Take Two! Comp Ready Experience by JustJesus

JustJesus

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COME BACK LATER!! WORK IN PROGRESS
sorry for the inconvenience

This post is long overdue! Way too long.

I was fortunate enough to be selected to be part of the Competition Ready Team, for the second time this year. Didn’t think that would be possible after the first time. So, it was a cool surprise.

After the first one I did, I had a better understanding of what takes place. Also, I thought I should take some extra items, just in case. I figured I could take some little things to make my life a little easier while I did the work on the cars. For example, when I was working on the Bentley, I was cleaning the headlamps, which happened to be covered by a grille (individual grilles on the headlamps). At home, I have some wooden skewers that I would have wrapped an MF towel around, and used them to clean (and remove some bugs) in the tight space between the grille and headlamp. So this time around, I brought that with me.

I also brought along some small detail brushes, a box of nitrile gloves, and some black MF towels. I’m sure I brought a couple of other things, but can’t recall. And since I know this is a sponsored show, I couldn’t bring one of my usual detail bags. As such, I went ahead and bought the Autogeek Travel Bag. Figured it’s an Autogeek related show, so why not, right? Why the bag? So I can have my supplies near me, to avoid walking 20-30 feet to where I would keep my things. That, and I didn’t want to keep walking back and forth and disrupt filming!!!

The Autogeek Travel Bag Autogeek Travel Bag is quite cool. I was hesitant to pay the 25$ for it, but I’ve fallen in love with the little guy. It can hold quite a bit. The box of gloves I brought? The box sat perfectly at the bottom! The bag is worthy of a review. But I take long, and might forget!

Well, during the talk with Mike Phillips, going over some details and making “team” assignments (engine guys, wheel guys, leather guys, etc) Mike had asked if anyone brought nitrile gloves!! Haha… yeah, they came in handy. We ended up using the entire box (mostly full when I brought it).

Speaking of assignments…. When Mike first posted, I was looking to volunteer for the wheels. One of the Lamborghinis had some wire wheels and I knew they would be a nice challenge. It’s also why I brought the black MF towels! (In the end I didn’t pull them out since I don’t think Sonax, whom also supplied their own line of MF towels, carries a line of black MF). – Mike and I had posted on the other thread, some ideas about those wheels. And as much as I wanted to tackle them wheels, less than a week prior to the filming, I managed to strain/sprain my left wrist. I felt bad, but didn’t want to risk making my wrist worse by working them spokes. I felt that job would really mess me up further. Coupled to another injury, I think an ankle, and I was in somewhat rough shape to be doing some detailing work! But I didn’t want to miss the chance to help out. Whether or not my presence would have made a difference was not important to me. I like to think I’m dependable, and I like to keep my commitments. So when Mike asked for wheel guys, I didn’t raise my hand (Sorry!) and I ended up going for the leather team.

Working with the leather products from Sonax was neat. Got to try some different products, my favorite being the brush. I love the ergonomic feel of the wooden handle.

Speaking of Sonax. Both Lee Ann Davis and Rob McCrary were very cool people. Lee Ann dug right in and was taking care of business with the rest of us. Rob also helped out and was easy going. Cool people indeed.

The whole crew, cast and hosts, were cool. Another great team. Prior to actually meeting everyone, I received the Call Sheet and saw who was listed on there. I recognized some names. Darren Priest of Auto Fetish Detail was the first to stick out. I have seen many of his videos on YouTube and was curious to see what he was like in person. He’s a character alright. But a cool guy. I spoke with him several times throughout, and not once did he come off as arrogant (several people make that comment on his videos). Not once was he condescending toward me, even when I asked some questions that may have made me out to be a complete novice (questions that I was sure he could answer, given his many more years of experience).

Jimbo Balaam of Auto Detailing Podcast was also listed. I’ve heard some of his podcasts, and even exchanged a few texts with him. I was eager to meet this guy and “shoot the sh1t” with him. Unfortunately, he didn’t make it out.

Christ West of Solution Finish. Now this guy is the real deal. An unforgettable character. I’d heard his interview on the podcast by Jimbo and enjoyed his story. He too, I was eager to meet. Didn’t spend much time with him, though.

