New cars, swirls and lighting...

[shane@detailedreflections]

Everyone talks about swirls and how bad they are. We know they’re bad. They’re also very easy to get, sometimes without even knowing. 

 

We began working on a two week old Ram 1500 that came to us with just 800 miles on the clock. The owner hadn’t washed it since he made an appointment with us to give it the business. 

 

When the truck came, it didn’t look too bad. Some minor defects here and there, but workable. After washing the truck, we found more defects. 

 

As we were ready to start polishing, we put it under our Astro Pneumatic colormatch light (similar to a handheld scanlight). And that’s where things went sideways. 

 

 

 

And...

 

 

You can easily how bad the damage is to the finish of this new truck under the proper lighting.

 

Without proper (maybe even specialty) lighting, we would never have caught just how bad it is.

 

Lighting took us from a finishing polish as new vehicle prep to compounding, correcting and finishing polish. We still have more to go tomorrow, but it’s looking good so far. 

 

 

Don’t underestimate the power of proper lighting and techniques. Sometimes you need to change the plan in the middle. 

 

All photos were taken under the same light with just my phone to write this. There was no change between them. Lighting is one of the most important aspects to proper detailing. 

[chasm31]

Good stuff as always.  What is the name of that color?

[shane@detailedreflections]

3 minutes ago, chasm31 said:

Good stuff as always.  What is the name of that color?

 

I’m not sure. It’s whatever the Black is on the 2019 Ram 1500. 

 

And thank you!

[ColoradoSHObro]

Is there affordable handheld or shop mount lights you recommend? Lighting upgrade is my next priority 

[shane@detailedreflections]

1 minute ago, ColoradoSHObro said:

Is there affordable handheld or shop mount lights you recommend? Lighting upgrade is my next priority 

 

You can make a light stand from a photography assembly. I posted on it a while back and what’s needed. 

 

The astro pneumatic light on amazon is really good for the money for a handheld. 

 

Or you can go wild like we did in our new film/coating space and install 86,400 lumens worth of LED shop lights. 

 

What are your goals?  Space?  And budget?

[ColoradoSHObro]

22 minutes ago, shane@detailedreflections said:

 

You can make a light stand from a photography assembly. I posted on it a while back and what’s needed. 

 

The astro pneumatic light on amazon is really good for the money for a handheld. 

 

Or you can go wild like we did in our new film/coating space and install 86,400 lumens worth of LED shop lights. 

 

What are your goals?  Space?  And budget?

Goals-enough light to paint correct. Space- large 1 car garage so really quite small in the grand scheme of things. Budget- well of course i'd like to get away with it as cheap as possible. I'd really prefer something i don't have to hold(other than for inspection) or a tripod that sits on the ground as it cramps space. I was thinking more in the way of LED bar lights that i could mount on the side walls and overhead.

[shane@detailedreflections]

Led shoplights might be your best option. We use 5000k temperature for good lighting. 

 

They can be had reasonably on amazon and are easy to install. You just have to give up the wall space to put them up. 

Edited September 8, 2018 by shane@detailedreflections

[pirahnah3]

Manufacturers, transporters, and dealers are HARD on cars. The lot attendants are no better really, its about selling a car and not putting a big dent or scratch into it no care to the little stuff. The detail shop isnt a whole lot better they are typically paid by the vehicle so the faster its out the more money the can make. 

 

Great way to show how bad a new car can be, and how to really see it and deal with it. 

[ColoradoSHObro]

10 hours ago, shane@detailedreflections said:

Led shoplights might be your best option. We use 5000k temperature for good lighting. 

 

They can be had reasonably on amazon and are easy to install. You just have to give up the wall space to put them up. 

care to share a link to the lights you used in the new workspace?

[RayS]

4 minutes ago, ColoradoSHObro said:

care to share a link to the lights you used in the new workspace?

If you search Amazon for Sunco LED shop lights, you will get a lot of size options and some different models.  If you prefer something other than Sunco, there are plenty of other manufacturers.   I personally like the linkable ones and for a 1.5 car garage getting the 6 pack works well with having 2 lights going length-wise and 1 light going sideways.  Different brands offer different hanging options, some are hung by chains and others can be directly mounted.   For the ceiling you can go either way, but you need to make sure they can be directly mounted if you are going to hang them on the wall. 

 

You can purchase the lights from singles up to a 16 pack with Sunco and I see similar quantities from other vendors.  The more you purchase the lower the price per light, but you should plan on between $20 and $30 per light according to which brand, model and quantity you are going with.  I suspect your local big box hardware store (Lowes, HD, Menards), Costco , etc., may have them also.

