How Good Is Your Detailing

[black bart]

My car looked perfectly smooth as glass I could not see the first thing wrong in that beautiful Black finish.

I went to Wal Mart and bought a 1 million candlepower Binkman Halogen\LED Light and shined it on my car and it looked like it had been washed with a Brillo pad.

The manufactures of polish tell us that it contains fine abrasives well with the LED light you can see that they aren`t lying because all the tiny scratches will show up.

I think this is why a glaze helps and the poorer the polish job the more the glaze will help because you are filling those scratches that you normally can not see.

I plan on working with a small area and see if I can get it looking smooth under the light and then back it out in the sun light and see if I can tell a difference between the spot and the part that looks bad under the light.
I think that it will change the way light reflects off of the paint but it may not be noticeable.

If I don`t detect any difference then it is not worth the effort but if I can see any improvement then this light will add another 3 hours to a detailing job.

I can see how I can have some fun at a night time cruise in just walk up to a guy`s car and shine the light on it and say dam man do you wash this with a Brillo Pad

[Stephan]

Like you said I would see what the car looks like under normal lighting conditions out side in the sun, standing at a normal viewing distance.

While yes you may see, many lines when you are holding a bulb that bright next to it, but how often does that happen? Unless you put it near it...

But I understand the quest for perfection.

[jaybs02]

It`s great that we want to take the finish up to it`s finest level, but is it necessary?
Like Stephan said, how often will someone be holding a million candlepower light to your paint job. I think that appearance is judged overall and even during judging during a show I doubt, that someone is going to hit it with a light that intense. In fact in the long run it may wind up doing more damage than good by thinning out the paint so much, that it will need you to respray.
And I was referring to a how car, for my DD if it looks from about 5-10 feet I`m happy. People tell me my car looks great and I see swirls in the sun which I will take care of when the weather gets nice, but I doubt I`ll be getting it 100% defect free.

JMHO
"J"

[rabbi]

There was a member on here a few years ago that inspected his car with a jeweler`s glass! Talk about .Sorry bart I didn`t mean to hijack your thread.I just thought you would be interested.

[9D4E420]

Bart, just make sure not to polish the paint off your car!

[Beemerboy]

I started working with halogen light some years back...I to was taken back by what they exposed, however its improved my technique in a big way....Its saved me time in the fact that once I`m done with the car the finial inspection of the car is a breeze I don`t miss anything to speak of

[Jngrbrdman]

If my car was going to be judged under those kinds of lights then I would spend more time at it. The fact is that the sun is usually the strongest light source that my car is ever inspected under. There have been a couple indoor shows with some pretty picky lighting, but since I detail under 1000w halogen lamps I think I do a pretty thorough job. On a daily driver I wouldn`t ever spend ten hours polishing the paint to absolute perfection. It is just going to be screwed up the first time you take it out in a rainstorm anyway.

[Beemerboy]

If my car was going to be judged under those kinds of lights then I would spend more time at it. The fact is that the sun is usually the strongest light source that my car is ever inspected under. There have been a couple indoor shows with some pretty picky lighting, but since I detail under 1000w halogen lamps I think I do a pretty thorough job. On a daily driver I wouldn`t ever spend ten hours polishing the paint to absolute perfection. It is just going to be screwed up the first time you take it out in a rainstorm anyway.

I think that what halogen has done for me is to see just how much correction I want to make, or should be made without doing something that I will regret

in the start I hated them because they where so unforgiving...now I don`t work with out them

[black bart]

While prepping my car for a show in my shop at home I have a combination of Incandescent lights and fluorescent and Halogen lights all shining on my car.
The total of 11000 watts but even then it don`t show what the million candlepower did held just a few inches away.

I think some of you did not understand what I was trying to say in my post.

I intend to use the light to do a small area and compare it to the rest of the car and if I can not see a noticeable difference then it is not worth it but if the finish looks noticeably better then I just may have discovered a way to separate me from the heard.

This could be the difference between Best of Show or just best in class

[9D4E420]

It`s definitely not a bad idea Bart. Let us know how you make out with the light I`m interested in the results.

[Beemerboy]

While prepping my car for a show in my shop at home I have a combination of Incandescent lights and fluorescent and Halogen lights all shining on my car.
The total of 11000 watts but even then it don`t show what the million candlepower did held just a few inches away.

I think some of you did not understand what I was trying to say in my post.

I intend to use the light to do a small area and compare it to the rest of the car and if I can not see a noticeable difference then it is not worth it but if the finish looks noticeably better then I just may have discovered a way to separate me from the heard.

This could be the difference between Best of Show or just best in class

I understood what you where saying...you hold a halogen real close to the paint and its going to show you everything that is there...under any other light its not going to be as present...under sun light its not going to show up to speak of...You are looking to take this to a whole different level for show cars...I will be interested to see what your finds are

[Poorboy]

If my car was going to be judged under those kinds of lights then I would spend more time at it. The fact is that the sun is usually the strongest light source that my car is ever inspected under. There have been a couple indoor shows with some pretty picky lighting......... On a daily driver I wouldn`t ever spend ten hours polishing the paint to absolute perfection. It is just going to be screwed up the first time you take it out in a rainstorm anyway.

couldn`t agree more ...

Good luck Bart but i`d be real careful trying to reach perfection under a million watts

[Stephan]

I think some of you did not understand what I was trying to say in my post.

I intend to use the light to do a small area and compare it to the rest of the car and if I can not see a noticeable difference then it is not worth it but if the finish looks noticeably better then I just may have discovered a way to separate me from the heard.

This could be the difference between Best of Show or just best in class

I think I understand where you are coming from...since you show your car, perhaps it would be more beneficial to do down to that level...but at least for me, after I polish my car, I try to get it in the sun and see how it looks, if it appears swirl free, shiney, deep and reflective, then I am ok with it...

however I am sure if I passed it near a light that bright and held it that close my feelings on the work I just did would probably change, but, that kind of correction like you said is good for shows, I do that and the next time I wash it, they are back again...

but I am curious to see your results

[black bart]

I plan on trying different products under the light to see what looks the best.
I have this stuff but have not tried it yet but will test it soon.
EZ Creme GLAZE w/acrylic shine.

It will be a week or so before I can try it because I`m currently installing new carpeting.

[black bart]

couldn`t agree more ...

Good luck Bart but i`d be real careful trying to reach perfection under a million watts

This is going to put my Poorboy PP to the test.
How smooth can you go

My intention is not to polish it perfect because I don`t think it is possible but just maybe the right product can make it appear smooth under the light.

If it looks smooth under the light then when I back it out in the sun light will I be able to see a difference between what looks smooth under the light against what looks scratched under the light

I want to find out if the eye can pick up the difference between almost perfect and perfectly smooth.
I realize no one at a show is going to be shining a million watt light on it but the light allows me to see things that I normally can not see in the finish but what I want to find out is after the light show it to be smooth will anyone know the difference between what has been made perfect and what is not.
You see the kind of response that I want is like last summer at a show the judge walked up to my car and said can I borrow your sun glasses the gloss from your car is blinding me.

He then commented that when he saw a Black car that looked like that he knew that I was dedicated.
He said he knew how hard it was to make Black look like that.
Makes you feel good when they notice it.