In the event you are trying to revive some plastic that is beyond destroyed, I offer a Bumper and Plastic painting service. The paint I use is formulated for plastic. Comes in typical plastic colors, (Black, Grey and Tan) and leaves a VERY even sheen. You won’t be able to tell its been painted. I have also treated these paint jobs with BlackWOW to prolong the new bumpers with GREAT results!

Heres an OLD Saturn. You can see here that bumper is beyond repair.

Everything was carefully taped off including signal lenses and wheels and tires. An alcohol and water mixture as well as a small brush was used to clean the surface before painting.

 

This is a great option for customers looking to sell their vehicle. Bumpers start at 54.99 each. Windshield cowls are 49.99. Mirrors 19.99 each. Vehicles with large plastic panels such as Chevy Avalanche and Honda Element will be quoted individually. BlackWow is still the preferred method of trim restore and a lot of times it can be brought back to life with a good cleaning and application of BlackWow.

Comments (No responses yet)

Like I’ve stated before, preventive maintenance is a lot easier than restoration. But in the event that you notice your plastic and bumpers starting to get chalky, dry and deteriorate in the Florida sun, what do you do?

You have a few options: You could pay hundreds of dollars and replace the part. Yeah right who wants to drop $400 bucks on a plastic windshield cowl just to have it go chalky again in a few years? So that option is out.  Or you can just put a plastic and trim dressing on it every wash. If you have ever bought a miracle product at the store you know like I do that its only a quick fix. You apply the product and WOW! Its black and shiny (or matte) again! You finish washing your vehicle, go inside and come back out later to go somewhere and…..wait a second…I KNOW I put that “forever permanent awesome plastic treatment” on there. Why is it chalky again? Or lets say it rains and you quickly notice that the rain has made the product runny. So now your shine is splotchy with runs or worse you see it run onto your paint. You decide you’re never going to waste money again on that stuff.

Well this falls under the “get what you pay for” category. There are a few products that I use exclusively on my details. But for this article Im going to talk about 1. The product is called “BlackWOW!” It is formulated by a friend of mine named Richard Lin. He is an expert detailer out of California. His level of expertise, passion for car care and eagerness to share his knowledge is truly unrivaled. This product is really amazing. Especially when used in conjunction with “PreWOW.”  PreWOW is a formula that removes wax and polish from your trim BEFORE the application of BlackWow. I find that it is a great cleaner that also removes old dressing from your plastic leaving a clean and chemical free surface for your BlackWOW to bond to. This is important for final appearance and longevity of your BlackWOW application.

Heres a small test I did on the plastic mirror of my 06 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. Its been a while since I’ve given her much TLC so it was a good candidate for the photo shoot.

Heres the mirror untreated and dirty

Look how the water reacts. It just sits there, absorbs into some parts and does not bead off.

Here I am scrubbing the textured plastic with just a few drops of PREWOW. A little really goes a LONG way!  (And it smells great!)

The brush really helps get the product into the pores and remove dirt and contaminants as well as old protectant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Take a look at this plastic! Cleaned 100% with PreWOW. All of the dirt and bugs were removed leaving a clean and fresh surface.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the Mirror with just a few drops of BlackWOW applied. Again, a LITTLE goes a long way. It leaves a non greasy, even sheen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the part I like the best; Look at what happens when water is dumped on the mirror. It reacts the same way a perfectly waxed painted hood does. The water beads right up and falls off. It does not absorb into the plastic and the protection of BlackWow holds its ground!

 

It takes a few minutes to do this correctly. The cleaning step in my opinion is of course the most important step. As in any project the magic is in the prep work. But this treatment will last for WEEKS even more depending on how often you wash your vehicle and what you use to wash it with. And done regularly your trim will look better than new for years and years. This mirror is off an 06. And it was NOT in good shape when I bought this in October. It was completely restored with PreWOW and BlackWOW.

Here’s another example. When Black Wow is applied it protected the trim when water was applied. Unprotected areas just absorbed the water into the plastic.

Heres a side by side shot on a faded Pontiac Vibe

Comments (No responses yet)

As you can see above, swirl marks greatly reduce the appearance of your finish as well well as diminish the gloss. These results are from POLISHING the paint with a machine. This process takes time and patience. This service is not included on a basic detail and is priced based on size of vehicle, severity of the defect, and estimated time. After the paint is repaired a good coat of wax or sealant is applied for protection.

Comments (No responses yet)

Yes this is my vehicle. My beloved Jeep. It’s been very good to me and I haven’t been as good to it as I should. I put sweat and love into everyone else’s cars but not mine. (Hey you don’t get paid to polish your own ride!)

This vehicle is 5 years old and the hood has been through a lot. Beach sand, off roading through woods, Florida sun with no protection. It has a few spots of clear coat cracking and I plan on sanding it down and having the hood resprayed. There’s also some gouges in the finish that has been coated with touch up paint that are still visible.

I used a high speed buffer and a Dual Action Polisher along with foam and wool pads and different cuts of Menzerna Polish. The color is now rich and deep and swirl free. I might reconsider that repsraying for a while!

I topped the hood with 3M Marine wax. This stuff is TOUGH! It has to be to withstand salt water. I noticed while waxing a boat with it how shiny it was and how the water beaded on my HANDS after getting some on them! Among other things. Its a new theory I’m testing out, (using boat wax on vehicles.) I’ll keep you posted on how it works and how long it lasts compared to other waxes I’ve used.

Comments (No responses yet)

Here’s a Porsche I take care of regularly. It was pretty dirty! But being that it is well taken care of and garage kept, clean up is fairly easy and only a basic detail is needed most of the time.

The wheels and calipers were extra dirty so a Deluxe Wheel Clean was performed on each wheel. I recommend this service on all sports cars or vehicles with premium or after market rims for a few reasons; first, you can not properly clean the caliper without removing the wheel in most cases. They don’t paint it a bright color and tag it with “Porsche” (or whatever else) just so it can sit filthy in plain view. Another reason is that the wheel fills out 99% of the wheel well. Removing the wheel gives you a chance to properly clean the wheel well and inspect the wear of the tire.

Lastly, as you can see below, you cant not clean the entire wheel with it on the car. Most of these types of cars have an extremely wide wheel, and cleaning only half of it looks pretty bad.

These are all AFTER pictures. Notice the rims and the bright calipers.

Comments (One response so far)