Quickest method of paint correction for production work.

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Axrow

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Hello, I've been on the forums here for a while researching. The last year and a half I've been doing production work at a low end dealership and recently took a job at a high end dealership. They want every car clayed, touched up, wet sanded if there are deep scratches, buffed and waxed. However I don't have any experience with a rotary buffer. They are training me, but I think the easiest/best way may be to just get a Flex 3401. What do you guys think? Do you have any advise on products or strategies to speed things up? The other guy I work with usually does a car in about an hour and a half with a rotary buffer. Would it be quickest to compound with a rotary, then polish using the Flex to get a perfect finish?

Any advise would be appreciated!
 
1. the other guy isn't correcting paint, he is hacking it up, in an 1 1/2, period.

2. Do you know how to wet sand?

3. What experience do you have detailing?

no offense sounds like a hack shop to me, and if you learn to do this work the right way, you need to be out of that shop.
 
There's no need to call it a hack shop, we just do a different type of work. I've been making almost 2k a week every week doing it, so I have no intention in trying to get out just so I can have a chip on my shoulder like you. Thank you for not helping at all.
 
It's production work.

It's certainly do-able in 90 minutes with a rotary. You'll probably be using an AIO type product and claying with a nanoskin-type device.

You're going to have to learn how to use a rotary if you want to survive in that environment. I don't think any DA is going to accomplish results in that time period.
 
Thank you, we do use nanoskin on a PC to clay. Do you think I would get better results if I just hit the heavy scratches with a rotary, then use the Flex with wolfgang uber compound? From what I read, it sounds like it would finish out well enough for this type of work. They are pretty picky for production work. Most are newer Mercedes, Porsches and Aston Martins. Not the best type to learn to buff on.
 
Axrow said:
Thank you, we do use nanoskin on a PC to clay. Do you think I would get better results if I just hit the heavy scratches with a rotary, then use the Flex with wolfgang uber compound? From what I read, it sounds like it would finish out well enough for this type of work. They are pretty picky for production work. Most are newer Mercedes, Porsches and Aston Martins. Not the best type to learn to buff on.
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Paint is paint, at the end of the day. I would see if you can get some training with some individuals who have more experience with a rotary.

Most dealers, even high-end ones, just want the cars to look clean and shiny and without wax/compound in the cracks. They're not going to be going over the cars with a Rupes swirl-finder light or a Flex light to check for defects.

Of course heavy defects will require attention with wool and a heavy compound, but I think most moderate defects can be removed (and filled, in your case) with a heavier-cut AIO such as Meguiars D151.

If you only have 90 minutes, you're not going to have time to compound and then wax - you need something in one step.
 
You're exactly right, I'll give Meguiars D151 a try. Right now I'm teamed up with a guy that has been doing this for 15 years. He's going to train me on buffing. Just thought it might be easier/nearly as quick to do it with a DA. Guess I'll start researching rotary techniques. Thanks for the advice.
 
It's not possible to do paint correction in 1.5 hours. It's an insult to detailers that actually do paint correction to say it can be.
 
HD.Detailing said:
It's not possible to do paint correction in 1.5 hours. It's an insult to detailers that actually do paint correction to say it can be.
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What's another term for removing most defects and making the paint look basically new?
 
I think using a Flex 3401 could be a great alternative instead of using a rotary.

What if you have to buff and polish a black car? Can it be done on a rotary? Yeah it can, but then you have a higher potential of having holograms.

With the Flex 3401 since it is forced rotation, you could be working more production style. (which I have done many times in the past, mainly with a rotary) and I hated black cars lol, that was before I discovered AGO and Meguiar's Online.

If you did have to wet sand scratches the Flex can remove the sanding marks to.

So if you wanted to increase speed IMO, you could get the PC and use the Nano skin autoscrub pad, you'll be claying cars at a lot faster speeds. (Since it is production style and not pebble peach style, IMO you'll be fine) and not against or for either or, they all have their proper place in detailing.

3 step - Then you can do a compound/polish/LSP with the Flex
2 step - polish/lsp with the Flex - 2 step
1 step - AIO (never tried it, but I would imagine it could be done using the Flex)

Plus you could switch backing plates.

So you could accomplish a lot with the Flex IMO.
 
