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Bought a DBS Shift **** from Speedracer800 when I met him during my 700 mile road trip. He had 1 used shifter that was pretty scuffed up, but being the resourceful DIY'er that I am, I decided to take on the challenge and bought it from him.
Got it home and eventually took it to a friend's shop where we blasted the shift **** to get the lacquered finish off of it. This turned it a matte grey color. From there we began to polish it using several different polishing wheels that he has. (His shop is a plating/polishing shop). I was on a time crunch so I left the shifter and one of his guys dropped it off to my friend who is a renowned Master Detailer. The plan was/is to put several coats of Ceramic Pro 9H on it to protect it and the finish.
Well, that's where the curveball comes in.....sometime between dropping it off and delivering it (a 2hr timespan), the crystal came in contact with the ground and a couple fine scratches were introduced. Needless to say, I was SICK! Thinking it was likely a mineral crystal, I took it to my local jeweler and they worked their magic on it. Good as new!
Got it back yesterday. It took me a while to find it, but I located some Flitz polishing liquid and spent about 90 minutes hand polishing it tonight. One more step to go, but overall very satisfied with the results so far as the shifter was pretty banged up originally probably due to jewelry. The pics should be in order of this story.
However a Metal Polish (example Optimum Metal Polish) along with a machine pad would take it that much further and get rid of the marring still left on it. Dremel with some type of foam pad might do the trick, but quite possibly the dremel cant be turned down low enough. I would personally use a rotarty buffer with a 3" pad set in a vice, then move the shifter around by hand.
Also----- you mentioned a Ceramic 9H coating you were planning to apply to the shifter. You also appear to mention that coating would prevent the scratches and marring. It wont prevent that at all. Coatings will prevent very very fine marring on the surface, but your normal ring or watch rubbing it wont prevent.
Proper credit: Written by Zach McGovern, professional detialer
COATINGS:
Due to the large market for coating products, there is a tremendous amount of competition among brands to sell their products and make a name for themselves in the industry. To complicate things even further, it seems like there are new companies flooding the market with even more products every day, and they all claim to be the best. Unfortunately, some companies and some detailers have resorted to unethical methods to help sell their products and/or services. These methods often involve “stretching the truth”, to put it lightly, in order to gain sales. What these businesses fail to realize is that while these false claims may end up resulting in more sales in the short term, they will ultimately have a negative effect on the entire coating industry in the long term, so let’s clear up some of the nonsense to help consumers and detailers better understand what coatings can actually do for them. Hardness – What does it really mean?
Many companies like to dwell on the hardness rating, such as 9H. Some even include it in their product’s name to draw attention to it. What most of them are not advertising is what 9H actually means. The test used to determine the film hardness that is advertised for every coating I have seen to date is known as the “Pencil Hardness Test”. As I understand it, this test consists of a variety of standardized grading pencils that range from soft to hard depending on the composition of the pencil. Using a pencil, a line is made on the surface that is being tested, and if no scratch is visible, the test is repeated with a harder pencil until the surface is scratched. A coating with a hardness of 9H does not show a scratch with the hardest pencil.
This is far different than the MOHS Mineral Hardness scale in which minerals are rated on a scale of 1-10, where 1 is the softest and 10 is the hardest. In the past, I have seen detailers advertising products with a 9H MOHS hardness, however this is simply not feasible. If a coating had a mineral hardness of 9H, the only substance that would be able to scratch the surface would be one with a hardness of 10H or greater. For reference, a diamond, one of the hardest substances on earth, is rated at 10H. With that in mind, if a coating was truly 9H mineral hardness, it would not be possible to scratch the car with a key and you certainly would not be able to make swirl marks with a dirty towel (unless you’re smashing up diamonds and sprinkling them onto your towels).
Once a coating is applied, it can be scratched and swirled just the same as bare paint, so do not read too far into the hardness claims that are listed with any particular coating. In my opinion, they are nothing more than marketing hype.
