Mike Phillips
12-15-2009, 10:04 AM
The Reverse Test Spot (http://www.autopiaforums.com/forums/auto-detailing-101/28055-reverse-test-spot.html)
One time I had a chance to work on a very cool 1954 Corvette for Corvette Mike. I had never met Mike before and he hired me based upon a recommendation by Mike Kennedy from Meguiar`s.
I showed up for the job with my Brinkman Swirl Finder Light (http://www.autogeek.net/brinkmann-swirl-finder-light.html) to inspect the finish myself but to also show Mike the true condition of the paint before I started working on it. I found out that Mike would be out of the office till that evening.
While I knew that he knew the finish was a wreck otherwise why would he hire me to work on the car, I also knew that it`s easy to forget how horrible a finish started out after it`s been restored. Because this was the first time I worked for this gentleman I wanted to make a great first impression and since I couldn`t do a normal Test Spot on the hood or deck lid to show him the before and after results BEFORE buffing out the car, I decided to tape off a section on the hood and then buff out the entire car except this one spot.
Then when he arrived I would show him the true before condition of the paint with the Brinkman Swirl Finder Light and after showing him I could then quickly restore that one section to match the rest of the car.
I called this The Reverse Test Spot but never found time to post the write-up for this project. Since I still have all the pictures I`ll post the write-up on here in the near future because there`s some very interesting procedures I did to this particular car that I think others might enjoy seeing.
Until then, here`s what the Reverse Test Spot looks like; instead of taping off a small section to work on while leaving all the surrounding paint undisturbed, you tape off and cover a small section and then disturb all the surrounding paint.
(The word disturb in this case means to correct and polish the paint to a high gloss http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif )
The Reverse Test Spot
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/715/ReverseTestSpot001.jpg
Here`s what the paint looked like before when highlighted with the Brinkman Swirl Finder Light
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/715/ReverseTestSpot002.jpg
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/715/ReverseTestSpot003.jpg
After shots...
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/715/54VetteEM002.jpg
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/715/54VetteEM003.jpg
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/715/54VetteEM004.jpg
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/715/54VetteEM005.jpg
Think outside the spot...
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif
One time I had a chance to work on a very cool 1954 Corvette for Corvette Mike. I had never met Mike before and he hired me based upon a recommendation by Mike Kennedy from Meguiar`s.
I showed up for the job with my Brinkman Swirl Finder Light (http://www.autogeek.net/brinkmann-swirl-finder-light.html) to inspect the finish myself but to also show Mike the true condition of the paint before I started working on it. I found out that Mike would be out of the office till that evening.
While I knew that he knew the finish was a wreck otherwise why would he hire me to work on the car, I also knew that it`s easy to forget how horrible a finish started out after it`s been restored. Because this was the first time I worked for this gentleman I wanted to make a great first impression and since I couldn`t do a normal Test Spot on the hood or deck lid to show him the before and after results BEFORE buffing out the car, I decided to tape off a section on the hood and then buff out the entire car except this one spot.
Then when he arrived I would show him the true before condition of the paint with the Brinkman Swirl Finder Light and after showing him I could then quickly restore that one section to match the rest of the car.
I called this The Reverse Test Spot but never found time to post the write-up for this project. Since I still have all the pictures I`ll post the write-up on here in the near future because there`s some very interesting procedures I did to this particular car that I think others might enjoy seeing.
Until then, here`s what the Reverse Test Spot looks like; instead of taping off a small section to work on while leaving all the surrounding paint undisturbed, you tape off and cover a small section and then disturb all the surrounding paint.
(The word disturb in this case means to correct and polish the paint to a high gloss http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif )
The Reverse Test Spot
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/715/ReverseTestSpot001.jpg
Here`s what the paint looked like before when highlighted with the Brinkman Swirl Finder Light
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/715/ReverseTestSpot002.jpg
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/715/ReverseTestSpot003.jpg
After shots...
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/715/54VetteEM002.jpg
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/715/54VetteEM003.jpg
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/715/54VetteEM004.jpg
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/715/54VetteEM005.jpg
Think outside the spot...
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif