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  1. #1
    Neutral & Detached heatgain's Avatar
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    My first Yes! No! Yes!

    Please forgive my not-so sharp photos, I need photo practice and a better, newer camera. Forgive my long-winded narrative too, this is my first “Show & Shine.”
    This was a detail on an ’02 Ford Explorer, gold metallic for a co-worker after doing an ’07 Toyota Camry for another co-worker a few weeks ago. He brought it over Thursday evening to be returned Saturday afternoon. Neither the owner nor I knew the gold paint was metallic.
    The car was very, uh, dirty. The interior featured sunflower seed husks, old candy, a melted Snickers, and other assorted….uh….stuff all over. It wore red clay in the wheel wells, on the wheels, the bottom half of the car, and on the bottom part inside the doors. I took it to the local $3.99 tunnel wash first to get as much clay off as possible and save my equipment and supplies from getting dyed/ruined by the red clay. I also vacuumed the inside at the car wash as well as I could without a crevice tool to get the narrow areas.
    When I returned home, there was still red clay but not as much as before. I pressure cleaned all the above spots with my re-built $99.00 1700 psi Karcher. I also pressure cleaned the 4 mats, sprayed Folex on the bad spots, re-pressure cleaned the mats, and hung them to dry overnight on a retractable clothes line I installed in the garage.
    I popped the hood and pressure cleaned the engine bay, sprayed Blue Coral APC & Degreaser all over the engine, let it dwell about 5 minutes, wiped down with a terry cloth towel, rinsed with the pressure cleaner, then dried everything with an electric leaf blower. I sprayed CD2 in the engine bay and left the hood open to let the solvents in the CD2 evaporate for about ½ to an hour while I Shop-Vac’d the rest of the interior with a crevice tool and cleaned rubber seals and vinyl with Meg’s #39 and the APC. I dressed all the interior vinyl and rubber with 303 on a terry applicator and buffed with a MF. I then closed the hood and went inside. It was now late and dark.

    The next morning I set up my (2) Quick Shade 10’ x 10’ canopies on my driveway and parked the Explorer underneath. I opened the hood, slightly wiped some plastic engine bay parts and hoses to smooth the CD2 finish, and this is how the engine bay looked: (I didn’t think to take a “before.”)


    I then clayed all the paint surfaces with Meg’s white clay using Meg’s QD as the lubricant. In my limited detailing experience (6 cars so far), this was the roughest feeling finish of all six. Usually the claying takes maybe ½ hour; this one took about an hour or so to get the paint feeling glass-smooth.
    I then used Meg’s APC with a terry towel on the gray plastic cladding on the bottom half of the vehicle, and used a toothbrush-like grout brush on the many portions of the cladding that were stained white from a long ago waxing. I also used the APC via a terry on the black vinyl (plastic?) roof rack and the inside of all 4 doors on the bottom.
    I used the APC with a long-handled Black Magic tire brush (Big Lots) on the wheel wells, a curved-head brush (Walmart) on the tires, and a Quickie wheel brush (bought at Target) on the wheels. I rinsed it all off and dried the wheels. I then applied Duragloss 501 to all 4 wheels, then went back around and buffed off the 501 with a terry wash cloth. I sprayed the wheel wells with Black Magic Pro Shine Protectant, sprayed the tires with Meg’s Tire Foam aerosol and wiped the overspray from the wheels.
    This is the result:


    Now on to the exterior body. I wasn’t going to polish the whole car due to time and $$ constraints, and the swirls were hardly if all noticeable due to the color of the paint. I used Meg’s #80 with a yellow Meg’s polish pad on my new Makita rotary but only in certain spots that, in my opinion, needed it the most. This was my first time with a rotary and at one point I lost my nerve and brought out the PC. I used the PC on a few spots, then found my nerve and went back to the Makita on the rest of the spots. I rinsed the car, blot dried it, then hand applied DWG with a terry applicator, rubbing it in about a 2’ x 2’ section at a time, then buffed it off with an MF towel, one section at a time. It was at this point I realized the gold paint was indeed metallic flaked. After the whole car was DWG’d and buffed, I applied a coat of Ultima UPGP. The car was looking fine! At this point, I stopped for the day to let the UPGP cure, and I’ll finish tomorrow.
    I pulled the car from under the canopies so I could put them away for the night. Suppose a breeze overnight would cause the canopy to scratch the car? No way am I taking that chance.

