Are they all like this?

H

Hey Moe!

New member
I had an opportunity to attend a local car show this weekend. Even though it was a local event, there were a handful of interesting cars (a Porsche 356, a split-window Corvette, and a very nice GTO, among others).



This is the first show I have attended since joining this forum; so, of course, I looked at the finish of these vehicles with a more discerning eye.



I was kind of mortified by the amount of marring in the finish of many of the cars. A lot of it was cricular spider-webbing, which to me means faulty wash or dry techniques or materials.



I was very surprised that my '05 Focus in the parking lot was more swirl-free than most of the cars in the show.



I understand that this was not a concours event, but are all car shows like this?
 
A lot of them are. Most of the car shows I've ever been are for showing off the car itself. It's not a detailing show. but it is a shame.
 
I remember Mike Phillips talking about the Barret-Jackson auctions and those "nice" cars. He said that the mayority of the cars had moderate to heavy swirling on the paint and that the lights somehow help reduce the looks for TV, but personally, the finish sucked. I am not surprised whatsoever, because the owners of those cars might know a lot about cars, but know nothing about paint care.
 
Yeah, most car shows you will go to will have vehicles like that. I used to go to shows all the time with my car and the car club I was in and they were like that. Hell my car and the rest of the cars in the club were like that. We didn't know any better and didn't notice the swirls and such. Most people do not realize they have them. I can not look at a car with out noticing if they do or do not have swirls. Most of my customers don't know they have them.



bigfoot said:
I remember Mike Phillips talking about the Barret-Jackson auctions and those "nice" cars. He said that the mayority of the cars had moderate to heavy swirling on the paint and that the lights somehow help reduce the looks for TV, but personally, the finish sucked. I am not surprised whatsoever, because the owners of those cars might know a lot about cars, but know nothing about paint care.
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Yeah I watched the show a few times and noticed how bad the paint was and couldn't believe they were selling the cars like that. If you have the money to restore and/or buy a vehicle like that, you should have the money or mind to keep it looking its best.
 
I honestly think the average person is almost "blind" when it comes to swirl marks and other paint defects. The average person doesn't look at a paint's finish like we do though.



Another thing to remember is that in the mid day sun you can see every single flaw in a paint job, but on a cloudy day or even a sunny day in the morning or evening you can't see a lot of those flaws. So some people may not even realize how bad their paint actually looks.
 
I've been to several local car shows in the CO area that focus on hot-rods etc... and see 90% of them look good from a distance, but once you look close, ugh, swirls and light scratches for days. It's all the faux MF's rags out there.



A good friend of mine who's a hobbyist and does his Trans Am to Autopian standards has won more car shows because of his paint care than anyone else. He's always shocked thinking there's better cars on the lawn. I constantly tell him, it's all in the details man and good judges who know a great looking "show car" when they see one. A lot of people can't put there finger on it, but when they see a car that POPs they know it.
 
I'll be honest



up until this past summer, i was "blind" to what detailing really was.





i was always satisfied (or so i thought) with just was, wax, armorall, rims + tires.





Then over summer we taped off my 2001 Lightning's hood. Used a PC with a 3.0 and then the 1.0 i believe after.





I was mad at myself for ever thinking I "detailed" my car before. After spending 9 hours on the lightning...... i knew was detailed was.



It caught everyone's eye as we drove by, love it



-Sean
 
Alot of that marring is almost certain to be caused by the owners "dry wiping" these cars down on a regular basis.
 
I was like mA_c till about 6 months ago. I used to Zaino my Firehawk by hand and call it a day. After going over the car once with a PC and topping it off with P21S I was surprised at the difference. Even after driving the car from San Diego to Yuma (It's too hot to detail cars here, so I go to my parent's house for the weekend to detail my cars. :grinno:) I was complmented on how nice the car looked.

So I now have a new OCD, car detailing... thanks Autopia! :waxing:
 
clnfrk said:
Alot of that marring is almost certain to be caused by the owners "dry wiping" these cars down on a regular basis.
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And people say that those California Dusters don't marr your finish? :doh
 
Just returned from Auburn Fall and witnessed the same, tired process for show car prep.



One guy was using a rough terry towel, often sold as a "bar towel" to apply 3M Imperial Hand Glaze to a 1959 Impala SS (red). To boot, the towel was black with grime...not sure if it was from the paint on the collection of cars he was paid to clean or from a tire or wheel well. The glaze is fine, but his towel selection :down



Did see a fair amount of Meguiar's Quik Detailer in their burgundy bottles in the hands and trunks of other cars, which was good. Did see some microfiber as well...improvements over past years



One guy was applying Quik Detailer with a large, blue wash sponge then flipping the sponge for final wipe. Worried me



In the Car Corral (where vehicles sit outside with For Sale signs, generally accompanied by the owner) it gets very dusty since it's just grass. It has been upper 80s and dry for over a week, so the cars were coated.

I saw too many people using California Dusters. :grinno:



Rotary swirls galore...some were hidden better than others



Saw a few black cars that were swirled so badly, it made them look greyish. A great example was a pair of Chevelle SS 396s. Two different sellers and two different cars, though options and condition were very similar: until the paint. The greyish one just didn't look as good.
 
I just went to a local show recently, and have noticed this as well. I think I would have to agree with what most have said as far as people not really seeing the swirls or other defects. I will agree that I was one of those at one time, I think I can say I remember a time when the thought never occurred to me, but of course that has changed.



Some cars were really bad, others were minor, but yeah...



Maybe we see things on a different level?
 
99blackSE said:
Maybe we see things on a different level?
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That is very true.



Sometimes it's tougher to care so much about a few swirl marks on a finish when you've just spent 40 or more hours prepping, spraying, and compounding a new paint finish. Throw in double that amount of time with priming, blocking, priming, removing trim, sanding, masking, mixing paint, and spraying....swirls are minor issues.



Also, I can tell that some of these cars are polished in the old style: compound one way, then re-compound in perpendicular lines so as to not leave long polisher trails, then filler-glaze and wax.
 
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