Ferrari Wheel/Rim before and after
Before & After for the work made in a white Ferrari.
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May 29, 2015
Blog & News 
December 22, 2014
Blog & News How to Remove Dents in Your Car’s Body
There’s nothing worse than the feeling of finding (or causing!) a dent in your car’s body. Don’t worry, though — most of the time, removing small dents is easier and less expensive than you might think.
You have a couple of choices for removing dents: You can try to remove the dent yourself, or take it to a paintless dent repair professional. Your decision may depend on how bad the damage is.
DIY Paintless Dent Repair
There are a couple of different ways to try to remove dents yourself. These methods work best if there is no creasing to the metal, if there are no cracks in the paint, and if the dent isn’t so deep that the metal has stretched. As long as the dent is just a shallow section of metal that has popped inward, it can usually be popped back out again without too much trouble.
There are two basic ways to pop out a dent: using a suction cup to pull the inverted metal back into place; or heating and then rapidly chilling the metal to cause it to pop out on its own.
- Using suction: You can try to pop out a dent using a plunger or another suction cup that is larger than the dent. Use a hairdryer on medium to gently heat the metal and paint, being careful to hold the hairdryer about six inches away to avoid damaging the paint. Then hold the plunger so that the suction cup completely cover the dent, push it in, and pull out. The suction should pop out the dent.
- Using heat and cold: Sometimes heating and then rapidly chilling a dent will cause the dent to return to its former shape. Heat the metal with a hairdryer on medium as explained above. You can chill the metal by either spraying it with a can of compressed air held upside down, or holding a piece of dry ice over it.
Professional Paintless Dent Repair
If you’re not able to remove the dent yourself, if you have more serious damage that requires more work, or if you are concerned about making the problem worse, you may choose to take the car to a dent repair specialist.
If there is no damage to the paint and no creases in the metal, paintless dent removal is often the least expensive way to repair the damage. The dent is popped out from the underside of the panel and the metal is returned to its original shape with the use of special tools. Repairs can be done in a few hours, with no need to use filler, blend paint, or allow the paint to cure.
However, if there is damage to the paint, if there are creases in the metal, or if the dent is not on a fairly flat expanse of metal, the body shop may need to use filler, sand, and repaint the area. These repairs will generally take a few days, so that the filler can dry fully and the paint can cure.
Whether you want to try removing the dent yourself or take it into a paintless dent repair shop or body shop is a personal decision, and should be made based on how familiar you are with working on your car’s exterior, and how confident you are that you can repair the dent without creating additional damage.
At ColorMate, we offer professional car dent repair services at very friendly rates. If you feel that we can be of assistance, contact us for a free quote today. We also offer same day car paint perfecting services, headlight restoration, rim repair, paint and bumper repair in Miami-Dade, Broward and West Palm Beach County regions. Schedule an appointment today for a free estimate from certified paintless dent repair specialist
December 19, 2014
Blog & News The Importance of Effective Headlight Restoration
Have your headlights gotten cloudy, or maybe even yellowed? Have you noticed you can’t see as well at night? Modern cars use plastic headlight assemblies that are susceptible to damage from the road and the sun over time.
Luckily, a body shop, or a paintless dent removal professional can restore clarity to your headlights, making them shine as brightly as they did when the car was new. Here’s what you need to know about headlight restoration.
Why is Headlight Restoration Necessary?
When car manufacturers switched to plastic headlight assemblies instead of the old glass sealed beams, they made changing your headlights much easier and less wasteful. Halogen bulbs are also much brighter than the old sealed beam headlights, making them a safer choice.
Unfortunately, road debris and sun cause the plastic assemblies to gradually become foggy or yellowed, which makes the headlights appear dimmer at night. To delay this process, automobile manufacturers put a UV clear coat on the plastic headlight assemblies, but it wears off over time. Once the headlights get foggy or yellowed, the damaged outer layer of the plastic will need to be resurfaced and a fresh UV clear coat applied to protect the newly restored headlights.
How Your Headlights are Restored
Headlight restoration is generally not a difficult process. Your paintless dent repair specialist should be the first place you call, as they are familiar with the process, and have the most experience with the tools and methods used to restore headlights to their former gleam.
