# Black Zafira - A Little Paint and More Paint Correction



## Saqib200 (May 13, 2008)

Most customers tend not to know what detailing is, this particular car booked in to "remove the scratches and make it shiney". Also there is one door that needs a re-paint, more on that later.

A look at the car from a distance reveals nothing too major, but a closer look shows up some flaws in the paintwork.










Gratuitous reflection shot of an un-detailed car:



















A closer look at the damage










A dent on the door










Scratches and marks










Moderate swirling and marring




























Some paint transfer










Signs of a budget repair, note the dent again in the corner of the pic.




























Door handles look a little worse for wear.



















A few other random shots:









































































We usually start off with the engine bay (this way any dirt/grime that lands on the paintwork will be rinsed off at the snowfoam stage). Fairly dirty engine bay here.























































I normally find that APC is sufficient to clean an engine bay, but decided to use Meg's Super-degreaser (cut 5:1) for a change today. Used alongside a B&Q fine paint brush.










Super-degreaser sprayed on in small sections and agitated with the brush - I tend to work small sections at a time to avoid the product drying out. Usually I will do an engine bay in 3-4 distinct areas, rinsing off with the Karcher as I go). The underside of the bonnet and all the hard-to-reach areas like the chassis rails were also cleaned.



















One final rinse leaves:














































Onto the wheels, fairly grubby.



















Soaked in Bilberry (cut 5:1) using a normal spray head, and allowed to dwell.



















Wheels rinsed off at high pressure leaving them fairly clean at the pre-wash stage, no pics unfortunately. Straight onto the snowfoam - ValetPro PH Neutral Snowfoam with a dash of Megs Shampoo Plus. Not very neat, but quite therapeutic and effective:














































Whilst this was dwelling the three buckets were filled with water, and Megs Shampoo Plus added to the 'Shampoo' bucket and 'Wheels' bucket. (The third bucket is labelled 'Rinse').

Vehicle thoroughly rinsed off, including arches and as much of the underside that I can reach.

Let's start with the wheels, then onto the paintwork. EZ-brush used to clean inside the alloy wheels, this was rinsed in the 'Wheels' bucket. Wheel faces then washed with a sponge. 'Wheels' bucket gets very muck very quickly.




























All three buckets laid out, and a variety of tools and products.










This is where the pics have to stop and (because of the sun) needs both of us concentrating on the paintwork to ensure the shampoo doesn't dry on the paintwork.

Usual two bucket method, start with the roof, then the glasshouse, one person then does one side of the car and the other does the other side of the car. Wash mitts regularly rinsed out, typically after each panel.

Car rolled into the garage (out of the strong sun) ready for claying. Clay of choice is Meg's Mild using Last Touch (1:1) as lube.





































Two videos - Using very little pressure such that the clay actually slips out of my hand at one stage - if it had dropped on the floor it would have gone in the bin.





Starting to look much cleaner now.










A few defects in the paint.





































At this stage its best to leave the detail to one side and concentrate on painting the damaged door. Poor finish and dent can be seen in the light.










Inner door trim removed first, quite a few hidden screws to contend with.










To gain access to and remove the door handle.










A few more pics of the defects in the door.





































To start off with we decided to key the complete door first, this was done wet using a rubbing block and 3M 600 grit wet and dry paper. Note careful use of masking tape to avoid accidental damage to surrounding panels.



















Whilst this was being done by my brother, I decided to go round the car looking at some defects.










Rubbed down with a 3M hand sanding pad and discs.










Leaving..










Going back to the passenger door, this is now fully keyed.




























Out with some hammers and dollies (ignore the bottle of APC, it just likes being in photo's).










Just a little light rectification, mainly to ensure everything was sub-flush ready for filling. Due to the dent being on the swage line its quite difficult to get a 100% filler free repair.



















Add a load of filler.



















Seems like a lot of filler, although most of it ended up on the floor. All masked up now ready for paint.




























Panel now carefully degreased, wiped with a tack rag and painted. This leaves us with a almost perfect gun finish..


















































































The finish was pretty good on the painted panel, however I wanted to leave this till last so that the paint could have as much time as needed to off-gas and cure.

Back to the paint correction (each body panel just needed a light wipe down first as there was a very small amount of bodyshop dust).

Before on the bonnet:










Started off with a 3M Yellow polishing pad and 3M Extra Fine (80349), which didn't have quite enough cut.




























So stepped up to a 3M Green Cutting Pad, with to drops of 3M Fast Cut Plus and a drop of Ultrafina. Process:

Pad/Polish dabbed around area to be worked on
Makita started at 600 rpms and polish spread out across work area (1 pass)
Stepped up to 1200 with moderate pressure for 1-2 passes
Stepped up again to 1500 rpm with light to moderate pressure until product flashes (or goes clear)
1 pass at 1200 rpm with light pressure










One hit gave the following:




























This then followed up with 3M Extra Fine Compound (80349) on a 3M Yellow polishing pad.










Leaving this as a good finish (not completely RID free, but more than acceptable.





































The rest of the vehicle was not as bad as the bonnet, so the same combination used on all the vertical body panels. Process:

2 dots of 80349 on a 3M Yellow Polishing pad
Pad dabbed around area to be worked
Spread at 600 rpm (i put a slight angle on the machine in the direction its moving to pick up the compound and avoid splatter, using very little pressure on the pad)
Speed upped to 1200rpm with light to moderate pressure - 1-2 passes to start working the product
Speed upped again to 1500 rpms using moderate pressure to work the product a little - 1-2 passes
Speed reduced to 1200 rpms and only light pressure on the pad from now on and worked till the product flashes
1-2 slow passes at 600-800 rpm to burnish the surface, using very light pressure (having to support the weight of the machine on horizontal surfaces).

