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

Mike Phillips · 10-20-2011, 02:01 PM

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

Autogeek's Car of the Week!

While the paint looks great in the below picture,

I moved the truck outside and used bright, overhead sunlight to show the true condition of the finish.

True Condition

Mike Phillips · 10-20-2011, 02:05 PM

Continued...

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

Where you see the sun on the fender and it looks like "shine" it's actually hologram lines...

Here you can see the scaffolding I stood on to get the swirl shots on both the hood and the roof...
(I was on the other side when I took the swirl shots)

Now I've moved the Ford F-100 back into the studio with the mats down to protect the floor from polish and wax splatter while we perform the extreme makeover.

It's a little trickier to capture light or shallow swirls and scratches on light colored paints but here's what I could get in the studio...

Big Picture
The big picture is that while this truck looks incredible, that is shiny and beautiful, a Pro Detailer doesn't see it as it is... they see what it can be...

While in the picture it can look like the scratches are isolated to a section of the picture that's actually not the case, the scratches you see are throughout 100% of the surface it's just hard to capture on camera...

900 x 700 original picture, no resizing...

Mike Phillips · 10-20-2011, 07:02 PM

Even show cars might need to be clayed

While the paint looks great in the below picture,

BEFORE

Paint shouldn't make sound
You can tell by the sound made when I run my hand over the paint that there are some kind of above surface bonded contaminants on the paint.

1954 Ford F-100 with above surface bonded contaminants

We wiped the truck down using Detailer's Pro Series Waterless Auto Wash and then proceeded to clay the paint.

Detailer's Pro Series Waterless Auto Wash

We used all the tips and techniques for claying the paint on the custom 1954 Ford found in pages 41 to 47 of either the e-book or paperback version of The Art of Detailing.

E-book - Displayed on iPad

Paperback

Restoring smoothness by claying the paint
Here's Glen the owner of the truck claying just in front of the windshield for the very first time..

Here's Jeff claying the back of the truck...

Rene claying the bed rails...

Glen, Adam and Rene claying the paint... you can already see the gloss becoming amped up just from claying...

This truck was re-painted approximately one year ago but just from exposure to the outdoors has made the paint vulnerable to air-borne contaminants...

This shot was taken with my trusty, dusty Canon Rebel with the flash on after claying the roof...

Without the flash on here's what the clay looks like and this is what it looked like in person... The roof and the other horizontal panels pretty much felt like sandpaper before we started.

Ewww....

Besides restoring gloss, by removing the film of contaminants off the paint you'll make machine polishing easier, safer and more effective and enable your choice of wax or paint sealant to better be able to bond to the paint.

AFTER
Here's Robert from Impression's Detailing giving the paint a final wipe after ONLY claying the paint....

Even a show truck might need to be clayed...
As you can see, even a show truck might need to be clayed, the way you tell is after washing or wiping the paint clean, feel the paint with your clean hand and if you feel any kind of texture or little bumps on the paint this is a strong indicator that the paint needs to be clayed.

Gloss comes from smoothness
I think everyone will agree that a great looking paint job is a glossy looking paint job and gloss comes from smoothness. The first step in creating a glossy looking finish it to inspect for above surface bonded contaminants and if discovered, use detailing clay to clay the paint.

On Autogeek.net

Detailing Clay

Next...
Now that we've clayed the paint, the next step is to do our Test Spot

Mike Phillips · 10-21-2011, 09:59 AM

The Test Spot

Since I've already inspected the paint and documented it is filled with holograms from a rotary buffer the next step is to do a Test Spot to see what it will take to remove the swirls and level the surface of the paint.

1954 Ford F-100 with swirls and holograms

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAxyDNQjG5I&hd=1]1954 Ford F100 Show Truck Remove Holograms Swirls - YouTube[/video]

One comment on the rotary buffer swirls...
This truck was painted by a custom painter and we don't blame him for the swirls. The fact is, it's not how GREAT the painter is... it's the guy that does the wetsanding, cutting and buffing that makes or breaks the end-results.

It looks like the guy that did the sanding and buffing used a rotary buffer and likely a wool finishing pad for his last machine step.