    I took a few pictures of the yet unfinished job in the dimming sunlight:




    The black spot on the ¼ panel above is a fly. A big fly.

    The next morning, I set up the 2 canopies and parked the car underneath. I applied another coat of UPGP, and did all the exterior glass with Stoner’s IG. I lifted the rear hatch to get inside to apply some 303 to the inside rear plastic. Uh oh, a small problem. The rear hatch fully opened would contact the top of the canopy. OK, I thought, no problem. I’ll lift it slowly; let it rest on the canopy, no big deal, right? WRONG!!! While the hatch was in the upright position contacting the canopy, I applied the 303 inside and buffed it.
    When I slowly closed the hatch, with an MF in my hand because I’m SO careful, I saw an inch long SCRATCH in the paint of the hatch, caused by the vehicle moving a bit when I buffed the 303 inside!
    I went from pure elation, feeling like “Yes, I’m a real detailer,” pride in a fantastic looking detail, to a feeling of pure dread; my heart sank to the pit of my stomach. This scratch was so obvious, so horrible, I ruined the car! Now what do I do?? Shooting myself crossed my mind.

    I was in a zombie-like daze. My wife, ever the calm one, took me to Autozone to get touchup paint. “So, you’ll touch it up! What’s the big deal?” she said, more confident in my abilities than I was. I’ve never used touch-up paint. Don’t you have to wet sand to make it look good? I’ve never wet sanded. Have mercy, kill me now.
    Well, I picked up a bottle of Ford B2 by Duplicolor at Autozone. The salesman added to my dread by telling me that although close, these Duplicolor touch ups hardly ever match the color exactly, even though the label says “Ford B2.” My wife picked up a can of Duplicolor generic metallic gold spray, saying that the cap color looks just like the Explorer. I bought them both.

    Back home, trying to remember everything I ever read on touching up and wet sanding, I trepidly cleaned the scratch with alcohol. I chose the small bottle of B2 to use as opposed to the spray, because the bottle says B2! It HAS to match! The spray can is generic gold. How could that match?
    I dipped a wooden toothpick in the bottle, and carefully dragged the paint-soaked toothpick along the length of the inch long skinny scratch. OK, so far so good; it was filling the scratch. I went to the back of the garage and nervously smoked about 44 cigarettes while the paint dried. About 20 minutes later, I went back to look at the car.
    It looked worse!! The paint didn’t match, it was a lighter color, and one could now see the scratch from about 100 yards away!! My stomach felt like it was punched. Hard. Where’s my gun??
    My wife suggested we try the spray paint. I acquiesced, thinking it couldn’t get worse than it already is. She went in the house and returned with 2 eyeliner paint brushes, the skinniest paint brushes I ever saw.
    I shook the spray paint can for about 2 minutes, and sprayed some into a cap from another paint can. I had broken the gold Duplicolor cap by prying it off with a screwdriver, which then cut my finger causing it to bleed. I was a mess.
    My wife dipped her eyeliner paint brush in the paint I had sprayed into the cap, and proceeded to lightly paint the scratch over the touchup I had previously applied. I couldn’t watch. I stood with my back to her, bleeding onto a paper towel I was holding on my cut finger. I was totally useless at that point.
    Finally, some minutes later, she asked, “How does that look?” I turned around and looked. It matched! Although one could still see that there was a scratch, at least it was the same color as the rest of the car! The generic gold metallic matched better than the touch up paint with the same B2 number as the Ford paint code of the car! I started to feel a little better. The paint in the scratch was slightly higher than the surrounding paint, but it matched. Bless my wife!
    I had some 2000 grit 3m paper in my supplies. I threw it in a bucket of water and let it soak awhile. I read that somewhere. I framed the scratch with painters tape, getting as close to the scratch as possible. I sprayed the scratch with water, and lightly started sanding along the scratch. I read somewhere, maybe Megs forum, that was called “feather sanding.” I’ll just sand enough to get the touch up paint the same level as the surrounding clear coat, and it’ll be good to go! Yeah, right.
    I gently sanded along the scratch, within the framing of the painters tape, while constantly spraying with water, till the touch up paint looked level. I blotted the water off and inspected it. It looked horrible again!
    I had sanded her matching paint down to the right level, but that only re-exposed the darn B2 paint I had first applied, which was a lighter color. I fought the dread down, which was trying to overtake me again.
    My new plan: I decided to continue wet sanding the scratch, down a small bit, and then have my wife apply the generic gold metallic paint, and I’ll then gently sand it level. Then I’ll point it out to the owner, and offer to pay for a professional to fix it. Oh well.
    With that decision made, I calmed down, and continued wet sanding, gently, spraying water constantly. I brought the paint thickness down a notch. My wife added some paint with her miniature brush, and I gently wet sanded that after it dried. When I felt I did the best I could, I stopped sanding and pulled the painters tape “frame” from around the scratch. Now the small area was level, the same color, but loaded with 2000 grit scratches.

