# Junkman's Before & Afters - Paint Correction Pictures



## Junkman2008 (May 8, 2009)

I have had the fun of tackling some nasty damage while showing folks the correct way to remove paint damage. Some of which I chronicled in pictures and videos. I thought that I would share some of those pictures here. One thing that I must point out is that a lot of the paint damage is not about the products that I used, it is more about the technique that I use.

For example, most folks know that I use Adam's Polishes in my videos and how to's. However, my garage has everything in it from 3M products to Meguiar's and Zaino. For every product that I used from the Adam's line, I could have replaced with a product from the Meguiar's or Zaino line and gotten the same exact results. It is having a understanding of what each product does and when to use it that is far more important than the name on the bottle. As I look at all the professional products that I have tried, I can honestly say that the end result from using each brand has always been identical for me. Some brands limit the range of damage that their products are capable of addressing for simplicity but in the end, I have always found myself in "Shineville".

So don't get caught up in the products I used, pay more attention to the steps necessary to repair the damage. After all, any good detailer can take any quality product and eventually end up with very positive results after minimal use to familiarize themselves with that product. With that said, here are the pics!

*2004 Corvette Convertible with Rear Fascia Damage*

The first prospect was a 2004 Corvette that had been damaged in a garage by some boxes. Part of the damage was through the clear coat so the only thing that could be done there was to make it less noticeable. The other damage was removed. I basically used clay to clean up the area before I started working on it (a must whenever I touch a car that needs it), and then I wet sanded it using 2500 grit to start and finished up with 3000 grit paper before moving to my swirl and scratch removing compound. Although I used Adam's products for this repair, I could have easily used some Meguiar's Fine Cut Cleaner and Swirl & Scratch Remover in place of the Adam's products.

A forum member dropped me a PM about a scratch he picked up. He told me that he tried to fix it but nothing worked. So I told him to bring his Vette over and allow me to have a look at it.

Once he arrived and I got a look at the damage, I realized that the scratch was like a well: Deeeeeep! He didn't realize how bad it was. Once I explained to him the options (either have the entire rear fascia painted or let me take a crack at it), he stated that he wanted me to give it a try. He said that he had seen a thread I did about a lady with a nasty scratch on her front fascia and if her's could be fixed, anything was possible. So I went at it.

Here was what we were looking at. This was the long shot. I wanted to see if I could notice them without getting close. Dave and I didn't see the second scratch until I washed the rear fascia off.










Now for a Corvette owner, these scratches may as well have been graffiti spray painted on the car. They were really noticeable. I then got in close and realized why Dave said those those scratches were back there just screaming at him as he drove down the road. I'm sure there are other members here who can relate to this, especially when you're talking about your baby. It's like having lettuce stuck between you teeth on a blind date.



















As you can see, these were some serious scratches and the one between the tail lights has went through the clear coat and down to the paint. This was going to take some serious magic. I washed the rear fascia just to see if any of the damage would disappear. Ha! Fat chance. So I broke out some cutting polish and went at it.










I went at both scratches twice and this is what they looked like after I was done.



















Now the scratch on the outside of the rear fascia was going to be a little work but I could see that polish was going to eventually remove it. However, the one between the tail lights was going to take something stronger than a polish. This scratch was going to require some wet sanding.

*The Junkman's Disclaimer*: Now let me stress the importance of this being something that you never try at home unless you have been professionally trained on how to do this. You can quickly cut through the clear coat on your car and be into the paint with a few strokes of the wrong sandpaper. I only show this for documenting purposes only, not as an endorsement for you to try!

Realizing what needed to be done, I broke out my wet sanding supplies. Some 2500 & 3000 grit sandpaper, a sanding block and a clean bucket of water. I let the sand paper soak for 25 minutes before I stated using it. Something my daddy taught me to do but I can't remember why it is necessary.










After the sandpaper was ready, I went at it. Dave had chewed his fingers down to the nubs by the first minute.


















