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I have a classic BMW on my hands that needs beyond a paint correction. I am hoping to avoid a respray of these sections to keep the business, rather than sending the client to a bodyshop. I'm sure they would appreciate a detailer who canget this 95% perfect as opposed to spending double and...

Do you guys recommend 3" pads for the sections with a lot of body lines? There are a good amount on the M3...

My technique is sloppy in that case. I use the above mentioned technique when compounding with a rotary, hence my limited clear coat strike through's. I never imaged this to happen with a rupes that I recently purchased. Time to take the Rupes more seriously!

Hi guys, In my 6 years of polishing paint I've had 1 incidence of burning through clear (rotary with wool). Friday I was cleaning up a 2004 BMW m3 with a rupes 21, meguiars microfiber cutting pad and megs D300 compound. I made 2 sweeping passes over a 3 foot span on speed 4 and I think I...

A while back, I ordered a bottle of SF4500 - thinking it was SF4000. My go to combo was a white LLC pad with FG400, so follow-up was not always necessary. Now, I am detailing my own car with orange pad removal, and heavy compounding. I am worried the SF4500 will not have enough overlap in cut...

Hi All, I am used to detailing newer cars, so I have dealt with many newer BMW's and have felt the stiffer leather. I was a little surprised when I purchased my 2004 BMW M3 and felt the stiffness of the leather as well. I did the leatherique treatment in the peak of summer, however the feel of...

A spray or two of 50/50 isopropyl/water on a microfiber will clean it up

Hi all, Long-time poster and former detail business owner. Did it for 6 years professionally in body shops and for myself while I was in high school/college. Unfortunately I parted ways with the business after graduating in the spring and getting a time consuming job in the field that I...

A non-compete clause would take care of that headache

How many of you guys on here have a crew working that doesn't need to be watched over at every second? If yes, how did you do it? I just graduated college and parted ways with my business that kept me busy (~50 cars annually). I miss it dearly and I still have a lot of business that I could...

Hey AG, I recently read somewhere that leatherique works best when left on leather for a few days. In the +12 time's I've applied it, I used it on scorching hot days to "open the pores" of the leather. I applied it for a max of 6-8 hours and results where fairly good. In the post that I read...

Hi Guys, I got a few panels painted on my car back in October. It's been too cold to do anything so it's been sitting in the garage since October. I want to remove the orange peel this weekend cause we'll have nice weather in the NE. My plan is to sand with 2000, 3000, then menzerna FG400, and...

Thanks for the response Bill. My only problem with charging hourly is that I don't know how long it'll take me! I've only done one boat so far so I cannot estimate a job based on time.

Hi guys, For the 2nd year in a row, I have boats to detail. I'm still in college so I can't charge what a good boat detailer would charge, but I also don't want to under price myself. I detailed a severely neglected 36' Sea Ray last summer that took me about 70 hours to complete and I charged...

Hi AG, I have on my hands a set of e46 bmw m3 competition (csl) wheels. They have minor curb rash and I am no stranger to the process of fixing it. My question is, all the kits for sale for "German wheel repair" do not match the color of these wheels. I heard through a grapevine that these...

I frequently use spray on leather products on client cars (what they wish for). For the occasional enthusiast, I will up sell Leatherique. Now for myself, I am torn between Leather Masters and Leatherique. Obviously, leatherique has huge market presence due to it being carried by the big dog...

Hi guys, I replaced a broken headlight on my car and now I need to get the other to literally new condition so they match. The problem is, it's not badly oxidized as it is pitted. I normally start with 800 and work my way up. What grit should I start with here?

It's a personal car so I will be going back and forth on this pair of headlights to perfect my technique. While there are a few deep scratches from, I'm assuming here, the 400 grit, the headlights look nearly brand new in sunlight. When I fire them up at night/with the brickman LED light, they...

Hi Guys, I am looking for advice regarding headlight restoration. I recently tried to bring back the headlights on a 2006 Honda Odyssey. They were almost fully opaque but NOT completely gone yet. I dry sanded them with 400, wetsanded with 800 and 1000. Final sanding step was with the DA sander...

Anyone at all?