Opportunity To Detail With A Professional

[Stutopia 158]

An exciting opportunity presented itself for me to spend time at a local detailing company, Deadeye Detailing. The detailer in chief, John, would be spending some time showing me around DAs, pads, polishes, and also a glimpse into the world of nano-ceramic coatings. This post covers having a go at working on my car both familiar and new steps in doing a one stage correction. I should start off by saying I have enhanced some of the images in this thread in post, not to remove blemishes and defects but to increase contrast and definition to show the defects in my paint. One of the first things I’ve learnt is that it’s not as easy I thought to capture the look of paint and paint defects on camera!!!

My own experience as a little DA use before, mainly correcting cloudy headlights, but only briefly on the soft paint of my previous 350z. Many people have advised me that you don’t need training to use a DA, do some reading and YouTubing, understand the process and then only the simplest of simpletons can do damage. However, I’m hoping for more than not doing damage, I’d like to start off with decent technique and achieve some gloss enhancement, perhaps even correction. The biggest obstacles for me thus far has been having to work on my own car, with no space for a scrap panel to practice on and having to do so outdoors. Which is always a mixture of too hot paint and all manner of dusty contaminants blowing onto the working area, that’ when it’s not raining. This was a chance to work indoors, out of the elements and with proper tools to help find the pesky defects.

 I started by tidying up my garage and arranging some of my stuff. This had absolutely no bearings on proceedings, but it felt like suitable pre-study

Naturally the first order of the day at the workshop is a snow foaming. Good to see a familiar product from my shed, in the professional domain, Bilt Hamber Autofoam.

One of the many perks I was going to enjoy in a professional environment is the tooling on hand, like a serious jet washer which makes petrol smells and super thick foam.

Another familiar face, the Gyeon Q2M Silk Dryer is my current favourite drying towel. This absorbs water like nothing else I’ve used and is super soft on the paint. It’s a distinct step up from the excellent Woolly Mammoth I was using before, it’s just so soft. If I had one complaint, it’s difficult to wring out once it gets saturated, but that doesn’t matter if you’re doing a BRZ sized car and you’ve sheeted most of the water off first.

More exciting tooling up next, possibly my favourite piece yet, a dog blower. This is a leap up in drying, even from the excellent Gyeon towel. No more water lurking in badges, handles or wing mirrors.

I’d have one in a heartbeat, if they weren’t £750 a pop! I must find a budget alternative, eliminating touching the paint during the drying phase is surely worth it.

Next up some new-to-me product Optimum No Rinse Wash & Shine (ONR). I don’t know what this product is meant to be, it has several claims, but it certainly does the job as a clay lube.

Also new to me, Zaino Clay Bar, more like a putty or plasticine than the Meg’s and BH clays I’ve used previously, very nice to use, and soft.

No horror shots of a filthy clay bar I’m afraid, my paint was more or less spotless.

 

So that’s the easy bits out the way, time to try something new; a paint activated, three digit, random number generator. You pop it on the paint, wait a split second and it display a three-digit number, usually in the one hundreds. I Some say these numbers measure the depth of primer, paint and lacquer on the pane, I’ve no way of knowing about this black magic. Apparently, these numbers mean there is “plenty”

As well as minimising the risk of my incompetence, part of the reason for the upcoming pad and polish combo is that my paint is in fairly good nick. This is it, post clay and naked, like Demi Moore in Ghost – ask you parents kids. As mentioned earlier, it’s quite difficult to pick up scratches on camera, particularly without the lights, which were in use on another car.

Low on swirls but with quite a few random deep scratches, like this pesky bugger.

After a thorough demonstration, I was handed a what was described as a safe (read idiot proof!) combination of products, so it was time to get cracking on my paint. The combo in question is a DAS-21 polisher, a yellow finishing pad and Scholl S40 polish, all primed for my beautiful WR Blue Mica paint.

S40 bills itself as a gloss enhancing polish, free from fillers, so it is safe enough for a clown like me but also doesn’t flatter me too much by filling up the scratches instead of removing them. I have no frame of reference on this versus other products, it’s my first proper run, but I liked the enhanced gloss and reduction in scratches after the passes.

