immacreflections

I know Hamish and talk to him reguarly and see his work as he sees mine. He is FANTASTIC and definatly setting a mark in the detailing and car care scene expect much more from this guy. PS Vic guys I am a opti-guard approved detailer . SA guys GO SEE HAMISH

great work looks fantastic glad you did sealant on the silver not a wax sealants bring silver up so nice

Not True. You can use a sealant such as cquartz or jetseal 109 which will help greatly! Waxes and sealants are made TO PROTECT against UV damage and other damage and carbon fibre is no different in that sense. once you polish the CF use a couple of coats of a sealant or a coat of a ceramic sealant like cquartz and you will have no issues. Its is the same with headlights people get these "kits" that have heavy sand paper and scratch the light to much, headlights from factory have a Uv protection layer on them, all the 800 grit sandpaper does is remove all of this straight away and leave it more vulnerable to future discolouration in future UNLESS you use a sealant reguarly or a ceramic sealant as mentioned above.

I HAVE used the Concours 900, hands down THE BEST non forced roatationi RO on the market with nice torque unlike others. I use menzerna and Lake Country Pads. I have a Concours 900 kit with 4 mezerna polishes and 4 different pads for sale for $250 if anyone would like. Regards, Mitch

Should I post mine? 5x Swissvax Waxes 10x other waxs heaps of bulk stuff 3 polishers over 300 microfibres brushes and probs more than 60 bottles of products lol PS Jez get that DAMN Armorall and turtle wax out of there!

Thats awsome how its like a fish eye effect!

What lense did you use for those pics?

Thanks Jonno, Yes this is in Melbourne there are only 2 8c's in the country a red one and this white one which only arrived last week.

Hi Bobby, Read forums over adn over and over, watch youtube, speak to people in detailing and buy a heap of panels from a wreckers to practise on in diff colours and manufactueres so you get diff types of paint best way to learn

Try wolfgang tyre gel from waxit.com.au I have had clients come back 4 months later in melbourne weather with daily drivers and still on there!

So what happens when a DP member with probably the most product knowledge around hires a professional to help bring their R35 GTR up to spec for Opti-Guard....... Read ahead to find out. So Sam contacted me to detail the R35 with his help and opti-guard the car, of course knowing Sams extreme knowledge on products and attention to detail I was excited though scared at the same time.....will he make me look like a beginner, will I hate working with someone on the same car. These were all thoughts running through my head. I must say, Sams knowledge on polishes that work on the soft Infiniti paint from previous trial and error came in extremely handy to get this car upto spec, working with him was fantastic as through out this massive job we both seemed to have ideas and tips and techniques to share and better both of us. With an 11am start and 10:30 finish between 2 people taking the odd break this would have been a good 18-20 hour detail.I arrived and the car had been washed down clayed and prepared for correction which was fantastic. For those of you who dont know the car specs include but not limited to: Full intake Injector upgrade Fuel pump upgrade Full exhaust with catless down pipes Tuned for E85 with over 400kw@wheels on very sedate tune and boost Also has a long list of CF parts and accessories Onto the detail: *PS I would like to appologise for lack of focus and pics. So first priority was to inspect the paint for condition, due to the soft nature of the paint after Sam had washed and clayed it, this porcess naturally induced some marring in the finish making it a little worse than prior. Sams triple LED spotlight brought out the worst in the finish easily! Rear bumper above number plate Front 1/4 Panel..GTR FTW Bonnet This is the rear bumper above the numberplate after a number of steps trying to find the best combination for correcting the heavy imperfections that were un avoidable by the panel shop when fitting the boot and rear lip. As we just started to get a move on and figuring out what combination to use this rocked up !!!! Alfa Romeo 8C Spyder 1 of 500 in the world. Let me tell you I have heard Ferraris and Lamborghinis and just about every other car but IMHO the sound and crackling of the pipes on this thing trumps them all easily! Made completely from Carbon fibre and left raw on the inside of the boot was great Even the dash and gauge surrounds are dry carbon fibre... could not think of a nicer modern car interior OK OK OK back to the GTR....The engine bay which Sam had cleaned up and painted the cover in Top Secret Gold due to the pleathora of TS parts used in the build After Sam applied C-Quartz to the beautiful ADV.1's Rear 1/4 after correction Sam getting right into all the finest details and areas possible Not a bad reflection to have even prior to Sam following up and expertly jewelling the paint! Sam still working on detail work with some very classy on lookers....Note the home made microfibre towel wheel cover to stop compound dust from getting on the already cleaned and sealed wheels. Sam did this on the day using C-Quartz Passenger rear 1/4 panel ..and after correction Two cars that are very easy on the eyes. Sam followed me by jewelling the paint and also used his 4 inch to comound the tighter areas whilst I jewelled the bonnet and roof Not a bad reflection from the roof on completion of jewelling Upon completion...Sorry for the slightly blurry photos these were taken at around 10pm and used a slow shutter speed without a tripod :S. I am sure sam will take some outside finished shots soon. The car was sealed with Opti-coat 2.0 of Sams and used opti-guard on some of the higher impact areas ie:bonnet, mirrors, and front window All in all it was a fantastic yet long day with a good final outcome. I hope everyone enjoyed reading and looking at the pictures as much as I enjoyed working on the car and with Sam. Regards, Mitch

