zmcgovern45
New member
The owner of this vehicle is a repeat customer of mine. I have recently worked on his brand new Kia Optima as well as his 2011 Chevy Silverado, both of which were coated with CQuartz Finest. When he told me he wanted to have this car worked on, I was very excited. This is officially my first 'classic car'... and a BIG one at that!
This is the first part of the detail process for this vehicle. The car is still in restoration mode, but the owner wanted to have paint cleaned up in the meantime. The car was repainted (base/clear), and the sanding and buffing job done at the body shop was poor. There were deep sanding marks, plenty of RIDS, a lot of marring from rotary buffing, a lot of dieback, and even some poor blending lines. A 2 step correction was used to bring out the gloss and depth of the paint, however there were still a lot of deep scratches and other defects that were not removed.
Unfortunately this vehicle would need a full wet sand and multi-stage polishing process to enhance the finish further, however the improvement made with this process was still significant. After the vehicle is finished (new wheels, tires and some other minor touches) I will return to do a thorough cleaning and the paint will then be coated with CQuartz Finest for the ultimate protection and gloss.
I did not take too many photos as this vehicle demanded the majority of my available time, but I will be sure to capture more of the completed project when that time comes!
This thing was huge! It was washed and then taped up prior to polishing.
I began with my testing on the door... here is what it looked like before correction.
After compounding, some of the deeper defects were removed, and there was considerable haze left over from the aggressive cutting (which is expected).
A finishing polish was used to further refine the finish and the results were very nice.
I settled on M105 + Rupes MF Cutting Pads for compounding followed by Optimum Hyper Polish + White Polishing Pads for finishing. 5.5" pads were used on the Rupes LHR21ES and 3" Pads were used on the Rupes LHR75e.
A dramatic improvement.
Another 50/50 shot showing the polished area compared to the unpolished rear quarter.
A shot showing the variety of defects on the rear. There were sanding marks, deep scratches, swirls, etc etc.
This shot was taken after the compounding step. You can see the excellent increase in clarity between the original on the right and the area I had worked on.
The color change was excellent. While the paint was certainly still far from perfect, it was MUCH blacker and glossier. The trunk had been compounded, but the smaller area around it had not and it looks grey in comparison.
Showing some of the very deep scratches that were easily visible in just ambient light.
Door before correction
Door after compounding
This shows off the level of finish that the body shop leaves compared to what a detailer should leave. This spot was only compounded... a finishing polish will further refine the paint and produce even more gloss and shine!
Door after compounding
After the paint was polished it had a good amount of gloss and clarity. It was nowhere near perfect, but it certainly had a much better shine to it now!
Nice reflections (this was truly focused on the surface of the paint, and not on my reflection... this is a mistake many people make when doing these types of reflection shots)
The paint was definitely a different shade of black and it had a lot more gloss to it now. The owner was very pleased, which is the important thing, but it always bums me out when I can't reach the level of correction that I am after.
Here is a quick walk around of the body after it was compounded and polished. It is nice and glossy! (watch in HD!)
http://youtu.be/eDssgqWCNWw
Here is a small taste of what I was dealing with in a lot of spots that I did not have time to capture in photos. The hood had some of the worst orbital sanding scratches I've ever seen. (watch in HD!)
http://youtu.be/IGHniiG9OHs
.... to be continued (later this year)
<span style="font-size:18px;">As always, thanks for looking!
This is the first part of the detail process for this vehicle. The car is still in restoration mode, but the owner wanted to have paint cleaned up in the meantime. The car was repainted (base/clear), and the sanding and buffing job done at the body shop was poor. There were deep sanding marks, plenty of RIDS, a lot of marring from rotary buffing, a lot of dieback, and even some poor blending lines. A 2 step correction was used to bring out the gloss and depth of the paint, however there were still a lot of deep scratches and other defects that were not removed.
Unfortunately this vehicle would need a full wet sand and multi-stage polishing process to enhance the finish further, however the improvement made with this process was still significant. After the vehicle is finished (new wheels, tires and some other minor touches) I will return to do a thorough cleaning and the paint will then be coated with CQuartz Finest for the ultimate protection and gloss.
I did not take too many photos as this vehicle demanded the majority of my available time, but I will be sure to capture more of the completed project when that time comes!
This thing was huge! It was washed and then taped up prior to polishing.
I began with my testing on the door... here is what it looked like before correction.
After compounding, some of the deeper defects were removed, and there was considerable haze left over from the aggressive cutting (which is expected).
A finishing polish was used to further refine the finish and the results were very nice.
I settled on M105 + Rupes MF Cutting Pads for compounding followed by Optimum Hyper Polish + White Polishing Pads for finishing. 5.5" pads were used on the Rupes LHR21ES and 3" Pads were used on the Rupes LHR75e.
A dramatic improvement.
Another 50/50 shot showing the polished area compared to the unpolished rear quarter.
A shot showing the variety of defects on the rear. There were sanding marks, deep scratches, swirls, etc etc.
This shot was taken after the compounding step. You can see the excellent increase in clarity between the original on the right and the area I had worked on.
The color change was excellent. While the paint was certainly still far from perfect, it was MUCH blacker and glossier. The trunk had been compounded, but the smaller area around it had not and it looks grey in comparison.
Showing some of the very deep scratches that were easily visible in just ambient light.
Door before correction
Door after compounding
This shows off the level of finish that the body shop leaves compared to what a detailer should leave. This spot was only compounded... a finishing polish will further refine the paint and produce even more gloss and shine!
Door after compounding
After the paint was polished it had a good amount of gloss and clarity. It was nowhere near perfect, but it certainly had a much better shine to it now!
Nice reflections (this was truly focused on the surface of the paint, and not on my reflection... this is a mistake many people make when doing these types of reflection shots)
The paint was definitely a different shade of black and it had a lot more gloss to it now. The owner was very pleased, which is the important thing, but it always bums me out when I can't reach the level of correction that I am after.
Here is a quick walk around of the body after it was compounded and polished. It is nice and glossy! (watch in HD!)
http://youtu.be/eDssgqWCNWw
Here is a small taste of what I was dealing with in a lot of spots that I did not have time to capture in photos. The hood had some of the worst orbital sanding scratches I've ever seen. (watch in HD!)
http://youtu.be/IGHniiG9OHs
.... to be continued (later this year)
<span style="font-size:18px;">As always, thanks for looking!