This is the norm for the kind of work done at the majority of body shops across the world. Most people getting their car painted have no idea as to what to ask for and just take what they get when they pick up their freshly painted car.

Most body shops only use a rotary buffer for all their buffing work and don't charge enough money to cover the cost for extra steps whether they be doing a final rotary buffing step using a foam finishing pad and an ultra fine cut polish or using a DA Polisher to ensure the swirls are all removed. The the swirls I documented in this custom paint job or the norm for this industry. That's okay as it give Pro detailers plenty of work undoing the damage.

For our Test Spot we're hoping to use Optimum's brand new Microfiber Finishing Pads with the Optimum Hyper-Polish on DA Polisher. This is keeping with the philosophy of,

Use the least aggressive product to get the job done which is also covered in my e-book on page 84 of both the e-book and the paperback version of The Art of Detailing and how to do a Test Spot starts on page 94

Doing a Test Spot
Here's Robert spraying Hyper-Polish onto a brand new, clean Optimum Microfiber Pad on a Porter Cable 7424XP

Note that Robert is using some painter's tape to make a tape-line on a horizontal panel and then only buffing on one side of the tape line. By doing this he will make it real easy to inspect the results on other side he's buffing on and compare it to the "control" side to gage the effectiveness of this combination of pad, product, tool and of course his expert technique.

After performing the Test Spot we inspect the results and the combination of Optimum Hyper-Polish with the new Optimum Microfiber Finishing Pads on the Porter Cable on the 6.0 speed setting removed 99.9% off all the swirls and scratches and left the paint simply AMAZING looking with no micro-marring even after chemically stripping the paint with IPA.

Diluting and using IPA to inspect results
How to properly dilute and use IPA to inspect your results is covered on page 115 of my how-to e-book and paperback version.

Since our Test Spot confirmed our process everyone joined in using the same combination of pads and product with various DA Polishers including the Porter Cable 7424XP, Meguiar's G110v2 and the Griot's Garage DA Polisher.

These are are the same "type" of tool in that they all use a Free Floating Spindle Assembly for a drive mechanism but they each have different power configurations. Not that it's a HUGE deal but here are the speed settings we used for the different tools with the microfiber pads....

Porter Cable 7424XP = 6.0
Meguiar's G110v2 = 5.0
Griot's Garage = 5.0

Robert from Impression's Detailing
Here's Robert with the PC tackling the rest of the hood... Robert is booked all the time doing show car work and his shop in in Palm City, Florida called Impression's Detailing. I often get asked by locals for a true professional to both detail their car and to also maintain it and I know I can always trust Robert to completely take care of all his customer's needs.

Jeff
Here's Jeff using the Porter Cable 7424XP to tackle the rear passenger fender, Jeff works in our Tech Support division and is a true car guy owning 2 Mustangs and a classic 1978 El Camino

Glen
Here's Glen using a Meguiar's G110v2 to remove the swirls out of the tailgate. This is the first time Glen has ever used a machine to polish paint and he did a superb job!

Me using the Griot's Garage 6" Random Orbital Polisher

As you use a microfiber pad the fibers will lay down flat at become matted with both spent product and the paint you're removing anytime you're abrading the paint. You can also see a grayish color on the pad, this is staining of the paint caused by road grime and air-borne pollution. Staining is both topical and to some degree embeds into the paint so when you do any type of compounding or polishing you remove the staining and restore a more clear and brighter finish as you can see as we buff out this truck

To clean the microfiber pads we use a Pad Conditioning Brush with the tool OFF and simply hold the pad from spinning with the hand that's holding the polisher. I cover all the ways to clean both foam pads and fiber pads starting on page 76 of my book.

Here you can see the fibers have bee fluffed up and this pad is ready to go back to work...

Robert tackling the passenger door...

Rene
I first met Rene when we needed a cool car for a video Matt Steel and I made a few months ago. Rene was interested in learning how to machine polish paint so after we made the videos I invited him back to buff out his car. You can see the results from that project here,

Rene's 2011 Camaro with a Mirror Finish!

Rene tackling the running boards, door and rear fender...

