Subject: 2001 Mulholland Blue (Metallic) Prowler
Time: 4 hours for correction including polymer wax
Areas: Trunk, rear fenders, hood
Chemicals: Prima Swirl, Prima Epic, Black Wow
Tools: Makita Rotary buffer, PC with OneGrip, Compressed Air
Pads: LC Orange, LC White, LC Black
The customer called me up earlier in the week from a referral by my good friend Joe at SuperiorShine and scheduled to have his Prowler paint looked at. The owner said the finish was perfect except for a scratched area that he accidentally induced while working on the car. He tried correcting it with Meguiar's M80 and M83 with his G100 PC, but wasn't getting satisfactory results, so Meguiar's suggested he contact a professional.
Never having worked on a Prowler before, I was ready for the challenge.
Under the sunlight, the metallic blue paint hid the defects pretty well, except for some noticeable scuffings near the top and bottom of the trunk lid. Over all, I felt the car was approx. 95% flawless. Swirling was evident on the rear fenders and portions of the trunk lid.
Once inside the shop and under controlled lighting I could see a greater number of defects in the trunk area, rear fenders, and hood. None were very major, so a light polishing was necessary.
I chose to use my rotary buffer with a white LC pad and Prima Swirl for the correction. The paint on the Prowler is pretty soft and corrects easily. A few places I increased the aggressiveness with an LC orange pad to remove some Random Isolated Defects (RIDs). I followed the correction with the same white pad and Swirl with the PC, then went to wax using Prima Epic.
These are the types of defects I was correcting.
Light scratches
Had to pay special attention to these graphics and the pin striping that was signed!
The rear fenders had some light swirling.
Some more very light scratches
So I started by protecting the clear bra edges with blue tape. The pin striping that runs from front to rear, and I used a plastic drop cloth to tape off the convertible top.
More areas of taping for protection.
And polished and polished and polished!! With the rotary and white pad. I used my dual lighting rig see the defects. And once I got to the point of where it was 99% flawless, I just put dabs of polish on the remaining defects so I could polish those areas alone.
When I polish, I always work with the least aggressive methods. I work with a light touch, and careful passes, removing only as much paint as necessary to make the correction.
4 hours later, we pulled it into the sun and it was flawless!! Truly flawless!
Gorgeous!!! Wooohooo! I'm done and it's still daylight!
No matter what angle, the paint was gorgeous!!
The customer left very pleased and I was happy to have added this cool hot rod to my portfolio.
