What's the dumbest thing...

[estecoca]

...you've ever done or seen done in detailing a vehicle?

 

I'll start with a couple:

 

1. I once used that Mr. Clean auto wash system. Sounded like a good idea - you dont have to dry the vehicle and the system is cheaper than a real water purification system. Too bad it's soap has close to zero suds and (appears to be) super full of detergents. I've obviously come a long way in my car detailing education!

 

2. I once saw an Iraqi woman (new to the states and, obviously, washing a car) wash her Mercedes with a two-sided dish sponge, then dry it with paper towels! Sounds like a lie, I know....I wish I hadn't seen it. That poor car looked like it had been worked over with steel wool.

[Team Adam's]

Dumbest thing I've ever done was when I dropped a bottle of our Invisible Undercarriage Spray in my garage, slipped on it, and dislocated my shoulder! Spent the rest of the night in the ER.

[Krzdimond]

washed my BRAND NEW '88 Nissan Sentra with an Army issue steam cleaner (5500PSI, 220* hot water). Took the clearcoat right off the hood:help:.

 

Took it back to the dealer less than a week after delivery for a new paint job (under warranty:thumbsup:)

[estecoca]

That's awesome, Robert! Gotta love the strength of govt issued gear...

 

btw, I just know there is someone out there who jacked their aluminum or chrome wheels with scouring powder (like, Ajax or Comet). I just wonder if they would ever fess up...

[ozzy]

Well it’s not a detailing story, but they will need one after.......

 

I was on my way to work one night, it had snowed real good out, I stopped to the local store to pick up a soda, I saw the register attendant’s son (he was young) using the ice scraper to remove the snow off the paint, not the brush side, the scraper side........I know Adam’s stuff is good, but not good enough to remove the scratches that were in that paint.

[eleven357]

when I was 16 (15 years ago) I would wash my car with dish soap.

Also used terrycloth towels to dry.

 

I would also wax every 3 months but since I was using dish soap, well you know the rest.

[CRQuarto]

One night I was pretty bored, and as it was summer time and still nice and warm out, I decided that I would do a little moonlight detailing. I was wiping the car down with detail spray and BSG, and finally had gotten to the wheels. I started spraying the wheels down with detail spray, or so I thought, to remove a bunch of brake dust I had put on them earlier in the day (those GT500's are notorious for epic brake dust). I did each of the wheels, wiped them down, then went inside to call it a night. I came out in the morning and saw that I had actually sprayed the wheels with BSG instead of detail spray, and had just basically smeared brake dust all over them, resulting in a mess.

 

I know, weak, but it's the dumbest thing I have done so far....other than buying Meguiars products!

[mikegeaney]

My first car was a 1972 Buick GS Convertible. I worked on that car for 1 year before it went on the road. I decided that steel wool, SOS pads actually, was the best way to clean the chrome bumpers and wheels. The car had an N-25 rear bumper which was the one the dual exhaust came thru so there was lots of carbon build up. I did that for some time and the chrome died of un-natural causes.

 

Even dumber was when I Armor All'd the entire interior. Yes, entire includes the floor mats as well as the gas and brake pedals. Not that the car could corner well as it was a tank but I can still remember sliding almost all the way across the bench seat on the first corner I took. It took quite some effort to get all that junk off of there. I have no idea how I didn't hit anything that day...

[Marylander]

When My buddy and I were about 14 we washed his mom's Olds Firenza with spic & span. Needless to say that didn't do anything good for the finish, but the car was such a POS I don't think anyone would have noticed.

 

More recently (last year) I scrubbed a ton of brake grime and crap off the my Audi's wheels with what I though was a soft-enough scrubby-type dish sponge. It left minor scratches everywhere. Fortunately a lot of polishing with S&H Remover and a Mother's small Powerball bot them back to showroom condition. Whew.

[70'sChevyGirl]

Well 5 days before the largest MI summer event-The Annual Woodward Cruise, the trans went out on the Big Block. On Thurday night we yanked the trans out and drove to Indiana to have a new one built onsite on Friday while we waitied. We arrived at the shop at 7 am and they had the new one built by 11 am and we drove all the way back home to Metro Detroit with the smell of wet paint floating around. :willy:

 

We always leave Saturday morning to head to the Cruise so we didn't have much time. We had the trans back in the car and running by midnight.

 

Then I had to wash and wax the car. I had to use portable shop spotlights to do the whole process in my driveway. I finally finished at 2:30 am and then went to bed.

 

I must be crazy. What a car nut will do!!!

 

I love that event so much I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

[IntrepidBus IV]

My first car was a 1972 Buick GS Convertible. I worked on that car for 1 year before it went on the road. I decided that steel wool, SOS pads actually, was the best way to clean the chrome bumpers and wheels. The car had an N-25 rear bumper which was the one the dual exhaust came thru so there was lots of carbon build up. I did that for some time and the chrome died of un-natural causes.

 

I've used this technique on my road runner's bumpers and old cragar wheels, with much success actually!

[Chewy]

I've used this technique on my road runner's bumpers and old cragar wheels, with much success actually!

 

You have to use the super fine on chrome...

 

When I was maybe 6 or so I washed my moms Citation. (yeah the car with the radio put in vertically. lol

 

I used an SOS pad on the paint to get a spot off of it. Took the spot off but unfortunately it took the paint off too... Dad was a bit upset but couldn't really do anything but blame himself for allowing me to do it... lol Good thing I wasn't washing his Porsche...

