Paint correction, pro or DIY?

Relentless81

Relentless81

Relentless81

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18 May 2010
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So whats the difference here -

You can pay a well regarded professional £300 and hope for good results or get some clay and a polisher and DIY it, obviously then you get to keep the kit and keep on top of it

What I don't understand is if you get a paint correction detail carried out, would you expect it to last X amount of time, would it last years if you kept on top of it by hand or do they do something a mere mortal like me cant?

The reason I'm asking is the paint work on my car is too far gone to do anything by hand (I've tried, twice) Its so far gone that I've had the bumper painted due to a scrape but not the bonnet and you can tell simply because the paint hasn't been looked after by the previous owner and its a very dark blue (Practically black) so everything shows up. I'm considering getting the bonnet painted or maybe just getting the whole thing detailed but I cant make my mind up

Any thoughts?

Thanks
 
First time you wash it you'll start putting scratches back in it. Pro detailed, DIY, brand new paint, doesn't matter.

TBF I'd expect paint to still be pretty nice after a couple of years though if you treat it well.
 
I know what you mean but my point is I don't know if I am going to be able to correct the paint to the same standard as a professional would for £300, I want to know what it is that they would do differently to what I can do at home
 
I guess you're paying for their experience. You could do it yourself but it would take a while to learn how to achieve good results.
 
Its not rocket science to do paint correction, and my experience of old cars is that you wont ever get it 100% unless you spend weeks on the bugger!

It does cost a bit just to buy the kit to do DIY, the silverline is a good budget rotary, but then you need the pads and the polishes to go with it.
 
You would need the equipment and also some training to get the best out of it.

I have a very good machine polisher for example but I am always hesitant to use it as I am not that confident with it. I plan on attending a course at some point but havent been fussed recently. Should pull my finger out tbh.
 
I have a low end dual action polisher from clean your car:
http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/polis...ion-polisher-menzerna-intro-kit/prod_721.html
In all honestly it is well worth the money. Dual action polishers will never match rotary polishers, but they are far more forgiving.
You really the polisher starter kit I linked, plus a clay bar, plus tar remover, plus wax.

The single best thing to get is a lamb's wool wash mit - There is no point having a scratch free car, only to wash it with a sponge and scratch it again. Also two buckets - One to rinse the mit in, one to have suds in.
 
Clarkey said:
I guess you're paying for their experience. You could do it yourself but it would take a while to learn how to achieve good results.
Click to expand...

Machine polishing seems to have a stigma attached to it but the basics really aren't that hard to do. That isn't to say you can buy any machine and just go mad but read some guides until you understand them and then follow then and it is relatively easy to get good results.

The two times that fails and a pro is useful is if you are aiming for an exceptional or a perfect finish. They are much harder to achieve and therefore take time to build up the skills and learn how to achieve them. The other, which I completely agree with you on, is experience. Not in the mundane jobs as they are easy but where something weird happens, a professional will have the expertise to assess that is going on and how to deal with it.
 
I started the original car cleaning thread back in 2008, it too me 2 years to learn how to get a 95% correction, its fairly easy to get a 85-90 correction, but that extra is what takes the longest to achieve, as basically it requires lots of patience and learning about polish combo's.

Id advise getting a silverline rotary, some 3M fast cut plus and the rest of the range, and then some 3m pads, add into the mix some megs last touch, and a decent wax. I'd try Costco for the microfibres, they are a bargainous £12 for about a million.
 
Don't seem fixate on the £300 initial cost as all your equipment, products and accessories will likely cost more than that. You'll start saving money where you have to correct the car again or do a second car.

Plus you'll get to pickup a new skill set and the look of your now shiny corrected car will be down purely to you.

Also, get some Sonax Brilliant Shine Detailer, it really is a miracle product and has sheeting like nothing I've seen and will even last 6+weeks...... All for a Quick Detailer!!! :eek:
 
He does ramble on a bit but the Junkman series of videos are regarded as a good starting point for beginners. There are 4 / 5 parts iirc

 
Thanks for all the advice, I'm now going to feel really bad if I pay a pro to do the work :p

I'm still in two minds to be fair but mainly for the reason that I live in a flat and all my current car cleaning gear that I've built up is at my parents so I have to drive there to carry out any work however I will be selling up and getting a house next year. Also complicating my decision is that I've learned of a local pro detailer that will do an initial restoration and then does "mini details" to top it up as and when required for significantly less than the initial detail

Lots of thought and reading to do before I part with any cash I think

Thanks again
 
And so you should feel bad if you get a pro to do it :p

Really it is up to you, no one here knows your true circumstances to decide for you. A desire to do it yourself does mean you can do it. A friend of mine is very good at machine polishing but between work and family he doesn't have time to spend 2 days on his car so it goes to a pro these days.
 
You need a machine (£70?) megs 105/205 (£25) a few pads (£30) and maybe tape, mf cloths etc (£20)

you can do a whole car in an afternoon and you'll have the stuff then for future use. No brainer IMO :)
 
I use a DAS-6 pro for mine, not done the Skyline but done the S2000 with great results :) Refused to pay £300+ to someone when I could buy the tool and polishes for circa £150ish iirc (and have it all available to do both cars)

Very vague 50/50 (sry about image quality heh)

01l2.jpg


Above was my first go with the polisher, just got to go steady and take your time.

Does take a long time mind and your arms will ache a lot!
 
Cant ache as bad as doing a polish and wax by hand!

Looks good, I am tempted by DIY its just the fact I live in a flat, if I had a house with a driveway I wouldn't consider pro at all
 
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