This is an INCREDIBLY RARE car! This is a South African built, 1973 Mercury Carpi with the Ford Factory approved and installed 302 cubic inch Windsor V8 engine!
While this example has undergone an incredible mechanical restoration.... the paint still needs some help....
Our RUPES BigFoot Detailing Classes are full-on HANDS-ON but first there's a demonstration of correct techniques for using the RUPES tools, pads and products and we also go over exactly how to do a TEST SPOT because it's SO IMPORTANT to first dial-in your process before buffing out an entire car.
First we use the SCRANGRIP Sunmatch Swirl Finder Light to show the problem - HOLGRAM SWIRLS or more specifically - Hologram Scratches. Some people call them swirls, some people call them buffer trails, you can call them what you like but the term holograms is a term specific to the SCRATCH PATTERN imparted ONLY by a rotary polisher. Usually when used with a wool pad as each of the fibers of a wool pad put their own SCRATCH in the paint. The pattern of scratches shows up in a way that mimics the way the rotary buffer was moved over the paint. Swirls can be caused by all kind of things like washing and drying with tatty mitts and chamois. But holograms are a scratch patter that is SPECIFIC to the rotary polisher.
Next we show the techniques for holding and moving a RUPES BigFoot polisher for the paint correction step.
The RUPES long stroke orbital polisher with the RUPES pads and compounds do AMAZING work as shown in the pictures below...
Here's the flash from my Canon camera - remember these results are from the MOST aggressive RUPES foam cutting pad and their very aggressive Zephir Gloss Compound.
Now it's time for the class to stop standing around watching me and get in there and start learning for themselves what I call,
The people that attend our classes fly in from all over the United States and from other countries. About half the people here are NOT professional detailers, they are coming to this class to learn how to work on their own cars.
This is called hands-on learning - and what makes it fun (besides educational), is actually learning to create a "show car finish" on a real show car.
In the background you can see tables and chairs and the chairs? They be empty....
Here are the results after compounding with RUPES very aggressive coarse blue foam pads and the Zephir Gloss Compound.
Even though the results from the compounding step blows people's mind! Now were going to learn how to take those results to and even higher level by re-polishing with the very soft RUPES white foam finishing pad and the RUPES Diamond Ultra Fine Cut Polish.
In the background, other people attending this class are using the RUPES BigFoot system on a 1955 Nomad Streetrod
Wow! look at the SUPER GLOSS on that paint! (Remember where the paint started?)
Next the class will seal the paint using the When you attend one of our classes we show complete "systems" as a professional courtesy to the company we represent and as a professional courtesy to the people that attend our classes.
People come to our classes to learn multiple tools and multiple systems. This is the advantage we offer over any other class on the market. With other classes you only get to learn one brand of products and tools. At our classes you get it all! But it's important to me personally that when you attend one of our classes that you get to learn the different brands as COMPLETE systems. So if a brand, like in this example has tools, pads and products, then that's what you learn. Later on your own, if you want to experiement by using other pads and products with RUPES tools that's up to you - but in our classes you learn systems as the engineers designed them to be used.
To seal the paint after the compounding and polishing process RUPES offers a spray-on synthetic sealant that creates incredible gloss while also protecting the paint. This is the final step of the 3-step paint polishing process to create a true, show car finish. And of course, we go over the correct way to apply and remove this spray-on sealant.
RUPES P808 Protective Sealant
I always say,
"The little things are the big things"
And when you attend any class I'm teaching I do a brain dump and teach you hundreds of things I've learned over the last 30 years of detailing cars and teaching others to detail cars. Even cool techniques for applying, spreading out and then wiping off spray-on sealants.
After you take one of our classes you KNOW HOW to take a car from a diamond in the rough and turn it into a glistening gemstone!
Just like you see above...
You learn it all, washing, claying, chemical decontamination, headlight restoration, engine detailing, wetsanding, hot water extractors, steam machines and multiple multiple tools on anywhere from 11 to 13 cars and it's ALL hands-on!
You will be thankful anytime you get a chance to sit down...
I took this picture of the badge and emblem on the front sides of the fenders... for legal reasons they had to spell the word Piranha differently....
Pretty cool....
I'm going to guess the class here at Autogeek is the ONLY car detailing class where the students were able to buff out someone else's resto-rod South African Capri Perana?
Just a guess.... I try to always have cool cars here for people wanting to learn the art of polishing paint to actually learn on "art" not mundane daily drivers.
Next class is coming up in May, Andre says there's still a few spaces available and then it's sold out. If you're reading this and thinking about attending the May class on Friday, May 4th, Saturday May 5th and Sunday May 6th, then give Andre a call at,
This is what one of my RUPES detailing classes looks like. I have hundreds, maybe thousands of pictures showing this same thing - people on their feet, working with the RUPES "system" on cool cars.
Next class is here in Stuart, September 25th through the 27th
