mc2hill

Welcome Kim!

Great turnaround Ray! Were you able to use your 'red car' pads on this or did you have to go with a new set?😁

Welcome Erick!

Thankfully that tool was arrested later after fleeing the scene of the first accident - http://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/owner-arrested-after-ultra-rare-gemballa-mirage-gt-goes-on-a-wrecking-spree-in-manhattan/ar-BB12hozd?ocid=ientp.

Wow Anthony, C'est magnifique!

Welcome Brian, and cool truck!

Welcome Tera, and great pic!

Welcome Michael! Fantastic photos of fantastic cars!

Welcome Stephen!

The 'secret' to making black (or any other dark color) look its best is to have the paint as swirl free as possible. That requires work, not 'magic Black products'. For the best look, you will probably need to machine polish the car, then apply the protection of your choice. The others mentioned the Ceramic products, which give the best protection. But if you like spending time detailing the car, try Paint Sealant, topped with Brilliant Glaze, and put some Americana or Patriot wax over that. And learn how to do a swirl-free Rinseless Wash to clean it in a short amount of time.

Congratulations Rich!

Good point Shane! I had a customer that asked me 'when you came to give us a quote, you said you would make the cars smell better. What do scent will you be spraying, as I am sensitive to smells?' . I told her I don't usually use anything, the car will smell better because it is clean!

@Brownie 303 What, no love for the 2000 Frontier!

Maybe, but most likely if you did not pay for it the dealer did not apply it. I like the non-coating products - Paint Sealant and H20 G&G for my cars. Others prefer spray coatings. No wrong answer, just don't mix them.

I don't believe I have ever shared this photos, so here goes. My client had this car for about 10 years, but was busy working on Old No 2, so it sat - the chassis in his garage and the remaining parts in a storage unit. He purchased the project from the Outer Banks of Virginia - the parts were in mayo jars, and the body was resting against a wall in a barn. Once he finished Old No 2, he needed something else to do, so he started playing this car. It is an 1913 Peugeot Bebe (Type BP1), designed by Ettore Bugatti (yes that Bugatti), in fact if you own one of these you can join the Bugatti's Owner Club (OK, so there is no longer an auto ownership requirement, but it sounds better!). He designed the car (a cycle car) for the German brand Wanderer, and was licensed for the French market by Peugeot. It was shown at the 1912 Paris Auto Show, and put into production the following year. It has a straight 4 cylinder, 10 hp engine, with a top speed of 37 mph. About 3000 were produced, with about 300 remaining. Most are in museums, which is where one this lives now. The chassis: Getting ready to put the body back on after many years apart: This a shot of the floor board with handwritten serial number. To the right of the pic are the slots for the pedals. And an interior shots (note the missing floor board). It had been treated several times with Adam's Leather Conditioner. Due to the small size, the door was only on the passenger side. The 'box' under the dash is the oil reservior. After assembling the car, there was only ONE piece missing - a felt washer, and a wooden windshield frame piece had to be remade. Not bad for 105+ years! And finally a period photo.

This is a shot of 'Old no. 2' the 1912 race car I get to work on. The owner started with the radiator, the engine, and the frame, and it took 14 years to get from collecting parts to completion. His idea was to build a car like you could have had in the day, if money was no object, and to allow you jump in it and drive across the country (it has plug in for headlights, and between the seats are plugs for heated motorcycle suits) . I call it a 1912 Indy spec custom hot rod, as it is like a Kindigit car, with no exposed wires or bolts, and lots of summitry (the holes in the hand brake and gear shift align perfectly). Oh, and the engine - a 10 liter/600 cu. in. 4 cylinder (the 'formula' for the Indy race that year). It will idle at 90 RPM - kind of like a 110 MPH tractor! It is a lot of fun to show, and even more fun to drive!

I detailed my mother-in-laws Grand Marquis. Wow, that is a big car! The car sits outside, under large oak trees, and does not get driven much, so it gets some mold and stains. I have been washing with an Adam's Wheel Brush and a bug sponge, then spray with H2O G&G. It looked muuuch better when I was done. She made lunch, and I fixed a few more things around house. I tried to setup her Ipad for the online Church service, but could never find the URL, and never heard back from them from email I sent Saturday.

@rabbit_eater You can start with the One Step polish and pads, and if it does not correct as well as you hoped, order the 2 step polishes/pads down the road. And remember, you can always go over the section more than one time with the One Step to improve the results.

And to follow up on the excellent advice @shane@detailedreflections and @falcaineer gave, with today's polishes and pads the 2 step is not always 2 steps. Most times I can get the paint worked well enough with the Compound that is does not need the Finishing Polish. Do a test spot to be sure, but this works even on black paint.

Welcome Chynna! I don't know how people can let a car get that bad, but great job on the turnaround. I did two last weekend that were similar, but both black carpets and they owned a white dog

A quick follow-up: An industry leading person I trust mentioned he only uses Nikken brand on paint - they make the Meg's sandpaper.

I use inexpensive 3" hook and loop discs for headlights, but I use name brand (Meg's, 3M) sheets for use on paint. And sadly, I can confirm that the clearcoat on newer cars is very thin. I have a strike thru on my 2017 Accord rear passenger-side door from a scratch I was trying to do a quick repair on.

I detailed two filthy cars on Saturday - an 10 year old Hyundai Elantra and a 2008 Mustang GT California Special. Both live outside, under large oak trees, and neither interior had been cleaned for a loooong time. I knew it was going to be a lot of work (oh, and they have a white dog and both cars have black carpet), but decided I would get them properly cleaned. I started with the Elantra interior, then did a Rinseless Wash, using H2O G&G to provide some shine & protection while the panel was wet. It was a challenge, as the shade was gone and water was evaporating in the roof. I worked smaller sections, and the car looked amazing. I cleaned the wheels with APC and the tires with T&RC, but I was a long way from the building so I rinsed them with Rinseless Wash (at wash strength) in my Adam's pump-up sprayer (I do this with pre-war cars too). Swapped to the Mustang and did the wheels/tires the same way for that, but used a Utility Towel to dry them. Then washed the Mustang with the same method, making the Dark Candy Apple Red really shine. This model is one of 4,918 coupes and one of 1,278 in Red. Next was the correction of the headlights and driving lights - wetsanding with 1000, 1500, 2000, and polishing + coating. Finally did the interior, which had very grimy door panels and carpets. The customer was very happy, and I was very tired!

I was lucky enough to meet Adam when I worked the booth at Daytona Turkey Trot - A very cool and knowledgeable guy. Also spent time with Scott (@Sizzle Chest) and his lovely wife that weekend, and it was fun to work with all the cars that were in at the Adam's, especially showing the baggie test to the owners on their own cars, and watching their eyes get big when they realized the paint was not really clean! They all bought clay, Detail Spray, and towels and got to work right away.

Check out this thread for building portable detailing lights - DIY LED light build. I wrote it 5 years ago, so the prices for the stands, etc. may have increased, but the price of the light bulbs are much lower.