2009 Ford F-150 Supercrew Tuxedo Black

[JSou]

First write-up Im the MAN

Took care of a co-worker's truck this weekend. It is his daily driver but he wanted it to "shine". There were RIDS everywhere. He had rock chips all over the front of the vehicle. Some defects were even past the clear. The next time he comes in for a "detail" it will be a true paint correction as I have educated him in what will need to be done. I also recommended him to look into the Dr.colorchip kit or a respray in some sections.

Really fun one for me as I wanted to use what I learned here from members and develop a skill set. Spent all of Saturday, finished up and touched up on Sunday morning.

Procedure & Products:

Interior
-Removed mats and hosed down and scrubbed with soap.
-Vacuumed interior and removed dog hairs with Pet Mitt from Walmart.
-Folex for carpets and extracted with Bissell LGM Proheat.
-Shark portable steam the cupholders and hard to reach areas.
-Wiped down dash, panels, and seats with BLACKFIRE Interior Cleaner, dashboard cleaner, vinyl cleaner.
-Dressed everything with BLACKFIRE Interior Protectant.
-Clean door jams with BLACKFIRE Wet Diamond Rinseless Wash, no rinse car wash.
-Freshened air with Chemical Guys Stripper Scent Premium Air Freshener 16 oz.

Exterior
-Engine bay, Fender wells & Wheels degreased with Meguiar’s Super Degreaser Concentrate, 1 Gallon, cleans and degreases the engine compartment of your car. A concentrated car engine cleaner and
-Daytona Speed Master Jr. Wheel Brush, wheel cleaning brush, detail brush, cleaning brush, mini detailing brush to agitate areas.
-Rinsed entire car including wheels.
-Foamed with Dawn soap.
-Rinsed entire car again.
-2 Bucket Wash Method BLACKFIRE Gloss Shampoo, auto shampoo, car wash.
-Rinsed entire car one last time.
-Dried using Leafblower and Cobra Guzzler HD Waffle Weave Drying Towel,Guzzler HD,Cobra Drying Towel,Microfiber towel,Microfiber Drying towel,car drying towel.
-Took the heatgun and a plastic razor blade to the rear emblem area to remove the sticky stuff. (This step took the longest)
-Clayed entire car including trim with BLACKFIRE Poly Clay & Lubricant Combo.
-Decided to AIO with BLACKFIRE Total Polish & Seal, polish and wax, cleaner wax, car polish on a Single 5 1/2 x 7/8 Inch Hydro-Tech Tangerine Ultra Polishing Foam Pad using the Griots Garage 6 Inch Random Orbital Polisher - NEW 3rd Generation In Stock!
-Dressed exterior trim with BF Interior protectant
-BLACKFIRE Tire Gel, tire dressing, tire shine on tires.

Pictures:

Arrival.

The Wash

"Looks clean"

Inspecting the paint. Water spots everywhere.

This was just a quarter of the door.

All he wanted a wash and "throw some wax on it". Here's what was used.

My weak attempt at a 50/50. This was after 4 passes.

Before pickup I organized some of the things.

 

[JSou]

Now after all is said and done, do you think $120 for what I did was worth it? This may be a question for a different section. Just wanted some opinions.

Also in some of the pictures, the dressing wouldn't "stay" in the cupholders or some sections of the rubber in the engine bay. Can anyone recommend a product? They were very beat with claw marks or something.

Comments, Questions, & Bashing welcome. Thanks for looking.

 

[CarolinaShine]

Great job!

IMO, that is way too much work for $120, I would have been around $400 for all of that work. It's for a friend though and I'm sure you learned a lot so I wouldn't say it was a horrible deal overall. I'm sure he was thrilled when he saw the results.

 

[david11g35]

Great Job. My first paid job was for $80 spent 9hrs on a Chevy Impala. Now I have more knowledge and know what goes into a job I charge accordingly. If this was for a friend I wouldnt charge less $175-$200. Great job though you friend got a bargain

 

[cartman57]

Beautiful results, everything looks great!
A bargin at double your price for that much work, that's what friends are for, even putting the emblem on the tailgate.

Why were you taking a photo of yourself in a mirror?? LOL

 

[donb]

Nice turnaround. Engine compartment looks great too!

 

[Chris@AutoCleanse]

Beautiful and amazing results you achived on the ford 150. You took a piece of trashed out truck and turned it into a brand new ride, and that's what it is all about. Definitely would have charged a little more even though it was a friend. How long did it take you?