I find that after a few hits (ie after completing a door panel) I need to stop and lightly mist the pad with Last Touch to re-prime the pad.

A few after shots (my brother started at the back of the car with the trusty Sealey polisher:



















Going back to the painted door. This has been fully wet-sanded to remove a little orange peel and a few dust nibs. No process shown here - this is a very dangerous thing to do on OEM paint.










So test section taped up and weapon of choice was a Orange waffle compounding pad (the waffle pad makes the machine easier to control, and is safer on curved panels) using 3M Fast Cut Plus and a little 3M Ultrafina. Followed up with 3M Extra Fine on a 3M Yellow Polishing Pad. Process used was as above.



















Leaving a pretty good LSP ready finish.























































A closer look in the right light shows a few sanding marks left behind. So this area followed up with a second hit with the compounding pad. The rest of the door completed with a slight modification of the process to give a little more cut.





































All finished now and masking tape removed, all bodyshop dust/residue removed with a MF and Last Touch.





































Mirror refitted as was the door handle and the door trim. Vehicle rolled out for its last wash.










Time to go over all the door shuts, using APC (cut 10:1) and a Swisswax brush - then pressure washed clean.



















Time to mix up a little snow foam. 1cm of ValetPro PH Neutral Snowfoam and one pump of Megs Shampoo Plus.










Topped up with lukewarm water.










And vehicle snow foamed to give..



















Very little snow foam used, there wasn't a lot of dirt to be fair.










Or so I thought.










All rinsed off to leave some beading on the car.




























All washed up with the three bucket method (wheels cleaned again to ensure we didn't miss anything).










This is where the photo-diary take a back seat and with the owner on the way to collect the car. Vehicle washed and rolled in for drying. Two Sonus Der Wunder towels used to mop up most of the water, followed up by two miracle dryers to leave a squeaky clean finish.



















Time for paint cleanse and LSP. As for paint cleansing I had three real choices - SRP, Lime Prime / Lime Prime Lite and Zym0l HD Cleanse. I don't need any fillers as the car has been corrected, and am a bit bored of LP so Z HD Cleanse it is.

I have personally found Zym0l HD Cleanse a complete nightmare to remove so decided to change my methods this time. Applied with a Meg's applicator pad in small circular motions, one panel at a time - and removed by my brother as quickly as possible. Amazingly the residue came off really really easy, easier than LP or SRP.

LSP of choice today was Collinite 915 - for lasting protection. Again, 915 can be difficult when it comes to removing the haze, in this case wax applied to two panels then buffed off.

The entire car finished off with a spritz of Zym0l Field Glaze and wiped down.

Sorry for the lack of quality after pics, you can see the state of the weather in the background.









































































Thanks for looking, feel free to comment or ask questions.

:wave:


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## bilout48 (Apr 10, 2008)

good job :thumb:


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## SBerlyn (Nov 9, 2008)

Excellent, but you forgot to dress the arches!

S


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## ade33 (Jun 4, 2008)

What a superb post. Nice to see something a little different too. Very interesting and well-written up, thanks.


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## Saqib200 (May 13, 2008)

sberlyn said:


> Excellent, but you forgot to dress the arches!
> 
> S


I generally tend not to bother except on higher end details.

Thanks for the comment tho, I'll keep in mind for next time. :thumb:


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## bigup (Jun 4, 2009)

good job bro


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## Planet Man (Apr 12, 2008)

Wow!! bit of everything in there mate. Top stuff:thumb:


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## Saqib200 (May 13, 2008)

Planet Man said:


> Wow!! bit of everything in there mate. Top stuff:thumb:


We like to keep everything under one roof lol, try to give our customers a little extra.


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## KleenChris (Apr 4, 2008)

Great work and excellent write up :thumb:


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## gestev (Jul 1, 2009)

Really nice work, great beading and a great write up... way to go!


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## Planet Admin (Jul 11, 2009)

Wow amazing correction. You've got a lot of stuff going there mate, Good write up to.
Great Finish:thumb:


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## -Kev- (Oct 30, 2007)

nice work (although i can't see the point of using luke warm water with you snow foam, on a cold water pressure washer)?..


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## banditbarron (Sep 1, 2007)

fiestadetailer said:


> nice work (although i can't see the point of using luke warm water with you snow foam, on a cold water pressure washer)?..


Maybe he is like me and has hot water supply for PW :thumb:


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## amclean (Jul 29, 2008)

That looks like a lot of work in one day. Awesome result, hope the owner takes better care of it this time.


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## taffy (Nov 10, 2005)

Good write up and really nice work!


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## Saqib200 (May 13, 2008)

fiestadetailer said:


> nice work (although i can't see the point of using luke warm water with you snow foam, on a cold water pressure washer)?..


Thanks for the comment.

Helps the shampoo dissolve in the bottle, ensuring the mixture in the bottle is well mixed..

If it were just snow foam then cold water is fine IMO.


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## Saqib200 (May 13, 2008)

amclean said:


> That looks like a lot of work in one day. Awesome result, hope the owner takes better care of it this time.


Thanks. The car was booked in for three days, but in total there is abt two days labour in the car.

It takes time for prep and the paint to dry afterwards. The manufacturer of the clearcoat suggests 20 hours to air-dry the paint before flatting/polishing.


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## alexf (May 23, 2009)

thats an amazing finish achieved, looks stunning.

Bet the owner was a happy bunny:doublesho


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