Inexpesive hand held light for paint correction?

[Patman22]

I have terrible lighting in my garage (just one single bulb) and since I probably won't be able to drive my brand new Corvette for the next couple of months I figured this is a good time to go over the finish and remove any minor scratches that might be on the finish from the assembly, transport and PDI. When I picked up the car on Wednesday I could see a few minor spots that I wanted to correct (when I viewed it under the lights inside the dealer's showroom) but I can't remember where all of them are and have only been able to find and correct a few areas with my poor lighting. I really don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on professional type lighting though, but figured there must be some types of lower cost flashlights (under $30 for example) that could be somewhat effective for me.

I'm also of the mindset that I don't want to drive myself crazy and make the paint 100% perfect, as it won't be a show car and I will be driving it a lot. So my main goal is for the paint to be 90% perfect, as I feel that's good enough so that from 10 feet away it will look perfect to most people, but it also helps me keep my sanity. I owned a black Corvette when I first got into paint correction and it was a never ending quest for perfection that was just not achievable for that car considering it was a daily driver even in winter (my new one will never see snow and will rarely see rain, so at least it'll be easier to keep the paint nice, plus it's a bright non metallic red, that also helps)

[fightnews]

I also have lighting trouble in my garage. Light is the most important factor when it comes to detailing. I didnt even realize how important it was until I got this new headlamp.

I have a bunch of different types of flash lights and headlamps but none are as good as the scangrip I view. Its not even really that expensive. Plus it's rechargeable so you wont have to keep changing batteries. You can go though 30 dollars worth of batteries during a 3-4 day detail. I highly recommend it

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiX5aii3aLYAhUDON8KHQWmAMcQFghQMAE&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.autogeek.net%2Fscangrip-iview.html&usg=AOvVaw1SfOXOS6Hu0SxwCWmvZa-n

[Patman22]

^^ that looks like a good light but still way too pricey, but the time I ship it up to Canada it'll be over $100.

[Klasse Act]

Try and find a used Brinkmann on Ebay[emoji362]

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[FUNX650]

:idea: ...You could make your own “swirl finder”.

[My DIY-er cost me a whopping $10.93]

https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/off-topic/44267-perwills-windowsandwheels-request-my-version-sun-gun.html

https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-101/43776-home-made-swirl-light-sun-gun-under-30-a.html

The Ultimate Home-Made swirl spotting torch - - Detailing World - (http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=205820)

DIY Sun Gun - romanian version, cost under 5 GPB!!! - - Detailing World - (http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=202530)


Bob

[Patman22]

This is probably going to sound crazy but I didn't want to go out to any stores today (too crazy on Christmas eve!) so I decided to just try out the flashlight on my iPhone to see if it could help me spot the imperfections and it did a half decent job, especially once it started getting darker in the garage. The imperfections I am finding are so minor in nature that I'm not even using my DA to remove them, I am removing them by hand with a small round microfiber applicator along with Meguiar's Scratch X 2.0.

[VISITOR]

you can try looking on ebay and search " cob led pocket pen light " - they are inexpensive to where it if doesn't work out for spotting defects you'll have a light for around the house, glovebox, etc.
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/RzAAAOSwmBhaBCaE/s-l1600.jpg

[Bobbykart]

I use the Brinkmanship, probably my favorite tool