Street Dreams: Lamborghini Diablo VT

E

edgewise

New member
The boars hair brush DID leave scratches on the new finish of my Jet Black 3 day old car. I used good soap, used linear movements and a soft touch, rinsed the brush each time...after drying with Chamois and waxing, I can see very fine linear scratches in the clearcoat but only under optimal lighting (sunlight). I never got this result in my other dark finishes, guess it took Jet black to see it :( .



I'm using Carnauba wax for this finish, since its a garage queen. Any recommendations for the light scratches? Imperial Hand Glaze? I plan to buy a top end orbital buffer from Griots, and spent about 1 hour talking to a professional detailer about the scratches, but his line is to orbital buff it out with Machine Polish 1, 2 and 3, then wax it again. I don't have the cash flow for the orbital buffer now, I just want to get these damn linear swirls out for the time being.



Incidently, I use all Griots Garage products.
 
Imperial Hand Glaze will fill the scratches but isn’t a permanent solution. I’d try the mildest abrasive possible, like 3M swirl mark remover. I think a buffer is overkill unless you need it for other cars. I have a Porter Cable PC7424 random orbit polisher. I got it for $109 and another $60 for the backing plate and pad kit from CMA. If you want a power tool you might consider the PC, but I’m sure you can take out the scratches by hand no problem.
 
The 3M swirl mark remover advertises "For light colors only"..or something to that manner.



I have a friend that may go in half's with me for a random-orbital kit. These linear swirl marks are very shallow, but again, you can see them in the bright sunlite. I think you are right, the best way to fix it is to , well, fix it permanent, buff it out.
 
Ripsnort



3M also makes a SMR for dark color cars, it is part #39009. You can find it at most autoparts stores. Try PepBoys, AutoZone or Napa, and they should stock it. If the scratches are very light, this should work well to solve your problem.
 
<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote' >

<em class='bbc'>Originally posted by ShowroomLincoln [/i]
<strong class='bbc'>Ripsnort

3M also makes a SMR for dark color cars, it is part #39009. You can find it at most autoparts stores. Try PepBoys, AutoZone or Napa, and they should stock it. If the scratches are very light, this should work well to solve your problem. [/b]</blockquote>
Cool, there;s a Pep boys near my house, will check it out on the way home. Thanks.
 
They make it for both light and dark. There’s other products with about the same cutting power by other companies I’m just not familiar with them. I’d just recommend starting of mild. Good luck, I’m sure you’ll get it looking better than new :cool:



Jason, I hope you don’t mind but I’m posting your 3M abrasive list:

(mild -> harsh)

3M Perfect It II Swirl Mark Remover

3M Perfect It III Machine Glaze

3M Finesse It II Finishing Material

3M Perfect It II Fine Cut Rubbing Compound

3M Perfect It II Medium Cut Rubbing Compound
 
Rip:







Don't fret. You probably did not put the swirls in. One of two things. Either the dealer put them in and covered them up with oils (like IHG) and you washed the stuff off or you are seeing spider webbing.



If you can swing it, get the Porter Cable. I like 3M Perfect It 3 Machine Glaze with the PC. Sounds like you could get by with the SMR, though.



:rolleyes:
 
you'll find a black car a pain in the butt. swirls will appear out of nowhere it seems like. The porter cable is a good investment, saves a lot of time.



If the car is brand new, I wouldn't use anything harsher than the 3m perfect for dark cars.
 
but I gave YoSteve some bad information.



3M does not have a 3M Perfect It II Medium Cut Rubbing Compound.



Heres the correction,



3M Imperial Microfinishing Rubbing Compound (Medium-Cut) PN # 39001



and



3M Super Duty Rubbing Compound (Heavy-Cut) PN # 39004





Hope this corrects my past mistakes.



Jason
 
Did this car almost 2 months ago finally got a chance to get the write up done.

I actually met this customer 10 years ago when I saw this very car at a diner and of course being a little kid infatuated with cars I had to run up a take a look at it, back then a diablo was like an LP640.

I would see the car around town and always wave to the owner, then I saw some of his other cars and since then we always kept in touch.

