The Chronicles of SneakySnake Vol III

[ViperDC]

whats a comprehensive detail and coating like that run typically? looks good

[serpent]

disappointed that the key fob wasnt disassembled, cleaned, power washed, air blower dried, clayed, polished, ceramic coated 10 coats.
Dang Alex, you slippin.

[viper04]

Awesome! Love your post with all the detail picture and info. Keep it coming.

[slowhatch]

whats a comprehensive detail and coating like that run typically? looks good

This is very often asked, yet non straightforward to answer question. Reason being is that paint corrections are almost exclusively labor cost. So depending on the condition of your specific cars clear, its geometry, how difficult your car's clear is to correct (all oem clears vary in hardness, etc), and the level of correction you desire, you'll get a different price. I would say a reasonable estimate for a decontamination wash, clay, 2 stage correction, and sealant, would be in the 1000-2000 range. I'd be wary of those who quote jobs like this low (less than 500), as the labor involved (probably 16-20hrs) to do it right doesn't lend itself to make a profit at those prices. Which means you're not really getting what you think you're paying for. Some people could care less, and others cant see swirls, holograms, RIDS, buffer trails, etc to save their life (I wish I was one of those people ), and to those none of this makes any sense at any price. The amount of work I'm getting done would probably cost 3-4k if I just dropped the keys off and walked away, but that's not the arrangement here.

Myself and the owner of Clarity have been great friends for a long time so I am not paying full rate. I'm also performing the things that I have the competency to do, myself. Washing, claying, detailing the undercarriage, removing calipers, treating the interior, detailing the wheels, etc. All things that I have the know-how and willingness to do myself while leaving Curtis to work on higher margin work at his shop. He will tackle the correction, coatings, and powder work. How much will I pay? To be honest I don't have a clue, we didn't really discuss it. Curt will charge me what he thinks is reasonable given my involvement, and I will pay it.

disappointed that the key fob wasnt disassembled, cleaned, power washed, air blower dried, clayed, polished, ceramic coated 10 coats.
Dang Alex, you slippin.

There is still time.

[viperBase1]

disappointed that the key fob wasnt disassembled, cleaned, power washed, air blower dried, clayed, polished, ceramic coated 10 coats.
Dang Alex, you slippin.

Serpent, I have to chime in here.. you have no idea.

• Key Fob Disassembled -> check
• Cleaned -> check
• Power Washed -> No Doubt
• Air Blower Dried -> Most Def
• Clayed, Polished Ceramic Coated -> That's crazy talk now you've gone too far.

This is the Slowhatch Switch-Blade Key Fob that came with my car.
He took a stock Key Fob, gutted it and transferred the innerds into the Switch-Blade housing.

Locked and loaded.
key1small.jpg
Push the silver button to deploy the key.
Attachment 25314

[SSG]

Alex, you should check out Obsessed Garage on YouTube (if you haven't already). Very similar level of quality from the two of you.

Spent a good day last year reading through your Gen 4 build thread, happy to find this one as its still progressing. Thank you for sharing such detailed photos, always nice for those of us who are still planning our purchases.

[swexlin]

Alex, you should check out Obsessed Garage on YouTube (if you haven't already). Very similar level of quality from the two of you.

Spent a good day last year reading through your Gen 4 build thread, happy to find this one as its still progressing. Thank you for sharing such detailed photos, always nice for those of us who are still planning our purchases.

Agreed, Mat Moreman on Obessed Garage is terrific. Been following him for a couple years now. Sometimes I can't believe I just watched an 45 minute video of someone washing a car!

[Malu59RT]

There is still time.

I'm rolling over here!!

[slowhatch]

Alex, you should check out Obsessed Garage on YouTube (if you haven't already). Very similar level of quality from the two of you.

Spent a good day last year reading through your Gen 4 build thread, happy to find this one as its still progressing. Thank you for sharing such detailed photos, always nice for those of us who are still planning our purchases.

Thanks for the kind words!

Agreed, Mat Moreman on Obessed Garage is terrific. Been following him for a couple years now. Sometimes I can't believe I just watched an 45 minute video of someone washing a car!

I'll check this guy out tonight!

[slowhatch]

Stopped by the shop late last night to make some more progress on the snake. Wheels were laying out so I decided to get them presentable.

Center caps removed and ready for powder-coat.



Started with one of the fronts.




Brake dust from head to toe and residual wheel weight remnants all over the place. Curt set me up with the tools for the job and taught me a quick way to pull wheel weight tape off with ease. Apparently a cordless drill with a rubber wheel makes quick work of it.



The first step is to remove all the weight tape;






Started by removing large contaminants off of the tape so it doesn't get ground into the wheel. Then time to hit it with the rubber wheel;



After the pass you'll be left with some adhesive residue;



A little Tar-X and all is like new;

[slowhatch]

I repeated these steps until all the tape weight residue was gone and moved on to cleaning the actual barrels/centers. Adam's wheel cleaner is a monster for this stuff. Spray it on, let it sit for 30 seconds and then go to town agitating with the brushes.








