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Thread: Dan's Garage - Solid Black 2003 Alfa Romeo Spider

  1. #1
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    Default Dan's Garage - Solid Black 2003 Alfa Romeo Spider

    This one belongs to a work colleague, who having seen some of my previous work wanted to get her 2003 Solid Black Alfa Romeo Spider done.

    She booked in for a one day paint correction, however after having washed the car and seen the state of it, and quick phone call later, it was decided that it would be a two day job. The car was roughly around 40-45% when it came to me. It left at around 85%. So still a marked improvement even though it wasn't a complete, back to factory finish job. There were just too many rids, pitting marks, and embedded etchings to completely correct out.

    From this distance it didn't look too bad:




    An immediate area of concern was this, which, whatever it was, etched itself quite badly into the paint. To the point where my fingernail caught as it was drawn across it:





    Foam Wash:





    Iron X:








    Followed by a full hand wash and it was into the garage, where I started to see the extent of the challenge.

    First, there was white line marking paint spattered up both sides of the car and inside the wheel arches:







    The dots went up as high as the Pininfarina logo (a couple went even higher):




    Wheel arches:






    So after an hour and a half or so of careful patient removal with turpentine and plastic razor blades I got it all off:




    The car was then clayed:




    and I was able to turn my attention to the swirling and other marring, of which there was ample:


















    Last edited by Caffeine Fiend; 28-05-2012 at 11:08 AM.
    Caff Mobile Mk1 - 2010 Aluminum Gen II | 2XS SRI | H&R Lowered Springs | cpe 75 Duro Engine Mount | Whiteline Rear Swaybar | Moog "Problem Solver" Rear Endlinks | 3M Carbon Black Tint | Lakin Custom Plates | Opti-Coat Paint Protection | Paint Correction by Me - SOLD

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  2. #2
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    Polished-only pics. No wax or fillers:

    50/50 of the bonnet:




    Completed bonnet:




    Front (lots of chips and pitting unfortunately):




    50/50 Door:




    Etching on passenger side door wet-sanded and corrected out:




    Plastics 50/50 (Black-Wow):





    Nice reflection shot:




    Two layers of Naviwax Dark and here's the final result:























    Time Taken: 22hrs over 2 days

    Thanks for looking

    Dan
    Caff Mobile Mk1 - 2010 Aluminum Gen II | 2XS SRI | H&R Lowered Springs | cpe 75 Duro Engine Mount | Whiteline Rear Swaybar | Moog "Problem Solver" Rear Endlinks | 3M Carbon Black Tint | Lakin Custom Plates | Opti-Coat Paint Protection | Paint Correction by Me - SOLD

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  3. #3
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    Top work Dan. Sorta surprises me that a car like that has black plastic mirrors...

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Scaredycrow View Post
    Top work Dan. Sorta surprises me that a car like that has black plastic mirrors...
    Thanks mate.

    There are more than a few odd design choices on this car. Chalk it up to those quirky Italians .
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  5. #5
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    im torn between "oooh look at the pretty cars" and "f*ck it, i cant look at this, it makes me depressed at how good these things look"
    congrats dan on another amazing job

  6. #6

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    Awesome Dan
    Can't wait for November


    Peter "SLIXX"

  7. #7
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    Every time I see your work I just want to get in the car and drive to Victoria to have mine done....only problem is that I am not sure how good it would look when I got home..just want to be able to do as much detailing myself as I can but I really have no idea where to start especially having a black car.

  8. #8

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    That’s an amazing turn around, Dan. That surely must have been one of your more challenging jobs – especially razoring off that paint. And those spiderwebs under direct light are downright scary!

    I’d never question your motives as obviously it’s a passion for you – but doesn’t it make you bleed to know that the reason that the car got into this state in the first place is from owner’s lack of care……and that attitude will more than likely prevail once it’s returned to the owner?

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by slixx View Post
    Awesome Dan
    Can't wait for November

    Peter "SLIXX"
    Looking forward to working on yours again when the time comes Pete


    Quote Originally Posted by Ski82 View Post
    Every time I see your work I just want to get in the car and drive to Victoria to have mine done....only problem is that I am not sure how good it would look when I got home..just want to be able to do as much detailing myself as I can but I really have no idea where to start especially having a black car.
    Thanks Dwayne. If you need any help of advice, feel free to PM me. More than happy to help where I can. Have you seen the Detailing Library Joel @ ZAS has put together? Some great info there: ZAS Car Detailing Products : Detailing Library - Detailing Guides & Tutorials



    Quote Originally Posted by SMOKEY View Post
    That’s an amazing turn around, Dan. That surely must have been one of your more challenging jobs – especially razoring off that paint. And those spiderwebs under direct light are downright scary!

