pirahnah3

Was in my truck in the driveway after work last night, checking some emails and a deer walked up to the side window looked around and then walked away. Gosh dang residential deer lol. 

Did you know that 94.6% of statistics are made up on the spot? 

Welcome to the addiction! Im sure your collection will grow quickly. Mystery Boxes are a great way to get started! 

@falcaineer is right, H2O is some great stuff when used properly, your first time will be a bit rough and you will use more than needed. After that you will get your system of using it down and come to love the product. 

Welcome to the addiction! Im sure your collection will grow quickly. Mystery Boxes are a great way to get started! 

I understand the rush, but I know I can wait for it to arrive.  I enjoy the suspense!  ?
 
Speed without accuracy, cuts into the bottom line. 1/10/100 rule..   
 
Cost $1 to do it right
Cost $10 to redo it
Cost $100 redo a third

Sometimes it does take multiple passes to get things the way you want. @shane@detailedreflections makes a great point about burning thru clear coat, and be really careful of this. In the end perfection is nearly impossible and honestly get it to where you are ok with it then spend the rest of the time enjoying it. 

Exactly what Chris said. MF pads are a bit harder to work with because they flatten out and need to be blown out and brushed constantly to keep cutting well. 
 
A test spot will reveal the process you’ll need for the most part throughout the car.
 
My word of caution though is to be careful chasing imperfections with compound and  MF pads. You can take a lot of clear coat off in a hurry depending on the exact products you’re using. 

Isnt that the same logic the wives use when they buy clothes or shoes or something? So it should be easy to use. 

Based on Customers car, Id start with discussing some pricing differential, and if they are not coming back all the time for maint cleaning then I would offer 2 options, one being the Americana great coating longevity and all that. You can always step that up to the Ceramic wax and talk about its potential longer life and SIO2 content. 

Honestly, to me it depends on when you are waxing and what the show prep might be. If your looking to spend the time and keep the car looking good going over it all the time, honestly Buttery is a good option (As Adam said in WC#3). I can certainly see Americana being a great option for it for its durability if you dont want to be out there all the time. Ceramic will be great but harder to remove and not quite sure what your prep would turn into based on its SIO2 content. 
 
Questions on prep for the car, 
Are you going to do show wipe downs? If so with what product? 
Do you drive the car alot? 
Does it live inside or ourside? 

I would say it depends on the look you want. Some folks just want clean while others want complete chrome look shine. if its painted or powder coated treat it like paint and you should be fine, thou I would wonder what IUC would do to it....might keep the grime off it longer, thou not sure if you could really detail it after that lol. 

$100 one used to come with a full 16oz detail spray not just the 4oz/8oz that was shipping with the $50 ones. 

lol @shane@detailedreflections thanks Im much happier with stuff in the reflections! 
 
Glad to see some pics of the guys on the forums. I have had quite a few interactions with the interior king of the northern hemisphere, and Justin seems like a great guy who was still learning last time I was down to see Shane and the crew, but was learning FAST from yall. 

Here’s a little teaser of the first coat of coating down on a truck that came in...still two coats to go for some long protection for our client!  
 
Black has been the flavor of the week!
 
This truck went through three steps of correction before being prepped for coating. And to make @pirahnah3 happy, we included reflections!
 

 
And since my father in law was kind enough to do the electrical in the new workspace, we thought it was fair to thank him by giving his car a service...it was pretty rough since he drives it from Florida every year when he comes home. But the boys did a great job turning it around!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
And lastly, we couldn’t push out all this great work without these two guys!  Marquis is an animal when it comes to this stuff. He’s a quiet guy who greatly understates his ability and knowledge. 
 

 
And Justin who’s still learning all of the ropes but has fantastic attention to detail and patience. These two guys help the business run and couldn’t ask for better guys to grind with!  If they ever join here, they can themselves in a post!
 

 
 

Why do I feel an A-Team remake with that van in its future? lol. 
 
@ObsessedDetailer They are a lot of fun! but even the 5.7 has some good get up and run with those cars and can be had fairly cheap comparatively speaking 

Awesome work as always Shane and Marquis! 
 
BTW while I love shiny photos and all that I think to show a great reflection photo it should have something to reflect other than some random yard area. Maybe its me, but seems like a great time for some shameless publicity with a banner lol. At least another car or something to show how clear the paint really is after your work. 