The bonnet on the BRZ is nicely shaped for a noob and divides nicely into 4 sections. There are no significant creases and no furniture like washer jets to get in the way, a good place to start. I don’t have a 50/50 to show you as I was way too absorbed in what I was doing to bother with photos mid-way through, got a rather nice one after finishing the bonnet though. The gloss coming out very nicely if I do say so myself, quite pleasing for a first run. Unlike when I’ve done this previously on warmer paint with Menzerna Medium and Super cut polishes, the Scholl doesn’t dust, it can be worked for ages, and even after all these passes it was still quite oily. This was great for me as I have previously mistakenly used too much product, hoping it will keep it wet for longer, when really a sprtiz of cold water was needed – lesson learned. The process on these sections for me was two cross hatch passes at 5-6 with some pressure on the DA, then two more at 3-4, also with pressure, then two at 3 with only the weight of the polisher pressing down.

Next up the roof and boot lid – all of the easy to reach and work on horizontal surfaces.

A little roof reflection shot.

Not perfect, but not many defects left. I did have the chance to go more aggressive, but for a car that never goes indoor, I elected to keep some of these and keep the paint for inevitable future corrections. The roof on the BRZ is a bit of pain to work on, it’s super flexible in the middle and prone to bending under pressure. Fortunately, the roof doesn’t attract much in the way of scratches, so there was less need for pressure on the machine. I quite liked the way it looked afterwards.

Here’s a quick vid of the boot after the right half has been polished, left side naked. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUd3M3GSYzk

 

Once again I got to enjoy access to a bigger selection of tools than I have at home, namely the Vertool Mini DA a.k.a. “the 75”. This little thing is ace for a noob like me. It’s light, it doesn’t fight you and it simply refuses to bog down. It is used at lower speeds than the DAS-21 steps outlined above. The width is perfect for the boot spoiler, A pillars and roof sides on the BRZ. I can all of a sudden start to see why pros have so many different polishers, the versatility of size and throw is super useful. My Meg’s DA is a butter knife compared to this scalpel. Sorry for the brochure shot of the 75, I forgot to take a real pic. You can see how compact this little guy is compared to the DAS-21 – the only downside is the speed selector dial is located out of view when operating it.

Tomorrow we get her up on the ramp and move on to the horizontal panels, then, with a bit of luck, onto nano-cermaic coatings. Oh and the small matter of dealing with this absolute bugger of a defect the PO skilfully buried under a mountain of glaze.

If that image isn’t scary enough, check out the horror movie!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViJtmvU-ooQ

 

Last but not least, a bit of a secret project this one, so don’t tell anyone. I’m genetically engineering caterpillars which eat dirt and excrete gloss. Once we get the mutation just right, this will be huge. I might start a crowd fund

 

P.S. if anyone sees a mutant 9ft, 300lb purple caterpillar which answers to the name Archibald, please let me know…

[Stutopia 158]

Having driven the BRZ home and back, Day 2 began with a snow foam and two bucket wash. I must say again that the BH Autofoam is even more impressive when fired out a heavy duty pressure washer, instead of the fast running foam I get at home from my Karcher, which drips off in 5-7 minutes, this produces a heavy, dense shaving cream. It holds it shape for quite a while before dripping away. Left to its own devices, out of the sun, I’m sure it would cling for 20 minutes! Just because I can, I fired up the Dezyna Dog Gizmo again. This is definitely my favourite pro-tool. Sadly John isn’t as impressed as me, pointing out that it moves the water around too much, instead of blasting it off the car. Whatever. I love chasing the water away with it!

Up on the ramp I found this unpleasant surprise, no idea what has done it, but it must be me as it’s fresh and crud free – needs touching up pronto before rust takes hold L

Being up in the air meant a rare opportunity for wheels off cleaning. I really dislike cleaning wheels at the best of time, particularly fiddly ones with narrow spokes, this means I don’t do it as much as I should. They got hit with Bilberry, both as a concentrated spray and shampoo. I’ve not really fallen for this product. It looks like it should be a fallout remover, with its deep reddish purple, but it isn’t. I’m not convinced by it as a shampoo either, I can’t see it dislodging my Envy Evolution and AMMO Plum for the time being. Another new, Red 7 fallout remover. It seems to do the trick, in that it smells like the inside of Mr Creosote’s jockstrap and turns iron to a purple streak, again I haven’t fallen in love and CarChem Revolt won’t be being dislodged from my shelf just yet.

