Showing posts with label zen of detailing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label zen of detailing. Show all posts
Friday, April 26, 2019
Monday, April 9, 2018
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
Orbital Dreams: Must Have Detailing Tools & Toys Review (AMMONYC)
Larry walks us through some of the best tools of the trade he uses for detailing.
Video courtesy of AMMONYC.
Video courtesy of AMMONYC.
Monday, November 14, 2016
Orbital Dreams: Ultimate Garage Build for Detailers (AMMONYC)
Larry shows us how he put his dream garage together in his new place. So good.
Video courtesy of AMMONYC.
Video courtesy of AMMONYC.
Monday, September 12, 2016
Orbital Dreams: How to Apply Paint Touch Up on Carrera GT (AMMONYC)
Larry of AMMO NYC refreshes the front end of a Porsche Carrera GT and shares techniques.
Video courtesy of AmmoNYC.
Video courtesy of AmmoNYC.
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Orbital Dreams: Singer Porsche: Detail & Review (AMMONYC)
Larry of AMMO NYC has quite the spicy meatball in the shop for a detail. Singer Porsche anyone?
Video courtesy of AMMO NYC.
Video courtesy of AMMO NYC.
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Orbital Dreams: Polishers and Swirl Removal Tips (DriveClean)
Larry of AMMONYC gives use some tips on paint correction, using his recently acquired 964 as the demo mule. I had the privilege of having a real pro work over a heavily swirled 993 not too long ago (see fb page) and while I'm decent with an orbital I don't think I would've been able to accomplish the same results in the same time frame; having a day job doesn't help! When paint correction is done properly, it's a lovely thing to behold.
Video courtesy of Drive.
Video courtesy of Drive.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Orbital Dreams: Single Stage Pain(t) service Pt.2
The following day I got a new orange pad out and went about applying sealant. Griot's Garage One Step Sealant is an all in one for those short on time, having both polishing and sealing properties in one go. This stuff is cake to remove with a fresh microfiber towel and the residue doesn't go everywhere like polish does (white powder). Sealant is different than wax in that it bonds with the paint surface rather than sit on top as an additional layer. The protective benefits of sealant lasts longer than wax, but doesn't look as good buffed or repel liquid as well as wax does. That said, I went with a two staged plan; wax on top of sealant.
To the naked eye in low light, a sealed and a waxed car look relatively similar. In sunlight, however, the waxed surface has much more depth. Wax is also slippery to the touch. After finishing my sealant application I let the car sit for 18 hours to let the sealant set, then the following day got my wax on in my tight garage.
The finished product is below. Color depth is great and even everywhere; there are still some minor scratches/chips and imperfections, but I'm happy given my paint is far from perfect(able). I could've done more than one coat of wax, but this took 3 afternoons with everything else I had going on. The good news is that I can easily wash and apply a couple more layers of wax without all the prep I had to do previously with a whole...I think I'll do that. While silky smooth, I could still leave a finger print on the paint surface. When you can't leave a finger print anymore, your job is done.
I can't wait for the next rain.
To the naked eye in low light, a sealed and a waxed car look relatively similar. In sunlight, however, the waxed surface has much more depth. Wax is also slippery to the touch. After finishing my sealant application I let the car sit for 18 hours to let the sealant set, then the following day got my wax on in my tight garage.
The finished product is below. Color depth is great and even everywhere; there are still some minor scratches/chips and imperfections, but I'm happy given my paint is far from perfect(able). I could've done more than one coat of wax, but this took 3 afternoons with everything else I had going on. The good news is that I can easily wash and apply a couple more layers of wax without all the prep I had to do previously with a whole...I think I'll do that. While silky smooth, I could still leave a finger print on the paint surface. When you can't leave a finger print anymore, your job is done.
I can't wait for the next rain.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Orbital Dreams: Single Stage Pain(t) service Pt.1
The one gift and curse of this car since purchase was the paint. I've never had a single stage paint job on any car, except for the grey hatch's original factory uni-black paint job which was definitely a different animal all together. This car does a great job of cleaning up well especially due to how bright this color comes off in daylight, but due to both it's color and lack of clearcoat, is quick to oxidize once the temps warm up.
