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When polishing is just not enough…Mustang GT California Special detail

When I first saw this car when it arrived for detailing, It looked be in great shape. The paint was glossy, it was clean and it sounded fantastic due to the Borla exhaust rumbling as I inspected the car. Once I was able to see it under a swirl finder light, I found the paint to be in less than spectacular form. The current owner did a great job of keeping the car in great shape. Unfortunately, the previous owner was not as careful. As I started to correct the paint, I noticed a significant amount of “RIDS” (Really Intense Deep Scratches). These are deep scratches that are not beyond the clear coat and will not buff out. In cases like these, wet sanding is the only solution. Done properly, wet sanding can remove numerous imperfections such as orange peel, scratches and even aid in filling in scratches beyond the clear coat. Not for the faint at heart, I wouldn’t suggest wet sanding to the novice detailer. There is a proper procedure to follow to get optimum results. This Mustang needed the majority of the back end wet sanded due to its condition. RIDS and heavy orange peel plagued it. Using a paint gauge, I could gauge the thickness of the clear coat and the vehicle had a range of about 5.8 mills to 7.1 mills of clear coat throughout the paint. It took about 2 mills of clear to get rid of the imperfections. It was then corrected after sanding to a mirror reflection. Of course the distortion of the previous orange peel was now gone.  

The majority of the back end required wet sanding
The final results after wet sanding, compounding, polishing and waxing.

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