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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...

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...

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...

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...

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?

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...

As of a few days ago I have had people asking me about boat jobs. My first boat job is a current client of mine and he asked me to come up with a price to buff the top portion (above the rub line) on his boat. The picture of it is just below. I am located in the Northeastern Atlantic, and I`m...

Hey AG, I am in the process of looking for a summer internship in the area of finance/investment banking. I'm currently a junior at UConn and have previous experience in private equity. I found my previous internship on my school's career page, however this time around I created a list of about...

Hey AG, Did a brilliant black Audi A5 for a friend this weekend. Car was severely neglected to say the least. I was using Menz FG400 on a Sonax Lambskin Wool Pad on a Rotary. Needless to say, I did not get anywhere near good correction. In fact, most areas remained looking horrible. I am...

Hey AG, Long term client of mine is going to introduce me to a potential client this week. This is a small industrial service business with a small fleet. What is a reasonable rate to charge this fleet for a first detail, as well as recurring maintenance details? I have not had any work...

From my understanding, Gtechniq has dedicated product lines for glass, paint, etc. I stocked up on G1 a few months ago when there was a promotion. I have been using this stuff religiously on glass. Due to recent request, I am considering using G1 on headlights, as opposed to ordering the...

AG, I have a new client that I'm meeting with this week to go over options of detailing. Good part is, my friend babysits this persons dogs while they are away, allowing me to check out the cars a while back. This time around, the car of interest is a 2015 Bentley Continental GT convertible...

Hey AG, Need some input regarding hard clear coats. I recently had 2 cars come in that required serious TLC: -2014 GMC Denali (BLACK) -2006 Audi A6 (DARK BLUE) Both cars were abused by automatic car washes, and the swirling was pretty severe. I compounded them with a rotary, using LC Yellow...