I dont think I take it TOO seriously as its peoples prides and joy I work on and achieving the best results is a combination or method/knowledge, products, and passion. The reason why I "hijacked" your thread was due to terrible advice being given out as I show above there is alot you still need to learn so giving advice on wet sanding to hobbyist is something you shouldnt do. By the sounds of it even you shouldnt. Over and Out

Ok Adam lets go from the start if you think my advice to not use 1200 grit is flaming you ie:stopping people from ruining their paint. If your are experienced and as good as you say then: 1) you would know wet sanding is hard and if you cant handle a rotary machine thne you shouldnt attempt sanding so most enthusiast are out there for giving that advice is plain wrong IMO 2) all cars have a pre delivery done on them not just the ones your worked on.........most detailers (non pre delivery and dealership) get lots of clients from the "detailers" doingpredelivery for reasons I will point out in one of your later post in a minute. 3) using 1200grit on a whole car or a spot is down right stupid IMO, using 2500 grit not meeter spot or whole car is the most aggressive I would ever go with as would most reputable detailers from my experience. as for "after the wash stage i like to hand polish/seal with a product which is high wax with a very minimul amount of cutter in it" in your above post. 1) most polish and seal products or (all in ones) are not used by many reputable people as most people know in anything in life its hard to have one product do two totally different things just as good as using seperate items ie a polish and a sealant. 2) most sealants dont have a high wax content being that carnauba and other waxes are hard (paste) and most if not all sealants are liquid....well you see why it wouldnt work. 3) and as for having cutter and sealant....thats a no no, maybe using a cleaner fluid and sealant yes possible as per Klasse AIO "Then step 2 wash all compond off" think you mean buff off but maybe Im wrong. as for this "Step 3 i use a lighter foam pad with a minimul cut and high wax content," what is this polish with high wax content you speak off. IMO there is no REPUTABLE product like this. Then you followed with this.."and normally depending on the result finish buff with an even lighter pad" buffing is the act of removing residue from the paint ie polish or wax after application, so ill assume you mean your give it an even lighter polish ala Jewelling the paint....if thats the case the wax you just applied prior.......has just been taken off. and "Step five finish wax (as you would say) all by hand" a wax it a wax used to protect the paintwork and finish of a car....as your first called it a polish which would mean a minimal abbrasive compound used to remove minor imperfections, marring and swirls this is where the confusion started. "3M wool pad for the initial buff with a kinda waxy autosmart polish" ...Wool pad.....waxy polish.......oh geeze sorry I wont comment on this Im sure from my above post you see why. Plus if you were doing brand new cars they wouldnt need a wool pad anyway in most cases "the wool pad does all the cutting so you can use a light polish/wax and just about not need a foam pad at all" - This is why people bring cars after predelivery to be detailed because a wool pad is heavy cutting and will leave buffer trails and marring no matter what compound you use, thats why for a perfect fault free finish you HAVE to follow with a foam pad and compound then further refine it after with a polish and foam pad. "Some paints tho mate like Euro cars, Audi, Jag etc have very soft flat colours, no mettalic in it. Very diffiucult to machine polish, near impossible to not create swirls with a machine which creates more work by hand afterwards" - Audi and Jag paint is like comparing Ferrari and Mercedes paint its chalk and cheese and totally differnt steps and combinations need to be taken for each. As for "near impossible to not create swirls with a machine which creates more work by hand afterwards" :S I guarantee you can refine better with a machine than a hand polish no matter what, unless your using fillers by hand and not by machine. With the right pad and polish combination you would have no troubles leaving no trace of swirls or holograms in the paint as per some of my past work below. This concludes another lesson in Mitchs detailing truth box ladies and gentleman. Over and Out