Rinse everything off and you have what appears to be a new wheel;






Now lets do one of the behemoth rears. Same exact steps as before;





Boom. Magic;




Rinse and repeat, quite literally, until you have a full set Now they are ready to be hit with a sealant.

[KB Viper]

The lower seat covers were also replaced under warranty and look much better. I was told they would wear in and tighten up on the cushion as you sit in them over time. In any case, the replacements look miles better than what they replaced.

Before;



After;

[/QUOTE]
good call. my drivers seat looks like shit, did you simply ask them to replace it under warranty?

[slowhatch]

good call. my drivers seat looks like shit, did you simply ask them to replace it under warranty?

Yes. They required pictures of the seats to approve it, but they did in the end.

[slowhatch]

Made more progress at the shop last night. Caliper break-down, cleaning, and powder process has commenced.

Start off fully assembled and arrange required tools;




First step is to knock out the pad pins, remove the cross spring, and pads;



Next, the fluid hard line is removed, and then its just 4 bolts holding the caliper halves together;



Now you're ready to remove the pistons. Some shop air, and a bleeder nipple with a quick release fitting makes life easy;



Set the body in a clamp;



Attach air line;



Place block under pistons to catch them, and to prevent one piston from shooting out (and bleeding the pressure), while leaving the adjacent one retracted. Around 10-15psi does the trick. (Now picturing other caliper half);



With the pistons extended, carefully roll back the lip of the dust boots and apply light force to leverage the pistons out. Take care to apply force directly in line with piston axis (to prevent cocking).




Repeat with the other side;



Both pistons removed;

[slowhatch]

Next you carefully pry the dust boots out from their locations, and follow by removing the piston seals (in the bore). You are left with this when finished;



Last step is to remove the pad guides (2 on each half);



Repeat this until all 4 calipers are completely broken down. They will now head to an acid bath to strip the oem paint;



Next, all caliper hardware that was removed goes into a de-greasing station. Soaks for a few minutes, metals get brissle brushed, seals/boots get hand massaged, everything is rinsed, and placed aside.




Ready for the next step;



Center caps and caliper hard lines join the calipers in the acid bath;



Bleeders and caliper bolts are heading to the media blaster;




- - - Updated - - -

I'm still slower than Curt but I'm getting there haha;



Pad pins and guides are going into the abrasive shaker to get a polish;





A little break to give the shop beast some love;



Calipers came out of the acid bath. The media is over a year old so its not stripping as well as it should be (replacement is on the way), but it did enough. These will be sprayed off, baked out, and headed to the media blaster;




The other half wanted to help out so I put her to work



All seals and boots are placed in a ziplok bag and hit with some seal conditioner, and left to sit overnight.



More progress soon!

[One Viper Bite]

Alex, you and SneakySteed are couple goals!

Keep the pictures and info coming!

[slowhatch]

Caliper bolts blasted and ready for Cerakote;



Blasting the calipers;




Some tedious hours later...

[Boosted Motorsports]

Holy hell man love the attention to detail and how particular you are with your car. I consider myself to be pretty anal about my vehicle but you are on a completely different level lol. Looks like you plan to keep this one for awhile!

[sadil]

What is Cerakote?

[ACRSNK]

Might have missed it, but what color are you coating the calipers with?

[slowhatch]

Holy hell man love the attention to detail and how particular you are with your car. I consider myself to be pretty anal about my vehicle but you are on a completely different level lol. Looks like you plan to keep this one for awhile!

What is Cerakote?

Its a tough ceramic paint made popular by gun enthusiasts. It looks very nice on hardware like bolts, etc. Should contrast well with the calipers. I think the factory brembo method of spraying EVERYTHING red (after being assembled), is meh. But I understand the financial motivation.

Might have missed it, but what color are you coating the calipers with?

I think I've mentioned it, but I'm doing yellow. I love the way the Aqua Blue GT3's look with yellow PCCBs, and since ABM is so close to GTS blue, it was my inspiration. I like things to look oem.

[ACRSNK]

Its a tough ceramic paint made popular by gun enthusiasts. It looks very nice on hardware like bolts, etc. Should contrast well with the calipers. I think the factory brembo method of spraying EVERYTHING red (after being assembled), is meh. But I understand the financial motivation.





I think I've mentioned it, but I'm doing yellow. I love the way the Aqua Blue GT3's look with yellow PCCBs, and since ABM is so close to GTS blue, it was my inspiration. I like things to look oem.

That's going to look sick! Can't wait to see it.

[sadil]

I think BremBo painted those bolts before assembly. On the TA they were just unpainted grey. You would have some awful paint collecting in that crevice if they just sprayed it up after assembly. Those bolt heads look like they received a pretty even coat of red.

So the cerakote is gonna be a matte black then?

[slowhatch]

So the cerakote is gonna be a matte black then?

Yup, it will be a matte black.

[slowhatch]

A little more progress last night. Got the center caps blasted and ready for powder. The pad springs, hard-lines, and bleeders are blasted and ready for Cerakote. Bleeders are such a pain in the ass to blast, little bastards slip out of my glove and go flying all over the damn place.