Those were the stand out names. I met with many other guys! So many people. Dan was a huge help with the interior that I worked on. He did one side while I did the other. In fact, he did more of the back part of the interior, as he had a much longer reach, and I didn’t think I could contort myself to fit back there. Thanks Dan!

Enough talk! Let’s get some pics up.

Oh, I didn’t take as many pics as last time. In the beginning, they went over some things about pics and video and I sort of understood (maybe wrong) that the crew would be handling that. So I took way fewer pics.

Let’s start with the car collection. It was obvious Adam Carolla is a Paul Newman fan, and also favors the Datsun/Nissan brand. Yes, he’s got his fair share of Lamborghinis, but seems his passion lies with the Japanese brand. (oh, and he’s got racing driving suits hanging all over the place!)







Adam loves his cars… even scaled down versions!











So many cars, so little room. What to do? HANG THEM ON THE WALLS !








This next one is my personal favorite. I knew he had it some time back, and was really hoping he still owned this little beast. LOVE this car. (I have a spot in my heart for the Datsun 510, having owned two when I was younger)





GETTING READY – and the supplies we would be using

Sonax was one of the sponsors for this episode. And that is one of the major benefits to being a part of a show like this: I get to use stuff I probably wouldn’t have used otherwise! I did enjoy working with all the Sonax products I used that day. Their polishes are top notch and I’d put them right up there along with the other top notch products.





My attempt at the cool/artistic shot! Haha (what a nerd)



Here is Darren folding up some towels.



The Flex machines to be used. (Flex was also a sponsor for this episode). Again, trying something out that I haven’t had a chance to in the past, and likely wouldn’t any time soon (Granted, I do own four Flex tools and love ‘em all).

The Flex Long Throw machine. I liked it. Wish I had more time to use it though (unfortunately, after spending all that time with the interior, my back started to give L ) – The tool was easy to work with, and quite smooth. If you watch the episode, you may in fact see some odd positioning of my left hand. Due to the prior stated wrist injury, I was being light handed with it. No big deal, the combination of the Sonax products and this Flex machine still got the job done! EXCELLENT products!



And it looks like just about everyone got a chance to try them out. Very cool.












 
Cool

Next time use the "img" thing on photobucket.

:D
 
Cool

Next time use the "img" thing on photobucket.

:D



haha.... still working out the bugs! (and I *did* use the "img" thing.. d'oh)

I had wrote up everything (and still writing) on MS Word, but the "code" doesn't carry over smoothly. So much for trying to be efficient
 
place hold - due to max allowed pics per post
 
Nice photos and good write up.

You forgot the important part. That I received your call sheet in confusion from Ashley and Mike lol.

Glad things worked out. Looking forward to that episode.
 
.
SOME BACKGROUND STUFF


When I walked in, Claude was already signing autographs!!



Meanwhile, back at the farm... Mike going over some details with the film crew. I suspect he was instructing them not to put too much screen time on me. :)




Still prior to getting started, and after Claude's autograph session... Here they are discussing the Sonax products. I had already done some research myself, on their line, and what I learned was the same that Mike was telling Darren and Claude.



I'm not sure how the heck i took this picture. I was supposed to be on the other side working on the leather. But, there was some straaaange things going on that day! Paranormal stuff even!



WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?!?!?!



Oh nothing. It was just Yancy morphing like Agent Smith of The Matrix ?!?




Things were getting kind of strange, so I decided to hide out in one of the boxes. I snuck this pic while hiding out (Just messing. I was sitting on the couch while Adam was doing some filming)



Since we're talking about movies, I wanted to do my own take of Tropic Thunder, where Kirk Lazarus said, "I'm a dude, playing a dude disguised as another dude" - Love that line. Well, here's me, I'm a dude, taking a pic of the dude, taking a pic of the other dude(s).



Okay...Let's get serious again.
..
.
.
CHEAP TRICKS

Cardboard for detailing... We were planning on some heavy duty wheel and tire work, and we didn't want to dirty up the nice floors in Adams's "garage." I think Mike suggested this. It works. Cheap, but it works.




On a shoestring budget!

