They told the lady it couldn't be done!

A

Anthony O.

New member
I am always asked by the nurses of my doctor clients if I can do their cars but at a "discount" and I am like, "Yeah right:up " (Not!:down )



So my assistant today did this nurses car today only because she was willing to pay the full amount. As the car was being dried she told me that the nurse has it washed and detailed, and I use the term "detailed" lightly here, at the local "Wash Tub" and that they told her that the scratches on her trunk and elsewhere could not be removed but that they are now permanent.:shocked



So when I heard my assistant tell me this I just had to come over and check out the trunk area and it was scratched and swirled to hell sure enough but I was up for the challenge.



Here is one of the BEFORE pics. We have here some very heavy scratches, and rather deep.
 

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I broke out my rotary, my wool pad and a product designed to remove 600 grit sanding marks.



Set my rotary at 2200 rpm's, not a speed I would ever recommend, but this trunk was pretty ugly and the product I am using is designed for use with heat and friction to aid in the leveling process.



A few passes with the wool pad and at this speed and the scratches looked less noticable so I stopped at this point with this combo.



I then switched to a new Lake Country "orange" pad, same product but this time a setting of 1800 rpm's.



I then hand rubbed the trunk out with Cleansing Lotion and applied Light Cut with my rotary and a Lake Country white polishing pad at 1200 rpm's. Paint looked so much nicer and very smooth. My assistant then told me she had to have the nurses car back in 15 minutes so I used the PC with Light Cut again and a new polishing pad set at #5.
 
Goo pics there !

I'm new to this stuff so I have a dum question. Are they removed permently or just till that stuff wears off?
 
The conclusion here is that car washes have no clue what they are doing yet pass off their services as "professional". I would not call a few high school kids with no training at all "professionals" when it comes to a proper and correct diagnose of car paint problems.



The only good thing I can say here is that som halfwit didn't attempt to buff her trunk out and ruin the whole trunk.
 
Johnnygee,



The products I use do not hide nor fill swirls but work to remove them. In reality one is removing paint at the level where the swirls and scratches are and not the actual scratch or swirl.



Many products do hide and cover paint blemishes but I personally don't much care for them as they only return after a wash or two.



This trunk I did is only finished out with Light Cut and then a quick going over with AIO to protect it. I snapped the AFTER pics real quick as my assistant was driving the car back to the cars owner......it was lunch time:)



Anthony
 
Nice work, Anthony! From what I see in the before pics, there is no reason if the 'detailing' shop had half a clue that they couldn't remove those scratches. Seems to me, they just wanted to get her car in and out as quickly as possible. They do the detailing industry no favors. :mad:



Not only did you remove the scratchs, but also all the spiderweb swirls too! :up



Reminds me of a job I did this past summer. A lady had used some touch up paint on her Maxima and then used a Scotchbrite pad to level the globs of paint she filled the chips in with, leaving her car looking like this:



1099scratches_before.jpg




This is after using Clearkote's Blue Moose (a very aggressive compound!) and Meguiars DACP (both by hand).



1099scratches_during.jpg




And last shot, after using Meguiars Swirl Free Polish, Vanilla Moose and Carnauba Moose:



1099scratches_after.jpg






BTW, please note that my pics are 78 KB or less! I thought my modem was going to burn out on your pics! ;) :lol
 
Scottwax said:
Nice work, Anthony! From what I see in the before pics, there is no reason if the 'detailing' shop had half a clue that they couldn't remove those scratches. Seems to me, they just wanted to get her car in and out as quickly as possible. They do the detailing industry no favors. :mad:



Not only did you remove the scratchs, but also all the spiderweb swirls too! :up



Reminds me of a job I did this past summer. A lady had used some touch up paint on her Maxima and then used a Scotchbrite pad to level the globs of paint she filled the chips in with, leaving her car looking like this:



1099scratches_before.jpg




This is after using Clearkote's Blue Moose (a very aggressive compound!) and Meguiars DACP (both by hand).



1099scratches_during.jpg




And last shot, after using Meguiars Swirl Free Polish, Vanilla Moose and Carnauba Moose:



1099scratches_after.jpg






BTW, please note that my pics are 78 KB or less! I thought my modem was going to burn out on your pics! ;) :lol
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OMG look at all the dings :eek: :D !!!!!!!
 
Excellent job Anthony!



