Doing away with DISO

[Michael Stoops]

I never take my cars to the dealer unless it's for warranty work. Since I have such great luck with cars that means I haven't taken one to the dealer in almost 6 years. As luck would have it, my 1999 Miata (which I purchased used a year and half ago) blew the catalytic converter, which is covered by the Federal Emissions Warranty for 80,000 miles, regardless of manufacturers warranty, and the Miata only has 60,000 miles on the clock. So, off to a dealer with whom I have no prior experience. They did a great job fixing the car, and didn't charge me a dime nor give me a hassle about the warranty work ($648 bill to boot!). Problem is, I didn't think to ask them to not wash my baby - this is my weekend toy - and of course, they did. I swear they used an old broom and a jar of Comet to clean it because when I got it out in the sunshine I was appalled at the condition of the paint. Yes, the dreaded Dealer Installed Swirl Option. OMG!!! Just a few weeks ago no less an authority than Mike Phillips commented that the paint looked pretty darn good (made my day!!).

Anyway, I was going to head back to the dealer and complain, but thought better of it and took it upon myself to just fix the problem. Good chance to see if I've actually learned anything, right? Well, two passes of #80 with a W8006 pad and the PC set at 5 and I'm happy again.

The image below is a closeup of the trunk lid. The color is called Emerald Mica for those of you curious about such things. I put a tape stripe down the middle and attacked one side first. Can you tell which side is "before" and which is "after" I worked on it?



I owe a huge "thank you" to Mike Phillips and all the fine folks here at MOL for passing on the knowledge to allow me to achieve this result.

[sneek]

wow those are amazing results!
we could move this to extreme makeovers!

[LiquidBlack]

It's amazing how some "professionals" sometimes have no idea what they are talking about. Glad to see you were able to easily fix the problem.

I was talking to a man who ran his own detailing business when I was downtown a week or so ago. He was telling me that he doesnt use his buffer on black cars because the trails show. I asked why so, and he showed me his buffer. He only uses a wool pad on a rotary to buff cars with. I was appalled, stopped everything I was doing, and opened up my trunk to show him everything that he would really need to get his typical work done. Hopefully I've made a convert.

[Michael Stoops]

sneek - thanks for the kind words, but I don't really thing it qualifies as an extreme makeover because it really didn't look bad on an overcast day or sitting in the garage. Once the sun came out I was just stunned!

LiquidBlack - I don't think "professional" even comes into play here. Had to just be some young porter who just...ah...well....I'm not sure what he could have done to mess the finish up so bad so fast. Come to think of it, maybe he was a "professional"; a "professional finish destroyer"

[RDVT4ME]

Great work Mike!

That green is an awesome color.

Did you finish the PT with #7 yet?

[Michael Stoops]

Originally posted by RDVT4ME
Great work Mike!

That green is an awesome color.

Did you finish the PT with #7 yet?

Thanks Bob! Yes, I finished the PT a couple days after you helped me with the initial coat of #7 on the hood, then went down to San Diego for a big PT show. A couple of people told me I had the cleanest car they'd ever seen at a show! I didn't win anything though because most PT people do the old school flames or some wacky theme with their Cruiser and mine is more in line with the current "tuner" (for lack of a better term) style. Heh, I tell these guys I have the Stage 1 turbo upgrade and they just look at me funny.

[BabyBigfoot]

Wow what a difference. I had a Miata. Miss it now with gas at $3.50. That was my first car I ever painted and rebuilt the top end. I have such a fond spot for those cars.