Now quite a few years later I went from being the 8year old who drooled over his car to the person who takes care of his whole collection, odd turn of events huh :tongue:


Enough sentiment, more process pics...

Wheels first...

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Rears before...

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The reverse step wheels took forever to clean, major PITA

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Unfortunately my wheel brushes took a beating

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Pre cleaned all the vents and crevices

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ONR wahsed w/ 2 buckets then Clayed with mild clay

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The car had just some minor spider webbing, decided to go with a 2 step correction and emphasize bringing as much gloss as possible to the silver paint.

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After quite a bit of jeweling...

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The trim was nice and dry, I like to tape off the paint and glass around trim before applying anything... just makes cleanup easier IMO.

before

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During

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After

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Went to work on the engine bay, cleaned and then dressed everything for a matte finish

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All big plastic trim dressed in the engine as well

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Finished

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I needed to move the car up to clean the exhaust, the owner forgot to mention this car had STRAIGHT PIPES. Needless to say got a little shock when I turned on the car (hadnt been driven in a few weeks so it was LOUUUD)

Cause....

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Effect....

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Some water from the wash settled and shot out onto the back wall:shakehead:

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After

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Engine vent before

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During

After

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Even after cleaning the tires still had some thick prior gel in them, if you dont fully remove old tire dressing and grim from the rubber your new tire dressing will not sit right and either get streaky or have high and low spots

before

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after

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Applying LSP by machine (3 coats total over 2 days)

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Interior before, the car had been previously detailed last year and the owner showed me the leather which was treated very poorly, I assume this is the same guy who applied that thick greasy tire dressing too.

Big greasy streak in the leather

Apparently "Jersey Shore" style hair gel doesnt work well as a leather conditioner :Innocent:

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After cleaning with LM strong cleaner, not 100% but better

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Got to work on the rest of the interior trim.

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Final shots

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Just before I left that evening I plugged the Diablo up again to the battery tender, left a microfiber under the cord so it didnt scratch the paint I just finished polishing

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The following morning the Diablo was on display at a charity car even along with a few other cars I did

And a video, after we drove the cars back to the owners house.



Thanks for looking and happy holidays everyone, time for a movie and chinese food :wink:
 
Very Thorough Detail David, Outstanding :drool5:

The Lambo Sounds Hungry In The Video. Sounds Like Its Growling :biggrin:

P.S. Merry Christmas David And Thanks For Posting At Truth In Detailing :wizard:
 
Great story David and great work on the Lambo. We have the same Jersey Shore style hair gel down here, I do see them here on some of my past job's. Enjoy today and have a safe one too..................:Gift:
 
Incredible post, David and thank you for sharing it with us. That guy has nicer recessed can lighting in his garage than I do in my HOUSE!. I love that color of the Lambo. Came out gorgeous.

Did you wipe down his wall tiles??? If not the next detailer may come in and say the last guy left some Jersey Shore hair gel on the wall. (j/k)

Happy Holidays to you and yours.
 
David,

As usual, you did an amazing job on that Lambo. What did you use to get the silver to have such a brilliant shiiine?

It's nice to see a fellow Jersey boy doing such a great job on all these awesome cars:clap:
 
Looks awesome!

As cool as it would be to detail one of those, it looks like it would be very difficult/awkward to polish (looking at the back half of the car). Probably lots of 4" pads, tape, and concentration required.
 
glfahlc said:
man you do some of the most gorgeous cars. do you ever get to take them out for a spin afterwards... if so, whats your fav
Click to expand...

Normally I refuse when customers (unless they are personal friends) ask if I'd like to take a spin.

In this case I got lucky as the owner of those cars needed all of them (20) driven to a charity event. I drove about 8 cars and he drove the rest, he took the more rare and expensive ones like the MC12 and Enzo while I got the leftovers... Diablo, Ford GT, Ferrari 550, 612 Scaglietti, Z06, Targa etc

Video of me in the Diablo (dont worry I didnt go over 50, I just kept the revs up so we could hear the noise)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCySzI8gBe4

Owner gave the car some revs at the show... yes its obnoxiously loud...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjM0MqC1y5I
 
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