This is the Red 7 after brush agitation, but not much falling out, as I had washed them at the weekend, including a Revolt stage.

This next item, I did fall in love with. My current AMMO woollies were superb on the 350z’s RAYS, but are just too damn thick to go through some of the narrow BRZ wheel spokes, but this little beauty gets into even the tightest of apertures, the EZ Detail Wheel Brush. I’ll be having one, no doubt.

The wheels got a fairly familiar, to me, coating of Gtechniq C5 and as you’d expect from thier range, they look glossy, reduce water/drit adhesion and should last 3-6 months. This is the first time I’ve bothered to coat wheels, rather than wax, so I’m hopeful it’s up to the job, because (did I mention it already?) I really hate cleaning and sealing wheels. Like. Really. A LOT.

With the car up in the air for wing and door inspection under the lights, it became clear that they had seen a bit more action than the bonnet, roof and boot.

Accordingly, Scholl S20 Black[/url] was broken out. Apparently a true one stage polish, which reduces down from a cutting compound to a finishing one, just through the working on the panel. All thanks to the diminishing abrasives.  

As with any product which purports to do many jobs, it can sound a bit too good to be true to me. But, I must say that on a yellow pad, it shifted the majority of my scratches and left a stunning finish, so that just shows what I know. Polished Bliss goes so far as to use the phrase, “Holy Grail of polishes”. Looking at these pics, I can see why they’re so effusive. These first few pics don’t appear to show much, but it’s harder to photograph scratches than I expected, and wider shots with bigger reflections tend to hide, rather than reveal. So I’ve included these to try and show how super the finish is.

Slightly wider.

Up in the air is truly the way to work on the side of your car. Instead of tending to rush a job to save either my back or knees, all of a sudden you can take your time and get eyeball to eyeball with the paint. Now, I have to tell the truth here. I’d like to say that the wings and doors were expertly corrected by my fair hand, but John did the work here and I studied and took pictures.

Remember the monster defect above? Well this is what was left of it after a few passes with S20 Black by a professional. Still visible under the lights, but incredibly hard to find outdoors

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlrBQUDDAQY

 

Not a bad finish eh?

Another great tool, the Scangrip Sunmatchinspection lamp is so much better than the LED torch I use to try and find swirls. The light is super sharp and is a must for finding defects and checking work.

Naturally I quickly decided I needed one in my life, until I found out that they’re the best part of two hundred sheets. I learnt quickly in my time in the workshop, and it’s well worth remembering if you go to a professional detailer for a quote, EVERYTHING in detailing is expensive. I daren’t even look at the price of the floorstanding lights.

On to the final stage, this is where it gets interesting (well for me anyway, perhaps for you, if you’re still reading!). I’m a natural sceptic, accordingly any kind of superduper sealant/coating/wax/spray/magic dust which claims to be an all in one glossifier, anti-stone chip, anti-etching, super strong but flexible mega product which lasts for 100 years - always seems a bit far fetched. However, the boss advised me that the [url= http://www.ceramic-pro.com/en/]Ceramic Pro[/url] range was so good that not only did he literally wet his pants when he first saw it, but he became a fully paid up fan boy. I was further swayed when another pro detailer dropped in during the week and told me tales of being a converted sceptic who was won over by the product upon use. This was enough to convince me that having a chance to have it on the BRZ was not an opportunity to be passed up – especially as it’s about £219 for 50ml for the 9H :scare:

So here it is. Much like myself, it’s not very tall but the magic juice inside makes the difference

It’s unforgiving to the untrained, so I was placed on long pile buffing duty for this, well away from the product, which was applied by a trained professional. It needs to be worked relatively quickly but isn’t a huge departure from the Gyeon and Gtechniq sealants I’ve applied in the past. In a nutshell, don’t use too much, spread evenly and precisely, wipe away promptly with one towel, look for high spots and buff again with another towel (my job).

After only a few minutes it leaves a very pleasing level of gloss, I’m sure you’ll agree. 

