Mustang GT Paint Correction and Ceramic Coating

How I feel about protecting my hard work... read on...

It was so satisfying to work on this orange Mustang GT.

To apply my decades of paint correction experience, and love for bringing out a car's maximum shine is so rewarding for me.

All the things in life go away once I become engulfed in a paint correction and ceramic coating job. 

It's hard to explain, but you really get in touch with every square inch of the paint.

It starts when the client drops of their car and I start with the very first step of a simple wash to remove the first layer of dirt.

Most people stop there, it's been washed, it's clean right? Oh no my friend, it's not even close to clean yet.

Next, I decontaminate the top surface of the paint by using automotive clay. This process safely removes the nasties that really get stuck onto paint, like overspray (remember your neighbor painting his house last summer??).

So now the paint is starting to feel better, you can feel it being noticeably slicker to the touch, but we're not done with the cleaning portion yet.

Next is a chemical decontamination process. This is needed because some contaminants (like iron dust from railroad tracks)* land on your paint and immediately start burrowing their way into the surface of your paint. You can't feel them on the surface, but they're like termites slowing eating away at your clear coat. I use a special chemical to neutralize and dissolve these particles to stop their relentless damage.

Lastly, I remove any hard water spots from your paint; this takes another specialized chemical to safely dissolve them.

Finally, the paint surface is clean and completely naked, just the way we detailers like it.

Now the real skill begins of “correcting” the paint (our fancy way of saying polishing/buffing the paint).

I have myriad choices for polishing compounds and polishing pads to use, so I choose the least aggressive combination that will still accomplish my goal of making this paint shine as much as possible and produce a depth of gloss that will be far beyond what it looked like when it was brand new. 

Why do I start with the least aggressive? Because the goal here is to produce amazing results that shine like crazy, while not removing an excessive amount of the clear coat. Removing too much clear coat will dramatically shorten its protective properties and will result in premature failure of your paint. 

***See, this is why you want only the most experienced and trained detailing professional to work on your car. Any idiot can buy a polisher from Griots Garage and some polishing compounds from Chemical Guys or Autogeek, and call themselves a detailer. Many times even they do not realize the damage they’re causing, even if they do manage to produce an excellent shine on your paint. But IDA Certified Detailers whose skills have been literally validated by a recognized trainer are the only people you should trust to tough your paint with a polisher. (These people have the designation of “CD-SV”) Heck, even professional painters that work at body shops do not have the level of training that we do.***

Now, back to our orange Mustang GT… I have special lighting installed in my shop so that I can inspect paint from inches away and see every imperfection, flaw, blemish and scratch. Some of these flaws I can completely remove, and some are too deep into the clear coat; I’ll still polish these areas, but again, I’ll stop before removing too much clear coat so that you still have plenty of thickness remaining to provide UV protection and longevity.

I address each flaw, spot-by-spot until I’m satisfied with the results. Now comes the final polishing step; I’ll spend hours polishing the entire car in 2’x2’ sections, wiping off the polish residue and again, inspecting each section and repeating the process until I’m satisfied before moving onto the next section.

With the paint as close to perfect as it’s every going to be, and with a rich deep gloss and depth of shine that is so clear you can see for miles in its reflection, it’s time to protect my hard work.

In the old days we used carnauba paste wax (you remember those classic metal cans of Turtle Wax, Beauty Shine, Simonize paste wax) for protection. They added some shine and a little protection but wow was it labor-intensive and they only lasted about 3 months.

Nowadays I take advantage of chemical technology in the form of a nano ceramic coating made of silicon carbide (SiC) to protect my work and keep your freshly polished car looking as new as possible, for as long as possible. This coating is a game-changer for anyone who likes to drive a clean car and who takes pride in the appearance of their car, but who doesn’t want the added labor and expense of constant washing and polishing their car. 

You pay for paint correction and a ceramic coating once, then you’re set for the life of your car.

The ceramic coating is a light clear liquid that I apply by hand, section by section, and layer by layer over the entire painted areas. This process is repeated 2-3 times. 

It is a very tedious and labor-intensive process, but again, you only need to pay to have this protection applied once in your car’s life instead of wax which needs to be applied 3-4 times a year.

Once I’ve protected my work, my favorite part of the whole job comes… introducing the car to their owner again. The shock and amazement in my client’s eyes when they see their car with a ceramic coating is just such a wonderful feeling. It makes all those hours of work, and years of training and experience worth it. I mean, how good does it feel when your hard work and expertise are truly recognized and appreciated?

My client drives off grinning ear-to-ear and can’t wait to show it off to their friends. Even going to the store, they love the feeling of coming back out of the store and BAM! There’s their car all shiny and glossy.

But the true payoff for my client is how that shine is locked in with my coating. They only need to wash their car every few weeks now, and when they do wash it, the dirt just wipes off so easily. Ah… what a win-win. Shinier car for longer time with less maintenance. 

I’ve succeeded, and I feel great because my client feels great. -Jason Barker