After masking the area around your headlights and any trim in order to protect it, the specialist will sand away the very top layer of plastic on your headlight assembly. Once the yellowed plastic has been removed, they will polish the new exterior layer until it is clear. Finally, they will apply a sealant over the newly resurfaced plastic, protecting it from the sun and road debris.
Over time, the sealant will wear away, as your headlights are exposed to road debris, wind, and washing. You can help make the sealant last as long as possible by waxing your headlights when you wax the rest of your car. As the sealant wears away, the plastic will be vulnerable to the elements again, and will gradually become foggy and yellowed once again. At that point the headlights will simply need to be resurfaced again.
Should You Restore Your Headlights Yourself?
Although there are many do-it-yourself kits on the market for restoring your headlights yourself, they vary in quality and the amount of knowledge and experience required. Cheaper headlight restoration kits are fairly easy to use, but may not achieve the same clarity or last as long. A DIY headlight restoration done with a lesser-quality kit may only last a year before you notice the discoloration impacting your headlights’ effectiveness again.
Better quality kits require tools such as rotary buffers or a drill and therefore more expertise, as you can cause damage that will cost even more to repair, or even have to replace your headlight assemblies altogether.
Don’t risk your safety or that of your family or others on the road by driving with foggy, yellowed headlights that make it hard to see at night. Make sure you can see as well as possible, and have your headlights resurfaced as soon as you notice clouding or yellowing starting to affect the brightness of your headlights. Luckily, headlight restoration usually only requires your car to spend a few hours at your favorite dent repair shop, and then you’ll be on your way again — and able to see better than ever.
ColorMate offers headlight restoration, rim repair, bumper repair and more in Miami-Dade, Broward and West Palm Beach County regions. If you need our assistance, we shall gladly step on the way to help. Schedule an appointment today with a certified headlight restoration specialist.
December 17, 2014
Blog & News Improve Car’s Appearance with Scratch Removal
Your car is most likely the second biggest investment you will ever make, surpassed only by the purchase of your home. Since you have spent a lot of money on it, you naturally want to keep it in as good condition as possible.
Unfortunately, scratches and door dings are a fact of everyday life. You can protect your car’s paint by waxing it regularly, but damage will still get through occasionally.
Luckily, just because your car gets a scratch — or worse, a dent — doesn’t mean you have to live with it. Professional scratch removal and paintless dent repair can help you to maintain your car’s appearance and extend the life of your paint.
Scratch Repair Kits and Why You Should Avoid Them
Of course, the first thing you will probably think is that you can do this yourself. While everyone appreciates a can-do attitude, the truth is good scratch and dent removal requires a lot of patience, experience, and expertise, and not everyone can be an expert at everything.
There are a lot of scratch removal kits on the market that claim they can remove scratches from the paint, but the cheaper kits will only make a small problem worse, and the better kits are only as good as the person doing the scratch removal. Here are a few types of scratch removal kits on the market:
- Touch-up paint: Touch-up paint can be tempting. It is said to match your car’s original paint color, but it’s made by aftermarket companies, and their idea of a match might not be exactly what your car manufacturer’s idea was. Also, it’s actually a different kind of paint, so it may look different than the paint around it once it’s on, and in any case it’s hard to fill a scratch without getting lots of paint on the surrounding area — potentially turning a tiny scratch into a glaring repair.
- Scratch repair pens: These sound like a good idea in theory, as they should resolve a lot of the problems posed by touch-up paint. The pens generally cost less than $10, and how much damage can you do with just a little pen, right? Unfortunately, if the paint color isn’t a good match for your original paint, or if your hand isn’t steady, or if you overfill the scratch, you could still make the repair look worse than the scratch did by itself.
- Scratch removal kits: Many companies sell more involved kits that require multiple stages of painting and sanding, resolving the problems of touch-up paint and scratch repair pens, but the quality of your repair depends on how well you know what you’re doing. These kits attempt to mimic the results of professional scratch repair by walking you through the basic steps, but most do-it-yourselfers lack the experience and expertise to do a professional-quality job. Especially when you’re working with a high-speed rotary buffer, you can quickly turn a tiny scratch into a much bigger problem.
