In the early months of 2018, I’d been noticing a gorgeous Maserati GranTurismo at an apartment complex where I serviced other clients. I had always wondered if the owner would approach me and ask for me to work on it. In May of that year, he did, but it was for an unexpected reason…
The owner had attempted to apply a ceramic coating on his own, but he had unknowingly applied far too much! Enough to coat several other vehicles. The unfortunate result was a heartbreaking mess of high spots and “ceramic haze” over the entire Maserati.
For those who do not know, ceramic coatings cure to form a very hard substance. If it is over-applied or not leveled correctly, it can require aggressive polishing to remove.
The owner had tried using a basic dual action polisher with foam pads to remove the coating, but it did not suffice. Some cosmetic damage was also caused by this.
This is why we cover certain badges with masking tape before polishing:
The badge on the opposite side was untouched:
I washed the vehicle with Optimum Wash and Shine using a two bucket wash method. A Smith’s pump sprayer was used in place of a hose at the apartment parking lot. Clay treatment was performed using a 6″ Nanoskin AutoScrub pad on a Rupes DA polisher to prepare the paint for correction.
The project had to be done outside since the apartment garages are very small. The temperature was around 77 degrees F˚ with direct sunlight. In this photo you can see the use of a moist drying towel to cool a roof panel prior to paint correction.
I started using Griot’s Fast Correcting Cream on a Rupes Bigfoot dual action polisher with Meguiar’s microfiber cutting discs for the initial passes. I then would use a Rupes Nano iBrid with the Griot’s FCC on coarse pads to remove any leftover high spots. High spots in and around the C pillar trident badges were removed by hand, using Griot’s FCC applied to microfiber towels with tooth picks and Q-tips.
I was able to avoid the need for any wet-sanding to remove the coating.
Here are results on the right side of the tape:
And here with the tape removed:
That process was repeated until all of the ceramic haze was removed. I then used Meguiar’s 205 Ultra Finishing Polish on a Lake Country Polishing Pad to finish the paint. Optimum Gloss Coat was used to re-coat the vehicle, and was applied in a more modest amount this time!
Regardless of how stubborn the ceramic haze was to remove, I am glad and satisfied that I was there to help remedy the issue and bring out the potential beauty of such an imposing vehicle.
– Rio Hansen
Here is the completed project:
