# "Taking your car's paint to it's maximum potential"



## Mike Phillips (Jan 26, 2007)

*"Taking your car's paint to it's maximum potential"*

I coined this saying back in the early 1990's and here's the story behind the saying.

As a detailer, I always run into people driving special interest cars, often unique or classic cars, that are *not* restored or in mint condition but still viable transportation with the added bonus of being "cool" in their own unique way.

Often times these cars would be old enough to have single stage paint and it would be oxidized from neglected and age. It's my nature to approach the driver's of these cars and talk to them about restoring the paint on their car so it will look better, maybe even *great!*

Often times I would get a reply back like this,

*"One of these days I'm going to paint the car..."*

or

*"One of these days I'm going to do a body-off restoration..."*​And for a lot of these people _*one of these days*_ never comes...

Knowing this and being a _little bit_ on the extrovert side, I would push a little more and explain to them that _getting a new paint job_ or _doing a full restoration_ down the road _*is a great idea*_, but until then with the right products, the right technique and the human elements of care and passion, we could _*take the paint on their car to its maximum potential*_.

Add a little glass polishing, chrome polishing, tire dressing etc., we could do a major transformation to their car that would make it look so much better that people would _*think*_ the car received a new paint job.

So often the offer was rejected for whatever their reasons... my guess is many of them just didn't realize the hidden potential in their car's paint just waiting to be revealed through a thorough paint polishing process. This is normal as the average person doesn't now that much about the art of polishing paint outside of wash and wax.

Below is a real life example of the above story I've practiced most of my life...

*The power in the after shots is created in the before shots*

*Before*









*After*









*Taking a car's paint to it's maximum potential*
The above before and after detail on a 1960 Ford Ranchero is a real-life example of *taking a car's paint to its maximum potential*. While the paint may not be perfect, it's as close to perfect as it's possible to attain and that's usually good enough. It's a lot more fun to drive around in a car that looks like a _*glistening gemstone*_ than a car that's ready for the salvage yard... and your car will get more respect and turn more heads... nothing wrong with that especially if it's a special interest vehicle.

I was at an Autozone getting some parts and saw an old, oxidized 1960 Ford Ranchero in the parking lot. I hovered around the car until the owner popped out of the store. Even though experience has shown me that most the time when I approach someone about taking their car's finish to it's maximum potential it never results in anything, I'm *tenacious*, that is I _*never*_ give up... especially when I know how great the car could look with a little polishing work...

So I struck up a conversation about the car itself and the owner told me the background story. He purchased the Ranchero for his Dad, he restored the mechanical components and interior and then had it painted. About that time his Dad lost his ability to drive due to a disability. The Ranchero sat outside neglected most of the time except when the son drove it to where he worked, which was a concrete manufacturing plant where everyday the car would get a layer of dust from the airborne ingredients used to make concrete in a mass production manner.

The owner told me *after* he had it painted it looked pretty good but over the years the paint lost it's luster...

*Then I made my offer... *
I said bring it over to my house and I'll help you to restore the paint till is shines like new. He took my business card and said he would call me.

A couple of months went by and I forgot about the offer... but I never forgot about the car. Then one day out of the blue the owner calls me and says,
*"There's a local car show and cruise afterwards and I would like to shine up the paint and take my Dad to the show and then on the cruise"*

I said... *"Bring it on over"* , and he did.​Long story short, he brought the Ranchero over and together we polished out the paint to the condition you see it, in the pictures in the thread linked-to above. Afterwards he took is Dad to the show and then the cruise and he said his Dad had the biggest grin he's seen in years. After that, with a little education on the day we did the buff-out... he started maintaining the finish.

Point being, sometimes, *someday* never comes... waiting to get a _new paint job_ or waiting to do a _full body-off restoration_ to your special project car is easy to _talk_ about and _dream_ about but reality is, *someday* may be a long ways out, and may never come due to life in general.

So until that day does arrive where you can start removing the bumpers and prepare the car to take to the body shop, or you have a shop where you can carefully and methodically start taking the car apart piece by piece, you can always do what you can to make the best of what you have to work with... and that is,


*Evaluate the condition of your car's paint*
*Gather the needed products, pads and tools*
*Do your Test Spot and dial in a system proven to produce the results you want and hope for*
*Then take your car's paint to it's maximum potential....*
It might not be perfect but that's okay, you can do "perfect" *someday*. Until then, you might as well drive around in a clean, shiny _fill-in-the-blank_... whatever it is that's special to you...


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## mr cooper (Apr 15, 2010)

This kinda reminds me of a creedence clearwater song:thumb:


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## -Raven- (Aug 26, 2010)

I'm sure plenty of meg's #7 was used there Mike!

Nice reading too! :thumb:


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## Mike Phillips (Jan 26, 2007)

type[r]+ said:


> I'm sure plenty of meg's #7 was used there Mike!
> 
> Nice reading too! :thumb:


I used the #7 after first cutting with M105 and polishing with M205, all work was done by machine.

I'll post the write-up...


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## -Raven- (Aug 26, 2010)

I look forward to it!


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## Mirror Finish Details (Aug 21, 2008)

Nice job, looks better than new.


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