    I put a small glob of Meg’s 105 on a terry washcloth and hand-scrubbed the 2000 grit scratches till the 105 appeared dry. I flipped the washcloth over to a clean side and removed the 105. Oh my! Not only were the 2000 grit scratches gone and buffed to a shiny finish, but the original scratch that caused my heart palpitations was barely visible! One had to know where to look to see it. Unbelievable. I applied some DWG with a terry applicator over the area, working it in and then buffed the area with a clean MF.
    My wife, feeling confident with the touch-up paint and her tiny brush applied the touch-up paint to an area on the rear bumper that was scrapped down to the black primer. She didn’t build it up to the level of the surrounding paint, she just made the black scrape the same color as the rest of the body paint.
    I applied another coat of UPGP to the whole car. I sprayed AquaWax in and around all interior jams and doors buffing to a gloss with a MF. Just for good luck, I applied AW to all of the gray plastic cladding on the bottom half of the vehicle. All glass and mirrors inside and out were cleaned with Stoner’s IG.
    I stepped back to look at the job as a whole. Looking good! I focused in on the scratch I had made. Looking good too!
    When the customer/co-worker came to pick and the vehicle and drop off some money, , I showed him my “freebie” of the touch-up on the formerly black scrape and told him of the scratch I made and my attempt to repair it. I told him I’m no expert at touch-up; I just did the best I could on both locations. He said, and I quote, “Looks good. Don’t worry about the scratch. You can’t even see it until you’re up close. And thanks so much for touching-up that black scrape.” He paid me and drove away, waving happily.
    Relief! I was ready to pay to have it professionally repaired. It was like JL Detailing said above; I was way more devastated than he was.
    And that’s the story of my success/catastrophe/success. Not only did the detail/ordeal turn out terrifically, but I learned how to wet sand in the process.
    He called me a few hours later while I was indisposed and unable to answer the phone. He left no message but I saw his number on the caller ID afterwards. I was worried about this. Despite his initial reaction and lack of care about the scratch/repair, I thought he might get home, look at it again, change his attitude, and not only demand to have it professionally repaired, but even worse tell everyone how I ruined his car and what a terrible detailer I am.
    I called him back, expecting the worse. But he wanted to tell me again how fantastic the car looked and his neighbor saw it and wants me to detail his car!
    Thank y’all for reading this, and I’d like to show some before and after pics. Now I wish I had taken pics of the scratch before and after, but at the time I was in no condition to even think about pictures.

    Before/after:



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    Before/after:



    And one more after:
    Gary
    The Irate Magistrate
    Neutral & Detached

  2. #2
    The Rainmaker
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    Re: My first Yes! No! Yes!


    Great transformation.
    The scratch/paint nightmare is one that many of us have faced. Usually the results don`t turn out quite as good as they did for you and your wife. The eyeliner brushes sound like they might be worth investigating.

    Charles

  3. #3
    Tampa, FL
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    Re: My first Yes! No! Yes!

    Nice job Gary. I burned a Mercedes door handle with my rotary a few years ago and experienced that dreaded feeling you get in the pit of your stomach. Those are some of the most valuable lessons learned. Nice recovery and also for being upstanding enough to disclose it to the customer - always the best approach.
    Tampa, FL

  4. #4
    Just One More Coat Beemerboy's Avatar
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    Re: My first Yes! No! Yes!

    Gary

    all good work on the SUV...I`m really impressed with the pics that you took!!
    Old Enough To Know Better, Too Stupid To Care....

    Dave`s Detailing
    Sonoma County, CA

  5. #5
    nikro000's Avatar
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    Re: My first Yes! No! Yes!

    Flawless!!!

  6. #6
    Neutral & Detached heatgain's Avatar
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    Re: My first Yes! No! Yes!

