Dodo Juice Giveaway - Story Time!

i remember back when i was about 10 years old, my dad made me help him wash and wax his car using old towels and rags, and using the same sponge on the wheels and the paint (just thinking about it now just makes me cringe). 12 years later, i finally bought my own car and have been detailing it my self the right way for almost 3 years now and never looking back (thanks to autogeek)
 
My first "detail" was washing and waxing my grandpa's 1977 Ford Granada (no radio). The only time the car got a wax job was when I would visit my grandma and grandpa in the summertime in the busseling megalopolis of Stonington Il (pop. 900). I also used only the best interior protectant (armorall).Of course this was also what I used to protect the vinyl top. Yes you read right there was NO radio in the car and I asked my grandpa why he didn't get a radio he said because it didn't come with one.:dblthumb2::dblthumb2:ing
 
Mine was my first car, a 1976 Toyota Celica GT liftback, back in '88. It had been repainted with a single stage bright blue, kinda like Ford Grabber Blue or AMC Big Bad Blue. It was faded, but it was mine, so I went at it with the Turtle Wax and whatever towels I could find around the house. A couple hours later, my towels had blue on them, but my ride was shiny and deeper than when I started! Even pulled the wheels off and repainted them. I knew I was onto something when my friends noticed how much better it looked. Yep, I was pretty proud of that!
 
i really cant remember how old i was but dad had me out teaching me a lil bit about washing and waxing cars. well, he had an old s-10 that he had been driving to the plant where he worked at for years and the pollution from the plant had make the paint pretty rought but none the less he saw it as a perfect canvas for my work apparently. so off i go turtle wax in hand and to this day im pretty sure my arm is still lying in the yard somewhere. lesson learned......
 
The first car I waxed was my dads 1941 Chevy. It was a battleship gray. The wax I used was the old fashon Simonize. I cleaned the car first with Dupont #7 Auto Polish. The only problen was that we lived on a main streat and at !0 years old I wasent allowed to go on the drivers side of the car because my mother though that I would get hit by a passing car . So as a result I only waxed the passenger side. Half the roof , half the hood , and the side , and the whole trunk. Every week I woulld wash the same panels. It must have looked funny when my dad got to work , with half the car clean and shiny and the other half dirty and dull.
 
My first "Detail" - We should really use that term loosely on this one. I was about 6 or 7 and my mom had just gotten her 87 Buick LaSabre. It was white, so it was rough to keep it clean looking. My fraternal twin brother and older sister, got out the hose, wash clothes and Palmolive. We pretty just soaked the towels in the bucket and ran it along the car. I don't even recall us hosing the rest of the water off, but we had to of, because I remember being soaked head to toe! I just remember my mom coming out and saying..."wow....good job guys!" I can only imagine what she was really thinking. Looking back on what I know now.....I can only guess how many swirl marks we put into the paint. I just got chills.......
 
I had been doing car cleaning since I was a freshman in high school, but i wouldnt consider what I did detailing (meg's 3 step by hand.)

My first real detail was with my dad's Acura Legend about 5 years ago. I had ordered a PC and some megs 83 and pads. When i would do the megs 3 step by hand it would take me maybe 3 hours, my first real detail took me at least 13 hours the first day. I had read up on detailing forums and was ready. I had taped up everything that could potentially be damaged with a buffer, little did i know how harmless a pc could be. The reason i bought a buffer? I would enjoy how the car would look in the shade, but when out in the sunlight, all my work was for naught as i would see swirlz galore like I had done nothing to the paint! Needless to say, from that day forward, i have be come an avid collector of detailing supplies, and would like to add some double wax to my collection.
 
When I was in high school my brother used to ask me to help him was our red car, and at that time we did not have much access and choices on what wax we could use( of course TW was the only choice at that time for us). One day I remember my brother coming upon those colored waxes that according to the manufacturer enhances the color of the paint, well, it did at least till the wax wore off, it was like a dye of some sort. Since that time I started looking for other options for waxing our cars and just loved to wax our cars, I started off with Megs, Mothers and the rest is history. Sorry I dont have pictures, dont know where to find the negatives hahaha, that was ages ago.
 
This is a good one for me. My first "detail" was with my grandfather and "old blue" which was his 1968 Ford Ranger pickup. We washed it down, using old white tshirts...lol. And then the magic happened. He went to his workshop and came back with this cool orange bottle that actually sorta looked familiar to me from somewhere. Guys I kid you not, it was Nu-Finish!! I realized afterward that it was straight from the infomercials (though I believe gramps picked it up at Walmart) and wow was I ever impressed. Grandpa must really know alot about keeping cars clean and nice I thought to myself. We applied it, and buffed it off with more white tshirts and after an hr or so were done. And that's what got me started in detailing...lol NU-FINISH!!!
 
The first time I ever "detailed" a car, was 2 weeks ago on my very own 1989 BMW 325i. Its my first car, and I just turned 16 4 months ago. My car had very dirty, rough, yet for the most part nice paint. BMW used a single stage paint, so I have no clear coat.

I washed the car with some cheap Walmart Meguiar's soap, and clayed with the accompanying Meguiar's clay bar kit. Then I walked over to my neighbor's to borrow his Meguiar's cleaner wax.