Many misconceptions about coatings out there, but that is a whole other topic
However a Metal Polish (example Optimum Metal Polish) along with a machine pad would take it that much further and get rid of the marring still left on it. Dremel with some type of foam pad might do the trick, but quite possibly the dremel cant be turned down low enough. I would personally use a rotarty buffer with a 3" pad set in a vice, then move the shifter around by hand.
Also----- you mentioned a Ceramic 9H coating you were planning to apply to the shifter. You also appear to mention that coating would prevent the scratches and marring. It wont prevent that at all. Coatings will prevent very very fine marring on the surface, but your normal ring or watch rubbing it wont prevent.
Proper credit: Written by Zach McGovern, professional detialer
COATINGS:
Due to the large market for coating products, there is a tremendous amount of competition among brands to sell their products and make a name for themselves in the industry. To complicate things even further, it seems like there are new companies flooding the market with even more products every day, and they all claim to be the best. Unfortunately, some companies and some detailers have resorted to unethical methods to help sell their products and/or services. These methods often involve “stretching the truth”, to put it lightly, in order to gain sales. What these businesses fail to realize is that while these false claims may end up resulting in more sales in the short term, they will ultimately have a negative effect on the entire coating industry in the long term, so let’s clear up some of the nonsense to help consumers and detailers better understand what coatings can actually do for them. Hardness – What does it really mean?
Many companies like to dwell on the hardness rating, such as 9H. Some even include it in their product’s name to draw attention to it. What most of them are not advertising is what 9H actually means. The test used to determine the film hardness that is advertised for every coating I have seen to date is known as the “Pencil Hardness Test”. As I understand it, this test consists of a variety of standardized grading pencils that range from soft to hard depending on the composition of the pencil. Using a pencil, a line is made on the surface that is being tested, and if no scratch is visible, the test is repeated with a harder pencil until the surface is scratched. A coating with a hardness of 9H does not show a scratch with the hardest pencil.
This is far different than the MOHS Mineral Hardness scale in which minerals are rated on a scale of 1-10, where 1 is the softest and 10 is the hardest. In the past, I have seen detailers advertising products with a 9H MOHS hardness, however this is simply not feasible. If a coating had a mineral hardness of 9H, the only substance that would be able to scratch the surface would be one with a hardness of 10H or greater. For reference, a diamond, one of the hardest substances on earth, is rated at 10H. With that in mind, if a coating was truly 9H mineral hardness, it would not be possible to scratch the car with a key and you certainly would not be able to make swirl marks with a dirty towel (unless you’re smashing up diamonds and sprinkling them onto your towels).
Once a coating is applied, it can be scratched and swirled just the same as bare paint, so do not read too far into the hardness claims that are listed with any particular coating. In my opinion, they are nothing more than marketing hype.
Many misconceptions about coatings out there, but that is a whole other topic
Great post Sherriff....and thank you for the compliment! A couple of Observations:
I need to protect this shifter somehow. Originally it has a lacquer for that purpose. The lacquer is highly susceptible to scratching as we all know. I'm looking to try something a little tougher.
Do not think for a minute that the Ceramic Pro, or any other product will *prevent* scratches. They *will* eventually happen. HOWEVER, I have CP 9H on 2 of my vehicles. My Yukon has had it since day 1. Over the last 2 years it's been through approximately 120 carwashes (Average 2/week). I can tell you with 100% certainty that the paint looks as it did on Day1 except for 1 door ding/scratch in the left passenger door. There simply are NO fine swirls/spider-webbing/etc that you would expect after 100+ car washes. I'm a believer, and I've been doing detailing as a hobby (playing with paint) for about 15 years. Also, you are spot on in that there is a ton of *marketing hype* in this industry especially lately with the "hardness rating" (insert fav. jokes here...)
