Undoing Body Shop Swirlathon

truckbutt

truckbutt

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I recently brought my 2011 Mustang to the dealer for warranty paint work. The Mustang has an aluminum hood that has a tendency to bubble the paint by the lip. When i went to pick the car up I pulled out my trusty Brinkman Xenon light and inspected the hood. The hood was covered with swirls all over and some scratches in one of the areas that was repaired. It looked like they had only used a wool pad and compound. The reflection looked grey. I refused to accept the car. The dealer apologized and sent it back to the body shop. When I went to pick the car up the second time it was much better but still had a lot of buffer trails. That I knew I could bang out myself in a short period of time. On the left is the hood that was done with a Dewalt Rotary, polishing pad, Menzerna SIP (IS1500), and then Menzerna Super Finish (SF4000). On the right is what I came home with. I'll wait 30 days before I seal it.
Bodywork50.jpg
 
Right side is how it left the body shop after the second time?

Too bad you had to get it back looking how it should.

Great job.
 
It's unfortunate that a "professional" body shop would let a vehicle leave in that condition. Nice 50/50! Your work added miles of depth. :props:
 
Thank you for your comments. On my first visit to pick up the car, the entire hood was twice as bad as the right half. This was after the second trip to the body shop. I figured that I would rather clean what was left myself rather then take another day off from work. From what I've read over the last couple of years on the forum, this is kind of par for the course with body shops.
 
Looks great!

It probably was less of a hassle for you to do it than to make the body shop get it right.
 
vet said:
Looks great!

It probably was less of a hassle for you to do it than to make the body shop get it right.
Click to expand...


10-4 on that...


I use the term "Horror Story" to describe the swirl results from most body shops and dealerships.

That and DISO


DISO = The Dealership Installed Swirl Option


Here's a black Mustang I fixed with DISO...


DISO = Dealer Installed Swirl Option

Here's a few shots taken in the sun. Note how the swirls in the paint closest to the windshield have an almost floating or 3D effect, this is where the term hologram comes from in the context of talking about swirls instilled by a rotary buffer.

Horrendous001.jpg



After
Horrendous008.jpg



:xyxthumbs:
 
Mike,
If I knew you were in my driveway taking pictures I would have invited you in for a cold one!
 
Great 50/50 shot! What is really amazing is that you also used a rotary and yet got better results than the dealership. Great work!
 
truckbutt said:
Mike,
If I knew you were in my driveway taking pictures I would have invited you in for a cold one!
Click to expand...

Ha ha... and I would have taken you up on it...


You're has a cooler looking hood. I did see Rob, the guy that owns this Mustang I buffed out a few years ago now and it still looks very swirl-free. He does a good job of taking care of it.

I've invited him to bring it by so I can take pictures of it again and to also show him how to machine polish his own car...


:)
 
kemefk said:
Great 50/50 shot! What is really amazing is that you also used a rotary and yet got better results than the dealership. Great work!
Click to expand...
Thank you. It's not hard to get good results with a rotary if you take the time. I suspect that they used a wool pad and some compound and called it a day. The only thing I use my DA's for now are applying wax or sealant.
 
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