PS Detail Road Trip to MS: `73 911T, `83 240d and `49 MG TC

[ISLANDSBEST]

I have very, very light swirls on my brand new car (was like this from the dealer -- possibly the result of dealer prep; the dealer offered to buff them out, but they are so slight that I did not think it was worth the risk that the dealer would make the problem worse).



These less-than-hairline lines are only visible if you look directly at the reflection of the sun on the paint, and then they show only immediately around the image of the sun and you have to look for them. No one seems to notice the swirls unless I point them out.



A detailer friend of mine, who is into our types of products, says that these very, very slight marks just come with the territory and, no matter how careful one is, some of these very, very fine marks will occur, so there is no point in using a swirl remover on them.



Comments?

[imported_theamcguy]

If it is black, they are probably "spiderwebbing". there is nothing you can do with these, at least I don`t think so. If they are fine swirls, try 3M Perfect it Swirl remover for dark cars.

[ISLANDSBEST]

Thanks, the car is black cherry, which is fairly dark.

[rmccall6]

you can remove them. I would suggest 3M Perfect It III machine Glaze. Yes they occur and sometimes, people will remove them with a polish, only to cause them again with improper buffing. They are a pain in the ass but i would try to remove them and see what happens. Just make sure to take precautions when washing, drying, buffing ect to try to prevent them from comming back.

[BillNorth]

darbh, try 3M SMR or Finesse it on a small portion of the vehicle, take it out into the sun, and see if there is an improvement. If not, then don`t waste your time doing the rest of the car. Some people have made the mistake of doing their whole car with a certain product, and then taking it outside to realize that the problem is still their or that it is worse etc. Be forewarned, some members have complained about 3M SMR causing hazing on black cars. Use it at your own risk.



Good luck. Take it easy.

[ISLANDSBEST]

Thanks for the tips and comments. Appreciated.



Question: do you keep your cars swirl free? I am not talking about heavy swirls, which clearly should be removed, I am talking about these very, very fine swirls (or spiderwebbing, as MattMold called it) that you can only see in exactly the right light, at the right angle/

[DETAILKING]

If you didn`t need to. There will plenty of time for that in the future. I would use a few coats of Zaino Z5 to fill them. If they are as minor as you said they are, Zaino Z5 will do the trick safely. You were smart not letting the dealer have a go at it...good call.



Your friend is right though.....with the quality of today`s factory paint jobs, on a dark or black car, it will never be perfect. There are some spiderwebbing marks inthe paint that are under the clear coat. You just have to learn to live with these. Some cars are worse than others, but every car has them to some degree......Sometimes it takes a trained eye.......

[ISLANDSBEST]

Thanks for the advice. I am going to let the minor "swirls" or spiderwebbing, or whatever it is, alone, until I am sure the cure is not worse than the illness!

[gmblack3]

I was contacted by this client who saw the writeup on me in the 356 registry. After speaking at length with the author of the article, he decided to have me drive over and spend 3 full days working on 3 of his cars. So after a 6 hour 375 mile drive, I arrived.

I apologize in advance for the lack of pictures, but when you are on the road sometimes time is not on your side. Also the lack of sun and a few rainy days don`t help.

First up is a 1973 Porsche 911T 2.4 in Bahia Red. Some body panels where resprayed with a base/clear coat and some where still in the original single stage.

The client was kind enough to remove some of the trim, so I could concentrate on the paint.

Washed with QEW.
Zaino clay and Z6 as a lube.
IPA wipedown.

The defects where varied, so I started with an orange LC classic flat pad/M105/XPPC6 via the KBM. This seemed to work fine on the cleared over panels which had less and not as deep defects as the single stage panels.

On the single stage panels, I used the surbuf pads/M105/XPPC6.

All the time I was soaking the used pads in warm water with a few ounces of red hot APC in a bucket. When I would get 4 or so in the bucket, I would rinse them out and spin dry via my rotary. I would then lay them out to dry assisted by my air movers. The foam pads must be totally dry when using the KBM, using the surbuf pad is not as important.

