Thomas Dekany
05-17-2012, 02:24 PM
I did a detail for the customer a couple of weeks ago (Cadillac XLR). Last week I went back to work on this older truck with only 56*** miles on it.
I was asked to clean it up for his son. How do you "clean up" a car that is over 20 years old? I only know one way to improve black paint unfortunately. So that is what I did.
Having fresh bottles of each product I started on a small section to test what pads I`d need to level the paint, which was thick enough. Interestingly the front fenders and hood were repainted at some point, even though the client had no clue. The original paint is flat black but the repaint seemed to have flakes in it and the hood is in pretty poor state and should be resprayed in my opinion. The one good thing about the paint was it`s hardness. I really enjoyed working on it since I didn`t have to stress whether I will mar the paint or not. It corrected pretty easy and I could wipe off the polish residue with no issues at all.
Anyway, I used UNO and a black wool pads on the Griots PC to level. This combo worked very well.
Next step was an Orange/yellow pad on the Flex 3401 and POLISH. This step cleaned up the paint perfectly, it was ready to be protected. However, I just had to do an additional step to get the best out of this color. I have to tell you, this black was one of the blackest paints I`ve ever worked on. Even with all the Orange Peel, the paint looked phenomenal.
Out came SPEED and a black pad on the Griots PC (my favorite pad with speed to finish with). Unless you try SPEED you really don`t understand my enthusiasm about the finish it leaves behind.
I protected the finish with POXY. As far as I know, this car is very rarely driven, so it should stay looking great for a long time.
Here are some random pictures I took throughout the detail.
General condition of the paint - this is the hood
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8142/7216887358_a3f797208a_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7216887358/)
P1070397 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7216887358/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
Improved after 3 steps
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7071/7211796678_007f4d9779_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211796678/)
P1070451 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211796678/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
Left front fender was the worst panel. For some reason it had more water spots that the rest of the truck
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7079/7211767126_1d427a01de_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211767126/)
P1070414 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211767126/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8158/7211768064_c72903a63c_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211768064/)
P1070415 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211768064/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
Cleaned up the front fender
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5112/7211788952_5d11c52c9a_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211788952/)
P1070438 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211788952/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7241/7211790066_7eab653c00_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211790066/)
P1070439 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211790066/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7243/7211790690_cd11c7da23_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211790690/)
P1070440 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211790690/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
RIDS, SWIRLS, you name it
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7080/7211769154_f13f16e464_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211769154/)
P1070416 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211769154/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7080/7211769154_f13f16e464_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211769154/)
P1070416 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211769154/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7088/7211770578_29412f6a65_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211770578/)
P1070417 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211770578/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
Much improved
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7228/7211772868_fd81238ef4_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211772868/)
P1070419 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211772868/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7215/7211773570_a0d51a2c0c_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211773570/)
P1070421 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211773570/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
Some random shots
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8155/7211780046_4ba03115ed_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211780046/)
P1070429 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211780046/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7245/7216889360_1c39802250_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7216889360/)
P1070399 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7216889360/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8001/7216892106_2ddb88ef96_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7216892106/)
P1070401 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7216892106/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7216/7216907054_1ea0acd4fd_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7216907054/)
P1070411 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7216907054/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7226/7211788062_2431b34312_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211788062/)
P1070437 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211788062/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
All done
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7093/7211810010_dd38c9be7a_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211810010/)
P1070462 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211810010/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7091/7211808784_52060a4c92_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211808784/)
P1070461 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211808784/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7094/7211807386_c8cddc43a7_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211807386/)
P1070460 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211807386/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8145/7211806234_d3ab02e2b5_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211806234/)
P1070459 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211806234/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8019/7211802572_8670d901fa_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211802572/)
P1070456 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211802572/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7095/7211804790_1d2dbe6616_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211804790/)
P1070458 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211804790/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8167/7211801678_25310d96fd_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211801678/)
P1070455 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211801678/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7223/7211799318_c96de8bfb6_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211799318/)
P1070453 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211799318/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
I was asked to clean it up for his son. How do you "clean up" a car that is over 20 years old? I only know one way to improve black paint unfortunately. So that is what I did.
Having fresh bottles of each product I started on a small section to test what pads I`d need to level the paint, which was thick enough. Interestingly the front fenders and hood were repainted at some point, even though the client had no clue. The original paint is flat black but the repaint seemed to have flakes in it and the hood is in pretty poor state and should be resprayed in my opinion. The one good thing about the paint was it`s hardness. I really enjoyed working on it since I didn`t have to stress whether I will mar the paint or not. It corrected pretty easy and I could wipe off the polish residue with no issues at all.
Anyway, I used UNO and a black wool pads on the Griots PC to level. This combo worked very well.
Next step was an Orange/yellow pad on the Flex 3401 and POLISH. This step cleaned up the paint perfectly, it was ready to be protected. However, I just had to do an additional step to get the best out of this color. I have to tell you, this black was one of the blackest paints I`ve ever worked on. Even with all the Orange Peel, the paint looked phenomenal.
Out came SPEED and a black pad on the Griots PC (my favorite pad with speed to finish with). Unless you try SPEED you really don`t understand my enthusiasm about the finish it leaves behind.
I protected the finish with POXY. As far as I know, this car is very rarely driven, so it should stay looking great for a long time.
Here are some random pictures I took throughout the detail.
General condition of the paint - this is the hood
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8142/7216887358_a3f797208a_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7216887358/)
P1070397 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7216887358/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
Improved after 3 steps
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7071/7211796678_007f4d9779_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211796678/)
P1070451 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211796678/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
Left front fender was the worst panel. For some reason it had more water spots that the rest of the truck
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7079/7211767126_1d427a01de_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211767126/)
P1070414 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211767126/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8158/7211768064_c72903a63c_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211768064/)
P1070415 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211768064/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
Cleaned up the front fender
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5112/7211788952_5d11c52c9a_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211788952/)
P1070438 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211788952/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7241/7211790066_7eab653c00_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211790066/)
P1070439 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211790066/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7243/7211790690_cd11c7da23_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211790690/)
P1070440 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211790690/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
RIDS, SWIRLS, you name it
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7080/7211769154_f13f16e464_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211769154/)
P1070416 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211769154/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7080/7211769154_f13f16e464_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211769154/)
P1070416 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211769154/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7088/7211770578_29412f6a65_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211770578/)
P1070417 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211770578/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
Much improved
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7228/7211772868_fd81238ef4_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211772868/)
P1070419 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211772868/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7215/7211773570_a0d51a2c0c_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211773570/)
P1070421 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211773570/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
Some random shots
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8155/7211780046_4ba03115ed_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211780046/)
P1070429 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211780046/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7245/7216889360_1c39802250_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7216889360/)
P1070399 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7216889360/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8001/7216892106_2ddb88ef96_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7216892106/)
P1070401 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7216892106/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7216/7216907054_1ea0acd4fd_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7216907054/)
P1070411 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7216907054/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7226/7211788062_2431b34312_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211788062/)
P1070437 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211788062/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
All done
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7093/7211810010_dd38c9be7a_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211810010/)
P1070462 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211810010/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7091/7211808784_52060a4c92_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211808784/)
P1070461 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211808784/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7094/7211807386_c8cddc43a7_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211807386/)
P1070460 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211807386/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8145/7211806234_d3ab02e2b5_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211806234/)
P1070459 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211806234/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8019/7211802572_8670d901fa_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211802572/)
P1070456 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211802572/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7095/7211804790_1d2dbe6616_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211804790/)
P1070458 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211804790/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8167/7211801678_25310d96fd_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211801678/)
P1070455 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211801678/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7223/7211799318_c96de8bfb6_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211799318/)
P1070453 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasdekany/7211799318/) by thomasdekany (http://www.flickr.com/people/thomasdekany/), on Flickr