetail/Cadillac/36.jpg

[Oakes]

Full shots:

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt90/oakesdetail/Cadillac/47.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt90/oakesdetail/Cadillac/45.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt90/oakesdetail/Cadillac/49.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt90/oakesdetail/Cadillac/51.jpg
35. http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt90/oakesdetail/Cadillac/46.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt90/oakesdetail/Cadillac/52.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt90/oakesdetail/Cadillac/50.jpg

Hope you enjoyed the write up, thanks for looking! Feedback always appreciated!

-Oakes

[Tadpole]

all I can say is Damn.

[speedfreak81]

Great work as usual. What was your compound/polish, and pad combo? I've been having GREAT results with 105 on PFW, especially on the harder GM paints. Put in 30+ hours on a black TrailBlazer SS that looked similar/and worse and it cut right through most of the defects.

[dsmdylan]

looks great but it took 30 hours?? i don't even want to know what that costs.

[ynoty3k]

looks great but it took 30 hours?? i don't even want to know what that costs.
my thoughts exactly!

looks great though!

[RT Dak]

looks great but it took 30 hours?? i don't even want to know what that costs.


my thoughts exactly!

looks great though!

So worth it if you care what your car looks like. Oakes is the man... he's done my car before and will hopefully get my truck sometime this year.

[///M3Vader4dr]

nice work on the calipers! do you usually take the wheels off to clean?

[Oakes]

Great work as usual. What was your compound/polish, and pad combo? I've been having GREAT results with 105 on PFW, especially on the harder GM paints. Put in 30+ hours on a black TrailBlazer SS that looked similar/and worse and it cut right through most of the defects.

Thank you!

105 PFW was the initial attack plan, followed by 203/orange and 106/black.



looks great but it took 30 hours?? i don't even want to know what that costs.


my thoughts exactly!

looks great though!

The cost was more reasonable than you'd probably guess haha, but definitely by no means "cheap" Only thing that mattered in the end was the owner being happy and he was blown away.


So worth it if you care what your car looks like. Oakes is the man... he's done my car before and will hopefully get my truck sometime this year.

Thank you! Definitely see if you can get the truck down here this year, hope the BMW is holding up well!



nice work on the calipers! do you usually take the wheels off to clean?

Depends on the wheels and if the owner wants the insides sealed, its a mix of taking them off or not.

[dsmdylan]

oh, no doubt a detail like that is worth a pretty penny. i just had no idea it took that long!

[2K6TBSS]

Beautiful work!