Once complete, the coating needs a minimum of 8 hrs out of the elements, so she spent the night in the workshop. I returned this morning to pick her up and have a feel of her wares. Ooooh and indeed errrr. Well, what can I say? The slickness is phenomenal. You know what paint feels like when it’s been clayed to perfection, and it’s glossy and glass like? Well it’s beyond that. It’s super, super slippy. It’s so super slippy I’m sure that as well as feeling immense, the car actually goes faster. Slipping through the air as it struggles to get a grip on the panels. I’m going to keep an eye on my MPG, as I’m convinced the reduced drag will mean an extra 5mpg

I may be a little over excited, possibly the drag coefficient has been affected, but I must admit that having been a bit of ceramic coating sceptic, I’ve certainly been won round on the look and feel front. In terms of its ability to repel dirt (mainly bird s**t around here – more on that later) and traffic grime, only my first wash after some motorway miles and standing in the elements will tell. The same can be said of longevity, I’ll be keeping a close eye on her for the next 6 months at least. The marketing describes it as “permanent” but I’ve not drank so much of the koolaid that I’m willing to buy in, just yet!

[Stutopia 158]

So that’s the end of my time in the workshop and the paint shots under the lights. The rest of these are just outdoor glamour stuff for my own enjoyment, rather than properly lit up inspection photos.

 

So what have I learnt this last few days then?

1. When they say it's hard to do damage to the paint with a DA, they’re correct.
2. But it's easy to do damage if I don't mask up properly – headlights!
3. Work a small area until it’s just right, then get to it on the rest.
4. Playing with the toys in a detailing shop is a quick route to an empty bank balance.
5. I need a new DA, possibly two. A lamp. A blower.
6. It's hard work working the paint by DA, you think it'll be easy after doing it by hand, and it sort of is, but they're heavy and want to get away from you and make a racket and make your arms ache.
7. I eat too much fast food when work is tiring.
8. It's addictive, I want to polish everything now.
9. I think I like this more than my normal office job.
10. Relax when polishing. Keep control and the pad flat, but don't tense up. Let the machine do the work. Use the force.

Last but not least, obviously, it’s a huge treat for someone like me to get to spend time in a professional detailing environment, asking questions, chatting about products, watching and learning; even more so to get hands on the pro goodies and, most importantly, get some tuition. As with most skilled things, technique trumps tooling every time, so it’s been great to spend time learning before I’ve had the chance to pick up bad habits and without the need for me to blow the GDP of a small country on kit. I reckon I might even have a chance at taking out some swirls on some of the family cars now. Thank you to Mick (Chongo over on Detailing World) who dropped in and generously spent time showing me what to do and what not to, as well as what to look for under the lights, and telling me to relax. However, big thanks must to go to John at Deadeye Detailing for his time, patience and expertise. It’s been absolutely brilliant to see what you can do to transform the grimmest of paint, and to noticeably enhance paint that already looked in decent shape. Thank you.

If you’re considering a detail and adding some protection, I’d definitely recommend you check out John’s previous work at http://deadeyedetailing.co.uk and give him a shout for a quote.

[Stutopia 158]

Now that the coating has cured and it’s safe to do so, I’ve done some beads for the other detailing tragics like me.

 

Due to the unseasonably warm weather these were created in a controlled environment, they not naturals. These beads are high and tight, just how I like to wear my afro!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRXrSe9SbXY

[Stutopia 158]

24 hrs, not bad...

[Lauren 2259]

Oh no, you've been bombed!  I'm not really into detailing, but that was an interesting thread. Thanks for sharing.

[Foulsmell 120]

Great write up and lovely beads sir.

[Cerastes 204]

Thanks, I love a good bead. 

I'm not sure on that £750 equipment, it appears to be a hoover basically lol. 

 

[Stutopia 158]

1 hour ago, Cerastes said:

Thanks, I love a good bead. 

I'm not sure on that £750 equipment, it appears to be a hoover basically lol. 

 

Woah there poindexter, it's nothin' like a hoover, I mean the air goes outwards for one, and errrr, faster for two! That's completely different! 😂

[Cerastes 204]

44 minutes ago, Stutopia said:

Woah there poindexter, it's nothin' like a hoover, I mean the air goes outwards for one, and errrr, faster for two! That's completely different! 😂

Ahh ok  my mistake