Bentley Continental GT – Major Paint Correction – Opti Coat Pro Plus.

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Timeless elegance.

This gorgeous black Bentley Continental GT needed some significant work to make it stand out among its peers.

This video walk around clearly shows the range of defects: Holograms, swirls, wash marks, sanding marks, haziness, and an overall lack of clarity.

A two to three step correction was started to remove these defects and finish the paint, taking care not to remove excessive amounts of clear coat, or induce unnecessary heating of paint.

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Note the fingers of light radiation from a point light source – Holograms.

dsc_7740Holograms reduced after first pass. This hood will then continue to get refined to further improve reflection and clarity, but the major improvement is already visible.

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Is your black car really black? Between the left and right of this tape line, you can see how the initial pass, even in the absence of visible defects, yields a darker and clearer paint surface. This is due to surface haziness, typically caused by improper final polishing. The difference is much more profound in person and requires overexposing the photo to try and capture it.

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Here is a combination of wash marks and towards the top of the light reflections, some sanding marks (really short scratches)!

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Resolved.

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More wash marks, resolved. Soft black paint will especially benefit from Opti Coat Pro Plus as it cures much harder, but also reduces wash effort and frequency, minimizing chances of re installing these wash marks.dsc_7822 dsc_7823

More Gloss Management! Opti Coat Pro, once applied to the front facia of the Bentley, will prevent bug guts from etching the soft black paint, and make clean up a breeze. Minneapolis bugs beware!

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Again, is your black car really black?

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More washing marks resolved.

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Sanding marks (that circular shaped haze) left behind on the Bentley’s rear spoiler.

dsc_7794After careful paint correction, those sanding marks too are removed. The challenge here is the fact that the spoiler is small and not metal. Both these factors require the utmost in caution to ensure there is no heat damage done.

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More gloss management.

dsc_7761 dsc_7762Some rather deep scratches on the wheel arches.dsc_7750

 

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Wash marks on the front air dam.dsc_7850 dsc_7851 dsc_7853Some more before and after pictures for good measure.

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Great contrast between the rear bumper, and rear quarter panel which has already been polished.

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Hand polishing the emblem.

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Did you know the Bentley wings feature an asymmetrical number of feathers to deter counterfeiters.

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Finger torture!

After polishing, the car was finished in a very special and gentle water polishing method, courtesy of the great Kevin Brown (http://www.buffdaddy.com). The issue was that the black paint was so soft that polishing with conventional methods left behind too much residue, which caused marring again when it was wiped up. By doing a finishing polish with mostly water, the residue was minimized and the perfect finish maintained. The process was exceptionally messy and time-consuming so no pictures were taken during this phase.

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After polishing, the car was washed down again and wiped with a special paint prep solution to ensure the surface was ready for coating. Car was coated in Opti Coat Pro Plus, adding hardness to the soft paint, and making cleanup a breeze!

 

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