Friday night I had no plans and basically said F it... It's time for some paint correction.

(was trying to teach my buddy how to properly wash his new BRZ at the same time)

I have crappy pics(taken with my iphone)... Brought the car down to my fam's shop, threw it up on a lift, and started away. The Tools: Flex polisher, Uber medium polishing pad, Uber fine polishing pad, Menzerna Super Intesive Polish(sip) and Super Finish... the plan was perfect paint then Opti Coat.


I quickly realized that this was probably the first paint correction the car has ever had I would need something a with a little more cutting compound. Unfortunately I left all my more abrasive polishes at home, so, there are some spots I need to re do...

After the first pass, the car was looking pretty good.



White paint is tough to read, so I would be polishing wiping and finding more scratches that I didn't see on the first pass. So between it and chewing the fat with the locals driving by the shop, it was a slow going process.

While I was working on the paint, figured I would also offer my headlights and tail lights some love... They weren't particularly hazy or oxidized, but they just didn't look right to me. My tail lights actually looked brand new after I polished em... was pretty impressed by how much they changed




In addition to the lenses also spent some time polishing the windshield, back and side windows, the pano roof as well as the two gloss plastic pieces on the B pillar of the doors.

By the time I got around to starting my final polish of the panels, its was like 1am. I just hammered down and got through it as fast as possible...

Here is a pic with glass, roof and half of hood completed:


And here is the whole car after round 1... this is about 3:30am


Got home about 5am and was up at 7 for a Cars and Coffee event I run...

2 of the best pics of the day to show how its looking...




The bottom one really shows off how smooth the paint is... Once I touch up the few remaining spots I have, I'll opti coat it, and then add a coat of glaze, and then a coat of marine wax.

Also at 4am, when you are traveling, if you feel like stopping and getting out to take pictures of your car, no one is there to care...

snapped this with my phone...

 

got to love white

 

I do and I don't, a paint correction is so much more dramatic on a dark car.

 

Awesome -

After a detail, the regular weekly cleanings go a lot faster. The water along with the dirt just bead off the car.

 

Im not new to detailing... I had reconstructive knee surgery years ago, and this is the first time since then Ive done one. Once I have the opticoat on the car, it should bead up pretty quick

 

+1 excellent work. Paint correction on a white car is really hard to show in pictures. Very easy to appreciate in person.

 

Did it need any sanding? Or just compound/polish? That came out beautiful!

White power!!

 

:looks out in garage:

Wait a minute....

Black is beautiful

 

lol

 

Going in to it... I didn't think it needed it, but knowing how much time I spent on some parts and how much more time I'm going to spend on some parts... it could have been wet sanded in some places... I don't have a lot of experience wet sanding, so I generally use a wool pad and some compound and a little extra labor

 

I personally like wool pads as well. With the super fine sandpapers like 2000-3000 it takes no time at all to get a mirror like shine. It's way less work to do a little sanding with fine paper than to keep going over and over it with compound IMO. I still do a quick pass with a foam compounding pad though to cut down swirls before foam pad glazing it. Not that youll have a problem with swirls on the white car.

But there's no right or wrong ways, as long as it looks good when you're done. Nice work again!

 

Nice work. As you stated that work on a dark car is much more dramatic, but also a lot more difficult to get right. I had my Viper paint corrected and OptiCoated and it turned out amazing.

I may give it a go myself this time on my white E55..

 

so you would wet sand it? Then 2 stage polish? Or wet sand, final polish? Maybe Ill try it

 

I did 30 hours on an S65 once... it was a mirror finish

 

I'd wetsand any spots that were lightly scratched, but not deep enough that the scratch penetrated down to the basecoat or primer. You've got to be very gentle with sanding on factory paint as well. It's not very thick so keep away from sandpaper coarser than 2000 and you should be okay.

 

55, not trying to jump on your thread with these pics, just showing what can be achieved with a White or Black Car. I did both paint corrections, pictures are in the same spot on the driveway, both have a glass coating, and both took 60 odd hours to do. White can be glossy also, but typically darker cars show more----usually that is the case, but not here. Happy to help you or any members with information or the process.

IF YOU HAVE NEVER WET SANDED-------DON'T. Should not be done on factory paint jobs. Yes with experience you can, but even 3k-5k can take off more CC than you want, or the paint is so thin you go through it. NOT worth the extra slight removal that it will give.

 

I think you might be a little uptight about sanding and buffing sheriff. You do need to be careful, but there's no reason to not skim some light scratches with ultra fine paper if they didn't break the clear.

Where people run into problems is when they get overzealous and try and sand the orange peel out of a factory paint job as if it were a show car with multiple layers of high solids clear applied. If you're just tying to get some light imperfections out like damage from acid rain or bird ****, or from a cat walking on your hood or trunk its ok and people do it every day.