Axrow said:
What's another term for removing most defects and making the paint look basically new?
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Paint correction, paint reconditioning, you can pretty much call it whatever you want. Removing defects and making paint look basically new in 1.5 hours on a car that's got heavy defects.....I think you'd need more than just luck and skill.
But then again, everyone has their own idea of what removing "most defects and "basically new" really is.
 
i agree that real paint correction can not be done in a little over an hour but you can fix a little and hide a lot. You can hit the heavier scratches first by spot sanding. I think the flex would do great with a heavy cutting foam pad and a aio product. just keep your pads clean
 
This kind of work is called Buff and shine. It does piss me off when people call this kind of work paint correction. True paint correction takes hours and lots of training. Don't mean to be an ass but There is no way to any kind of true paint correction 1-3hrs ever.
 
Pureshine said:
This kind of work is called Buff and shine. It does piss me off when people call this kind of work paint correction. True paint correction takes hours and lots of training. Don't mean to be an ass but There is no way to any kind of true paint correction 1-3hrs ever.
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Most of these cars aren't that bad off, at all. Usually less than 30k miles. Maybe that's why he's able to get it done so fast? Not trying to insult anyone on here or what you do, I know you guys are used to taking this to another level.
 
Axrow said:
Most of these cars aren't that bad off, at all. Usually less than 30k miles. Maybe that's why he's able to get it done so fast? Not trying to insult anyone on here or what you do, I know you guys are used to taking this to another level.
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Miles have nothing todo with paint correction I get 1 week old cars that are trashed. Most cars are trashed since most people don't know how to take care of them. I would like to see what he is doing.
 
hernandez.art13 said:
I think using a Flex 3401 could be a great alternative instead of using a rotary.

What if you have to buff and polish a black car? Can it be done on a rotary? Yeah it can, but then you have a higher potential of having holograms.

With the Flex 3401 since it is forced rotation, you could be working more production style. (which I have done many times in the past, mainly with a rotary) and I hated black cars lol, that was before I discovered AGO and Meguiar's Online.

If you did have to wet sand scratches the Flex can remove the sanding marks to.

So if you wanted to increase speed IMO, you could get the PC and use the Nano skin autoscrub pad, you'll be claying cars at a lot faster speeds. (Since it is production style and not pebble peach style, IMO you'll be fine) and not against or for either or, they all have their proper place in detailing.

3 step - Then you can do a compound/polish/LSP with the Flex
2 step - polish/lsp with the Flex - 2 step
1 step - AIO (never tried it, but I would imagine it could be done using the Flex)

Plus you could switch backing plates.

So you could accomplish a lot with the Flex IMO.
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That was very helpful, thank you. Glad to hear someone knows there's a place for this kind of work and it's not hacking it. We do our best with the time we have. I know we aren't turning show quality work, but I think we do make a dramatic improvement on most of the cars we touch.
 
Mileage doesn't really matter, I corrected a brand new 2014 VW GTI that the dealers "detail shop" worked on.

I see your point, you are limited as you need to get them in and out.
 
Pureshine said:
Miles have nothing todo with paint correction I get 1 week old cars that are trashed. Most cars are trashed since most people don't know how to take care of them. I would like to see what he is doing.
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I know, we get paid to wash/clay all the new cars and some of them are trashed with 15 miles on them. But for the most part these cars aren't in bad shape. The worst ones are the ones that were "Detailed" at the auctions. That is hacking it. I swear they spray tire shine EVERYWHERE on the interior, even the windows are coated in it sometimes.
 
I agree with everyone on the time frame. It's not a quality "detail" taking 1.5 hours. I'm pretty sure most of us doing high end work can spend that long just to clean a set of wheels. I'd just call some hour and a half job a quick resell cleanup job. I used to work at a shop that allowed 4 hours per car from wash to customer pickup. What did we do? Rotary the car with a wool pad and slap a ton of glaze on it. Needless to say I wasn't there long I wasnt interested in that kind of work. It can improve a ton and most people buying those cars have no idea anyway and don't care. I guess it's better than nothing but I'm sure if I got a car after that there would for sure be work for me to do on the finish.
 
What about machine wet sanding the bad scratches finishing up with 5000 grit, then just running Wolfgangs Uber compound over the entire car with the Flex? I watched a video with Mike Phillips using WG Uber compound with a Flex on a black Mercedes and he said it looked like it was just waxed when he finished.
 
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