Paintwork Correction, an overview

The Paintwork Correction Detail

www.rgkdetailing.co.uk

Paintwork correction is the process in which numerous paint defects are removed from the existing paint finish, by re leveling the paint through machine polishing using various grades of foam/wool pads, liquid polishes, and sand paper to completely refresh the finish.

Defects that can often be fully removed include

Swirl marks (wash marring)
Fine scratches in the clear coat
Holograms (caused by poor machine polishing technique)
Sanding haze (often caused by poor paint sanding technique by car bodyshops etc)
Bird dropping damage
Tree sap etchings and other etchings caused by contaminants being left for too long
Oxidation (UV damage)

All of the above defects detract massively from the appearance of your paintwork, often making the finish appear dull, and very unsightly under various forms of lighting especially sunlight!

Providing there is enough clear coat or top coat thickness, these defects can often be fully removed or the worst of the damage can be removed, paint depth readings are taken throughout the process to monitor the amount of paint which is being removed, to ensure than enough paint is left behind for future polishing

This can be a very time consuming process as several stages of polishing could be required to remove the damage safely, on average this can take around 20 – 40 hours, but the end result is a finish which has complete clarity, a deep gloss, and can reflect sunlight perfectly!

Deeper defects such as stone chips, scratches which have broken the paint, and light scuffs (found on bumper corners) can be rectified to a degree by using colour matched paint to fill in the damage, sand away the excess paint and polish the affected area, this can often be a very effective repair that saves the need for the panel to be resprayed!

Here is an example of a stone chip repair on a 2007 BMW 525d

After repair

We offer two core Paintwork correction packages, although every car is different so must be priced up individually!

Light Paintwork Correction, in the name really this is suitable for cars which have generally been well cared for with very light defects, up to stages of machine polishing, which will remove light wash marring, and clarity and a depth of gloss to the paint finish, this takes around 20 hours on average, and includes a complete detail of the exterior surfaces.

Full paintwork Correction, This is aimed at owners who want a totally flawless paint finish, as considerable time will be spent completely removing all defects (if possible due to paint thickness)but also cars which have been neglected or poorly washed, and also older cars in which the top coat has aged over the years, may require a similar amount of time to be spent to restore the finish to its very best! this also includes a complete detail of the exterior surfaces. average time spent can be from 35 hours to over 100 hours depending on the condition of your car.

Another form of paintwork correction we offer is wet sanding to remove the orange peel effect in a paint finish, all production cars are effected by this, some worse than others, this is an incredibly time consuming process, as a the process of sanding the paint to flatten out the orange peel creates its own damage which then needs to be carefully polished back up again leaving a completely flawless finish, once finished however you are left with a high gloss mirror like reflection which will be almost completely free of any distortion, this should not be confused with the flatting and polishing that a painter does as often resprayed panel still suffer from sanding scratches and haze due to the painter not spending enough time polishing the finish to completely remove the damage caused by sanding, and also we would be looking to remove as much orange peel as safely possible, whereas a painter is ideally trying to match the texture of the factory so will be leaving some amount of orange peel behind.

2007 BMW 525d which had received Full paintwork Correction

Before