    Quote Originally Posted by CharlesW View Post

    Great transformation.
    The scratch/paint nightmare is one that many of us have faced. Usually the results don`t turn out quite as good as they did for you and your wife. The eyeliner brushes sound like they might be worth investigating.
    Charles,
    Yup, I lucked out.
    She had 2 sizes of brushes: Tiny and tinier.

    Quote Originally Posted by Pander5 View Post
    Nice job Gary. I burned a Mercedes door handle with my rotary a few years ago and experienced that dreaded feeling you get in the pit of your stomach. Those are some of the most valuable lessons learned. Nice recovery and also for being upstanding enough to disclose it to the customer - always the best approach.
    It calmed me down when I made that decision to tell him. I`m going to be super careful from now on. Hope that helps.

    Quote Originally Posted by Beemerboy View Post
    Gary
    all good work on the SUV...I`m really impressed with the pics that you took!!
    Thanks! Taken with a old, big, fat HP 315 with a battery door that won`t stay on.

    Quote Originally Posted by nikro000 View Post
    Flawless!!!
    Thanks! Besides the fact of wrecking the paint job with the scratch, I am proud of the job!
    Gary
    The Irate Magistrate
    Neutral & Detached

  7. #7
    The Rainmaker
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    Re: My first Yes! No! Yes!

    Quote Originally Posted by CharlesW View Post
    The eyeliner brushes sound like they might be worth investigating.
    I did some investigating and eyeliner brushes seem to be anywhere from $10 to $30 each. Ouch.

    Quote Originally Posted by heatgain View Post
    She had 2 sizes of brushes: Tiny and tinier.
    I will have two quantities, none and noner,

    Quote Originally Posted by heatgain
    I am proud of the job!
    And you certainly should be. Looks great.

    Charles

  8. #8
    COME AT ME BRO JaredPointer's Avatar
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    Re: My first Yes! No! Yes!

    Very nice write up. Gotta love them Exploders.
    I still don`t believe in grit guards.

  9. #9

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    Re: My first Yes! No! Yes!

    Very nice turnaround!!

  10. #10
    JohnHenry's Avatar
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    Re: My first Yes! No! Yes!

    Great job! And I really enjoyed the write-up. One observation... I`ve done some unintended damage with the grout brush that looks like a "big toothbrush." The bristles are too stiff. I wish that I could find a slightly softer brush in the same size and shape.

    The scratch story has given me flashbacks!
    JohnHenry

  11. #11
    Neutral & Detached heatgain's Avatar
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    Re: My first Yes! No! Yes!

    Quote Originally Posted by JaredPointer View Post
    Very nice write up. Gotta love them Exploders.
    Thanks!

    Quote Originally Posted by Redwings97 View Post
    Very nice turnaround!!
    Thanks! Hope to have more soon.....without me scratching it.

    Quote Originally Posted by JohnHenry View Post
    Great job! And I really enjoyed the write-up. One observation... I`ve done some unintended damage with the grout brush that looks like a "big toothbrush." The bristles are too stiff. I wish that I could find a slightly softer brush in the same size and shape.
    The scratch story has given me flashbacks!
    Thanks!
    I`ll take a pic of the brush. I also have the brush you`re referring to, but this one is different.
    Gary
    The Irate Magistrate
    Neutral & Detached

  12. #12

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    Re: My first Yes! No! Yes!

    Why not go to an art store and get tiny paint brushes for detailed work? They are only like 4 or 5 bucks each.

  13. #13
    The Rainmaker
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    Re: My first Yes! No! Yes!

    Quote Originally Posted by Jokeman View Post
    Why not go to an art store and get tiny paint brushes for detailed work? They are only like 4 or 5 bucks each.
    These Micro Tip Applicators do a good job in many cases.
    They are cheap enough that you can use one and throw it away afterwards.
    Micro Tip Applicator
    I buy mine at a Body Supply Store rather than an Art Store.

    I used to buy small camel hair artist brushes, but it was difficult to get them clean after use.

    Charles

  14. #14
    Neutral & Detached heatgain's Avatar
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    Re: My first Yes! No! Yes!

    Here`s the grout toothbrush thing I used to get the dried white wax on the plastic cladding:

    The bristles feel like a firm toothbrush.
    Maybe it`s not a grout brush? I can`t remember where I bought it. Works great though.
    Gary
    The Irate Magistrate
    Neutral & Detached

 

 

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