A GUIDE TO RESTORING CAR PAINT- (paint decontamination, paint correction & paint protection)

Hey guys, I'm Sandro, here today with an instructional video that takes you through the methods, products and techniques used to transform a very dirty, weathered and damaged car

paint

into something that looks amazing and almost like new. Now I will certainly have enough. videos on this channel that demonstrate the three areas of detailing that will be covered here in this video, which are

paint

decontamination

, paint

correction

, and paint

protection

, but I have not combined all of those steps into one video how-to so I hope this video helps some of I tried to find the dirtiest, badly scratched and worn car panel that was still intact from a wrecker for this video so if it works here it really should work on any paint and I'll cover one side of the panel and leave it. is intact so you can really see the dramatic difference this process will make.

It is practically impossible to cover all aspects involved in automotive paint restoration in a single video, but I will do my best to not only show you and explain what I am doing in each process, but I also try to explain how and why the first stage It is

decontamination

. Simply put, the goal here is to remove as much as possible that is still on top of the paint so that the next stage of paint

correction

is working. nothing but clean, bare paint now, just as important as being effective in achieving this goal is also being as safe as possible, although this paint is in bad shape if you take, for example, the deepest scratches on this panel and start inflicting them Lighter Scratches By employing unsafe washing and decontamination methods, existing scratches become deeper, which leads to more work during the paint correction stage and the need to permanently remove more clear coat than necessary.

It is best to start with a pre-soaked foam using a decontaminating car wash. detergent that is more effective at removing paint than a general maintenance car wash soap, leave it for a few minutes to begin softening the surface and dirt and then pressure rinse the paint, the more loose dirt and grime you can remove with a non-contact method, such as Since this will be much safer, the hand wash step will be the next stage: wash the paint by hand once again using the same decontaminating car wash detergent. I also want to point out that there are a lot of great products that do similar things to the products I'm using in this video, so don't feel like you have to use exactly what I'm using here, just do a little research and find what's available in your area. and it fits your budget, but when it comes to the hand-washing stage, avoid it. using any pressure or circular motions and let the wash mint do the work.

There are also many safe car washing techniques today, such as the two-bucket method, the multi-mit method, and the mint rinse method. More important than the method you use is the fact. that you use a safe car wash method as I have tried them all and they all minimize damage to the paint after another pressure rinse of the paint and just a quick air or towel dry to remove most of the water, It's time to use chemicals. Decontaminating chemicals, such as iron removers, are excellent for removing or reducing iron particles in a safe and non-aggressive way. Simply apply the paint a light coat, let it sit for a couple of minutes, and then spread it gently with a microfiber towel for even coverage.

Wait another minute or two and rinse it. You will see a purple reaction which indicates that the metal particles are breaking down and being removed or reduced in size. You can also use chemicals like tar removers for car rocker panels. where tar deposits tend to be the same way, but simply use these chemicals on cold panels, away from direct sunlight and rinse them off before they dry or within five minutes, the next stage is mechanical decontamination or clay application if the paint is not too bad. Sometimes chemical decontamination will be sufficient, but in many cases clay is needed to remove the most stubborn adhered particles.

However, the fact that you have already chemically removed the paint and a percentage of those contaminants means that the next stage of mechanical decontamination will be faster and safer, you don't need to use any pressure, just let the clay and lubricant Clay Do the work in small sections at a time and fold the clay after each section or two to make sure it is being safe and effective in your process. The best indicator to let you know that you have removed the stuck-on contamination is your hand, the paint should feel much smoother but still a little tacky, so once all the paint has been clayed and feels free of contaminants, there will almost be Finished with your first stage and You can finish by drying the paint with a microfiber towel or compressed air.

The last vital stage is to clean with IPA or isopropyl alcohol. This is really important as it removes the remaining residue from all the detergents and chemicals that were used but unlike those other chemicals, an ipa based cleaner automatically evaporates and leaves no residue, as I mentioned before, this whole stage Decontamination is about leaving the paint as clean and bare as possible because otherwise it will negatively affect the next stage of paint correction as any remaining particles or residue still in the paint will alter the performance of my compounds. , polishers and pads, as well as causing minor damage, which will make it much more difficult and a longer process to achieve a good result.