The Value of Professional Scratch and Dent Repair
Dollar for dollar, the best results for your money will be by hiring a scratch and dent removal professional. An expert will be able to determine how deep the scratch is, use paint, primer, and/or filler to repair the damage, and blend the repair with sandpaper and clear coat to restore the original smooth finish. A professional scratch removal job will be difficult, or even impossible, to detect, helping you to better maintain your car’s appearance, and ultimately, its value.
At ColorMate, we offer professional scratch and dent repair services at very friendly rates. We also offer same day car paint perfecting services, headlight restoration, rim repair, paint and bumper repair in Miami-Dade, Broward and West Palm Beach County regions. Schedule an appointment today for a free estimate from certified paintless dent repair specialist.
October 31, 2014
Blog & News The Importance of a High Quality Wax
As a car owner, you know just how important regular maintenance can be. But maintaining your vehicle means more than just simply taking it for a service at regular intervals. Your car’s image is very important and this means that you should consider car dent repair on a regular basis to maintain your car’s image.
It’s no longer enough to simply wash your car every now and then; waxing your car will make all the difference in terms of preserving its exterior. Just like paintless dent repair and headlight restoration can be important, so should high quality waxing.
Professional Car Waxing
A professional car waxing service will not only help to maintain your car’s image but it will also help to protect your car’s paint. You want to avoid small scratches, which is why you should consider waxing your car on a regular basis. Although you can do this on your own, it’s often better to leave it in the hands of the professionals as they specialize in professional waxing for a variety of vehicles.
Choosing the Best Wax
A high quality wax is essential when it comes to protecting your car’s paint. Not only do you want to eliminate small scratches to your paint, but you also want to protect your paint against the elements. A high quality, long-lasting wax can provide you with months of protection at a time, making it a solid investment for any car owner.
Not All Waxes Are Created Equally
Some newer waxes, especially synthetic ones, can last for up to a year. Cars that have been regularly waxed with a professional wax will also retain their shine for longer and this means less maintenance in the long run. To make sure that your chosen wax has been applied correctly you can run your hand across the car to feel for any inconsistencies or rough spots that you might have missed.
Waxing will make your car look shiny and new, which is an added benefit. Along with car paintless scratch repair every now and then, a high quality wax will be the perfect companion to help protect your car. You should also keep in mind that should you choose to sell your car in the future, the way it looks will make a huge difference in your selling price – a car buyer wants a vehicle that was properly taken care of.
If you are looking for professional car waxing services, speak to our friendly team today. We specialize in paintless dent repair, headlight restoration, rim repair, and leather interior repairs in Miami-Dade, Broward and West Palm Beach. Schedule an appointment for a free estimate from a car paint repair specialist.
October 29, 2014
Blog & News Finding a Professional Dent Repair Service
Paintless dent removal (PDR) is a delicate procedure that requires removal and repair of car dents on a car’s body without the need to touch up the paint job or remove paint from the region. For instance, after a minor hailstorm, your vehicle might sustain few unsightly dents which may prompt for paintless dent repair.
Professional dent repair services are a great solution in the event that your vehicle requires complete painting. Previously, to fix dents you needed to remove the paint entirely on the affected dented regions. Afterwards, the dent would then be removed and the car repainted. PDR skips paint removal or reapplication process meaning that you’ll be back on the wheel within a very short space of time.
Why You Should Only Hire an Experienced PDR Professional
While dent repair has undergone great changes in the auto paintless dent repair industry, it is still a procedure that requires incredible skill and experience to master the basics to perform it perfectly. It is also called “paintless dent removal.” If you are planning to carry out PDR for your vehicle, you may need a true professional for best results.
The difference between a pro and an amateur’s quality of work could mean a large sum of money for you. Rarely do PDR experts chip or crack your car’s paint. In fact, it almost never occurs. There are tricks and tips the professional can employ to prevent it. On the other hand, amateurs fail to recognize certain important factors which results in ruining the paint. Professionals accurately judge whether or not your car ding or dent can be fixed through this paintless process. Most likely, a beginner will not properly diagnose your car’s true body requirements. In this case, a minor problem may turn into a bigger one and consequently lead to higher spending.
