I nearly went insane working with this Porsche paint

[zmcgovern45]

This 2004 Porsche Turbo belongs to a member of a local car forum where I get a lot of my business from and was kept in pretty darn good shape. The paint was relatively smooth to the touch when I got it, and required minimal time claying the surface to remove embedded contaminates. The paint was glossy and still had a very nice layer of protection - it beaded up very nicely when I rinsed the car before it's initial washing.

Upon inspection, the car was covered in scratches and swirls, not unlike most cars that are scheduled for a paint correction. I had always heard that Porsche paint was soft, but I had never had the privilege of working on one until this - Let's just say it was a learning experience. After 2 days (over 13 hours) of fighting with this paint, I was able to say I had reached a point that I was happy with. This paint turned out to be so soft, in fact, that even my finest finishing polish would leave behind micro-marring - which was only detectable with my Brinkmann. These tiny flaws would not be noticed by most people, but being a perfectionist I wanted to try my best to make the paint nearly flawless. After A LOT of experimenting, I finally found a rather unorthodox approach, but it left minimal marring on the paint (yes, there is still some - I could not make it completely perfect).

The car was topped with multiple layers of sealant, and followed with CG Hybrid V7 spray sealant to top it all off. It is truly the deepest shine I have ever accomplished to date. All in all, it looks great, but I'm glad to be done with this one!

Process
-Wheels & Tires: P21S Wheel Gel
-Wash: CG Citrus Wash and Gloss
-Dry: DI Waffle Weave
-Clay: DI Ultra Fine Grade Clay
-Polish 1: M205 via PC7424XP and LC Black Pad
-Polish 2/Sealant 1: Blackfire Total Polish and Seal via PC7424XP and LC Black Pad
-Polish 3/Sealant 2: CG Blacklight via PC7424XP and LC Blue Pad <- yes, I used Blacklight as a 3rd Polishing Step and it was able to minimize the micro marring
-Sealant 3: CG Hybrid V7
-Tires: Meg's Endurance Gel
-Trim: 303



Before

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/155515_173137729491021_1902497337_n.jpg
^You'd think these wheels were a matte finish, but unfortunately that wasn't the case.

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/407648_173137792824348_671584720_n.jpg
^Paint Inspection with the Brinkmann before the initial wash

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/533979_173137816157679_1121323705_n.jpg
^Paint Inspection with the Brinkmann before the initial wash

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/21126_173137849491009_1631474868_n.jpg
^Paint Inspection with the Brinkmann before the initial wash




During

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/306648_173137942824333_1539685662_n.jpg
^Wheel and Tire cleaner going to work

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/14361_173137972824330_592079569_n.jpg
^Paint inspection under the halogen's after the car was washed

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/405092_173138039490990_503781757_n.jpg
^Paint inspection under the halogen's after the car was washed

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/317181_173138056157655_1811949078_n.jpg
^Paint inspection under the halogen's after the car was washed

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/545560_173138076157653_516142182_n.jpg
^Paint inspection under the halogen's after the car was washed

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/530912_173138089490985_1848738844_n.jpg
^Paint inspection under the halogen's after the car was washed

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/599057_173138116157649_1670218973_n.jpg
^Paint inspection under the halogen's after the car was washed

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/65457_173138239490970_1458239861_n.jpg
^Very clean clay after doing the hood

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/317872_173138249490969_1523140424_n.jpg
^All taped up and ready for buffing (at this point I did not know what I was in for yet!)

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/599209_173138266157634_1772632446_n.jpg
^All taped up and ready for buffing

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/149839_173138309490963_179607245_n.jpg
^Test Area Before

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/6230_173138382824289_2017595347_n.jpg
^Test Area After

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/9254_173138286157632_1635217985_n.jpg
^A closer look at the test area before

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/531144_173138362824291_1505554590_n.jpg
^A closer look at the test area after. Here you can see the micro-marring - a slight haze to the paint. This was lessened by polishing with Blacklight... yes polishing with Blacklight, not simply applying it as a sealant, but using it as a polish.

