The rain finally cleared out and we had had a great turnout for another fun TNOG session!
Tom brought in this completely original, one owner 1986 Cadillac and his new Flex rotary buffer for some instruction and some paint correction.
Plenty of swirls in this original paint that need to be removed.
We started with a pretty mild process, using the philosophy of "use the least aggressive method to get the job done" but eventually determined that we would need M105 and a light cutting wool pad for the defect removal.
After removing the swirls and other defects we refined the finish with M205 and a foam finishing pad.
Swirls gone, we just need a little bit more touch up before waxing, but we determined a process that Tom can use to make this 26 year old car look like new again.
It was now time to let Tom use his new Flex rotary for the first time, and to get some direct hands on guidance for proper use of his new toy.
On the other side of the garage work got started on Dan's BMW M3
Meanwhile, out in the parking sat this pair of Lexus IS-F sports sedans.
TNOG regular Bob (AKA IMZ4N) helps out newcomer Russ with the DAMF system.
This poor Honda was scraped by another car, leaving what at first looked like just some paint transfer and a few light scuffs. But it turned out to be much worse than that (including a crease in the sheet metal under that painfully obvious white line).
We could easily remove the really light defects, but ultimately had to reach for a 3000 grit finishing disc and damp sand the area, which is what we're doing in the image below.
After 3000 grit damp sanding to remove the worst of the defects.
The DAMF System was then put to use to remove the 3000 grit sanding marks.
The crease in the sheetmetal was bad enough that it prevented the DA sanding process from really getting into it, so we touched up by hand and then gave it one last run with the DAMF System.
All cleaned up and looking almost like new once again. We say "almost" because at the right angle and with the right light you can still see the crease in the sheetmetal. But since you can't buff out a crease in the metal, and we don't do paintless dent removal here, it's not a 100% fix of the damage.
Later in the evening Shane rolled his IS-F into the garage for some DA training.
Shane spends some quality time with the G110v2 and his IS-F.
Tom's Flex rotary wasn't the only new toy we got to play with last night. After meeting Garry Dean at Autogeek's Detail Fest last month, he graciously sent a few of his Cord Clips for us to try out. It's a bit difficult to see the black clip against this black shirt, but you can just make out how it's holding the buffer cord from falling off the shoulder, but it does not impede your ability to move the cord back and forth to give or take up some slack. Nice work, Garry, as this little clip is great for keeping the cord over your shoulder and not constantly slipping off.
Our next TNOG is May 10th. If you haven't been to one yet and you're in SoCal, come on down and join the fun!
Reply With Quote