After knocking the areas even, I took these photos. The white that you see that really enhances the scratches is some of the clear coat that I have removed from the car. I constantly checked my paint thickness gauge to ensure that I wasn't removing to much clear coat (I have to use the DeFelsko PosiTector 200-B Advanced because it is the only gauge that I could find that will take multilevel reading off fiberglass).



















Next, I went back at the scratches with my scratch remover. After 2 passes, the scratch on the outside of the rear fascia was pretty much history. One thing to note between the picture above and the picture below. You can see how much damage the sand paper has done in the picture above because there is no shine in the area where the scratch was. Now look at the picture below. The scratch remover has brought that reflectivity back to showroom quality.










The one between the tail lights was still there, but was a whole lot less noticeable. This would have required repainting the bumper to fix it 100% but as any paint shop will tell you, matching the color red is usually a nightmare. In the business, we like to call this "a great save".










After applying wax and allowing it to haze, I wiped it off and saw the final results. :argie:



















Here's a wide shot of the rear fascia.










...and now for the money shot!










Needless to say, he very happy with the results.

*2005 Ford Mustang with Brillo Pad Damage*

This guy's wife wanted to surprise him by washing his car while he was away on business. She used a Brillo Pad because she really wanted to get it clean. She had no idea of how bad she was damaging the car until she got all the way from one side of the hood to the other side. Needless to say, he was crushed!

Here's the damage:
































































Now for some after shots. The lighting wasn't all that great so I did the best I could with the first set of pictures. The sun decided to come out on the following day.



















Here's what I used: Clayed with clay bar and detail spray, then I went to a scratch remover on a orange pad, followed by FSP on a white pad. I then added my wax. I wiped the area down with detail spray before moving between each product. The following day allowed me to pull the car out into the sun and tackle the other half of the hood.This was a shot of the other side of the hood before I fixed it.










Here's a shot of the rest of the hood fixed.




























While at this particular show, some guys from Dynamic Motorsports approached me and asked if I had something for a scratch in their black convertible Shelby. They wanted some touch up paint. I went over and took a look at the scratch. It was ugly. What was even more ugly was the fact that they wanted to use touch up paint. Check out the scratch:










The clear coat on this car was unlike any I have ever seen in my life. It was slick as glass. Not one pimple of orange peel in it whatsoever. I have never seen a car as slick as this. It was unreal.

So, I broke out some scratch remover and FSP, the orange and white pads along with some 2500-3000 grit sandpaper. I went at that scratch for a while until it was gone.










Then, I used my polishes to bring the finish back to perfect.




























Here's a shot of this beautiful ride!










That ride has been restored back to its original luster!

*2002 Corvette Coupe with Front Fascia Damage*

Okay boys and girls, another one from the desk of The Junkman. A friend of mine showed up in her 2002 Black Corvette Coupe with what appeared to be the damage caused by a truck which had backed up onto her front fascia. The damage was deep and nasty. I washed the bumper and dried it off just so that I could get a clean look at how much damage was actually there. Here's what I was looking at:
























As you can see, this was not going to be a walk in the park. However, using the same technique as described above (minus the sand paper), I was able to make the damage look a lot less noticeable.

Step 1. The first thing I did was wash the bumper so that I could see what damage was actually done. The next thing I did was clayed the bumper in order to remove any impurities in the clear coat. Remember, the prep is the key to the success that you will see when the work is done. This Vette is a daily driver and is not garaged so my final goal was not perfection, it was to make the bumper appear to have never been hit at all.






A funny side note: After I dried the car off from the clay bar work, my friend gasped and then stated with concern that the scratch was still there. Since I hadn't done anything to remove the scratch up to that point, it was still supposed to be there. She was under the misconception that claying removes scratches. Now she knows better.

