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The day may have started quite overcast but it cleared up beautifully, and the large group of detailing enthusiasts on hand were just that - enthusiastic! It was a great day all around.......
Our demo car for the day - a 2007 Subaru Legacy in metallic black. Can you even tell that this is metallic paint here??
After a couple days of rain locally, the Subie was pretty dirty. Since we can't work on dirty paint, we had to clean it first, so we grabbed a bottle of Ultimate Wash & Wax Anywhere and had at it.
OK, so now it's clean, and from this angle it doesn't look too bad. But remember all the swirls in the first picture of the hood? Yep, they're still there.
See? There are also some etch marks, some water spots and, unfortunately, some fairly severe checking in the paint that can only be repaired by repainting the hood. But we could certainly do a lot to improve the appearance of this paint.
As per usual, our test spot (one by hand, one with the DA) begin with Ultimate Compound.
Hand application: notice the small work area, the overlapping passes, and the fact that fingertips are kept off the pad. By distributing your hand pressure across the pad rather than pressing with your fingertips will help to avoid pressure points that will mar the paint. Technique is critical!
We use the same Ultimate Compound when doing the test spot wtih the DA, here with a W8207 polishing pad.
Out in the sunlight we see the results of our test spots. Huge improvement! And look, not only is the paint metallic, but it has a blue flake in it!
From another angle, with the sun directly on the paint (and a nice little fingerprint smudge added for good measure!). Now you can clearly see the metallic in the paint.
OK, time to let our students have some fun. Here, Kevin, the car owner, gets a bit of hands on instruction - literally.
Keep that cord over your shoulder and off the paint!
Obviously not his first rodeo.
Hmmmm.... that pad should be flat against the paint, not tipping up on an edge like this. This won't hurt anything, but it will stop the pad from rotating and you'll lose cut. That means you'll get a diminished result, and that's not good. Technique is critical!
Something else to consider when working on your paint - don't wear a watch or other jewelry!
Now that's much better!
Thanks again to everyone who came out to spend the day with us, to Kevin for letting us play with his car, and to Tim for being our ace photographer for the day.
Our demo car for the day - a 2007 Subaru Legacy in metallic black. Can you even tell that this is metallic paint here??
After a couple days of rain locally, the Subie was pretty dirty. Since we can't work on dirty paint, we had to clean it first, so we grabbed a bottle of Ultimate Wash & Wax Anywhere and had at it.
OK, so now it's clean, and from this angle it doesn't look too bad. But remember all the swirls in the first picture of the hood? Yep, they're still there.
See? There are also some etch marks, some water spots and, unfortunately, some fairly severe checking in the paint that can only be repaired by repainting the hood. But we could certainly do a lot to improve the appearance of this paint.
As per usual, our test spot (one by hand, one with the DA) begin with Ultimate Compound.
Hand application: notice the small work area, the overlapping passes, and the fact that fingertips are kept off the pad. By distributing your hand pressure across the pad rather than pressing with your fingertips will help to avoid pressure points that will mar the paint. Technique is critical!
We use the same Ultimate Compound when doing the test spot wtih the DA, here with a W8207 polishing pad.
Out in the sunlight we see the results of our test spots. Huge improvement! And look, not only is the paint metallic, but it has a blue flake in it!
From another angle, with the sun directly on the paint (and a nice little fingerprint smudge added for good measure!). Now you can clearly see the metallic in the paint.
OK, time to let our students have some fun. Here, Kevin, the car owner, gets a bit of hands on instruction - literally.
Keep that cord over your shoulder and off the paint!
Obviously not his first rodeo.
Hmmmm.... that pad should be flat against the paint, not tipping up on an edge like this. This won't hurt anything, but it will stop the pad from rotating and you'll lose cut. That means you'll get a diminished result, and that's not good. Technique is critical!
Something else to consider when working on your paint - don't wear a watch or other jewelry!
Now that's much better!
Thanks again to everyone who came out to spend the day with us, to Kevin for letting us play with his car, and to Tim for being our ace photographer for the day.
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