    I’d never question your motives as obviously it’s a passion for you – but doesn’t it make you bleed to know that the reason that the car got into this state in the first place is from owner’s lack of care……and that attitude will more than likely prevail once it’s returned to the owner?
    Thanks Mate. It was time-consuming for sure. Being solid black (non-metallic) there is absolutely nowhere to hide. The bonnet alone took about 6 hours and four corrective stages (including wet sanding) to get it to that point.

    Here's a pic of half the bonnet having just been wet sanded with 2000 grit, then 2500 grit wet and dry sandpaper. I'd just laid the first bead of compound ready to be picked up with the polisher and a foamed wool pad





    I'd never own a solid black car unless it was ceramic polymer coated (Opticoated). You can't breathe on them without marring the surface. At least with metallic blacks there's a little more leeway because the fleck can hide a very small amount of marring.

    The vast majority of people I do work for love their cars (and love cars in general). You can have a love for something and still not know the best way of looking after it though. Opening people's eyes as to just how good their cars can look is a big part of what I try to achieve. In turn I hope that that encourages people to want to ask questions and learn more about how to best maintain their cars from that point on.

    The owner of this car, for example, loves cars, but she's never really known what it is to maintain the car herself. She's always taken it to "hand wash" places thinking that was the best way to treat the car. She didn't really know any better. When she picked the car up last night she was rapt and now she's asking me for advice on how she can start washing the car herself in order to maintain the finish. That really made my day because I've not only made someone happy with work that I've done, but I've also given them (hopefully) the skills and knowledge to keep it looking that way.

    Because of that I know now that if she keeps the car long enough for it to come back to me, when it does it'll be nowhere near as bad as that. That gives me a buzz
    Caff Mobile Mk1 - 2010 Aluminum Gen II | 2XS SRI | H&R Lowered Springs | cpe 75 Duro Engine Mount | Whiteline Rear Swaybar | Moog "Problem Solver" Rear Endlinks | 3M Carbon Black Tint | Lakin Custom Plates | Opti-Coat Paint Protection | Paint Correction by Me - SOLD

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  10. #10
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    Wow Dan, is there nothing you can't correct?

    I'd almost say thats closer to 90% of factory paint (in most cases, probably 100% of 'factory' paint).

    That mark down the door looks like it could be car wash dripping from the mirror? Possibly too high a mix, or a bad/cheap product that hasn't been washed out from the mirror, therefore dripping down the door? Just my 2c, as I have that issue after going for a drive, water that sits in behind the mirror ends up splashing down the side of the car.

  11. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by Caffeine Fiend View Post

    I'd never own a solid black car unless it was ceramic polymer coated (Opticoated). You can't breathe on them without marring the surface.
    Amen to that.

    Don't get me wrong - black cars look fantastic when kept right - but the amount of work you have to put into them, and to see how easily they scratch up from things as easy as washing and drying is enough to drive a perfectionist (self-confessed) to despair.

    I notice that you have a silver car - which is by far the easiest colour to keep looking awesome - i'm guessing this was no mistake!

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by DisturbedDave View Post
    Wow Dan, is there nothing you can't correct?

    I'd almost say thats closer to 90% of factory paint (in most cases, probably 100% of 'factory' paint).

    That mark down the door looks like it could be car wash dripping from the mirror? Possibly too high a mix, or a bad/cheap product that hasn't been washed out from the mirror, therefore dripping down the door? Just my 2c, as I have that issue after going for a drive, water that sits in behind the mirror ends up splashing down the side of the car.
    Thanks Dave

    Dunno what it was that dripped down the car but is was caustic enough to eat quite a way into the clear coat. Far enough to necessitate wet sanding. I can't see how any car wash would do that, even if left to dry completely on the panel. More likely it's something like bat poo or similar.