Chris aka Italian Guy

 

[Hades02]

Great job. You really brought that thing back from the dead. What did you use to dress the engine bay? I may have missed it and apologize if I did.

 

[Wynex]

Wow nice work. remember its better to have extra cash even if its small amount.

 

[Sicoupe]

That truck looks amazing! Kudos to a job well done

 

[Iron400]

WOW...nice work! I just ordered some Blackfire TPS, now I'm really anxious to try it!

 

[SuperiorAutoLLC]

Hey, you did a phenomenal job on that truck. Pricing seems to be a difficult thing for some people; in fact, I think the intimidation factor seems to throw people off when giving an estimate.

In my opinion, $120 was way too low. But don't let that get you down, pricing is a huge learning experience. I've taken some painful losses by misquoting or underquoting a particular job, but all you can do is learn from it. I would have charged anywhere from $350-$400 on a vehicle that size to do the work you did. I see where you were doing work for someone you knew...in that case I would have been right around $250, if that was me.

All in all, you did some GREAT work here!! I'm sure your co-worker was thrilled and will be spreading the word around for you. Excellent job! :xyxthumbs::xyxthumbs::xyxthumbs:

 

[rmagnus]

You did a great job turning that F150 around. It's not about the money. I help others all the time. What goes around comes around. Nice to have friends especially those with trucks, lol.

 

[Jrocket]

I charge between 200 to 225 for a vehicle of that size.. ( what people are willing to pay in my area ) Plus 20 bucks if the Interior is trashed.

for a close friend $175 ( but always tell them to say they paid my regular price) Don't let it get around that you discount certain people






Looks great though. You did a great turnaround


What did you use on the engine?

 

[vet]

Great job on a nice truck.

Mine was SUPPOSED to be tuxedo black (da** tsunami)!

In my pre-AG days, I did a wash and wax on a friend's Silverado and his Tahoe for $75 each, no interior work. We were both happy, but I don't do it for a living. Because he's a good friend, I'd do it again. You didn't make much per hour, but you didn't lose any on materials either. So if your friend is happy, and you're happy, that's all that matters. Just tell him not to mention price if sends referrals, lol.

 

[JSou]

Great job!

IMO, that is way too much work for $120, I would have been around $400 for all of that work. It's for a friend though and I'm sure you learned a lot so I wouldn't say it was a horrible deal overall. I'm sure he was thrilled when he saw the results.

Great Job. My first paid job was for $80 spent 9hrs on a Chevy Impala. Now I have more knowledge and know what goes into a job I charge accordingly. If this was for a friend I wouldnt charge less $175-$200. Great job though you friend got a bargain

Beautiful results, everything looks great!
A bargin at double your price for that much work, that's what friends are for, even putting the emblem on the tailgate.

Why were you taking a photo of yourself in a mirror?? LOL

Nice turnaround. Engine compartment looks great too!

Beautiful and amazing results you achived on the ford 150. You took a piece of trashed out truck and turned it into a brand new ride, and that's what it is all about. Definitely would have charged a little more even though it was a friend. How long did it take you?

Chris aka Italian Guy

Great job. You really brought that thing back from the dead. What did you use to dress the engine bay? I may have missed it and apologize if I did.

Wow nice work. remember its better to have extra cash even if its small amount.

That truck looks amazing! Kudos to a job well done

WOW...nice work! I just ordered some Blackfire TPS, now I'm really anxious to try it!

Hey, you did a phenomenal job on that truck. Pricing seems to be a difficult thing for some people; in fact, I think the intimidation factor seems to throw people off when giving an estimate.

In my opinion, $120 was way too low. But don't let that get you down, pricing is a huge learning experience. I've taken some painful losses by misquoting or underquoting a particular job, but all you can do is learn from it. I would have charged anywhere from $350-$400 on a vehicle that size to do the work you did. I see where you were doing work for someone you knew...in that case I would have been right around $250, if that was me.

All in all, you did some GREAT work here!! I'm sure your co-worker was thrilled and will be spreading the word around for you. Excellent job! :xyxthumbs::xyxthumbs::xyxthumbs:

You did a great job turning that F150 around. It's not about the money. I help others all the time. What goes around comes around. Nice to have friends especially those with trucks, lol.

I charge between 200 to 225 for a vehicle of that size.. ( what people are willing to pay in my area ) Plus 20 bucks if the Interior is trashed.

for a close friend $175 ( but always tell them to say they paid my regular price) Don't let it get around that you discount certain people






Looks great though. You did a great turnaround


What did you use on the engine?

Great job on a nice truck.