As always, I have a full list of the products used in this video in the description box, but I don't want to focus on specific brands here, but on specific grades of compounds, polishes, and pads, since you can honestly achieve the same results with many different. brands of products on the market, but it is in your best interest to have at least one fine, medium and coarse compound, as well as a selection of polishing and cutting pads. Your starting point for correcting automotive paint should always be the least aggressive method that still has the potential to work, I honestly don't know what this paint is like in relation to whether it's hard or soft, but based on what I'm seeing with the defects serious, a fine polish on a finishing pad simply won't have the potential.

To eliminate these defects and if the paint is very smooth, a thick compound on a cutting pad may be too aggressive and remove more clear coat than necessary, so a medium compound on a medium or polishing pad is the perfect place. to start. Do a test section. There will be some text at the bottom of the screen to show the technique I'm using, but a few points to mention also are that when you start with a new pad, you need a little more compound for the first one. set of machine passes, but after that you can add closer to half the amount I added on the pad or two or three pea size drops.

Be consistent in your method and technique, then try to work on too large an area as it will dramatically decrease results. and problems such as dusting, difficult cleaning and excessive heat increase. A set of passes usually consists of three or four passes in rows of your machine, but in general, when you work with finer polishers and pads just to finish or refine the paint, you will see better results by reducing your work times and aggressiveness slightly, while when working with heavier compounds and pads to level out defects, you will see a benefit in working with slightly longer polishing cycles and slightly increasing the aggressiveness in your technique, but the key word here is just a little, not exceed with the machine speed up the pressure or work times as it will create even more problems, as I mentioned, based on what I am seeing in the results, I have eliminated between 50 and 60 of the defects with this combination of composite pads and my technique and I.

I can also see that although the finishing qualities of this combination are not perfect, they are still quite good, so this first tells me that the paint is neither rock hard nor terribly smooth, but maybe somewhere in between, but The most important thing is that I need a more aggressive approach if I want to remove the largest percentage of those defects Now, based on the results of that first test section, I know that I am more than slightly away from removing all the defects, so I simply won with a heavier cutting pad. It doesn't give me the results I need.

I also need to move on to a thicker compound and I'm guessing that both the step up pad and the compound could very well give me the results I'm looking to achieve after a series of passes with With this new combination, hopefully you'll see that they have almost eliminated all the flaws, but you should also see that there is a little more cloudiness or haze in the finish. This is absolutely normal when using a heavier blend and is also the main reason why a two or sometimes three stage correction process is needed, so now that I have found a great blend that will eliminate almost all defects with a single series of passes, all I have to do is stay consistent with my technique and repeat this process during all stages.

Pain that I want to correct and I will achieve the same results. It's also important to note that you need to brush or blow the pads after every set of passes or two and make sure you have at least a few pads when doing a full auto. or you will find your results worsen as the pads get too hot and dirty, so with all the existing defects removed, it is now time to remove the minor defects that I inflicted on the paint during the first stage of compounding, now based on my first test section with the medium compound and pad I could still see a hint of cloudiness in the finish so this tells me that if I move up to an even finer polishing pad it should be the perfect match to clean up that existing haze and bring out Maximum shine and clarity in this particular paint.

I hope you can see a clear difference in the section that has been refined with a much cleaner finish where the metallic flakes now appear with amazing depth and clarity, so, just like the previous stage, all I have to do en What I do now is repeat this process on the rest of the paints and I will get the same fantastic results which you can decide for yourself, but I would personally be very happy to introduce any of my clients to this level of quality and finish in

protection

. . With almost all of the hard work done in the correction stage, it is very important now to protect the paint with some type of paint protection.

Now I'm sure many regular viewers would have seen me use ceramic coatings extensively on this channel as they really are what I use to protect almost every car I detail, but to keep things a little simpler I'll be applying a spray sealant based on sio2. These sealants that are everywhere these days are really fantastic for the most part as they are super fast. apply, but will also tend to last longer and be more hydrophobic than traditional waxes or sealants. The basic application is to apply primer with a microfiber cloth and apply one or two sprays to a small section of the panel.

Spread the sealant on the area with the first cloth and then wipe it off with a second dry cloth and you're done, just don't use too much product, work away from direct sunlight and it couldn't be easier and it should also last a good six months, but It's also worth mentioning. is that it will also increase the depth and saturation of the paints and make the maintenance and washing process much easier in the future. Well, that's it guys, if you want more information on any of the decontamination fixes or paints. protection processes there are tons of videos on this channel that go even deeper into those specific processes, in addition to applying a ceramic coating as always.

I really hope you enjoyed and found this video useful. Please like, comment and subscribe to this channel to show your support. for these videos and I will see them soon