Landing On the Best Professional Dent Repair Service
Dent repair professionals tend to look at ding and paintless dent removal as their source of livelihood. Going for a cheaper and quicker alternative is not a priority. Regardless of what you may choose, you definitely deserve an astounding mix.
Also, whether you are out for hail damage paintless dent repair or you just need that old ding or dent removed; this kind of repair is most likely your best bet. Still, you might handle it at home, but the quick and low price service of a professional will be a better alternative.
Remember, for paintless dent repair to work, the region can have dents and dings, but the paint should not be compromised at all. Lastly, if there is a gouge or crack in the paint, PDR may not fix that. As long as you focus the paint on the area of the dent, you might want to experience what a paintless dent repair specialist can do for you.
At ColorMate, we offer professional car dent repair services at very friendly rates. If you feel that we can be of assistance, contact us for a free quote today. We also offer same day car paint perfecting services, headlight restoration, rim repair, paint and bumper repair in Miami-Dade, Broward and West Palm Beach County regions. Schedule an appointment today for a free estimate from certified paintless dent repair specialist.
October 27, 2014
Blog & News How to Polish Your Car to a High Gloss Finish
Your vehicle might be shiny and squeaky clean, but still lack a tastefully high gloss finish. Several things may go wrong when this job is left to an amateur, particularly if he/she is doing it for the first time. Both auto dent repair and paint polishing are solutions to repair dings, dents and other car imperfections.
Yes, you might have also done away with grime and dirt from under the carriage of your car; yes, you might have also thoroughly shampooed or scrubbed the interior as required, but were you keen enough on the approach you employed when applying paint sealant or even car wax? Achieving a high gloss finish on any car is not simple task. You have to bend your back into it, buff and wipe each and every spot with care and precision. Some paintless dent repair experts also handle car paint polishing. It is important to find out the different car paint polishing and repair quotes for your car where necessary.
High Gloss Finish – Start with a Clean Canvas
It is advisable to go for large and established paintless dent removal and car polish experts around your region for convenience sake. The most important question that comes to mind and probably the only one is-how do pros handle it? Also, make sure the price you pay for paint polishing or dent repair is reasonable to avoid overcharging.
Experienced technicians spend most of their time working, so he/she definitely has higher chances of gaining training and experience over amateurish effort. Despite this, when armed with the right tools and a little patience, you can also achieve amazing results in no time. Otherwise, find a professional paintless dent repair and paint perfecting expert to work the trick! A great finish begins with thorough car exterior cleaning. Use a conditioner and car shampoo or use clay bay for extraction of leftover dirt. Importantly, make sure you are left with a clean, smooth and fresh canvas that allows paint sealant or wax to cling onto your paint polishing job properly.
Polishing Like a Pro
Professionals that are armed with special paintless dent repair and paint polishing tools find this job very simple. At this particular point in time, it’s necessary to understand that applying wax and polishing are completely two different steps in the detailing procedure. Waxing involves smearing wax on your car while the other is about working the polish onto your car’s surface.
Polishing helps encourage shining where you need it and deflects light from minor paint scratches. Also, the prices for paint perfecting and dent repair vary from one expert to another. Have rough estimates of paint polishing prior to meeting the technician. If the prices are not comparable, ask the professional for further clarification. The overall appearance should be a beautiful car that reflects light just like a gem. Therefore, the next time you go for paint polishing or paintless dent removal services, ask to see the most experienced individual to perform the task for you.
You definitely want polishing services that guarantee you a high gloss finish for your car. Let us know when you need our assistance. Our representative will guide you through the entire process and afterwards offer you a free quote. We also offer same day car paint perfecting services, headlight restoration, rim repair, paint and bumper repair in Miami-Dade, Broward and West Palm Beach County regions. Schedule an appointment today for a free estimate from a certified auto paint repair specialist.
October 25, 2014
Blog & News Why Lighting is Important for Polishing
Paintless dent repair (PDR), also known as “Paintless Dent Removal”, deals with dings and dents which deprive your car of its glory, along with scratches and swirls that occur in the absence of proper lighting. Regardless of whether you are dealing with a small dent, scrape or scratch, paintless dent repair can help reverse the process. On the other hand, lights help you to see whether or not the polish you are applying is broken down properly.