Step 2. The next thing I did was hit the bumper with scratch and FSP products. I basically made two passes over the bumper with this combination. After wiping the bumper down, I took some pictures of the bumper up to that point:










Step 3. I finished the job up with a coat of wax and then took these pictures. Again, this is a daily driver which is not garage kept. Although that is the case, you can see that the job turned out pretty nice. The little imperfections that you see in the pictures below are actually things being reflected off my garage wall.



















...and finally, one happy camper!










Just thought that I would share.

The Junkman :thumb:


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## takemetothepub (Feb 5, 2010)

:thumb:


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## Dipesh (Oct 12, 2007)

Great post Junkman!


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## Junkman2008 (May 8, 2009)

Thank you mate!


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

Some nice saves there!!!

Always top quality work from you Junkman...keep up the good work...

:thumb:


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## Cullers (Sep 29, 2009)

Love those show reflections AJ....especially the ones with the blonde in rather than you


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## Junkman2008 (May 8, 2009)

The Cueball said:


> Some nice saves there!!!
> 
> Always top quality work from you Junkman...keep up the good work...
> 
> :thumb:


Thank you sir!



Cullers said:


> Love those show reflections AJ....especially the ones with the blonde in rather than you


:lol:

Dude, she was hot! That's Kelly from New York. :thumb:


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## Greg_VXR (Nov 21, 2009)

Great work junkman as always!!

Keep it up


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## Leemack (Mar 6, 2009)

:thumb:


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## alexf (May 23, 2009)

awesome, nice one Junkman! :thumb:


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## steven (Jan 10, 2010)

fantasic work


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## Skodaw (Mar 19, 2006)

Simply stunning work there mate


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## Eddy (Apr 13, 2008)

Flipping heck some of those were bad before!!! shocking.


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## buldy (Feb 17, 2010)

As usual,a great write-up by the Junkman. You could pass as a magician with those befores & afters.


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## Junkman2008 (May 8, 2009)

Thanks mates! I must admit that I had to learn like everyone else does when it comes to pulling off this stuff. Places like this forum have a plethora of information and with enough reading and practice, there is absolutely no reason that anyone here cannot have the same results when using the right tools. It is by no means difficult to do once you learn how and I can attest personally that you don't have to be a rocket scientist to succeed at it. :thumb:

Thanks again mates!


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## big ben (Aug 25, 2009)

awesome, we want more :thumb:


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## Deano (Jul 7, 2006)

stunning work buddy. really enjoyed reading that.


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## Junkman2008 (May 8, 2009)

Deano said:


> stunning work buddy. really enjoyed reading that.


:thumb::thumb:


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## GazT4R` (Apr 20, 2009)

Absolutely stunning, those reflections were amazing.


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## mitchcook (Oct 6, 2009)

Beautiful work Junkman I love hearing from a fellow North American every once in a while!
And as far as soaking the wet sand paper. It helps with flexibility of the paper, you can rinse it "clean", and it makes the process a lot less dusty.


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## Junkman2008 (May 8, 2009)

Thanks mate, and that's about the best reason I've heard so far! :thumb:


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## grayfox (Apr 15, 2008)

Best thread Iv read in a while.. Thanks


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## Doc (Feb 2, 2008)

That Shelby is like glass, awesome!


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## Clark3y (Jan 7, 2010)

Nice work, and that Cobra is really something else, awesome paint job.


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## Dillinger (Jan 7, 2008)

Somebody stop this guy! he's on fire! Fantastic results!


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## Junkman2008 (May 8, 2009)

Dillinger said:


> Somebody stop this guy! he's on fire! Fantastic results!


I'm just getting warmed up!

Thanks mates! I start my new detailing season this week! I'll be traveling south of me to just above Florida for a all Camaro show. I had a gentleman who bought some Adam's polishes stop by my house so that I could show him how to use them. His car was only 4 months old and he was already beginning to create swirls so I instructed him on how to properly care for his paint.

Here are some photos from his visit. You can see in the first 3 photos that his swirls were starting to form. Luckily we caught them before they got really bad:




























You could see the swirls and tell that his paint was just missing that sumthin'-sumthin'... 