As mentioned earlier, Mike and I were posting ideas about how to tackle the wheels. Mr. Solution Finish, apparently, had also been thinking about this. He came with this "solution" - using a shoe lace, with some metal polish, to get in and around the individual spokes. Brilliant. I didn't get a chance to see what was going on myself, I was working on the leather right behind Mike and Chris, and there was a door between us. I'm expecting the film crew/director to have captured this and make a nice little segment. They better have!



Some pics... a couple of before /after









Stop the presses!

I felt guilty about taking this picture. It felt weird to do so. Almost, like I was crossing some weird line. BUT, I had to. I felt this was an important moment to capture.

Mike was doing a walk around, inspecting our work and progress. He caught something that was a little off on one of the panels. He asked EVERYONE to stop what they were doing. Just in case. Everything stopped. Most were looking behind him, to see what was going on. Can't recall with great detail what happened. I *think* part of the polishing stage, something didn't really go well with something or something, and then something. I'm not sure, but I think the wrong polish was used? Maybe somebody else could fill in what happened?

At any rate, this was kind of intense. It got SOOOOOO quiet. It got to the point where Mike even said, "Can someone please drop a pin." - Or close to that. Small chuckle from the guys. Yeah, well, he figured it out, got it taken care of, and it was back to work!



Since we're on the topic of Mike Phillips..... nobody can say he's not getting his hands dirty. Even with the big number of guys helping out, he was there with us. Great stuff!!





...and Rob McCrary of Sonax was his wingman





Mike encourages to WORK CLEAN! And he practices this. Here's a cover for the engine, while he polished the cowl area.






Kid you not. The hood came out so good, it really was like looking in the mirror. I tried to capture a beautiful reflection shot of Lee Ann (Sonax) but couldn't get the camera to cooperate. Take my word for it, it was like a mirror!



and some final partying shots!

















one of my favorite views near the end

 
The final photos of the finished cars look great
 
im kinda surprised they didnt have nitrile gloves on hand. i would think they would supply those
 
This collection is one of the coolest collections. should make for a great episode. When does this CR episode air?
 
Nice photos and good write up.

You forgot the important part. That I received your call sheet in confusion from Ashley and Mike lol.

Glad things worked out. Looking forward to that episode.


Thanks! haha. Yeah, that confusion part was pretty funny.


The final photos of the finished cars look great


Yeah, it was nice to see a nice correction job on both of these cars. All Team members did great with these two cars.


im kinda surprised they didnt have nitrile gloves on hand. i would think they would supply those


I'm not. With the crazy logistics behind something like this, I'm sure it's easy for something like that to fall through the cracks. Mike/Yancy are coming from the other side of the country. All the polishers, extension cords, several other boxes of products (pads, cleaners, towels, polishes). It can't be an easy job.


what are those all white towels? how can i get on the show?

Answered by Cruz in prior post. Thanks Cruz.


This collection is one of the coolest collections. should make for a great episode. When does this CR episode air?

May 12, I believe. - It's a nice collection for sure, and I've love to have it. But then again, Bruce Meyer has a sweet collection as well. I'd probably take Bruce's over Adams.
 
Totally awesome Jesus!

You know, taking pictures and creating a write-up to share a project is normally what I do. But when filming I simply don't have the time.

So THANK YOU for doing this!

It is so appreciated by me and everyone else here at Autogeek to have an episode documented like this.

I NEVER see anything like this for any other show. --> that is a behind-the-scenes write-up with pictures.

In fact, I don't know of any other TV show where the people on the show hang out on a forum?


Thanks again buddy!


:bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown:


:)
 
Totally awesome Jesus!

You know, taking pictures and creating a write-up to share a project is normally what I do. But when filming I simply don't have the time.

So THANK YOU for doing this!

It is so appreciated by me and everyone else here at Autogeek to have an episode documented like this.

I NEVER see anything like this for any other show. --> that is a behind-the-scenes write-up with pictures.

In fact, I don't know of any other TV show where the people on the show hang out on a forum?


Thanks again buddy!


:)


Thanks, Mike.

I totally hear you. Even a simple task of taking pics while doing some paint correction, for later posting, isn't easy to do. Time consuming even.

Add to that YOUR busy schedule with classes, work, filming...yeah.

You're welcome. It's the least I could do. Granted, it took me forever to post it, though. :)


Such an awesome experience! Excellent write up!

It really was another great experience. Thanks!
 
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