Autogeek Portfolio: Cars I've worked on since coming to Autogeek

Mike Phillips · 10-26-2012, 09:59 AM

Autogeek Portfolio: Cars I've worked on since coming to Autogeek

It's been 3 1/2 years since I left Meguiar's to move to Florida and work for Max here at Autogeek and in this short time a lot of cool cars have been in and out of Autogeek's garage. Some of these I've buffed out by myself but many I've invited others to join in and help out to share the fun...

In no particular order, just as I search and snag pictures...

1970 Barracuda Extreme Makeover

Before

Completely filled with holograms from the mis-use of a rotary buffer!

After

1969 Camaro Pace Car - Show Car Makeover

Before

Swirls, water spots and scratches...

This shot is to frame-up the following shots so you can tell where the close-ups are being taken. Every body panel looked the same way...

Close-up...

After

Video & Pictures - GTechniq Makeover - 2012 High Voltage Yellow Scion tC 7.0

Before

Swirls, water spots and scratches...

After

1970 1/2 Camaro - Show Car Finish by Pinnacle

Before

Swirls, scratches and DA Haze...

Pigtails and Tracers plus lots of swirls...

After

Pictures & Videos: 2006 Mustang by Ford - Show Car Shine by Autogeek!

Before

Was able to get one sun shot showing swirls before the clouds moved in...

Moved the car into Autogeek Show Car Garage Studio and took this shot with my camera...

After

Video & Pictures: 2012 Black Camaro Convertible - Blackfire Show Car Makeover!

Before

Dull, hazy, filled with swirls and scratches and the clearcoat was no where near clear.

After

Mike Phillips · 10-26-2012, 10:06 AM

1939 Lincoln Zephyr - Swirls Removed - Show Car Finish Restored

Before
Before Frank drove the car into the studio I had him park it in front of Autogeek in full sun.

Here are the pictures I took showing the true condition of the paint.....

These next shots are all cropped out from the above picture...

The entire finish was swirled-out...

After

2011 Camaro - Show Car Finish by Dodo Juice

Before

Framing the shot, I had Chris drive around the parking lot till I could get a shot of the sun reflecting off the hood.

You can see the tale-tale signs of light swirls and scratches in the paint...

Next we tried using the Brinkmann Swirl Finder Light and the overhead florescent lights but again, we could see the light swirls in the paint but it was difficult to capture them on camera.

Here's Chris, using the Brinkmann Swirl Finder Light to inspect the finish on his car while Steve, the owner of the 1969 Camaro Pace Car looks for swirls too...

There are actually more swirls throughout the finish plus a few RIDS here and there but this is the best I could capture with my trusty, dusty Canon Rebel...

After

1959 Chevrolet El Camino - Extreme Makeover

Before

Inspecting the paint
After wiping the exterior down using Detailer's Pro Series Waterless Wash it was time to inspect the paint for swirls using artificial lights...

The entire finish looks like this...

After

How to remove stains and embedded dirt out of paint

After

Mike Phillips · 10-26-2012, 11:10 AM

Continued...

Video and Pictures: 2012 Fiat 500 - Chemical Guys Show Car Makeover

Before
Before we moved the Fiat into the studio I took a few shots of the paint outside in bright sunlight. Louie and his wife have only owned the car for 5 months so the paint is in really good shape. That said, I did my best to photograph metallic, white pearl in full sun and I'll have to say, this is one of the hardest colors to photograph in full sun as it blinds you to look at with your eyes or through the lens of a camera.

After

Video & Pictures: 1965 Fastback Mustang - Gtechniq EXO Show Car Makeover!

Before

After

Video and Pictures -1970 Mustang Mach 1 Detailing Clinic at AutogeekOnline.net

Before

When you know how to truly inspect the finish on a Special Interest Car then you know there's a little room for improvement and if you think this car looks good in the above pictures wait till we warm it over by MACHINE!

This is a full size section cropped out of the original above, no resizing.

Oxidized Single Stage Paint
The below is a reflection shot of the overhead florescent tube lights, what I want you to see is the dull, opaque look the paint has at the bottom of the reflection of the lights. This is light oxidation and even though the car looks beautiful in the pictures above, in person the paint has a dull sheen to it caused by oxidation. This is a single stage paint by the way.

After

2004 Chevy SSR - Extreme Makeover by Blackfire

Before

Here's how it looked when it arrived... notice how dull and lifeless the paint is...

The paint literally looked like it was washed with a scotch brite pad...

After

Mike Phillips · 10-26-2012, 11:53 AM

Continued...

1957 Chevrolet Bel Air - Remove Swirls

Before

After

1954 Ford F-100 - Extreme Makeover - Process and products used

Before

The roof is the same way as are the vertical panels...

After

1972 Corvette Stingray - Extreme Makeover - Process and Products Used

Before

Here's how we tackled the paint on this car... first some defects and issues too...

After

1994 Porsche 964 Turbo 3.6

Before

After

Mike Phillips · 10-26-2012, 12:15 PM

Continued...

Blown 1934 Ford Pick-up - Show Car Makeover

Before

Then I did my best to capture the fine or shallow swirls and scratches in the paint... hard to do with a camera but easy enough to see in person with your eyes...

After

The jar of Fuzion is out of focus because the paint on the fender is "in" focus...

1977 Can Am Corvette

Before

After

Pictures + Video of 1932 Ford Highboy Extreme Makeover

Before
Rick arrived around 8:30am in his hot rod 1932 Ford Highboy with a blown 502 Big Block Chevy Engine and it sounds great!

The sun was still low in the sky but I was able to get a few pictures that show the overall dull, hazy appearance the clear coat finish has plus the zig-zag pattern of swirls inflicted by a rotary buffer usually called Rotary Buffer Swirls, Holograms or Buffer Trails.

This is the "Finger Focus Trick" for helping your camera to focus on and capture the swirls in the paint by placing your finger onto the surface close to the area you want to photograph and by doing this you'll give your camera something to focus on and as a result you'll capture the swirls too and they'll be in focus. You can also place a quarter, or a piece of tape, or piece of detailing clay on the paint and accomplish the same thing.

How-To capture swirls, scratches, etchings and other surface defects with your camera

The lines you see are holograms and the tale-tale sign that a rotary buffer has been improperly used.

After

Mike Phillips · 10-26-2012, 12:33 PM

Continued...

Live Video Broadcast - 1947 Chevy & 1986 Porsche 928 - Extreme Makeovers

Before

Here's what the finish on the 1947 Chevy Pickup looked like before we started...

After

Video and Pictures: 1968 Firebird Detailing Class at AutogeekOnline.net

Before

Full overhead sun shots

After

Video and Pictures - 1967 AC Cobra and 1949 Packard Show Car Makeovers!

Before

There are swirls throughout the entire finish...

After

Live Broadcast Video - 1965 Plymouth Valiant - Extreme Makeover

Before

Holograms everywhere on the hood and everywhere throughout the paint...

Far shot of the passenger side with the sun reveling the swirls in the vertical panels like the B-Pillar...

Ouch! Kind of hurts your eyes to look at this...

After