Safety First
Here's Robert and Glen tackling the roof, not they are standing on stable work platforms to protect both themselves and the truck.

Robert using the PC and Glenn using the Meguiar's G110v2

Remember how dirty the clay was after claying just one half of the roof? Clay remove ABOVE surface bonded contaminants but it doesn't remove embedded staining of the paint. You can see abrading the paint with a light polish and a microfiber pad has removed the staining effect and restored a very bright and shiny finish.

This is me tackling the iconic front grill using the Griot's Garage 3" Mini Polisher using an Optimum 3.25" Microfiber Pad with Hyper-Polish.

I now the question everyone wants to ask and here is the answer...

YES the 3" Mini Polisher was able to maintain pad rotation. I started with the upper potions and worked downward and wiped the residue off as I worked... look how shiny and glossy the paint is after using the 3" Mini Polisher. The 3" Mini Polisher also makes a great Dampsander for spot repair.

Dampsanding with 3" Griot's Garage Mini Polisher

**TLMitchell** · 10-21-2011, 10:41 AM

Very nice writeup and great results, Mike. Seeing the timestamp you're probably still posting followups... a few quizzicals.

I've seen commentary alluding to dedicated backing plates for the OPT MF pads... is that what was used? The BP on the GG 3" doesn't appear to be a GG BP. Is the idea similar to Meg's backing plates, ie, better pad cooling?

This makes me wonder about the interchangeability of MF-recommended backing plates. It seems somewhat archaic to expect a requirement to use only a Meg's BP with Meg's MF pads, an OPT BP only with OPT MF pads, etc, etc.

TL

Mike Phillips · 10-21-2011, 11:21 AM

Next up... Finish Polishing or Jewelling with a DA Polisher

The finish left by the Microfiber Polishing Pads and the Hyper-Polish was as I stated before, simply amazing even after we chemically stripped the paint and inspected using the Brinkmann Swirl Finder Light.

That said, from my own personal testing on clearcoated black paint I'm strongly of the opinion that for show car work, that is for the maximum clarity, gloss and shine you still get the best results when you finish out with foam instead of fiber.

For this next step we're going to use Lake Country 5.5" Blue Low Profile Finessing Pads with Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish using DA Polishers on pretty much the same speed setting for each of the different tools that we used for the Optimum Microfiber Pads.

A few of these pictures came out kind of dark because the camera setting was left on the Manual Setting which I used for the above picture but you get the idea...

As we work around the truck the paint just gets glossier and glossier...

Rene

Glen, Robert and Adam machine polishing with Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish

Glen maximizing the gloss on the side of the truck bed...

Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish
Lake Country 5.5" CCS Finessing Pads
Porter Cable 7424XP
Griot's Garage 6" Random Orbital Polisher
Meguiar's G110v2

Mike Phillips · 10-21-2011, 12:43 PM

Continued...

Next up we machine wax the paint using Pinnacle Signature Series II

For this we're going to use Lake Country Red Low Profile Ultrasoft Wax or Sealant Pads on our DA Polishers on the 3-4 Speed Setting

With the Pinnacle Signature Series II Paste Wax you can gently knock the wax out of the jar and then wearing a Microfiber Glove make a few swipes across the face of the pad and you're ready to start machine waxing using a paste wax.

Machine waxing with a DA Polisher is a lot more effective than applying wax by hand and in my opinion safer to the paint and faster...

With Pinnacle Signature Series II Paste Wax you don't have to let the wax dry before removing it, so as Robert and Glen apply the wax, Adam and Rene follow them and carefully wipe the wax off.

Just about done and then will drive the truck out of the studio, roll up the protective mats and then take some after pictures...

Mike Phillips · 10-21-2011, 01:10 PM

Continued....

Here we go....

Looks like melting butter...

Mike Phillips · 10-21-2011, 02:25 PM

Continued...

After getting the after shots from this project with just Glen's truck, one of our Swirl Girls stopped by to model the 1954 Ford F-100

1954 Ford F-100 - Modeled by Janna

This thread is for comments and questoins related to the products and process we used to achieve the show car results...