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/521638_173138422824285_79743944_n.jpg
^50/50 shot - Left Uncorrected vs Right Corrected. Not perfect, but a TON better!

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/292749_173138449490949_938323689_n.jpg
^Door Before

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/12722_173138482824279_1649948956_n.jpg
^Door After

[zmcgovern45]

After

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/579069_173138496157611_857614628_n.jpg
^The depth in this paint was unbelievable, it was like looking into a mirror!

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/222412_173138526157608_647520228_n.jpg
^Incredibly glossy!

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/68446_173138572824270_984428296_n.jpg
^Look at those reflections

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/308748_173138629490931_716805892_n.jpg
^Looks great

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/316520_173138689490925_1911962374_n.jpg

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/545423_173138792824248_1983414468_n.jpg
^Such an awesome car

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/534617_173138832824244_1416662301_n.jpg
^The depth in this paint was unbelievable, it was like looking into a mirror!

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/387817_173138879490906_809071644_n.jpg
^Hi! (Got the attention of some of the neighbors, one of which was washing his car. Might've picked up a couple of clients thanks to this beautiful car)

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/527412_173138896157571_1730537998_n.jpg
^Reflections!

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/69583_173138949490899_2113104745_n.jpg
^Paint looks dripping wet

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/546786_173142036157257_1978658975_n.jpg
^The wheels were polished with Blackfire Total Polish and Seal to bring back their shine and to protect them for the upcoming Winter. (Cut me some slack on the dirty wheel wells, please!!!!! I know they're bad)




Quick Photo Shoot

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/615956_173138542824273_2101886984_o.jpg

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/75969_173138586157602_923828606_n.jpg

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/602558_173138739490920_34879465_n.jpg

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/18593_173138779490916_277207862_n.jpg


PLEASE SHARE YOUR COMMENTS BELOW, AND BE SURE TO LIKE ME ON FACEBOOK (https://www.facebook.com/attentiontodetailingpeoria)!
THANKS!

[E-WAY]

Looks good!

[avrpsyd]

You are my Hero!:buffing:

[eh100]

nice very nice :xyxthumbs:

[FUNX650]

Might have taken a little longer to dial-in your processes
than you perhaps initially planned...

But the fantastic-results speak for themselves!!

BTW:
-Couldn't your "unorthodox-approach" in the use of an AIO: CG Blacklight...
-Also be somewhat applicable to your use of the AIO: Blackfire Total Polish and Seal? :xyxthumbs:


:)

Bob

[statusdetailing]

I am drooling...

[davey g-force]

Beautiful work! :xyxthumbs:

[quiksilver_ben3]

Wow! Very Nice work.:xyxthumbs:

[habeba86]

Peoria represent! Coulda gave ya some PO85RD!

[DaC]

Being used on working only on very soft paints I know your pain.
My first bought over ag was m105, m86, m205... 2 crimson pads, 4 tangerine and 4 cyan...
I couldn't be more wrong, as I found out nothing was finishing haze free...
A year latter my cart was something like: po85rd, po106fa, m205. Still tons from m105 and 86 and d300 left.
As for pads selection: 4 red, 4 blue, 3 black, 6 crimson, 3 tangerine, 1 cyan....
And now I can correct and finish great... :)

[tuscarora dave]

Very nice results on the car!! Sometimes you need to get far outside the box when finishing finicky black paint. One of the most important things I've learned when finishing really soft black paint it that you can never work too clean. A lot of times, the paint being abraded off of the car combined with the spent polish that's still on the pad itself will cause micro-marring like you were experiencing. I'll polish the paint to remove the defects then clean the work area and clean the pad of spent polish/abraded paint then go back over that area with the freshly cleaned pad with a very thin film of fresh polish applied to the pad for the final finishing.

Very nice work, and I'm sure the owner of the car was ecstatic about your results. Keep posting..TD

[GS2011]

Nice! :dblthumb2:

[vet]

Looks great!

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Wow. Incredible work. I love the BBS wheels.

I know exactly what you mean about black paint. Both of mine are soft with my 07 being very soft that M205 and a white polishing pad will really haze it up. I have to run Wolfgang FG on a black pad to eliminate the hazing.