Mine was SUPPOSED to be tuxedo black (da** tsunami)!

In my pre-AG days, I did a wash and wax on a friend's Silverado and his Tahoe for $75 each, no interior work. We were both happy, but I don't do it for a living. Because he's a good friend, I'd do it again. You didn't make much per hour, but you didn't lose any on materials either. So if your friend is happy, and you're happy, that's all that matters. Just tell him not to mention price if sends referrals, lol.

First, I'd like to thank all of you for the positive responses. It means a grip coming from the veterans here. I'm a humble person so at times, I seem to be a little hard on myself. I'm just glad I actually did something right here especially working on Black paint for the first time with any machine.

I didn't want to throw an outrageous price that may scare away a potential customer. I too feel like life isn't always about the money. Eventually, I will learn more from the experiences and know my worth. To some, being a generous person has it's cons I guess. I need to pick up Renny Doyle's book and get to reading!

The entire detail took me about 36 hours. I took breaks to eat. If it wasn't for the emblem in the back, I could've maybe got away with 30 hours. Just trying to be very thorough so as not to miss anything. I don't know how most detailers have a gleaming beauty in less hours but I will try to get there at some point in life.

The "mirror" pic was me being a poser...lol. I have no beef with the Blackfire Total Polish & Seal. It even smells great with the blueberry scent. Really nice AIO. I wish I would've took a photo of the pads to show how dirty they got for each section pass. The passes were worked on speed 5 until the product was almost invisible. I bought it because of BobbyG's review and it was on VIP sale. Thanks Bobby! :xyxthumbs:

The Blackfire interior protectant was used for dressing and it gave it a nice gloss on the parts it worked on. Not too over the top. As I mentioned before, it didn't work too well on the cupholders and the rubber "flaps" in front of the truck even after 3 coatings. I will be on a quest for a better dressing.

I have yet to see or hear the reaction of the owner. I dropped the car off to his home and left it after I was done. He has yet to contact me with a text or phone call. I hope it's for the best. He's a very blunt person so he'll let me know if it's not up to his standards.

Let's just hope he doesn't end up telling his buddies with trucks the price I gave him...

Keep shining on friends, I love this art! :buffing:
- Jake

 

[rmagnus]

JSou 36 hours is too long for just about anything unless it's something very high end. It took you this long because it was your first black paint correction job and you took your time. It's just paint, you will be able to cut that down next time to about 8-10 hours. Thats why many said they would charge $300-400 for that job. If you are planning on doing it for profit you will need to speed things up.

As for your concern about him talking about the low price just say it was a one time special detail for your portfolio.

Thats a daily driver and it was trashed. Odds are it will go back to that life again. Wash, clay, AIO buff clean interior and move on. Engine bays are an upsell. You did a geat job and now you know you can do it. Manage your delivery to the customer ie: daily driver just wants it cleaned and waxed so don't go way overboard. I always believe in doing something a little bit special but 36 hours is overboard.

You did a great job be proud of it.

 

[ihaveacamaro]

$120 bucks, 36 hours of learning, and a great job! I disagree with most on here as I've done similar work for free, so I'd think you got the better deal of it!

As rmagnus says, I think you will be able to cut your time in half next time around

 

[JSou]

JSou 36 hours is too long for just about anything unless it's something very high end. It took you this long because it was your first black paint correction job and you took your time. It's just paint, you will be able to cut that down next time to about 8-10 hours. Thats why many said they would charge $300-400 for that job. If you are planning on doing it for profit you will need to speed things up.

As for your concern about him talking about the low price just say it was a one time special detail for your portfolio.

Thats a daily driver and it was trashed. Odds are it will go back to that life again. Wash, clay, AIO buff clean interior and move on. Engine bays are an upsell. You did a geat job and now you know you can do it. Manage your delivery to the customer ie: daily driver just wants it cleaned and waxed so don't go way overboard. I always believe in doing something a little bit special but 36 hours is overboard.

You did a great job be proud of it.

Thank you sir. I will keep that in mind. I have a detail scheduled tomorrow and will see what I need work on.

$120 bucks, 36 hours of learning, and a great job! I disagree with most on here as I've done similar work for free, so I'd think you got the better deal of it!

As rmagnus says, I think you will be able to cut your time in half next time around

Learning is infinite. Let's hope I can manage time better. :xyxthumbs: Thanks Roshan!

 

[kevin39208]

Great job. rops:
Did you dilute the Meguiar’s Super Degreaser Concentrate?
If so, what ratio did you use to clean the engine bay?
http://www.autogeek.net/mg10801.html