On a side note the term "paint correction" Is one thats popped up in recent years and it always sounds lame to me but I'm probably just being an old grouch. It reminds me of "preowned cars" and other BS speak that tries to make basic stuff sound fancy.

 

Boost- You are really correct in what you said. However, most people will not just get the area lightly, or even stop there. Common issue is well, that worked so why not do it all, or big sections. I have done that myself before. Then they get into trouble. Better to say, stay away and don't do it at all. The result sometimes is not worth the risk. So you said it better than me, it is fine to do what you said, and it is the best way sometimes.

I used to only know Full Detail, but nowadays full detail means a simple once over with a 1 step or maybe a two step deal. Never until I got into Paint Correction did I fully realize about removing ALL scratches. Before it was wool pad, rotary then foam pad and get rid of as much swirls as possible. Similar to what car dealerships do today. I looked at a Black Aston Martin DB9 the other weekend at a dealer and geeezzzz it and all the others were horrible. I said so and two sales guys did not understand. They thought they were perfect. I offered 2k below their bottom line for making it back to perfect. They declined so I walked away, showed them the black E63 and they were shocked.

Normal customers do not even know the difference of a basic Detail, full detail etc... Then a lot want a Paint Correction done for the $150 of a full detail. So distinct categories is what had to happen. Makes sense if you look at it that way. Much different job than any detail. Seems like some of you guys know what you are doing, we all use different ways to achieve similar results. I just try and help out where I can. Thanks for your input also buddy.

 

Nice to see all these posts about paint correction. It's something that I really want to get into, for the sheer fact that I want to know how and because I don't want to drop 2 grand to have this done to my cars by somebody else. It's pretty intimidating to try and get into because of how much damage that can be done if you don't do it correct so I've been a bit hesitant. That and the cost of all the products and equipment is quite a lot. But with the videos that are out there now, like those on the ammonyc site you linked in the e63 pic thread sheriff, are making it easier to fell comfortable doing jobs like this.

Hopefully I'll have the cash to drop on some equipment and supplies here in the next few weeks so I'd love to hear from both of you on what I should buy in order to get into the more professional side of detailing/paint correction.

I know the general list, a DA polisher, pads, clay, wax ect. I'm more wonder if either of you have a specific brand in mind?

 

The rupes Bigfoot is the "it" polisher to buy now but I have no experience with it. I started with a porter cable... it is almost impossible to do any damage to a car with that(which is good as a beginner). Right now I am running a flex tool which gives you a little more control of pad speed between the trigger and the speed settings, also will generate more heat then the porter cable too.

You'll want to use Opti Coat to seal the car as it is almost like adding a second clear coat to your paint. My plan is to add the opticoat as soon as Im done on my car, then once its finished curing, will add some glaze and a wax. As far as polishes everyone will give you a different opinion. Its best to just meet with friends and try each others products, you'll find you like working with one over the other.

 

SD... I think you need a new camera BTW... cause neither photo does 60hours of paint correction justice in those photos.

 

It's not his camera, it is the lighting. You can clearly see the white E has some candy on it. I was actually thinking the opposite, very nice pics though the black E is harder (in those 2 pics) to really see.

 

For non-pros, I had good success on W211 paint with a Meguiar's DA. After alot of trial and error with different products and combos, I think I found my maximum result with minimal effort combo. Got it down to just two stages with really good results.

1) Menzerna FG400 on a heavy foam pad (Maroon meguiars pad). I believe this is what MB uses at the factory. This stuff cuts through MB Cermiclear paint nicely where most others fail on a DA. Where Meguiars M105 wouldn't make dent, the FG400 gets out minor scratches and is almost finish worthy. Very low dust and easy to work with. Highly recommend Menzerna.
2) Meguiars Microfiber finishing wax on a foam polishing pad (Meguiars black pad). Easy on. Easy off. Zero dust. Smells great. The only downside is that it doesn't last long.

I usually maintain with Poorboy's QD+ Quick detail spray after every wash. You can do the whole car with this stuff. Windows. Chrome. Wheels. Everything.

This system looks like a good setup for a hobbyist without breaking the bank. Two steps. Safe. Good results.

 

The Rupes is a beast. Its massive throw is what makes it really easy to work with very smooth.. I still find myself switching to the PC for smaller areas though the Duetto can do that too. Its all about preference in choosing a buffer imo..

55F, I personally don't use the glass coating you speak of but when I do I noticed the wax never adheres to the glass coating, almost seems like I waste my time waxing over it so I have stopped doing that. The glass shines plenty but I have felt giving it 2-3 coats of good ol' Pinnacle carnuba wax leaves the paint dripping.

 

sigh, don't tell me this