'05 Tahoe Exterior Restoration Job - lots of pics

So having finished my interior restoration job a week or so ago (see this thread http://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15391) I moved on today to finish my exterior restoration with a thorough detail. The body was in pretty good shape when I got the vehicle, but the paint had been neglected, and some ass clown had done a $20 orbital job on it so it was swirl mark hell everywhere. Also, since it was an LS it had TRP plastic trim/parts stem to stern. It also came without fender flares, with 16" wheels, no spare, and basic powered (unheated) mirrors. My goal was to keep it appearing reasonably stock. Here's what I did to it:

- Added factory fender flares and painted to match the body
- Painted door handles and lift gate handle
- Painted body side moldings
- Painted front bumper cap
- Painted factory rear pillar/vent appliques to match the body
- Installed DL3 highline mirrors (turn signals, power fold, autodimming, heated, power adjust) with painted caps
- 07+ Yukon/Sierra polished 20" OEM wheels
- Yokohama Prada Spec-X tires
- New wiper blades
- Aftermarket LED tailights with smoked backup lights
- New waterpump

I spent 7 hours today detailing this thing. The process I used was:

1. Wash with Zaino Show Car wash
2. Clean/Polish with Klasse All-in-One on a Lake Country Green CSS pad using setting 6 on a Meguiar's G110v2 DA polisher
3. Glaze with Klasse High Gloss Sealant/Glaze on a Lake Country Black CSS pad using setting 2 on a Meguiar's G110v2 DA polisher.
4. Wax with Pinnacle Souveran Wax, applied by hand and worked in with a 6" Waxmaster el cheapo machine.
5. Finish with Pinnacle Crystal Mist Carnauba Detail Spray

I used Liquid Glass Pre-Cleaner on all the smooth plastic which really does an amazing job of removing the oxidization and polishing it to a glossy finish - its like Brasso for plastic. I used Meguiar's Quick Detailer to clean all the TRP plastic and then followed with Meguiar's Exterior Trim Detailer to bring out the black.

Here are before and after shots of the hood.

BEFORE:

AFTER:


And here are some all around shot of the finished vehicle:









There are some more shots in my album. Two things I want to say about this vehicle:

1. I have never been a fan of red. 5 of my last 7 vehicles have been black. But this Sport Red Metallic has been growing on me a lot since I've had it. When I saw it after today's detailing I was so impressed by its vibrancy and depth that its now one of my favorite colors.

2. The the results of this project have exceeded my expectations, not so much because what I've done, but because in doing the project I'm reminded again why I like the GMT-800 series vehicles so much. GM has a really great product in these trucks - they have so much potential.

-B

WOW dude! Truck looks beautiful. Very impressed with what you've accomplished here.

Looks like a brand new vehicle inside and out..

---------- Post added at 06:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:30 PM ----------

How do you like those Paradas? I'm rolling 24's and I love the ride, very smooth thread pattern and very quiet.

Thanks! I've only got 1300 miles on the Parada's but about 1100 of those miles was two 10 hour road trips one of which had about 8 hours of rain. I have to say that so far the traction and the ride quality is an astounding improvement over the factory tires. I suspect the 20" wheels help as well.

By the way, love your Esky. That blue is hard to beat.

-B

Thanks. This body style (GMT-800) is my favorite. As nice and luxurious as the NNBS is I like this one best..

Yeah I agree 100% and seriously considered buying both an nnbs Denali XL and Suburban LTZ, but was never able to bring myself to pull the trigger. When I look at what I'm getting for the money, I can't make the case. As KSES123 was saying one things the 800s have that the 900s seem to be lacking is a more driver-centric design. When you can go and pick up an '03-06 800 and mod it to your liking for tens of thousands less than a 900, really the only thing the 900s have over you is a more up to date exterior. Is that worth it? Not to me.

-B

chistoso said:

thanks. This body style (gmt-800) is my favorite. As nice and luxurious as the nnbs is i like this one best..

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x2

b

Did you paint yourself? What steps/process did you follow?

B

Boomer73 said:

Yeah I agree 100% and seriously considered buying both an nnbs Denali XL and Suburban LTZ, but was never able to bring myself to pull the trigger. When I look at what I'm getting for the money, I can't make the case. As KSES123 was saying one things the 800s have that the 900s seem to be lacking is a more driver-centric design. When you can go and pick up an '03-06 800 and mod it to your liking for tens of thousands less than a 900, really the only thing the 900s have over you is a more up to date exterior. Is that worth it? Not to me.

-B

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Agreed!

Keep up the great work Erik..

saw your interior project in your photo album. amazing! where did you get most of your interior parts? (plastic panels, headliner, carpet, etc). Might have to replace some interior parts in my tahoe and I'd be interested in knowing where a good place to get that stuff. Thanks!

wow!! amazing skills! this thing is beautiful now
you really did a great job on it

where did you pick up the mirrors?
how hard were they to wire?
did you buy smooth door handles and paint them or did you prep/paint the textured ones?

also how did you detail the engine?