Halogen work lights are among the most popular to use for indoor lighting and are fairly priced as well. These lights help you identify any defects in the polish stages and paint as it breaks down further. Bumper repairs are effectively carried out with smart painting and polishing, but always polish your car under controlled lighting. Sunlight does not give the best lighting in this particular case because it’s sometimes masked with haze, fog or clouds and can hide imperfections, hazing and swirls.
You can only perform paintless dent repair if you have experience otherwise your car will look horrible. Alternatively, you can take lessons on how to perform dent repair so that you always do it yourself. The color of your paint, metallic or not, is an influencing factor on how easily you or others can see the flaws. Most non-metallic black cars will show everything. In contrast, metallic silver scatters and reflects most light that falls upon it, easily hiding any flaws. These principles apply to all paint jobs. Importantly, watch out for cheap car polishing, bumper repair and paintless dent removal deals that might put to risk the health of your car.
Under normal circumstances, a thin dust layer, for instance, can be totally invisible. Trying to experience with a hand or anything will only induce more scratches. Under “normal” lighting conditions, a paint job will tend to appear nearly flawless unlike in more severe lighting condition which reveals water pots, dust and swirl marks also known as fine scratches. Once you properly “see” and make the surface look great under those conditions, it will eventually look awesome in natural light.
Still on paintless dent removal, you can achieve a glossy car exterior appearance if you correctly employ this industry recognized process. The role of lights when polishing in this case cannot be stressed enough. Overhead lighting, such as the high warehouse skylights or fluorescent lights at a gas station during the night-tend to perform a great role in illuminating flaws along the horizontal surfaces of your vehicle, as long as there is no other light coming from any other direction. Very bright light on the surface works excellently; especially on darkened surfaces-get your good lights and experiment! If you need dent repair services, always go for those that can save you the time and inconvenience of taking your car to a paintless dent repair shop. Remember that not all cheap bumper repair deals are effective in giving you the so desired repair that will restore your car’s faded glory.
Conclusion
Suffice it to conclude that low lighting and viewing angles from the same point nearly parallel to the surface of your car are ideal for seeing “above surface” contaminants like dust and adhered stuff such as bug poop and sap. Higher lighting angles are also great for below-surface flaws.
At ColorMate, we offer same day car polishing services, headlight restoration, rim repair, paint and bumper repair in Miami-Dade, Broward and West Palm Beach County regions. Schedule an appointment today for a free estimate from a certified car paint repair specialist.
October 23, 2014
Blog & News The Benefits of Dashboard Repair
Whether you are an experienced or novice driver, it’s important to pay close attention to your vehicle’s dashboard functions to help keep track of essential information regarding your car. Therefore, when performing car interior repair, remember to also work on the dashboard. A properly functioning dashboard reminds you when it’s necessary to gas, how fast you are driving and also warns you when your car encounters a problem.
The benefits of repairing your dashboard are discussed below on the basis of its components. A dashboard is basically a combination of gauges, warning lights and other additional advanced features like a camera, GPS, music players, internet enabled devices and so on.
Gauges
Gauges occupy a large space on your car’s dashboard meaning they have major functions to perform as far as your car is concerned. These gauges include: a fuel gauge, tachometer, speedometer, odometer and temperature gauge. Repairing gauges on your dashboard literally means restoring important functions. For instance, restoring a speedometer means you are in control of your car’s speed. On the other hand, a tachometer shows your car’s rpm of your car engine. It is perhaps one of the important components of your car that will notify you in case of a problem with your car’s engine.
When performing interior car repair, also work on fuel gauge. This lets you get back in control of gas. Without this gauge on your dashboard, it will be almost impossible to tell when gas levels hit a minimum. Also, the life of your engine lies in the hands of your dashboard’s temperature gauge. Only the temperature gauge will warn you when your car engine overheats. The odometer shows the distance you have driven so far. It is dangerous to drive your car without proper functioning of any of these gauges.
