SpecC Detailed: Lexus ES300
#1
SpecC Detailed: Lexus ES300
I don't know what color to call this, so it's just going to be an ES300.
Car was pretty clean to begin with since it had been washed a week ago, and its color hides dirty very well. There is a lot of chrome on this car, and I'll be looking for a better metal polish after seeing minimal results on all of this.
I need to be more careful with this wash process though! I let some citrus wash and gloss water get into my gloves during the wash process and now my fingers' skin is all peeling! Nasty!
Wash&Dry
CG CWG
Micro-chenille mitt
Grit Guard
Waffle Weave Drying Towel
Clay
CG Clay
CG CWG as clay lube cause I'm out of QD and lazy to refill soap
Glass
CG CWG for wash
Stoners IG to clean up
Jetseal 109
Engine Bay
CG Grime Reaper diluted 5:1
Costco MF
Metal Bits
Exhaust tip, trim, grille, door handles (yes, door handles)
CG Metal Polish
Wheels & Tires
CG CWG
EZ Detail brush - best wheel brush out there!
Swissvax Wheel Brush - this one's for the wheel face and made my job a lot easier
Jetseal 109
Swissvax Pneu - tire shine
Paint Correction
Hitachi rotary polisher
Menzerna PO106FF
Menzerna SIP (trunk only)
LC White Pad (with 106FF)
LC Orange Pad (with SIP)
50/50 Isopropyl and water mixture
LSP
Jetseal 109 - cured overnight
Meguiar's Quick Detailer
All purpose MF towel
Now for pictures. I didn't take before ones because I was being lazy, and it wouldn't have made much of a difference for this color. My camera is pretty crappy and I'm looking to upgrade that anyway.
![](http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p284/SpecCRA/Lexus%20ES300%20detail/DSC00142.jpg)
Engine bay before
![](http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p284/SpecCRA/Lexus%20ES300%20detail/DSC00144.jpg)
![](http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p284/SpecCRA/Lexus%20ES300%20detail/DSC00145.jpg)
![](http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p284/SpecCRA/Lexus%20ES300%20detail/DSC00148.jpg)
As you can see, I had a pretty hard time actually capturing the swirls on camera.
![](http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p284/SpecCRA/Lexus%20ES300%20detail/DSC00159.jpg)
my test section
![](http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p284/SpecCRA/Lexus%20ES300%20detail/DSC00163.jpg)
taped up for a 50/50 shot!
![](http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p284/SpecCRA/Lexus%20ES300%20detail/DSC00166.jpg)
This is the best I could do in terms of actually capturing the paint correction I was doing. I'll let you guess which side I actually polished. The polished side was passed with SIP and 106FF.
![](http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p284/SpecCRA/Lexus%20ES300%20detail/DSC00154.jpg)
Finished one side of the car and half the roof. Time for a break!
After Jetseal 109 and finished engine bay pictures.
![](http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p284/SpecCRA/Lexus%20ES300%20detail/DSC00149.jpg)
![](http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p284/SpecCRA/Lexus%20ES300%20detail/DSC00150.jpg)
![](http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p284/SpecCRA/Lexus%20ES300%20detail/DSC00152.jpg)
Yeah it's not completely clean because there were some areas I tried to avoid. Crappy Toyota cooling! I sprayed some Grime Reaper on it and it just started to steam and smell like death! Same happened to the wheels. He drove it for 7 minutes and the brakes were so hot, the water evaporated right away!
![](http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p284/SpecCRA/Lexus%20ES300%20detail/DSC00174.jpg)
![](http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p284/SpecCRA/Lexus%20ES300%20detail/DSC00192.jpg)
![](http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p284/SpecCRA/Lexus%20ES300%20detail/DSC00169.jpg)
SV Pneu is awesome! It's a good shine in person, but it's not a OMG THAT IS TOO SHINY kind.
![](http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p284/SpecCRA/Lexus%20ES300%20detail/DSC00171.jpg)
![](http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p284/SpecCRA/Lexus%20ES300%20detail/DSC00172.jpg)
My attempts at the "FMINUS shot"
Car was pretty clean to begin with since it had been washed a week ago, and its color hides dirty very well. There is a lot of chrome on this car, and I'll be looking for a better metal polish after seeing minimal results on all of this.
I need to be more careful with this wash process though! I let some citrus wash and gloss water get into my gloves during the wash process and now my fingers' skin is all peeling! Nasty!
Wash&Dry
CG CWG
Micro-chenille mitt
Grit Guard
Waffle Weave Drying Towel
Clay
CG Clay
CG CWG as clay lube cause I'm out of QD and lazy to refill soap
Glass
CG CWG for wash
Stoners IG to clean up
Jetseal 109
Engine Bay
CG Grime Reaper diluted 5:1
Costco MF
Metal Bits
Exhaust tip, trim, grille, door handles (yes, door handles)
CG Metal Polish
Wheels & Tires
CG CWG
EZ Detail brush - best wheel brush out there!
Swissvax Wheel Brush - this one's for the wheel face and made my job a lot easier
Jetseal 109
Swissvax Pneu - tire shine
Paint Correction
Hitachi rotary polisher
Menzerna PO106FF
Menzerna SIP (trunk only)
LC White Pad (with 106FF)
LC Orange Pad (with SIP)
50/50 Isopropyl and water mixture
LSP
Jetseal 109 - cured overnight
Meguiar's Quick Detailer
All purpose MF towel
Now for pictures. I didn't take before ones because I was being lazy, and it wouldn't have made much of a difference for this color. My camera is pretty crappy and I'm looking to upgrade that anyway.
![](http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p284/SpecCRA/Lexus%20ES300%20detail/DSC00142.jpg)
Engine bay before
![](http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p284/SpecCRA/Lexus%20ES300%20detail/DSC00144.jpg)
![](http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p284/SpecCRA/Lexus%20ES300%20detail/DSC00145.jpg)
![](http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p284/SpecCRA/Lexus%20ES300%20detail/DSC00148.jpg)
As you can see, I had a pretty hard time actually capturing the swirls on camera.
![](http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p284/SpecCRA/Lexus%20ES300%20detail/DSC00159.jpg)
my test section
![](http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p284/SpecCRA/Lexus%20ES300%20detail/DSC00163.jpg)
taped up for a 50/50 shot!
![](http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p284/SpecCRA/Lexus%20ES300%20detail/DSC00166.jpg)
This is the best I could do in terms of actually capturing the paint correction I was doing. I'll let you guess which side I actually polished. The polished side was passed with SIP and 106FF.
![](http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p284/SpecCRA/Lexus%20ES300%20detail/DSC00154.jpg)
Finished one side of the car and half the roof. Time for a break!
After Jetseal 109 and finished engine bay pictures.
![](http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p284/SpecCRA/Lexus%20ES300%20detail/DSC00149.jpg)
![](http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p284/SpecCRA/Lexus%20ES300%20detail/DSC00150.jpg)
![](http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p284/SpecCRA/Lexus%20ES300%20detail/DSC00152.jpg)
Yeah it's not completely clean because there were some areas I tried to avoid. Crappy Toyota cooling! I sprayed some Grime Reaper on it and it just started to steam and smell like death! Same happened to the wheels. He drove it for 7 minutes and the brakes were so hot, the water evaporated right away!
![](http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p284/SpecCRA/Lexus%20ES300%20detail/DSC00174.jpg)
![](http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p284/SpecCRA/Lexus%20ES300%20detail/DSC00192.jpg)
![](http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p284/SpecCRA/Lexus%20ES300%20detail/DSC00169.jpg)
SV Pneu is awesome! It's a good shine in person, but it's not a OMG THAT IS TOO SHINY kind.
![](http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p284/SpecCRA/Lexus%20ES300%20detail/DSC00171.jpg)
![](http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p284/SpecCRA/Lexus%20ES300%20detail/DSC00172.jpg)
My attempts at the "FMINUS shot"