Some of my correction work

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Joined
Dec 11, 2015
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626
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Location
Philadelphia
My Car
73 Mach 1
My detailing "hobby" ended up turning into a weekend side thing. I started out with a simple porter cable buffer and ended up working myself into a flex 3410 VRG.

It was probably about 5-8 years ago when the big ceramic coating technology kicked off. Now everyone is offering some form of it. I've used black diamond, Wolfgang and Opti gloss ceramic coating. My go to is the opti gloss. It's easy to apply and lasts about 2 years with the right maintenance. 

My polishes and compounds are all menzerna. I've tried several others. Maguires 101 foam compound followed up with their 205 finishing polish is pretty good.

My best combo I've found is Menzerna 400 compound on a orange or yellow lake country flat pad followed up with menzerna 3500 micro polish on a white lake country hybrid pad.

Keep in mind with any paint correction you want to take the least aggressive approach. Clear coat is VERY thin. Some jobs don't require a compound and for that I use menzerna 2500 on an orange pad. Usually this will not leave behind any imperfections that require a micro polish.

I start out with a typical 2 bucket wash. (Look it up on youtube).

From there I use iron-x to remove any ferrous materials. 

Next I use pinnacle clay bars to continue to decontaminat the paint.

Then it's time to assess the condition of the paint. I have a paint thickness gauge that gives me a ballpark reading on how thick the total paint thickness is down to the metal.

As mentioned before you want to take the least aggressive approach. Don't just grab a compound and a wool pad and go to town. Foam pads on a porter cable DA with a polish would be pretty difficult to screw up for anyone interested in trying it out.

Once the car is fully corrected I'll use some carpro eraser to remove any left over oils from the polish before applying the ceramic coating. 

True paint correction is not for everyone. It's takes a LONG time to perfect your process and fully correct a car. Trucks are a whole other nightmare. The shortest paint correction I've done was on a mini-cooper that was in pretty good condition and that took 1.5 days. One of the trucks I did took 4 days. 

Here is some of my work.

 
Shiny for sure. Looks like you have the new car shine down pat.
I am sort of on the other end of the spectrum. I never wash my Mustang with soap or running water. Only distilled water from my dehumidifier and micro fiber towels. So never any water spots on paint or windows. It has never been buffed so still has al the factory dust and dirt in the paint as original. All the factory orange peel is there. The hood black is still there since I did not rub it off. Only had been waxed two times and doing the third time now.
When I use to paint years I cut and buffed them but actually did one completely by hand no buffer at all and it had a pearl paint job which ends up terribly rough after paint then you sand smooth and I rubbed it out by hand. We got several first place trophies with it.
It will be a few years before I believe in the so called Ceramic coating. Nothing ceramic in it, lol. Difficult to apply ceramic when some melts at like 6,000 deg.. The sorry paint we have today will never last like the old did it cannot with a clear coat with no UV resistance on it.
When I did Mercedes work some of the high end cars had over 40 hours of hand work after paint before they left the factory new.
With my bad neck I can not do more than a couple hours of rubbing then done and hit the Ibuprofen. Getting old sucks for sure.
This car in video not had running water on it in 38 years now. Getting it's 3 rd. wax that really does not look any different. Never sanded or buffed. Paint lasts forever if you do that. 48 years old in May and was not in a garage until 2 years ago. No you will not see your reflection in the paint that is they way they were new.



View attachment Preview video-1555166327 (3).mp4
 
Very nice job. They all look great.  Great info on the waxes, compounds and pads.  I think the vast majority of car owners really don't want to put in the time it takes to keep their cars looking good.  This  really gives the car dealer the upper hand when it comes time for trade-in.  Bad looking exterior equals lower dollar trade.  A few hours in the body shop buffing and out again looking like new boosting the resale price for the dealer.  

 
Shiny for sure. Looks like you have the new car shine down pat.
I am sort of on the other end of the spectrum. I never wash my Mustang with soap or running water. Only distilled water from my dehumidifier and micro fiber towels. So never any water spots on paint or windows. It has never been buffed so still has al the factory dust and dirt in the paint as original. All the factory orange peel is there. The hood black is still there since I did not rub it off. Only had been waxed two times and doing the third time now.
When I use to paint years I cut and buffed them but actually did one completely by hand no buffer at all and it had a pearl paint job which ends up terribly rough after paint then you sand smooth and I rubbed it out by hand. We got several first place trophies with it.
It will be a few years before I believe in the so called Ceramic coating. Nothing ceramic in it, lol. Difficult to apply ceramic when some melts at like 6,000 deg.. The sorry paint we have today will never last like the old did it cannot with a clear coat with no UV resistance on it.
When I did Mercedes work some of the high end cars had over 40 hours of hand work after paint before they left the factory new.
With my bad neck I can not do more than a couple hours of rubbing then done and hit the Ibuprofen. Getting old sucks for sure.
This car in video not had running water on it in 38 years now. Getting it's 3 rd. wax that really does not look any different. Never sanded or buffed. Paint lasts forever if you do that. 48 years old in May and was not in a garage until 2 years ago. No you will not see your reflection in the paint that is they way they were new.


View attachment 49611
That's pretty crazy that your cars paint has never been cut! I hear your concerns on the ceramic. I explain to people that's it's not the end all be all. It is scratch "resistant " not scratch proof. It is in fact far better than a wax or synthetic sealant. 

I hear you on the getting old. I'm 41 and in pretty good shape but I only do this on the weekends I want when the weather is good. I couldn't imagine doing this full time. I usually need a day or two to recover after a full correction. 

 
Very nice job. They all look great.  Great info on the waxes, compounds and pads.  I think the vast majority of car owners really don't want to put in the time it takes to keep their cars looking good.  This  really gives the car dealer the upper hand when it comes time for trade-in.  Bad looking exterior equals lower dollar trade.  A few hours in the body shop buffing and out again looking like new boosting the resale price for the dealer.  
Thanks! Paint correction done right can look like a freshly painted car.

 
Back in the 80's I had a Black car and used Liquid Ebony to remove the swirls and scratches, worked great. Doesn't seem to exist anymore. Is there a modern equivalent?

 
Back in the 80's I had a Black car and used Liquid Ebony to remove the swirls and scratches, worked great. Doesn't seem to exist anymore. Is there a modern equivalent?
Did it have abrasives in it? Sounds like it might of been a glaze especially since it was color specific. Did you apply this be hand or machine?

 
Don't know if it had abrasives or not. It was a grey color and was hand rubbed. Seemed to make the Black, deeper and Blacker.

 
You are a master now young Jedi! Great work!

I would like to see that Audi in may garage.

 
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