When I started out I used to wash the cars at my Father’s MB/BMW dealership and learned detailing from the people there (I will add that back then (‘40s) they were real professionals, as opposed to some who work for present day dealerships) they would teach me to use their tools on removed body panels. I am not nor do I consider my self to be a true ‘professional’ detailer, despite many years experience and the fact that I sometimes take on detailing work for money. Since joining this forum I’ve learned that there are many professionals and indeed amateurs that have learned and practice their art and do it because they take pride in their workmanship and knowledge obtained. (Long story short) (What ‘ya mean, too late) There is a long way to go to change the perception that detailing = wash ‘ n wax at the local car wash, but with work of this calibre put out there to ‘ordinary folk’ (as opposed to concourse car owners) the detailing profession will get the recognition it deserves.



Experience unshared; is knowledge wasted…/



justadumbarchitect
 
Scott, I'm suprised yu don't detail by machine. What's next, your going to start taking out dents with a terry cotton applicator and some Vanilla Moose? hahaha



Anthony, that was cool work. Let's me know what the rotary polisher can do, all I need to do now is wipe the dust off the machine :)
 
joed1228 said:
Scott, I'm suprised yu don't detail by machine. What's next, your going to start taking out dents with a terry cotton applicator and some Vanilla Moose? hahaha



Anthony, that was cool work. Let's me know what the rotary polisher can do, all I need to do now is wipe the dust off the machine :)
Click to expand...



I thought I read somewhere that he doesn't use a vaccum either....he sucks the dirt out of the carpet with a straw.;) :D
 
Regal - Even thought there is a thin layer of clear on the car it is pretty tough. You'd be suprised how abrasive you can be while not eating through the clear coat at the same time.



In one of the above pictures the lady used steel wool on her car, even that didn't cut through the clear.
 
BlackRegal said:
Also, just for the record, I'm not questioning Anthony's judgement, he obviously knows what he's doing and the results speak for themselves... just trying to learn something from one of the masters.
Click to expand...



Easy killer :) never said you were doubting Anthony. How far to cut the clear is odd to explain, I just picked it up after detailing for a while. Before I knew what a wax/sealent was I would polish my car a few times every weekend to make it shine and I did that for a year or more. With most American cars it can be easy, I just wait until I can't see any more orange peel then start to question the integrity of the clear.



There are digital tools to measure how much clear coat is left. It would be awesome if I could get one, I could meaurse how much clear each product removes and how much clear is on the average car. Maybe polishes are smearing more of the clear around then removing it.
 
Hey guys and gals,



The topic brought up by BlackRegal is a great one and should be talked about. I do not use any type of paint thickness reading device mainly because they cost so stinkin much:scared I can think of better things to spend that money on. Now if I did more of this type of work I would invest in one of those devices for sure.



In all truth a wool pad does not generate the type of heat that a foam cutting pad generates, thus it is a bit safer to use if done so properly. Now at 2200 rpm's my wool pad is spinning like crazy so they key here is to move the rotary at a steady pace and not in quick jerky movements.



How do you measure progress?



What I do is pick out a scratch, and on this ladys trunk there was plenty to choose from, so I pick out a nice scratch for each area I am doing and use it as a guide for how much top coat I am removing. In other words that scratch, usually the deepest one, lets me know visually just how much leveling needs to be done because as long as it is visible I know I am safe. As the area around it becomes clear I then hit that area where that scratch is and then move on.



Now the "600 grit" product I used is a "heat induced leveler" which means it levels the paint by way of a chemical cleaner more so than a mechanical cleaner. By mechanical I mean "abrasive". Although this 600 grit leveler has an abrasive to it, it is not a coarse abrasive like one would find in something like Meguiars #1 or 4 or Poorboys SSR3. So the phrase "600 grit leveler" does not mean it itself has that level of grit or abrasive but rather it is designed to remove or level paint that has been sanded with 600 grit paper. These levelers I use are not very popular but they work like nothing else!



Another tool i use in these heavy buffing jobs is my hand. I buff an area and then touch it with my palm. If it is hot to the touch then I know I am just on the verge of doing overkill. If it is just warm then I know I am just where I want it to be. Kinda like a BBQ. If the coals are too hot then the food burns and the family mocks you:(



So basically it is a "gut feeling":D



Scott,



Great results, by hand even, on that ladys car. As for my pictures I am not sure what happened there as it took forever to load them up also:nixweiss



Taxlady,



My assistant drove the car back to the nurse and she was blown away by mainly how the paint on the trunk FELT over how it looked, go figure:confused: She wants the whole car done now but can't affor it right now.



Well thanks all for the compliments and take care,

Anthony
 
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