The worst thing on single stage paint is the water spots; with the almost tropical weather that sporadically occurs, in the Mid-Atlantic area, during the arrival of summer is a real pain. Strong sun, broken up by a quick and hard rain, then the sun back out as strong as ever. I get pink polka dots all over the paintwork when this has happened. I noticed this for the first time last year after getting the car setup in for H2oi. I the car parked on my driveway and after a flash rainstorm, water dripping off the side of the house onto the trunklid burned spots into the paint. I had remnants of wax on the car at the time, but not much. Well a few weeks ago it flash rained on a hot day and I got them on the roof, decklid and a little on the front hood too. I got a few days off for Memorial Day and decided to put some work in.
After washing and drying thoroughly I took some before shots for reference; check out the blotches. The only thing you can do to remove these spots is polish the paint down to get to deeper, better paint, then do a better job than me to protect it going forward. The tools for this job were all Griot's Garage products; there are plenty of options out there as many of you know, but since I've bought plenty from GG over the years I decided to invest in their orbitals, pads and products. Machine Polish #2 (light scratches/moderate oxidation), One step sealant (includes mild polish) and Best in show Wax was the lineup. I could've gone coarser with the cut, but not knowing how thick this paint is and being somewhat limited with time, I stuck with this combo to get a solid level of protection for the summer.
After claying the surface clean I started polishing sections of the car starting with the hood. I had a couple scratches and etched paint spots I went at with hand polish first to see what areas would need more effor than others. I also taped off all the trim and wiper arms to keep from having to clean those up later. GG polishes get hard to remove quick so you want to wipe residue off while the polish is still liquid. After a couple passes on each panel I called it a day.
The color was substantially better, but it was completely vulnerable outside, so I put it in the VIP room for a controlled environment. Thunderstorm watch was on the forecast...
The worst thing on single stage paint is the water spots; with the almost tropical weather that sporadically occurs, in the Mid-Atlantic area, during the arrival of summer is a real pain. Strong sun, broken up by a quick and hard rain, then the sun back out as strong as ever. I get pink polka dots all over the paintwork when this has happened. I noticed this for the first time last year after getting the car setup in for H2oi. I the car parked on my driveway and after a flash rainstorm, water dripping off the side of the house onto the trunklid burned spots into the paint. I had remnants of wax on the car at the time, but not much. Well a few weeks ago it flash rained on a hot day and I got them on the roof, decklid and a little on the front hood too. I got a few days off for Memorial Day and decided to put some work in.
After washing and drying thoroughly I took some before shots for reference; check out the blotches. The only thing you can do to remove these spots is polish the paint down to get to deeper, better paint, then do a better job than me to protect it going forward. The tools for this job were all Griot's Garage products; there are plenty of options out there as many of you know, but since I've bought plenty from GG over the years I decided to invest in their orbitals, pads and products. Machine Polish #2 (light scratches/moderate oxidation), One step sealant (includes mild polish) and Best in show Wax was the lineup. I could've gone coarser with the cut, but not knowing how thick this paint is and being somewhat limited with time, I stuck with this combo to get a solid level of protection for the summer.
After claying the surface clean I started polishing sections of the car starting with the hood. I had a couple scratches and etched paint spots I went at with hand polish first to see what areas would need more effor than others. I also taped off all the trim and wiper arms to keep from having to clean those up later. GG polishes get hard to remove quick so you want to wipe residue off while the polish is still liquid. After a couple passes on each panel I called it a day.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Orbital Dreams: Cleaning Session #1
Even though the season is about over, I'll start a series just for detailing sessions. For me cleaning your car is both fun and therapeutic; my mind slows down as I massage the paint, you see the finish shine and an impeccably clean auto arises from the filth. Depending on the condition and makeup of your particular paint job, you may need to put a little more work in than someone else. Plenty of clean microfiber towels, quality soap, wash mitt, quick-detailer, polish, wax and window cleaners are a must. You don't have to be ocd to be a detailing fanatic necessarily, but you do need the willpower and/or passion for it.
On the Friday before H2oi a week or so ago, we headed up to our buddy Tim's place to unpack, get lunch then get the rides cleaned up for the weekend. A little after we showed up in OC, our buddy Patrick joined the cleaning session. While all this was taking place, I shot a few pics.
As you can see, I finally got the red coupe dressed up after eight months of toil. We didn't really get to do an e30 shoot like we wanted, there just wasn't enough free time. Pat's back in Ohio now, so that's out, but maybe Ethan and I can get something worked out later this fall.
On the Friday before H2oi a week or so ago, we headed up to our buddy Tim's place to unpack, get lunch then get the rides cleaned up for the weekend. A little after we showed up in OC, our buddy Patrick joined the cleaning session. While all this was taking place, I shot a few pics.
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