I then followed with a black classic flat pad/M205/XPPC6 via the KBM.

Another QEW wash, followed by a Z6 wipedown.

2x of ZFX`d Z5pro, followed by Z8.

Before:

http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/7701/img2435p.jpg

After:

http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/1723/img2446.jpg

http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/4112/img2448.jpg

http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/8974/img2449.jpg

http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/2292/img2450.jpg

http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/7198/img2451.jpg

http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/6220/img2452k.jpg

http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/2274/img2453h.jpg

http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/489/img2454.jpg

http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/4772/img2455.jpg

http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/7118/img2456.jpg

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/7048/img2459r.jpg

A few pics after the client reinstalled the trim:

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/3797/img2518cq.jpg

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/5421/img2522p.jpg

Next up is a 1983 MBZ 240d w 90k miles in what I consider a tan color. The paint was single stage throughout. Only the lower right rear quarter panel showed early stages of paint failure w slight signs of cracking.

Before pics:

http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/1276/img2461.jpg

http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/6393/img2462h.jpg

QEW wash.
Zaino clay with Z6 as a lube.

I started with LC orange classic flat pad/M86/XPPC6 via the KBM. This worked very well on the single stage paint. I kept my sections small and cleaned the pad with a stiff brush and compressed air every 3rd section.

I followed with LC black classic flat pad/M205/XPPC6 via the KBM.

QEW wash, followed by a Z6 wipedown.
2x of Blackfire Wet Diamond Sealant, followed by Z8.

After pics:

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/6530/img2474z.jpg

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/51/img2475l.jpg

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/3790/img2476n.jpg

http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/5681/img2477j.jpg

http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/172/img2479.jpg

Next up is a 1949 MG TC. The client would be taking the MG to a carshow down near the coast.

All of the paint was cleared over. Some areas did show checking in the clear, which where noted by the client so extreme care had to be taken while still bringing out a nice gloss.

Before:

http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/5153/img2463h.jpg

http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/317/img2464.jpg

QEW wash.
Zaino clay with Z6 as a lube.

I started out with M86/LC white classic flat pad/XPPC6, but this would not cut out the deeper RIDS.

So I moved up to orange LC classic flat pad/M105/XPPC6 this did the trick on most of the paint. I used 4" orange pads on the hood sides.

http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/6119/img2496.jpg

The right door had excessive pigtails throughout, this required surbuf pad/M105/XPPC6 to remove those defects.

I followed with LC gray classic pad/M205/XPPC6.

QEW wash, followed by a Z6 wipedown.

2x of Blackfire Wet Diamond Sealant, followed by Z8.

While I was finishing up the final polishing and sealant application, the client did a leatherique treatment on the seat.

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/1263/img2506u.jpg

http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/4012/img2507q.jpg

http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/2735/img2509.jpg

http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/7048/img2511.jpg

http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/6517/img2516s.jpg


The client had thoughts of my detailing this 59 impala, but due to time constraints and some thin paint, he will end up getting it painted. Then I will be back to polish it out.

http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/6512/img2503w.jpg

http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/838/img2504f.jpg

[imported_Luster]

Hey Bryan... I can`t think of a better reason for a road trip than to detail some classics!

Excellent work as usual!:thumbup:

[gmblack3]

Thanks Bill!

[Street Dreams]

Excellent work on all of them, the 73 P-car is so perfect!

[imported_Flash Gordon]

Great looking group of cars and looks like they were put in the right hands :thumbup:

[Old Pirate]

One heck of a job Bryan, just perfection as always from you. Love to have a garaged like that one also. Thanks for sharing them here

[imported_Stokdgs]

Awesome job as always !! It is always amazing to me how you take all kinds of challenges, even different paint types on the same vehicle and make it all blend together so that the end result is beautiful!!!

It is no wonder to me that people call you from so far away.

Great work, great posts, thanks so much for taking the time !!

Dan F