We were introduced to this stunning Jaguar XJ Super V8 for a paint enhancement. The car had clocked up a staggering 250k miles in 13 years and was in need of some tender care and attention.
The Jaguar Super v8 is a spacious and extremely comfortable executive stretched luxury sedan, leather and burled walnut finishes that offers a level of sophistication that is stunning.
With serious power, the supercharged and intercooled 4.2 litre V8 engine develops 400 horsepower at 6,100rpm and 0 to 60 mph in less than 6 seconds for car that weighs in at 1790kg and a top speed limited to 155mph.
At Marque 2 Professional valeting and detailer, we are trained in the skilled process of paint enhancement with power polishers and as such are in high demand. Amateurs or enthusiasts should only attempt to correct their own paintwork if they are completely confident in doing so or have enough experience to carry it out safely.
What this process will not do is remove stone chips, deep scratches and rust bubbles in the paintwork so it’s all about managing the customer’s expectations, making them aware that the enhancement process is not a cure all solution.
Paint enhancement (Single stage) or correction (Dual stage) is commonly used by both professional car detailers' to describe the process of restoring and rejuvenating the paintwork of a vehicle through the elimination of surface imperfections, that over time dull, oxidise, or haze the surface by reflecting light off in various directions, therefore detracting from a clean, sharp, reflection. These imperfections include things like swirl marks & fine scratches, bird dropping etching & acid rain etching, holograms & buffer trails including (RIDS) random isolated deep scratches.
Before any serious work on paint correction begins we needed to wash the car down with a high foaming detergent that allows the active cleaning component to stay in contact with the surface giving a longer dwell time providing a higher cleaning rate from the detergent, reducing the risk of inflicting fine scratches and swirls allowing the active cleaning solution to get into gaps and crevices that are hard and sometimes impossible to reach The pressure lance works by creating a syphon, as water travels across the jet it pulls the solution from the reservoir bottle and mixes in the jet, using a series of mesh inserts its agitated in to a foam.
The Jag was then pressure washed (1200 psi, adjusted for specific paintwork and car types) down before using a PH neutral shampoo with a Microfiber mitt. The natural fibres in the mitt will not scratch the paint and they will essentially pull contamination into the sponge’s openings, away from the paint I then rinsed the car with a pressure washed followed by a dry down with a lint free micro fibre cloth.
Using a Maguire's DA Microfiber correction compound (for professional use only) that utilises super-micro abrasive technology to quickly remove scratches, acid rain, swirls/holograms and other light to moderate defects on factory paint. I used it with the Maguire's Microfiber Cutting Disc delivering no sling, low dusting performance for minimal prep and clean-up time.
The paint enhancement corrective process involves a small amount of clear coat/paint being removed from the surface with the use of a specialist abrasive polish, applied and worked in with appropriate polishing machines, in order to level out the surface.
Over time the scratches or imperfections had become too deep or severe to safely remove without the risk of removing too much of the surface paint or clear coat however they are minimised and reduced as best as possible using the machine polisher and polish products, rounding the edges of the scratches making them far less apparent in direct light. There are never any guarantees that the paint enhancement will completely remove all imperfections, some are just too deep to resolve.
During the process I use a light, replicating the effect of direct sunlight on the surface to check the condition of the paintwork and see how successfully the surface scratches and imperfections are being removed. If necessary a second pass with the polisher will be carried out, at all times adjusting the speed and pressure to ensure the process does not go any deeper than is required.
After correction I wipe the panels down with an isopropyl alcohol which removes any oils that may have been left over from the polish revealing the true finish, it also identifies any areas that may have been missed or require a little more work.
Once I had completed the enhancement the paintwork was treated to a full wax finish (Ceramic applications are also available), so the corrected paintwork now has a brilliant shine producing stunning reflections as I have removed all the scratches and imperfections that scatter and reflect the light rays in different directions.
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