So, after a little coaxing from the PC, SHR, FMP and Americana, I located Glenn's bling-bling! Note the perfect sunburst...










Now check out this reflectivity...










Another perfect sunburst. Notice how defined the pearl in the paint is now. It was hiding under those swirls and dullness...










And now, the flash test. That flash is so perfect that the reflection caught the exact shape off my camera.










More sunburst perfection!










...and here's the proud poppa of all that bling!










He know knows the way of the force. May the force be with him always. :lol:


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## Junkman2008 (May 8, 2009)

Went to a show this weekend and got to work a little magic at the Adam's booth. The detailing season has begun!

*The Specimen...*










As for the car in question, here's the deal. Someone had scratched this car from the front fender all the way to the back of the rear door. The scratch was relatively deep. To make matters worse, they use blobs of touch-up paint to attempt to fix the scratch. After seeing how much worse the touch-up paint looked, they attempted to wipe the touch up paint off the car, That did nothing but smear the paint everywhere. The final dagger was when they parked the car with the paint still wet in what appeared to be a sand storm. Here's what the car looked like after I finally noticed it (I didn't notice this when I picked up the car because it was overcast).




























Okay, let's get this party started!














































These action shots are courtesy of John at The Shutter Group. They do event photography. Notice my buffing face! 



















*... and now for the finished product!*























































She's back to her original beauty.

:detailer:

The Junkman


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## Thomsen! (Jun 7, 2010)

Great thread, JM. Thanks for posting.


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## Junkman2008 (May 8, 2009)

Thanks for checking it out.


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## Audiquattro (Sep 9, 2010)

O M G :doublesho:doublesho:doublesho:doublesho

The Mustang paintwork it was a mirror!!!!:doublesho:doublesho:doublesho:doublesho

I'm in love with black paintworks....
It's for this reason that I have buyed a black car...

So...I hope to have the same results on my paintwork....but....i have some doubts....

Nice work Junkman! As ever I see..


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## Junkman2008 (May 8, 2009)

How bad is the paint on your car? Is it as bad as that Mustang?


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## Audiquattro (Sep 9, 2010)

Junkman2008 said:


> How bad is the paint on your car? Is it as bad as that Mustang?


Hmmmm....I haven't used the "Brillo Pad":lol::lol::lol:

But there are some circular holograms by a really "rare dog"* that with a rotary, had improperly cured both sides of the car...and with no others buffing passes had surely ended the work in that wayIt's strange....
So I'm afraid these are Under the clearcoat...I have only clayed and waxed for fun and I doesn't look any difference by now....adding to this the poor wash gifts on the entire car:doublesho:doublesho:doublesho are completing the horror...
I have this car by only two months and everytime I wash it,I'm finding new defects..:devil:with the perfectionist eye that is crying....everytime :lol:
I will send you some pics of the paintwork to compare it with your experience..

I'm looking my new Autozone Das 6 received today morning as a pleasure tool:lol::lol:waiting to use it with your techniques....I was waiting for a Dodo Juice model,but I received this American machine:really similar to Porter Cable...:lol:
You have a big problem Junkman....I have choiced you as my Master....:lol:


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## Audiquattro (Sep 9, 2010)

Junkman2008 said:


> How bad is the paint on your car? Is it as bad as that Mustang?


Hmmmm....I haven't used the "Brillo Pad":lol::lol::lol:

But there are some circular holograms by a really "rare dog"* that with a rotary, had improperly cured both sides of the car...and with no others buffing passes had surely ended the work in that wayIt's strange....
So I'm afraid these are Under the clearcoat...I have only clayed and waxed for fun and I doesn't look any difference by now....adding to this the poor wash gifts on the entire car:doublesho:doublesho:doublesho are completing the horror...
I have this car by only two months and everytime I wash it,I'm finding new defects..:devil:with the perfectionist eye that is crying....everytime :lol:
I will send you some pics of the paintwork to compare it with your experience..

