Dave LeGear
Contributing Member
- City
- What's left of Pine Island
- State
- Florida
And not that I cannot use touch up paint myself, and have on other trucks in the past naturally... The Xterra though had some things that made this one a little different which is why it justified having it done professionally!
1. It would appear that Nissan when this one was shot originally, the Robot must has made a extra pass maybe two, so the paint on the nose is a litter thicker than normal. That is both good and bad... The good is it takes a hit without much damage from things like love bugs due to the protection I keep on the paint. The down side is when impacted just right, with a rock other other heavier road debris, it seems to have a tendency to peel up a larger section of paint than what you might normally see. Thankfully, the Nissan Frontier and Xterra both, don't have a lot of metal surfaces (large grill and front bumper cover both in plastic) on the nose, thus not a big metal target to knock paint away from as it is...
2. She also has been taken care of like "The Other Woman" and some would say... Even better LOL
Nothing new for me though, I have always taken care of my Trucks and Skiffs and love them to look as show room new (or even better as my door jams will reflect) as long as possible! She though has only averaged about 6k a year in miles, so she is in fine shape! And as you have seen with some of my other detailing articles and work, I have a good system of cleaning with quality automotive soap, then using Iron Free, combined with using a clay bar on the paint, and finally finished off with some fine paint sealants (mostly Turtle Wax Seal and Shine which I cannot recommend enough) a few times a year to help keep her that way... So to spend a couple of hundred dollars to have her done correctly and professionally to me, is a great ROI to keep her looking nice and arrest any possible micro level corrosion that may have started
So here are some before example shots (you might have to zoom in some) so you can see the damage that I simply could no longer cover up, or stand seeing on the R/F fender...
And some chips on the A Pillars since she like most Trucks and SUV's, has the frontal area of a Cab Over Kenworth while about as aerodynamic as a brick at the same time.
Then I let the guru's over at West Coast Collision in Cape Coral, work their magic! Which required the removal of the RF turn signal assembly, and repairing and re-shooting that section of the right front fender, and then blending it in with the original paint. Turned out Awesome!
They also touched up some of the smaller stone chips on the A Pillars and doors, and I manged to even secure some of the same paint they mixed up, for future Touch up work as needed
The next steps in about 3 weeks once that paint has had time to totally flash off and cure. Is to polish out the headlights (again this time with some stronger finishing compound) and then my normal routine of Strip Wash, Iron Free, Clay Bar, and some more Turtle Wax Seal and Shine
I cannot thank the guys enough over at West Coast Collision in Cape Coral! Chuck Romano was simply great to work with, and he even took me on a tour of the shop (as spotless as any quality Repair Center I have seen which has been a few) as we swapped War Stories while I was watching a blending on another one in the shop, that had Pearl Paint... Those are always a pain and takes some time and good eye to blend correctly!
So if in SWFL or can leave your ride with them. They are well worth the trip to have yours repaired, brought back to life, or just protected from some stone chips as I was having done. Now if I could only get them to come over and paint the house!
Not sure if Chuck and the team can handle Outboard engine covers, but those should not be much of a problem if you drop them off, or ship the covers to them for such work. I will check and update this once I hear from Chuck on that topic since I know there is a need for such.
Again, great staff and nice facility, and you can reach them here:
West Coast Collision
901 Country Club Blvd.
Cape Coral, Florida 33990
Main: 239-574-1505
Towing: 239-574-9500
Fax: 239-790-5300
[email protected]
And here is their website:
https://www.westcoastcollision.net/
And do let them know the guys from Performance Outdoors.Net sent you if you reach out to them!
So here is to keeping them looking good, while protecting your investment at the same time
Dave
1. It would appear that Nissan when this one was shot originally, the Robot must has made a extra pass maybe two, so the paint on the nose is a litter thicker than normal. That is both good and bad... The good is it takes a hit without much damage from things like love bugs due to the protection I keep on the paint. The down side is when impacted just right, with a rock other other heavier road debris, it seems to have a tendency to peel up a larger section of paint than what you might normally see. Thankfully, the Nissan Frontier and Xterra both, don't have a lot of metal surfaces (large grill and front bumper cover both in plastic) on the nose, thus not a big metal target to knock paint away from as it is...
2. She also has been taken care of like "The Other Woman" and some would say... Even better LOL
Nothing new for me though, I have always taken care of my Trucks and Skiffs and love them to look as show room new (or even better as my door jams will reflect) as long as possible! She though has only averaged about 6k a year in miles, so she is in fine shape! And as you have seen with some of my other detailing articles and work, I have a good system of cleaning with quality automotive soap, then using Iron Free, combined with using a clay bar on the paint, and finally finished off with some fine paint sealants (mostly Turtle Wax Seal and Shine which I cannot recommend enough) a few times a year to help keep her that way... So to spend a couple of hundred dollars to have her done correctly and professionally to me, is a great ROI to keep her looking nice and arrest any possible micro level corrosion that may have started So here are some before example shots (you might have to zoom in some) so you can see the damage that I simply could no longer cover up, or stand seeing on the R/F fender...
And some chips on the A Pillars since she like most Trucks and SUV's, has the frontal area of a Cab Over Kenworth while about as aerodynamic as a brick at the same time.
Then I let the guru's over at West Coast Collision in Cape Coral, work their magic! Which required the removal of the RF turn signal assembly, and repairing and re-shooting that section of the right front fender, and then blending it in with the original paint. Turned out Awesome!
They also touched up some of the smaller stone chips on the A Pillars and doors, and I manged to even secure some of the same paint they mixed up, for future Touch up work as needed
The next steps in about 3 weeks once that paint has had time to totally flash off and cure. Is to polish out the headlights (again this time with some stronger finishing compound) and then my normal routine of Strip Wash, Iron Free, Clay Bar, and some more Turtle Wax Seal and Shine
I cannot thank the guys enough over at West Coast Collision in Cape Coral! Chuck Romano was simply great to work with, and he even took me on a tour of the shop (as spotless as any quality Repair Center I have seen which has been a few) as we swapped War Stories while I was watching a blending on another one in the shop, that had Pearl Paint... Those are always a pain and takes some time and good eye to blend correctly!
So if in SWFL or can leave your ride with them. They are well worth the trip to have yours repaired, brought back to life, or just protected from some stone chips as I was having done. Now if I could only get them to come over and paint the house!
Not sure if Chuck and the team can handle Outboard engine covers, but those should not be much of a problem if you drop them off, or ship the covers to them for such work. I will check and update this once I hear from Chuck on that topic since I know there is a need for such.
Again, great staff and nice facility, and you can reach them here:
West Coast Collision
901 Country Club Blvd.
Cape Coral, Florida 33990
Main: 239-574-1505
Towing: 239-574-9500
Fax: 239-790-5300
[email protected]
And here is their website:
https://www.westcoastcollision.net/
And do let them know the guys from Performance Outdoors.Net sent you if you reach out to them!
So here is to keeping them looking good, while protecting your investment at the same time
Dave
