How Good Is Your Detailing

black bart

black bart

New member
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.:eek:

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 :rofl
 
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.
 
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"
 
There was a member on here a few years ago that inspected his car with a jeweler's glass! Talk about :crazy2:.Sorry bart I didn't mean to hijack your thread.I just thought you would be interested.:passout:
 
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
 
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. :)
 
Jngrbrdman said:
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. :)
Click to expand...

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
 
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 :D
 
It's definitely not a bad idea Bart. Let us know how you make out with the light I'm interested in the results.
 
black bart said:
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 :D
Click to expand...

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
 
Jngrbrdman said:
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. :)
Click to expand...

couldn't agree more ...:bigups

Good luck Bart:rockon but i'd be real careful trying to reach perfection under a million watts:eek:
 
black bart said:
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 :D
Click to expand...


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
 
Poorboy said:
couldn't agree more ...:bigups

Good luck Bart:rockon but i'd be real careful trying to reach perfection under a million watts:eek:
Click to expand...
This is going to put my Poorboy PP to the test.
How smooth can you go :rofl

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. :rofl

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.
 
black bart said:
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.
Click to expand...

You are certainly correct in this Black Bart. A cohort of mine walked up to my truck one day after work and said, "I think that your truck is the shiniest truck I have ever seen." That comment made my decade and have thought of it often since it happened. Small things make big impressions.

Good luck in your pursuit. I will be interested in your findings.
 
After having to take care of two black cars, I've given up on the quest for perfection. It's tough to admit, but both main vehicles are daily drivers and sit outside 24/7. No matter what I do, they still get hit by rain, pollen, morning dew and intense sun.

My satisfaction comes from those that comment on how nice my car looks. Although I may see all the little defects, they are amazed by how good they look.
 
Scott P said:
After having to take care of two black cars, I've given up on the quest for perfection. It's tough to admit, but both main vehicles are daily drivers and sit outside 24/7. No matter what I do, they still get hit by rain, pollen, morning dew and intense sun.

My satisfaction comes from those that comment on how nice my car looks. Although I may see all the little defects, they are amazed by how good they look.
Click to expand...
I currently have 7 vehicles and 3 are Black.

My daily driver is Black but I do not try to keep it looking perfect not even close to it.

The rest of them are maintained at a high level but still not show car standards.

The show car is the one that I'm talking about using the light on.

I have different vehicles for different use and they are not all kept the same it would be impossible.

It is impossible to keep a DD looking perfect. It is almost impossible with a car that is seldom driven because you will get rock chips and they must be repaired or else you have less than a perfect finish.

This is the problem with base coat clear coat it can not be patched like enamel could.

You can spot patch good enough for a DD but on my show car if it gets a scratch or rock chip the entire panel is stripped and repainted and not just the typical two coats of clear but 8 coats.
This is time consuming and real expensive.

I don't think that most people realize the amount of effort and expense that it takes to have a winning show car.

I see several every year who decide that they are going to take their car to a show for their first time.

Apparently some of them have not been to a show because when they show up with what they thought was going to be a car that would win they are in for a real shock.

Like I just read on Autogeek forum this guy went to his first show and he said he saw products and techniques that he had never heard about.

While this would not be practical for a DD it is what is required to win and wining is what it is about second place is just another way of saying you are the first loser.
 
black bart said:
This is the problem with base coat clear coat it can not be patched like enamel could.

You can spot patch good enough for a DD but on my show car if it gets a scratch or rock chip the entire panel is stripped and repainted and not just the typical two coats of clear but 8 coats.
This is time consuming and real expensive.

I don't think that most people realize the amount of effort and expense that it takes to have a winning show car.

I see several every year who decide that they are going to take their car to a show for their first time.

Apparently some of them have not been to a show because when they show up with what they thought was going to be a car that would win they are in for a real shock.
Click to expand...

true laquers and enamels were much easier to perfect in their day, but they were also pretty easy to screw up, especially laquers. Show cars also vary as to quality. Mostly from what I've seen there is a huge difference from the production vehicle shows to the Street Rod show. Production shows, usually are Classics and Antiques and a show of wear or minor imperfections are often overlooked especially if it is all original, of course there are some who do frame off restorations at tremendous cost and with those you do expect a higher level of perfection. The Street Rods are usually total customization and you often find that the owners of these cars have a close connection to the body shop industry and like you Bart will quickly repaint panels at the first sign of a chip or deep scratch to keep their cars as close to perfect as possible. Some of these are drivers and some of these are just built for the thrill and then sold.
I also have seen many more first time winners with less than perfect vehicles at Antique and Classic shows where a rare vehicle will upstage a much better detailed vehicle.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top