I'm looking my new Autozone Das 6 received today morning as a pleasure tool:lol::lol:waiting to use it with your techniques....I was waiting for a Dodo Juice model,but I received this American machine:really similar to Porter Cable...:lol:
You have a big problem Junkman....I have choiced you as my Master....:lol:


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## Junkman2008 (May 8, 2009)

Well, the pictures will speak volumes. Make sure that you get some up close and in focus shots that really show the damage. Sorta like these, where you can truly see the before and after. Use your camera's macro function. That allows you to get close and still be in focus.

Here's a truck I recently used as a demo at a detailing clinic I did. It was, well... rough! Check out that front bumper!










Here are some close up shots of the damage. The swirls and scratches were in rare form!
































































And now for the fixed versions! I finished up just as it started to rain. In the pictures, what may appear as scratches or dust are actually rain drops. Somebody up there likes me. 
































































These are the kinds of pictures I need to see in order to asses what you're looking at.


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## [email protected] (Jun 12, 2010)

Awesome work dude thanks for posting ;0)


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## Junkman2008 (May 8, 2009)

Thanks Jason! :thumb:


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## Audiquattro (Sep 9, 2010)

Junkman2008 said:


> Well, the pictures will speak volumes. Make sure that you get some up close and in focus shots that really show the damage. Sorta like these, where you can truly see the before and after. Use your camera's macro function. That allows you to get close and still be in focus.
> 
> These are the kinds of pictures I need to see in order to asses what you're looking at.


------------------------------
Tomorrow morning I will make a shots stage turning around my paintwork (hoping the sun come up with me...:lol
Thanks for your advice about camera's Macro function...I was asking to myself what damn was mean that Flower on my Nikon Function's Button by a life


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## Junkman2008 (May 8, 2009)

Audiquattro said:


> ...I was asking to myself what damn was mean that Flower on my Nikon Function's Button by a life


Bingo! That's what the little flower does! And on your Nikon, the pictures should be very good. :thumb:


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## PugIain (Jun 28, 2006)

Nice job on the chevy blazer,and,nice hat too!


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## Eddy (Apr 13, 2008)

Very nice post mate


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## Junkman2008 (May 8, 2009)

RoverIain said:


> Nice job on the chevy blazer,and,nice hat too!


:lol:

Thanks! A lot of people are wanting to buy my hat but it is a one of a kind. I changed up from my Doc Holiday hat and went with one called the Aussie. I have to guard it with my shotgun!


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## james_death (Aug 9, 2010)

Great write up superb.


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## Shanukes (Jun 17, 2007)

amazing work my friend!


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## Junkman2008 (May 8, 2009)

Thanks mates!


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## Defined Reflections (Jun 4, 2009)

Realy great work,i was watching your youtube videos the other day on wet sanding, the chicken drumstick comment made me laugh


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## Junkman2008 (May 8, 2009)

Defined Reflections said:


> Realy great work,i was watching your youtube videos the other day on wet sanding, the chicken drumstick comment made me laugh


:lol:

I forgot all about that! In my videos, you get to see the crazy way my mind works. I say out loud a lot of what I'm thinking and sometime, you get to see how silly I am. 

I am really just a big, old kid.


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## P.L (Sep 27, 2010)

Hi Junkman! Your before & after pictures really inspired me to polish my car. Went through all your tutorials and they were very informative and confidence building! Here are a few pictures of what i achieved: http://img827.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=takakontti5050.jpg

Thanks a million sir, you are a legend! :buffer: Keep up the good work :thumb:


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## Junkman2008 (May 8, 2009)

P.L said:


> Hi Junkman! Your before & after pictures really inspired me to polish my car. Went through all your tutorials and they were very informative and confidence building! Here are a few pictures of what i achieved: http://img827.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=takakontti5050.jpg
> 
> Thanks a million sir, you are a legend! :buffer: Keep up the good work :thumb:


Wow man, that looks like it came out nice! Sweet deal! :thumb:


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## Junkman2008 (May 8, 2009)

More before and afters!

