It's easy to give out advice on what steps to take to make your car look good, but there are many variables that come into play that we need to consider. The first one is your expectations. Let’s face it, some damage can’t be repaired or it may simply be outside of your personal skill set.
I have talked to a lot of people that have told me that their car looks good over the phone, but my evaluation may be a little more critical. What you think looks great might not look so perfect to me and visa versa. It’s like the old adage "is the glass half full or half empty?"
This takes me to a story about a Forum Member who goes by “elmagoo,” and his brand new black Corvette. Benson, as I now know him, wasn’t sure what he had done in the first four months of owning the Vette to make the finish look so hazy, but he knew he wasn’t happy about it.
During a phone conversation with Benson I learned that we were only a two hour drive apart, so I invited him over for a consultation. Since his only other option was to take it to an unknown detailer, he quickly agreed.
When Benson arrived the next morning I could see why he was so unhappy. As you can see from the photos, we had some serious work to do.
 | When Benson drove up, it was easy to see why he was so disappointed in his paint finish. There were a multitude of problems. |
We started with what I like to call a surface and skill evaluation. Benson and I went over the following considerations:
- Paint Condition
- Paint Hardness
- Paint Thickness
- Application Process and Tools
- Products
- Time Available
- Work Space
- Weather Conditions
- Skill Level
 | Benson and I thoroughly discuss each area of damage and the causes. He wanted to learn prevention as much as the cure. |
Step by step, here’s what we determined we were up against with his Corvette:
- The surface obviously had swirls, isolated scratches, water spots, water etching and a horrible white haze.
- Corvette paint is pretty hard so we were going to have to work it to get the paint back in shape.
- The car was only 4 months old and our evaluation did not show any signs of obvious trouble in the paint build.
- I had two Porter Cable 7424 DA polishers and everything else we could possibly need.
- We were in my garage so we had plenty of products.
- Benson arrived fairly early in the morning and we had all day.
- We were working in my garage so there were no work space issues.
- The weather was typical sunny Southern California weather.
- As far as skill level, Benson had never picked up a polisher in his life but in this situation Benson’s skill level was not a problem after he learned some tips, techniques and got a little practice.
 | This water spot is a common sight anywhere hard water conditions exist. The trace minerals in hard water remain after the water evaporates. If the trace minerals remain for more than a few days, the paint will become etched, leaving a permanent ring. The only way to removed the etching damage is to polish the paint. Benson's paint had a significant amount of water spot damage. |
 | Here you can see that the Corvette's new paint finish was dulled from very fine surface marring. This kind of damage, often called swirl marks or cobweb effect, is most frequently caused by using an inexpensive wash mitt or poor quality drying towels. In Benson's case, it was both. |
At the conclusion of the surface evaluation, I determined that the finish on Benson's Vette was beyond spot treatment or a simple hand polishing. His paint would require full correction with a machine a a couple grades of polish.
That brought us to the next challenge; Benson had no polishing experience. Fortunately, Benson turned out to be a fast learner and was interested in knowing how to do it himself. We broke out the supplies and I gave Benson a crash course on polishing with a dual-action polisher.
 | Some of the key points he is learning in this photo are how much pressure to apply, how to move slowly while overlapping his passes, how to keep the pad level and to keep cord over you shoulder to avoid contact with your paint. |
 | Here, Benson is using a Sonus SFX-1 pad and Sonus SFX-1 Restore Polish to remove water spot etching, heavy swirls and fine scratches. With a little practice, Benson learned about how much product to use and when it was time to apply more. You don’t want to buff so long that you are dry buffing but don’t want to quit before the product has finished working. |
Now that Benson has a little practice and you are thinking about all of the variables, some of which you have absolutely no control over, it's time to get started.
So you have your products and tools, now what? Attack the car and go step by step until you have finished the entire car, then stand back and admire the shine, right? Well, maybe not.
The end result may not always be what you had hoped it would be. So now what? You have gone to all of that work only to discover that you needed to do one more step to get the results you were looking for. Don't worry; I am getting to the answer.
Before doing the whole car, I always recommend doing a test spot on the worst area of the car. Always start with the least aggressive product first and see if it is doing what you want it to do. If not, step up to a more aggressive product and pad. Then use your next products and procedures and complete the entire process to see if it meets your expectations.
For the last step you can even divide your test spot up and try different last step products to see what you like the best.
 | You can use painter's masking tape to mask off paint areas. This allows you to look at two treatments side-by-side to easily see which treatment offers the best results. |
When you are finished with the test spot, and you are happy with the results, do the entire car! If not, it is time to go back to step one and re-evaluate your expectations and variables that come into play. You also need to determine if there’s something you can change that will help you meet your expectations. Maybe an extra step or a simple change in your process can take you from, "it looks okay", to "Wow, that looks great!" It takes a little more time but think of it as a little insurance on your personal satisfaction.
 | It's easy to see that Benson is pleased with his day's work. |
I'd like to thank Benson for the opportunity to work with him and photograph his new Corvette. It was a fun and educational day for both of us.
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