 

I will recommend that you select the 5000k as @shane@detailedreflections recommended.  I currently have the 4000k and my son-in-law has the 5000k and there is a substantial difference.  On the electrical, I recommend you have a way to turn them on or off in sections or individually, I have nothing to close to what Shane does and they can still be overwhelming at times.

 

Here is the model that I plan on putting in my shop on the ceiling before winter.   https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078T3LL7W/?coliid=I2IR8MD61OEFZN&colid=1H9IU21L8JAFN&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

[shane@detailedreflections]

These are the lights we used...

 

LED Shop Light for Garages,4FT 4800LM,42W 5000K Daylight White,LED Ceiling Light, LED Wrapround Light, with Pull Chain (ON/Off),Linear Worklight Fixture with Plug, cETLus Listed 10PACK 50K https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F6PSD91/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_NO-KBb4MBZF0K

 

I’m happy with them. Ours are all on or all off. We could break it up, but I don’t feel the need. 

[ColoradoSHObro]

cool those are the kinds of lights i’ve been looking into just wanted to make sure i was on the right track. thanks for the suggestions!

[shane@detailedreflections]

And here’s some updates photos. Tomorrow will be the final photos once it’s revealed to our client. 

 

For a process we ended up with...

 

- wheels

- wash

- iron decontamination

- clay

- compound

- correcting polish

- finishing polish

- wheel coating 

- trim coating

- prep solution

- 5-year ceramic coating

- spray top coat

- glass treatment

- interior detail

 

 

 

 

[falcaineer]

Hey, Shane. The garage is looking great. Had a thought, which you may have already considered. I'm wondering if the lights could use diffusers of some sort, in order to spread the light more than focus in certain areas. Maybe that counter seeing the lights directly in the reflection? Just an idea. 

[shane@detailedreflections]

The photos don’t really do it justice to how bright it is in there. We don’t get any shadows at all. We may consider a diffuser at some point. I would have to see how it looks with the softer light. Soft lights sometimes hide defects which defeat the purpose of this type of setup. 

 

With having so many lights, there are no soft spots of light which is nice. We are still dialing it all in though. We may do Sheetrock or the white paneling and then it may get too bright. Time will tell. 

 

I also think flooring will make a huge difference...

[8675309'SS]

35 minutes ago, shane@detailedreflections said:

And here’s some updates photos. Tomorrow will be the final photos once it’s revealed to our client. 

 

 

35 minutes ago, shane@detailedreflections said:

 

 

That is one clean wheel well!

[shane@detailedreflections]

Just now, 8675309'SS said:

 

That is one clean wheel well!

 

To be fair, the truck only had 800 miles on it...so we can’t hog all the credit for that one!  

 

Huge turnaround on the paint though...we will take credit for that one!

[RayS]

@shane@detailedreflections I am always impressed by your work and willingness to share with the members of this forum.  When it comes to black vehicles, I did some years ago (pre-Adam's) and they were Ok and it frustrated me when I saw what others could achieve on a black vehicle.  Seeing what you have done with this truck, it reaffirms my believe as an amateur to know when to send things to a professional.  

[shane@detailedreflections]

2 hours ago, RayS said:

@shane@detailedreflections I am always impressed by your work and willingness to share with the members of this forum.  When it comes to black vehicles, I did some years ago (pre-Adam's) and they were Ok and it frustrated me when I saw what others could achieve on a black vehicle.  Seeing what you have done with this truck, it reaffirms my believe as an amateur to know when to send things to a professional.  

 

Thanks for the compliment. It took the boys some time on the polishers, but they got it beat pretty good. We have another black truck in now that was worse than this since it’s for 40k miles on it. I’ll try to get some before and after shots. That truck is in for our flagship coating service! Should look amazing when it’s done!

[shane@detailedreflections]

Now that our client got to see his truck, we can show the final product. As always, if there’s questions about what we did and how, just ask. And here it is...

[pirahnah3]

Awesome work as always Shane and Marquis! 

 

BTW while I love shiny photos and all that I think to show a great reflection photo it should have something to reflect other than some random yard area. Maybe its me, but seems like a great time for some shameless publicity with a banner lol. At least another car or something to show how clear the paint really is after your work. 

[Firebuff17]

[shane@detailedreflections]

2 hours ago, pirahnah3 said:

Awesome work as always Shane and Marquis! 

 

BTW while I love shiny photos and all that I think to show a great reflection photo it should have something to reflect other than some random yard area. Maybe its me, but seems like a great time for some shameless publicity with a banner lol. At least another car or something to show how clear the paint really is after your work. 

 

We are working on the backdrop for inside the new shop. Just need more hours in the day!  That’ll make for some good photos indoors. Outdoors is always a challenge though. Maybe a new banner is the way to go. Maybe flag style with a base?

 

 

18 minutes ago, Firebuff17 said:

 

And there’s the sweet reflection shot!  Well done!