Car turned out good, and I was very proud of my first "detail"
 
Belair said:
When I was a teenager my dad taught me how to wax the family car - a 1951 Buick Special Sedan, dark green with a white top. Using an old t-shirt to apply the Simoniz wax in the yellow can, I wiped it on the hood vigorously then waited for it to haze then wiped it off with an old cotton towel. That wax was a bear to get off when it dried too much but the paint was really shiny. My arms were sore for 3 days afterward.
Click to expand...


Ha- I used Simoniz in the late 40's. You never let it dry. I nearly ruined by dad car finish that way,
 
5Toes said:
The first time I ever "detailed" a car, was 2 weeks ago on my very own 1989 BMW 325i. Its my first car, and I just turned 16 4 months ago. My car had very dirty, rough, yet for the most part nice paint. BMW used a single stage paint, so I have no clear coat.

I washed the car with some cheap Walmart Meguiar's soap, and clayed with the accompanying Meguiar's clay bar kit. Then I walked over to my neighbor's to borrow his Meguiar's cleaner wax.

Car turned out good, and I was very proud of my first "detail"
Click to expand...

Nice! An E30! I love Bimmers! You got any pics of the before and after?
 
1961 Chris-craft 31' Roamer with twin 327 Corvette motors and twin 150 gallon gas tanks. Being the youngest and smallest of four kids I got bilge duty. Dad was ex-navy and he ran the boat that way. You could eat down there.
Still remember they were car motors so the starboard side motor had all of the accesories and oil filters next to the hull. Even at 10 it was a tight fit and dark. Still get flashbacks from the smell of Never-dull metal polish and don't even want to know what kind of chemicals I was using for the blocks and metal hull.
Good side was from Detroit we covered the Great Lakes from Chicago to Montreal in that thing.
 
I got into detailing cars about 12 or so. I always loved cars and everything about them. My dad's friend does autobody work and he only lives a house away from us...so there is where all my madness began. I remember watching him buff a hood out that he just repainted and wet sanded. I was amazed how it buffed out from a haze to a mirror gloss. So being young and energetic, I asked him if I could do it. The answer was a simple no on that car but he did scuff some old panels up and showed me how to do it. I remember that he said if I practiced enough and got good, he would let me do the next car he paints. The next car came time for buffing and as they say, the rest is history. I still have the screwdriver he gave me to clean off the wool pad and it is still a joke between us as to when I'm giving it back! He hates buffing cars out still asks me to do cars that he has painted ocassionally. (mostly the dark colors hehe)
 
Mine would be my first car a 1970 Chevelle. The paint was oxidized very badly. My father being the owner of a collision shop said "boy your going to learn how to use a buffer". He showed me how it should be done and gave me a few tips and pointers. Then left me to my work BIG MISTAKE he came back about an hour later. I said so how does it look, I thought i was doing a good job. His response was you see this spot that one and that big one over there. I said yes, he goes that's primer. now your going to learn how to sand and prep a car to be painted. Then your going to learn how to prime and paint a car.

After the car was repainted i learned how to wet sand and properly use a rotary to polish a car. I can say things have gotten easier since then (1985). Better polishes and unigrit sand paper. smaller easier to control polishers foam pads.

I learned alot from him in the short time we had after getting that car (four years he passed on in '89). The car just passed on recently in a fire at my shop. I miss them both.
 
Last edited:
0362.jpg


I had just joined the AirForce in Dec, 1966 and was getting my tech training in Denver,CO.My wife at the time,came out to meet up with me. She drove out my 1964 Corvair pulling a U-haul trailer.
It had a lot of hard miles on it and was time for a new car. With my $90 dollar a month starting wage, we had to go small and cheap.
So here I am on a Sunday afternoon in a Denver park waxing my new 1968 VW. With a can of what, I'm not sure,and a bunch of t-shirts I begin to make the car shine.
Easy on and you know, Hard Off!

Since finding ago a couple of years ago and a lot of products later, I can say" I've come a long way baby".
 
The first was a 2001 Navy Ford Explorer; PC w/Edge Green; Optimum Poli-Seal; pretty sure Mother's clay; Stoners glass; DP interior products. It came out good.
 
First detail... I used to race quarter midgets and washed my car every Friday with dawn and used whatever wax dad had in the cabinet.

Used to wash and wax dad's truck every time I was in the doghouse.

First full detail was on my truck right after I bought it in December.
 
CrownKote said:
Nice! An E30! I love Bimmers! You got any pics of the before and after?
Click to expand...

No pics, though I have this one of the shine after... just cant find it. My body is extremely straight, even though it was only a $1200 car.

My build thread... Andrew's 1989 325i Project - R3VLimited Forums

I went to the e30 picnic today also, won a Griot's Starter Car Care Kit for being the youngest owner! Woot woot! Too bad I just placed an order here over father's day weekend for some Natty's Blue, Wolfgang Black Diamond, Poorboy's Slick & Wax, some Pinnacle speed and blue poly clay, and some hand applicators... Im detailing my neighbor's vehicles for them.
 
My dad's 1972 Buick Electra Ltd. White with a burgundy landau top and burgundy crushed velvet interior. Turtle wax and an old t-shirt (beach towel for buffing). As big as that thing was, I'm surprised I'm still not working on it.

I got it all nice and sparkly....and then took the side off of it with my mom's 74 Plymouth Duster (baby blue). For a guy who always made me believe I was one breath from death, he looked at the carnage and said "I'll call the insurance company". That was it. No death. He once didn't speak to me for a month because I did a sub-standard job of trimming the grass near the back fence. I never did figure him out!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top