 

Other than that I don't think I've done anything that has been THAT bad.

[jjwvette]

When I was young....along time ago:willy:I always washed my car with dawn detergent :help:How stupid was that:willy:

[Brandon]

lol i love these types of people though because then they call me to fix it!

 

i had a customer about 2 years ago. he was my stepfathers physical therapist. he has a C3 Vette, F-250, 2 toyota SUV's and an older model SL55 amg Mercedes-Benz. i went to therapy with my step dad one day to talk to him about Adam's and sold him a nice kit. then he wanted me to detail the Mercedes. he brings me outside and tells me that there was stuff on the paint and it wouldn't come off so i took SOS pads to it! NO LIE!!!! allllllll over the hood and down the side scratches, luckily not toooooo bad. ( the stuff in the paint was from a previous respray on the car, dirt nibs in the paint that the body shop missed)...

 

so after correcting the paint, he tells me he did the same to one of the SUV's. all i could do was shake my head!

 

 

sorry story was so long!

[Kwhite]

lol i love these types of people though because then they call me to fix it!

 

I had a customer about 2 years ago. He was my stepfathers physical therapist. He has a c3 vette, f-250, 2 toyota suv's and an older model sl55 amg mercedes-benz. I went to therapy with my step dad one day to talk to him about adam's and sold him a nice kit. Then he wanted me to detail the mercedes. He brings me outside and tells me that there was stuff on the paint and it wouldn't come off so i took sos pads to it! No lie!!!! Allllllll over the hood and down the side scratches, luckily not toooooo bad. ( the stuff in the paint was from a previous respray on the car, dirt nibs in the paint that the body shop missed)...

 

So after correcting the paint, he tells me he did the same to one of the suv's. All i could do was shake my head!

 

 

Sorry story was so long!

 

huh?!?!?!?

[Nitelord]

While waxing the company delivery van, I took the cap off my buttery wax because the nozzle was clogged. I set it up on the wiper while I finished the right side hood and grill.

When I stepped up in the bumper to reach the top left side of the windshield, guess where the bottle rolled. Down the hood, bounced off the bumper and spun across the floor. The wax just flew all over the floor. It made it off the hood without spilling, but hitting and bouncing off the bumper did me in. Needless to say, wax does not come off of a concrete floor very easily.

 

Lesson learned...

[estecoca]

Here's another stupid story that I wouldnt believe had I not witnessed it...

 

A good buddy of mine, in high school, was stoked for his Mustang when he first got it. So much so that he decided to detail it himself. He ended-up going over the windshield, inside and out, with ARMOR ALL...I kid you not. It was a friggin mess. And it was impossible to see anything whenever the windows fogged over (b/c the AC compressor was shot, this was all the time).

 

[cuzjarrett94]

well i know this sounds bad but my step-dad washed his brand new truck with simple green.....i didnt say anything to him!!hahahaha:pc:he washed it like that for years....lets say it needs a respray...:pc:hehe

[b_pappy]

Years ago I worked at Cragar Wheels and they had a product called "Wheel Magic", with miracle powers of keeping chrome shining like new, just spray on, etc. I took a can to my motorcycle wheels. Eh, it seemed okay, I wasn't paying a lot of attention, (women and alcohol may have been present) so I sprayed, wheels, calipers, discs, etc. If it didn't get out of my way I sprayed it. So looking at my dripping wet shiny wheels I took the bike for a quick spin around the block. At the first light I grabbed the brakes and got a big handful of nothing! It almost felt like I sped up. Seems the stuff was basically relabeled WD-40! I didn't kill myself, but came close and it took forever to get reasonable braking back.

Bruce

Edited February 3, 2009 by b_pappy

[Bill-V8V]

He ended-up going over the windshield, inside and out, with ARMOR ALL...I kid you not.

 

Now that is the first I have heard of anyone doing that :willy::willy:

[Krzdimond]

we have a day driver that had to share his truck with an OCD night driver. The night driver just nit-picked EVERYTHING!!! So, the day driver armor-alled everything, and I mean everything in the cab of the truck. Seats, steering wheel, pedals, rubber floor..... everything. If it wasn't glass of cloth, it got sprayed. Night driver jumped in and proceded to slide right off the vinyl seat and onto the floor betwen the seats. He said that he grabbed the steering wheel and it made it worse. Took him 10 min to get back out of the truck. Never said another word to the day driver about cleanliness.

[ss-truck]

Have to admit in the past I have done the Dawn car wash , yeh I know not smart . But I think the biggest dumb thing is having seen people wax their car and drive it for a week or more with the wax on it , saying it needed to cure or someting stupid like that . NO NOT ME !

[ZSpeed]

Yeah, I did the dish soap thing when I was young too.

 

Simple greened my aluminum mag wheels to get the brake dust off ONE time. It took me days to polish them out:mad:

 

Saw a guy at a corvette show use a rag on his tires and then on his paint. The armor all was everywhere and showed up really bad on his dark green C4. Kinda felt sorry for him.

[jjwvette]

I once used Turtle Wax

[Bert]

we have a day driver that had to share his truck with an OCD night driver. The night driver just nit-picked EVERYTHING!!! So, the day driver armor-alled everything, and I mean everything in the cab of the truck. Seats, steering wheel, pedals, rubber floor..... everything.

 

I was reading about a guy who used to be an EMT. He and his partner decided to clean up the ambulance. His partner Amor-alled everything too, including the peddles. Braking is difficult when you cannot keep your feet on the peddle.