The steps vary widely based on what products you have in your detailing supplies and what your goals are?  
 
Are you doing a full detail?  A maintenance wash?  Prepping for ceramic coating?  Paint correction?
 
There is a reference somewhere, but I don’t think it ever truly caught on due to the variables. 

Might be, but I dont ever recall seeing it come out publicly, which is why I think its a demo previous idea or a new one. 

Manufacturers, transporters, and dealers are HARD on cars. The lot attendants are no better really, its about selling a car and not putting a big dent or scratch into it no care to the little stuff. The detail shop isnt a whole lot better they are typically paid by the vehicle so the faster its out the more money the can make. 
 
Great way to show how bad a new car can be, and how to really see it and deal with it. 

Waterless Wash, or Rinseless Wash diluted 16:1 (for a waterless wash-like solution), and the Waterless Wash towel is ideal for dust. DS will work great, too.

Waterless Wash & Waterless Wash MF towels..... great combo!
 
 

Everyone talks about swirls and how bad they are. We know they’re bad. They’re also very easy to get, sometimes without even knowing. 
 
We began working on a two week old Ram 1500 that came to us with just 800 miles on the clock. The owner hadn’t washed it since he made an appointment with us to give it the business. 
 
When the truck came, it didn’t look too bad. Some minor defects here and there, but workable. After washing the truck, we found more defects. 
 
As we were ready to start polishing, we put it under our Astro Pneumatic colormatch light (similar to a handheld scanlight). And that’s where things went sideways. 
 
 

 
And...
 

 
You can easily how bad the damage is to the finish of this new truck under the proper lighting.
 
Without proper (maybe even specialty) lighting, we would never have caught just how bad it is.
 
Lighting took us from a finishing polish as new vehicle prep to compounding, correcting and finishing polish. We still have more to go tomorrow, but it’s looking good so far. 
 

 
Don’t underestimate the power of proper lighting and techniques. Sometimes you need to change the plan in the middle. 
 
All photos were taken under the same light with just my phone to write this. There was no change between them. Lighting is one of the most important aspects to proper detailing. 

So I have been sitting on this info for about 8 months at this point because I didnt want to jinx the whole process but all the major hurdles have been finally cleared and things can get going. 
 
I am sadly going to be tearing down my current garage...its a sad day I know, and having to lose the building is not something I wanted to do. Sadly thou several engineers agreed that it was not financially wise to attempt to save it. It was just too far gone. So very soon it will be time to say good bye to the current garage, and say hello to what the attached plans show is my new garage and workshop area. 
 
We are looking at overall about 3-4 months total time and yes I will take photos all along the way. Some design points and things to note:
Building is going to be 70*40 overall with 13ft interior ceiling height and clearspanned aside from the 1 shear wall that you see separating the "barn" from the wood shop. 
Flooring was designed to handle car lifts anywhere I want to put them, so yes its overbuilt for normal, but not knowing exactly where I wanted things yet this made the most sense. 
Currently being built as cold storage with power to be added later,
water is in debate due to potentially needing to dig another well, and the work to connect to the current septic system. 
 
Had to finally share the exciting news now that I have the engineered stamped plans, closed on financing, AND signed the building permit application. 


 

So I have been sitting on this info for about 8 months at this point because I didnt want to jinx the whole process but all the major hurdles have been finally cleared and things can get going. 
 
I am sadly going to be tearing down my current garage...its a sad day I know, and having to lose the building is not something I wanted to do. Sadly thou several engineers agreed that it was not financially wise to attempt to save it. It was just too far gone. So very soon it will be time to say good bye to the current garage, and say hello to what the attached plans show is my new garage and workshop area. 
 
We are looking at overall about 3-4 months total time and yes I will take photos all along the way. Some design points and things to note:
Building is going to be 70*40 overall with 13ft interior ceiling height and clearspanned aside from the 1 shear wall that you see separating the "barn" from the wood shop. 
Flooring was designed to handle car lifts anywhere I want to put them, so yes its overbuilt for normal, but not knowing exactly where I wanted things yet this made the most sense. 
Currently being built as cold storage with power to be added later,
water is in debate due to potentially needing to dig another well, and the work to connect to the current septic system. 
 
Had to finally share the exciting news now that I have the engineered stamped plans, closed on financing, AND signed the building permit application.