*Wet sanded a scratch out of the door on a 2010 Corvette.*





































Finished result:










*2010 Chevy Camaro with paint damage on fender:*

In this picture, the flash test does not reveal any major swirls as his paint was not in bad shape at all. The Z5 that he uses does have the ability to hide minor imperfection (similar to what Adam's Machine Superwax does), however, you can see the slight cloudiness that exist in the finish. That is what I immediately saw when he pulled up.










His paint was really smooth and only needed very minimal claying so I did so as claying is the foundation of a Junkman shine. After I clayed the area, ran two passes of Swirl & Haze Remover and the Fine Machine Polish with the PC-7424XP, this is what his finish looked like:










Without the flash, you could really see how much depth I was able to achieve with what I had done so far. *One thing that I stressed to him and that I want everyone reading this to realize is that there is not a drop of wax on this car where I am taking the pictures. There is nothing on the car in these pictures but paint and clear coat. This is what POLISHING does for your paint. Polish makes the paint shine. Wax protects the shine you get from polishing.* He watched it happen with his own eyes. No tricks, no mirrors, no fancy camera work. Adobe Photoshop ain't got nothing on my shine. 

Here's a pic without the flash:










Another thing that was bothering him about his car was where a body did some work to fix a small dent. He could see some wet sanding marks in the right light where the body shop didn't do a good job inspecting their own work. He pointed it out to me and I wanted to make sure that it was not there when he left. So we went out for lunch and stopped at a Mirror Glaze distributor so that I could pick up some foam sanding blocks and sandpaper. I picked up some 2500 and 3000 grit for his car. Most body shops don't use these grit and that's why they end up leaving sanding damage behind some of the time. You have to diminish your sanding damage by using a less aggressive paper followed by an even less aggressive paper. You do the same thing with polishing compounds.

Here's what the damage looked like. First, a long shot:










Now let's shed some light on that paint:










As you can see, the damage was hideous. I allowed my sandpaper to soak for a bit and went at it. First, the 2500 grit:










I swear, I thought he was going to pass out! :lol:

I followed that 2500 grit with some 3000 grit. See how much smoother the wet sanding damage is?










Next, I followed the procedure as you see me do in my videos. Swirl & Haze Remover with the orange pad and Fine Machine Polish with the white pad. *No wax was used in this repair.* Here are the final results:










...and one happy camper. :thumb:










I didn't have to revive him, but I had 911 on speed dial. :lol:


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## Defined Reflections (Jun 4, 2009)

Great work there as always


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## Junkman2008 (May 8, 2009)

Thanks mate!


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## Mr_Scisco (Oct 22, 2009)

Awesome post. Junkman your are a legend! Thanks for all your time and effort in posting your work. :buffer::thumb:


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## SimonBash (Jun 7, 2010)

Just seen these posts, top work as always Junkman, I love your youtube videos. Legend:thumb:


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## Junkman2008 (May 8, 2009)

Thanks guys. I'm throwing a shout out to this forum in my next videos so look for it! :thumb:


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## Mirror Finish Details (Aug 21, 2008)

Cullers said:


> Love those show reflections AJ....especially the ones with the blonde in rather than you


Ditto the cute blonde!!!!!

Great work though.


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## Junkman2008 (May 8, 2009)

Mirror Finish said:


> Ditto the cute blonde!!!!!
> 
> Great work though.


That was Kelly from New York! She is quite the babe. Problem is, she's married.


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## BlackCat (May 2, 2008)

What a lovely...errr....umm...reflection...yes...what a lovely reflection !!


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## sim L (Jan 3, 2010)

Top work as always Junkman! Very inspiring :thumb:

Oh nice blonde as well!


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## F1 CJE UK (Jul 25, 2010)

great work as always


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