Thanks guys depending on car starting from $350

Are you crazy! telling people to use 1200 grit and following up with a compound is stupid! PLEASE NO ONE DO THIS OR LISTEN TO THIS! I firstly thought your first post didnt make sense, you machine polished it then washed it then polished by hand:S, and experience detailer would never do it by hand as you will NEVER get the same results as a machine in experienced hands but I was going to leave it. But when you give advise to others to do this and most likely go through their paint I had to step in. Ok guys, when I wetsand a car the MOST agressive I will use is 2500grit wet and dry followed by 4000 grit then onto a wool with heavy cut via machine and rotary polisher (need to be very experienced as its very very easy to burn or go through your paint like this) then follow up on refining stages. DO NOT USE 1200g on your car please!

Hi guys I get alot of request about interstate trips ect and some for SA. So I thought I would let you all know in SA there is a detailer and friend of mine I trust 110% and reccomend you use him. details below. Hamish ph: 0433 700 139 email: [email protected] temp site: http://hamish023.imgur.com Regards, Mitch

the Chevelle is for sale as per his green Camaro you will see soon....... 150K if you want it honestly.

Best wheel cleaner and paint decontamination EVER! As for concrete it doesnt stain or affect it at all not even my father sandstone driveway! as for grass not affect ever. Iron-X is PH neutral with a rating of pH 6-7 so its fine

hope your not going to steal them for the Iron-X competition

LOL thanks mate

Day 5: This is another USmuscle.com.au member Chris. This has to be my favorite car hands down...pretty much not one thing has been left untouched on this car though it still looks clean and not overstated from the 572 sitting in the engine bay to the 4 link rear, dakota digital gauges, and custom 1 off hand fabbed metal dash for a right hand conversion it is immaculate! Anyway on to the detail, this was another exterior only as everything else was immaculate. Due to time constraints I focused on the webbing and swirls leaving all the RIDS alone which were difficult to see anyway. Though I believe on my next trip Chris wants the car to be perfect and not one flaw on it so you might see another thread soon lol. Products used: OPT ONR Menz 106 on orange Menz 85rd on black Swissvax Shield with two coats. After the ONR inspecting the finish... Test spot.. EEEK no good :S All corrected and looking deep and wet! Hope you all enjoy'd Regards, Mitch

Day 4: This is an SAU member Jeremy's R33. Probably one of the nicest done R33 GTST's I have seen but need some love. This car had some nice streetable power as a daily driver and looked clean and nice without being in your face. Products Used: Bowdens Own Shampoo Gel Iron-X Bowdens Own Naked Glass Menz 106 adn 85rd Lake Country Pads Bowdens Own Agent Orange (degreaser) Dodo Juice Supernatural wax Iron-X working its magic, compliments to Jeremy not much contamination at all. Some swirls we need to get rid of! Hazy after 106 on orange.. Unfortuantly I didnt take many pictures for some reason :S and it skips from the 106 on orange passes straight to finished products :S.....oh well here goes some glamour shots Jeremy, why so unhappy for Only outside shot, unfortunatly I didnt have my DSLR so got a fair bit of solar glare :S but oh well Hope you enjoy Regards, Mitch

Just recieved my pot of Swissvax Crystal Rock $1499 a tub on monday! has a tub of BOS , Samurai Wax, and Autobahn wheel wax.

Foaming and Iron-X are my two favorite things in the wash process now lol must be my inner kid.

Day 3: This is another USmuscle.com.au members Pontiac Firebird. This thing is a bit of a sleep and beast, sure you have hear it has an exhuast and most ppl wouldnt know what it is but its when he puts his foot down and you hear a strange spooling noise not normally associated with V8s that catches people out.....a BIG rear mounted turbo system spooling up to put most un-suspecting ricer boys back in their place. This car was in need of some help! as you will see by the photos. Unfortunatly I finished this at around 8pm so it was dark so finished pictures arent the best. Products used: Menzerna PF500 on wool, 106 on orange, 85rd on white Foamed using Bowdens Own Body Gel Rims cleaned and Paint decontaminated with Iron-X Windows cleaned with Bowdens Own Naked Glass Sealed with Jetseal109 2 coats, 2nd coat applied 30 min after first was removed. Now for the pictures... EEEEK swirls galore! my eyes hurt.. "warbird" looking worse for wear After a hit with wool and PF500 Wool and Pf500 at work on the Shinex 106 being worked with the orange ccs Finished not many shots though due to light not available lol. "Warbird" look alot better now! Hope you enjoyed reading Regards, Mitch