This Genesis G70 2021 3.3t was recently dropped off at our headquarters as part of our 2024 Master Training Event. During the event, our candidates applying for Master Installer status had the chance to demonstrate their skills and refine their technique on this beautiful paint hue, dubbed Siberian Ice by Genesis. Our customer was thrilled by the transformation, and left feeling secure in the knowledge that their 7 year coating was installed by the newest class of certified master installers, an elite detailing group representing the top of their field. In this article we’ll give you an inside look into the coating process at our training center. Let’s dive in.
The first step to coating any car is to assess the vehicle’s unique needs and features. The G70’s unique colorway, Siberian Ice, is an extraordinary off-white with blue-green undertones.
Its trim pieces alternate between chrome and graphite gray, and accent the silhouette, enhancing the car’s aggressive stance. The front grill is also incredibly angular, with deep recesses and high ridges.
The unique colorway of this paint hides scratches, etching, and holograms quite well. Despite not being immediately visible, the paint contained many minor scratches, swirls, and other defects that our trainees needed to use specialized lighting techniques to detect.
The trim presented a separate issue – the angular nature of the grill and other front facing trim pieces had trapped bugs and held them in place, leading to the bio contaminant embedding itself in paint and trim pieces. These bio contaminants would need to be addressed before washing the vehicle in order to avoid scratches.
Before installation could begin, we needed to decontaminate and paint-correct the vehicle. On the Genesis, we used Bug Cleaner to clear biocontamination off of the grill and trim pieces.
Bug Cleaner is a solvent-free formula that uses a carefully balanced blend of naturally acidic citrus compounds to clean your vehicle. Bug Cleaner can break down bugs, bird waste, tree sap, and many other organic compounds, all the while leaving the vehicle’s paint, PPF, and plastic trim completely untouched.
Bug cleaner is essential on a job like this, where a heavier acid could damage the trim and chrome elements, while washing the vehicle without first decontaminating the trim could lead to deep, ugly scratches from hardened and sharp biological contaminants. After clearing the bugs, our trainees wash and prepare the G70 for paint correction.
Paint correction is an incredibly important step in ceramic coating. With the paint obscuring the scratches and the unique shape of the grill, the G70 was an extremely challenging correction job.
Working in teams, our trainees tackled the polishing, checking their progress periodically with pen lights. For the specialized trim, our trainees relied on specialized micro polishers.
Our training partners from Auto Appearance KC provided tips and oversight on how to best correct the unique structures of the trim. After the process, the paint correction teams checked each other’s work to ensure the final product was up to Fireball’s demanding standards.
With paint correction completed, we finally got started on coating. We selected Butterfly for the G70. The customer that brought us the G70 was looking for a luxurious, high-end hydrophobic coating that would stand the test of time. Butterfly is rated above 9H on the mineral hardness scale, meaning that it’s tough enough to resist any and all micro abrasions and minor scratches day use can incur.
Butterfly is also one of our most hydrophobic coatings, and enhances color depth and clarity, giving our customer the luxurious feeling they were looking for. Butterfly is rated for seven years of full protection, so the owner won’t have to worry about erosion, water spotting, discoloration, or paint defects for a long, long time.
Installing a coating onto vehicles can present several challenges, one of the greatest being high spots and applicator hardening. As it dries onto the block, the ceramic coating begins to stiffen and make applying much more difficult – risking scratches on freshly corrected paint if an Installer doesn’t switch in time.
Our installers had to switch applicators for every large body panel in order to avoid ruining all their hard work. Our team coated the entire vehicle from bumper to bumper, from under the running boards to the middle of the roof. Once the coating was set, our renovation of the Genesis G70 was done.
All of our installers have been factory trained in an environment much like the one outlined above, so when you come to a Fireball Installer, you know they’ve been properly and thoroughly trained. You’ll get a thorough, top-to-bottom inspection and correction like the one outlined here, and your detailer can help talk you through our product lineup to find which coating is best for your specific vehicle. If you’re looking for a ceramic coating, don’t wait, choose Fireball for a company who delivers quality in every detail.