Warning Lights
Your car dashboard has warning lights, so always keep an eye on them. Once you see any warning lights, it’s typically time to take your vehicle to a mechanic to help identify the problem that is causing the lights to illuminate. A simple or serious problem can cause them to illuminate. A simple problem could be a need to change oil while more serious issues could be related to your car engine. Any car dashboard typically has at least one warning light for the battery, coolant, brakes, fuel, air bag, door, seat belt, anti-lock brake system and the engine.
Advanced Functions
Changes in technology are resulting in additional features to a car’s dashboard. Some cars now have advanced features like cameras for backups, jacks for mp3 devices, digital music players, internet access and GPS. Prevent damage to your car vinyl dashboard by ensuring its topcoat remains intact. The topcoat is important in sealing plasticizers that keep the dashboard flexible and supple without which your dashboard will crack and dry out. Lastly, the topcoat may wear away with each dashboard cleaning exercise unless you take special precautions. Do not wait until the light begin illuminating for you to perform interior car repair. Whenever you spot any problem, find a qualified mechanic to handle it immediately for proper functioning of dashboard and its components.
At ColorMate, we offer same day dashboard repair services, headlight restoration, rim repair, paint and bumper repair in Miami-Dade, Broward and West Palm Beach County regions. Schedule an appointment today for a free estimate from a certified car interior repair specialist.
October 21, 2014
Blog & News How to Do Headlight Repair Correctly
A car’s headlights are crucial for your safety while cruising in inclement weather or at night. This is why you should always carry out safety inspections and perform headlight restoration where needed. An annual inspection is not enough; this should be done on a regular basis to ensure that all headlight functions are working properly.
Two spots of light on either side mean both lights are properly working. If they flick from high-beam to low-beam then check their setting. A car lighting system is fairly simple; however there are some things that will always go wrong. In most cases, the problem is usually the bulb itself, a switch or its fuses. Before spending money on car headlight restoration, it is crucial to first understand the cause of the problem.
Repairing “Yellowed” or “Fogged” Headlight Lenses
One very common issue with most modern headlight assemblies is that they become yellowed or fogged with time. This is as a result of “leaching out” which is caused by lubricants found in the polycarbonate plastic housing. This substance causes the plastic to dry. This process is also referred to as “oxidizing” and is similar to what occurs to paint on a vehicle which leaves a white powdery appearance.
When this happens, the headlights fail to properly shine light through lenses. This calls for a headlight restoration. Much light is lost or refracted off waywardly resulting in no visibility. If it gets worse, you may not make it past a safety inspection. To repair this, you need to remove the outer lens surface to make it clear again.
To make the headlights clear again, you will need to remove the outer surface of the lens so that the clear, unaffected region of the polycarbonate becomes visible. Some people have succeeded in performing car headlight restoration by using substances like peanut butter and toothpaste. Alternatively, the trick would be to use an abrasive object to gently the outer surface of the plastic.
Moreover, you can use 1500-grit sandpaper to clean off fogged areas of the plastic. Once done, replace it with 2500-grit sandpaper in order to smooth it out. Then polish it using a cloth and plastic polish. Also, you may use a rubbing compound that is not as abrasive as sandpaper. This means it will you will perform more rubbing, but ultimately achieve the similar results.
Repairing Cracked Headlight Lenses
Low hanging branches or flying stones could cause cracks on headlights. Failing to carry out timely headlight restoration means the crack will widen. Consequently, water will percolate through the crack and land on the hot headlight bulb thereby causing it to break. There are both repair patches and liquid repair solutions that you can apply on a headlight lens, much as how windshields are restored. After car headlight restoration, the crack may still be visible. In spite of this, the repair completely seals the cracks preventing entry of moisture, further cracking and widening of the lens.
Conclusion
Car headlight restoration is a relatively simple solution for most headlight related issues, except for problems that result from breaks and a short in the car’s wiring system. Even a home mechanic novice can easily replace bulbs and their housings, and generally repair most headlight problems, saving oneself a rather expensive trip to a mechanic.
We are in business because of you! Contact us if you need our assistance. We shall gladly step on the way to help. ColorMate offers headlight restoration, rim repair and bumper repair in Miami-Dade, Broward and West Palm Beach County regions. Schedule an appointment today with a certified headlight restoration specialist.