Lazy People

So I am out at the local crusing strip, hanging out with my Mustang club friends. One of the girls mentions that her car is looking pretty bad, and of course, asks me (im the only one in the club obessed with detailing) to take a look.

Apparently a cat got on the car and had a fight with another cat, if you cannot visualize it, just imagine swirl marks from hell plus more.

So I go over the car with my green LED light checking for big scratches. I find a few, point out the ones I cannot fix, and point the mones that will look well blended after some work.

Well she tells me that her shop she goes to..*calms self* cannot remove all of them. I asked if she meant the big scratches, or just the swirl marks. She said that they had told her that swirl marks were just a part of life when it came to black cars. Of course I immediately call BS, and tell her that I can do it.

So we are going to do this. The top of the car is the worst (2000 v6) so im going to do a side by side. Checkout my process:

1. Wash
2. Clay
3. Perfect-It II Rubbing Compound FC
4. Megs #9 SMR
5. Megs #5 Glaze
6. Megs #26 Hi-Tech yellow

This will be done by hand, I dont have a rotory or a PC. Any comments?

Is that Megs a polish if not I would polish that car as well, right after the clay. I have a black BMW and that is the method that I have used for years.

The SMR is so lightly abrasive it might as well be a polish.

Then you should be good to go.

It will be a lot more work when done by hand but can still be done with good results. I can tell that I have been in this business a long time when I look at a car and say to myself "What I could do to this car----it would look so nice" let us know how you do

I plan to do half of the roof and then tell her to take it to her so called detailer. I want him to see just what a real detailer can do.

Quote:

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Originally posted by Tassadar
I plan to do half of the roof and then tell her to take it to her so called detailer. I want him to see just what a real detailer can do.

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:rolleyes: Oh brother....LOL!!!

I know, that sounds arrogant. But the guy has made me quite angry.He sat there and tried to convince this poor girl that she would have to get her car repainted to get rid of swirl marks!

How thick is the clear coat? Have you measured the thickness with an ETG? Does it have a clear coat?

Is the paint so thin that any further attempts at removing the swirls might induce clear coat failure? Do you have insurance in case that happens?

Are the marks cause by a rotary buffer? If they are, they are not coming out by hand!

Just IMHO! :)

Dan Dan Dan....nononono...do not antagonize someone trying to make a living by detailing or any other service oriented work...
If you really think it will come out do it , be careful for clearcoat failure and make your friend happy....forget the other guy...
please be careful....older vehicle that have not been well maintained can realy be a PITA ....and often we do tell people that repairing a bad detailers work is not always completely possible...and you do have to live with it sometimes...just my 2 cents and sense;)

Its a 2000 V6 Mustang. Yes it has clearcoat. The swirls are nothing out of the norm.

*begin rant*

It just irritates me that a guy tells this girl, who is a friend of mine, that swirl makrs are just a part of life when you own a black car. He told her that short of repainting the car, she would always have swirl marks. Ive done over 20 Black cars, 5 of which were 98 and newer Mustangs, and the swirl marks walked right off.

The swirl marks are not from a rotary, just drying the car improperly. I hate to sound so irritated, but she was extremely close to following his advice and repainting the car, which BTW, that guy was going to repaint it as well.

*end rant*

Dan,

I definitely agree with Steve....forget the other guy.....fix her car and build your reputation as a detailer that does great work.

Do your best work and leave the other guy sit. I am not sure who said it, may have been P.T. Barnum "never smarten up a chump". The other guy IS your competition. If your work gets a few of his customers .....that is business.