While I do not want to turn this thread into a detailing debate, I do need to protect this shifter with something. We shall see how the Ceramic Pro holds up vs. the original lacquer. More to come on that.
I did order some polishing compound and will continue to perfect the finish on the shifter. It does not need to be on the car until spring so I have plenty of time to get one of my buffers out and see how far I can take it.
Great post Sherriff....and thank you for the compliment! A couple of Observations:
I need to protect this shifter somehow. Originally it has a lacquer for that purpose. The lacquer is highly susceptible to scratching as we all know. I'm looking to try something a little tougher.
Do not think for a minute that the Ceramic Pro, or any other product will *prevent* scratches. They *will* eventually happen. HOWEVER, I have CP 9H on 2 of my vehicles. My Yukon has had it since day 1. Over the last 2 years it's been through approximately 120 carwashes (Average 2/week). I can tell you with 100% certainty that the paint looks as it did on Day1 except for 1 door ding/scratch in the left passenger door. There simply are NO fine swirls/spider-webbing/etc that you would expect after 100+ car washes. I'm a believer, and I've been doing detailing as a hobby (playing with paint) for about 15 years. Also, you are spot on in that there is a ton of *marketing hype* in this industry especially lately with the "hardness rating" (insert fav. jokes here...)
While I do not want to turn this thread into a detailing debate, I do need to protect this shifter with something. We shall see how the Ceramic Pro holds up vs. the original lacquer. More to come on that.
I did order some polishing compound and will continue to perfect the finish on the shifter. It does not need to be on the car until spring so I have plenty of time to get one of my buffers out and see how far I can take it.
Jim
I just bought a Rupes iBrid Nano short neck which I would think with a 1" pad would be awesome to use for that piece. But not worth buying for just that.
Not sure what buffers you use (Flex 3401, Rupes 3"LHR, Ibrid short neck, GG 3", and a Flex PE-08) but I think I will want to sell the Flex PE-08 rotary (1,2,3") pads this Dec, for less than you could buy one for, so let me know if you might be interested in that. Just checking, likely throw it on the bay then for probably 180 or so.
I will also be doing a full write up on here for the detailing Paint Correction I will be doing in 2 weeks on my DB9 so other owners get the information.
I just bought a Rupes iBrid Nano short neck which I would think with a 1" pad would be awesome to use for that piece. But not worth buying for just that.
Not sure what buffers you use (Flex 3401, Rupes 3"LHR, Ibrid short neck, GG 3", and a Flex PE-08) but I think I will want to sell the Flex PE-08 rotary (1,2,3") pads this Dec, for less than you could buy one for, so let me know if you might be interested in that. Just checking, likely throw it on the bay then for probably 180 or so.
I will also be doing a full write up on here for the detailing Paint Correction I will be doing in 2 weeks on my DB9 so other owners get the information.
Will look forward to reading your paint correction post. I have a 3" Rupes and a 6" Rupes buffer. I have access to the short neck one via my buddy Mike who is a well known professional detailer so I'll continue to transform this shift ****.
Spent some time on the shifter yesterday. Got out my 3" random orbital with a new microfiber pad and some ultra fine polish. Getting it really close to a mirrored finish now! Going to take another time or two to get it perfect, then I'll coat it and protect that shine!!! The 1st picture shows the top vs. bottom half. 3rd pic shows how messy this job is and the last two pics show the mirrored finish that I'm going for on the opposite side of the shifter.
I'm using a metal polish called Flitz. I did the first stage by hand and the 2nd using my 3" random orbital set to 2.5. Still have a little bit to go. I'll post more pics and hopefully I can figure out how to get them in the right orientation!
Really looking amazing Jim! I wish you had some "before" pictures so everyone could see how beat up that thing was when you got it from me.
Anyone interested.. I've got 2 more brand new shift ***** available. Shoot me a pm if you're interested! Best deal you'll find on one anywhere.. But when they're gone.. They're gone.
11-27-2016, 06:49 PM