    Quote Originally Posted by SMOKEY View Post
    I notice that you have a silver car - which is by far the easiest colour to keep looking awesome - i'm guessing this was no mistake!
    Hahah actually I just fell in love with the colour. I've not see a silver like it
    Caff Mobile Mk1 - 2010 Aluminum Gen II | 2XS SRI | H&R Lowered Springs | cpe 75 Duro Engine Mount | Whiteline Rear Swaybar | Moog "Problem Solver" Rear Endlinks | 3M Carbon Black Tint | Lakin Custom Plates | Opti-Coat Paint Protection | Paint Correction by Me - SOLD

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    Awesome work

    Also awesome camera work too, looks like you've got the hang of using the new SLR

  14. #14
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    Cheers Chris. I can't begin to tell you how much better it is to have a good quality camera. I'm enjoying it more than I thought I would

    Manual focus is better though for this sort of work. The couple of times I trusted the camera to AF it still wigged out on me a bit (the under-guard photos). Unfortunately they looked ok on the viewscreen and it wasn't till I downloaded them that I realised they were out of focus a bit (or focusing on the wrong spot)
    Caff Mobile Mk1 - 2010 Aluminum Gen II | 2XS SRI | H&R Lowered Springs | cpe 75 Duro Engine Mount | Whiteline Rear Swaybar | Moog "Problem Solver" Rear Endlinks | 3M Carbon Black Tint | Lakin Custom Plates | Opti-Coat Paint Protection | Paint Correction by Me - SOLD

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  15. #15
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    Man...this one's an achievement. Reminds me of the swirls I got last time when I didnt know any better and got handed a shoe brush to wash the car.

    What did you reckon were the white specks under the guards? What was the technique you used with the turpentine and the razor blade?

  16. #16
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    Thanks Dennis.

    The specks were white road/line marking paint. She'd run over some on the road while it was still wet and it spattered up both sides. It had been on the car for about 12 months I was told.

    Mineral turpentine on a microfibre cloth dabbed onto the panel. Some of the lighter spots came away on two to three applications. the remainder were gently prised away using plastic razor blades

    Note: DO NOT use metal razor blades for this sort of work. They're far too sharp and will damage the paint. Plastic razor blades are the go. PM me if you want details on where to get them
    Caff Mobile Mk1 - 2010 Aluminum Gen II | 2XS SRI | H&R Lowered Springs | cpe 75 Duro Engine Mount | Whiteline Rear Swaybar | Moog "Problem Solver" Rear Endlinks | 3M Carbon Black Tint | Lakin Custom Plates | Opti-Coat Paint Protection | Paint Correction by Me - SOLD

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  17. #17

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    Dan, have you tried any of the products such as Dr Color Chip?? It was used on a lot of cars in the BMW forums i frequented with supposedly very good results.

    www.drcolorchip.com

    Be interested to hear your thoughts.

  18. #18
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    Wow Dan !!

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    wholly shit your good man. a bit like this dude known as dtaila on detailparadise.com Custom Car Care Wagga - Car Wash & Detailing, Automotive Parts & Accessories - Wagga Wagga, NSW | Facebook
    i wanna take my car to him, but just like all the decent detailers (e.g. you) you all live too far away FML

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by SMOKEY View Post
    Dan, have you tried any of the products such as Dr Color Chip?? It was used on a lot of cars in the BMW forums i frequented with supposedly very good results.

    www.drcolorchip.com

    Be interested to hear your thoughts.
    I've seen their stuff but haven't gotten around to trying them yet. Had planned to grab some gear to fix some of the stone chips on my car. I'll get there.... eventually

    Quote Originally Posted by steviekfc View Post
    wholly shit your good man. a bit like this dude known as dtaila on detailparadise.com Custom Car Care Wagga - Car Wash & Detailing, Automotive Parts & Accessories - Wagga Wagga, NSW | Facebook
    i wanna take my car to him, but just like all the decent detailers (e.g. you) you all live too far away FML
    Cam Watson (dtaila) does great work. He's just moved into new premises too. I have him on Facebook so I see the stuff he does. Well worth the trip if you even vaguely consider it. Cam kicks my arse in the experience stakes.

    Didn't know you were on Detail Paradise. I'm an admin over there

    Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
    Last edited by Caffeine Fiend; 28-05-2012 at 09:07 PM.
    Caff Mobile Mk1 - 2010 Aluminum Gen II | 2XS SRI | H&R Lowered Springs | cpe 75 Duro Engine Mount | Whiteline Rear Swaybar | Moog "Problem Solver" Rear Endlinks | 3M Carbon Black Tint | Lakin Custom Plates | Opti-Coat Paint Protection | Paint Correction by Me - SOLD

    Caff Mobile Mk2 - 2008 BMW Z4M Coupe - Sapphire Black Metallic | Stock....for now

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