ltoman
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I am sure!!!
rops:How to detail a 2014 Corvette Stingray
- Thread starter Mike Phillips
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Justin M.
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The paint cleansing polish gets wiped off, see here:
Pinnacle Black Label Surface Cleansing Polish
(Correct me if I'm wrong Mike, in your process)
Mike Phillips
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The owner of this Stingray purchased it in Texas, not sure if that's because if he wanted one on his time schedule that's what he had to do or if it was something else?
Maybe I'm reading your question wrong and/or maybe you're reading what I wrote wrong? :dunno:
I'll take a stab at what I think you mean...
AFTER I machine applied the Surface Cleansing Polish to the entire car, smooth plastic and glass, this stuff,
After applying it I then carefully wiped it off once to get most of it off. Then I switched to clean, fresh towels and made a second pass around the car making sure 100% all traces of residues were removed. I actually followed the directions to a T in a new how-to book I've written.
Then, after removing ALL of the Surface Cleansing Polish I applied the Diamond Paint Coating to the entire car. After applying to the entire car I then treated the glass with the glass coating and the wheels with the wheel coating.
Then I washed my hands, visually and tactically inspected some rolled edge green microfiber towels, put on microfiber gloves and then wiped the coating off the paint following my path of travel for how I applied it.
Clear as mud?
Then wiped off the glass, (twice to get all trace residues off), and then wiped off the wheels.
Everything I did was simple simon. I don't turn washing and waxing a car into rocket science. I don't do 52 secret steps for marketing reasons. I do what has to be done to do the job right for the customer and in keeping with what I wrote here years ago...
The Mindset of a Professional Detailer
Shaggy1970
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Thanks Mike, Clear now. From your earlier post I thought you left the lotion on and applied the next product and wiped them off together. Makes sense now.
Mike Phillips
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Cool. :xyxthumbs:
I know there's a couple of products on the market where the instructions state to apply a first product that preps the paint for the second product and then without removing the first product to go ahead and apply the second product right over the top of the first product and then wipe them both off at the same time.
Here's the problem with this process...
If the prep product is really working, that is to some level cleaning the surface so the second product will bond better to the paint, then as it's cleaning it's loosening whatever crud, contaminants, impurities, etc., that are on the surface but then leaving them in the film left behind.
Applying the finishing product over this mess never made good sense to me but that's just me.
Good question, helps to clarify in case anyone else was wondering the same thing.
Mike Phillips
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The owner of the Corvette sent two pictures of the types of trucks that are the most popular in Qatar...
Check out the old school Stepside Chevy trucks cruising in these two photos...
Ha ha... pretty cool.... these guys can probably buy any truck in the world and they choose classic Chevys. The owner also sent me this picture he took with his camera...
:dblthumb2:
Mike Phillips
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Thanks Pat, this was the first 2014 Stingray I've buffed out. I found the paint to buff real easy...
Heck I pulled $5000 grit sanding marks with a medium cut polish and a Griot's Garage 3" Mini Polisher with a white foam pad.
It can't get any easier than that...
I've used the BL products for the last half dozen customer cars I've detailed personally with nothing but happy customers.
Thanks Scott...
Another sale will come around...
The owner is really cool. He's a helicopter pilot by trade and owns 72 Corvette.
I told him anytime he wants the other 72 Corvettes polished I would be happy to fly to Qatar and polish them out for him.
While I know some people might have clicked on this thread expecting to see a swirled-out Stingray and a massive write-up showing all the steps to remove the swirls it really wasn't the situation with this Stingray.
The owner is a Autogeek Customer. He reads my articles and knows how to wash a car carefully and/or wipe the paint down without instilling scratches.
What the told me was after looking at my other write-ups for other cars that he didn't think his new Stingray had the gloss and shine it could have.
He said he searched all over looking for someone he could trust to touch his new toy and finally took a chance and sent me an e-mail and asked if I detail cars? I said "yes" but I really only have Saturday's available for customer work.
Anyway, I told me what I charge and we set a date.
Autogeek doesn't offer car detailing as a business. Myself, Nick, Todd, Ray, Bryan and possible a few other guys here detail cars occasionally for other people. I don't know much about how the other guys do their work.
I don't actively seek out detail work but when it comes to me I follow what I teach in all my classes and that's
First, I evaluate the customer.
I gave this tip to Larry Kosilla and he used it in his class at Mobile Tech Expo. I always evaluate my customers first and make sure they understand that clearcoats are scratch sensitive and have REAL WORLD expectations for the work I do. If anyone wants to know what I mean by this just ask.
Second, I evaluate the car
It's always customer first and then the car. In this industry, most everyone else starts by evaluating the car. I make sure I can fix the car before I take the job. Some people bring cars with problems that cannot be fixed. For example recently I was asked to detail a car that had clearcoat failure. I educated the person that nothing you pour out of a bottle or scoop out of a can will fix clearcoat failure and the only honest fix is to repaint the car.
Here's the dealio...
I got into this industry because I'm a car guy first. Also a boat guy and a motorcycle guy. I've owned them all and most of them have been on the extreme side. I like cars and I like powerful engines.
What I found out about myself is while I like turning wrenches, I only like turning wrenches on my own stuff. I consider detailing cars the fun side of the industry, that is after all the hard work is done, like building the engine, doing the body work, painting the car, etc. that's all knuckle busing work. What I like is when all the knuckle busting work is over it's time to make the car shine.
So that's me.
I also think it's vitally important that anyone sitting behind a keyboard telling others how to detail a car better darn well not only know how to do it but be actively doing it.
The reason why is because,
A: It keeps your writing true and fresh.
B: Technology is being introduced fast and furious. The only way to be able to talk the walk is to first walk the walk.
B: Technology is being introduced fast and furious. The only way to be able to talk the walk is to first walk the walk.
A long time ago I met a guy named Joe Fernandez, he goes by the name Superior Shine in the forum world and he's a heck of detailer as well as a nice guy. He told me the only reason he ever joined and posted to MOL was because he found out the guy running the forum at that time, (me), was a real detailer, not customer care guy with a book of canned answers to post to the forum.
I agree with Joe. I don't want to join any forum and ask for help with something as important as the preciously thin clearcoat paint on my car and get help from someone that actually doesn't have a background and years of experience detailing cars.
So while I don't detail a lot of cars for money, I do when someone comes to me and passes the first three tests.
1. I have to like the person and believe they have real world expectations.
2. I have to know that whatever the project might be, I have to be able to fix it.
3. I have to like the car. Hard to invest any passion, let alone blood, sweat and tears into something I don't care about. So yes, I have to like all three.
2. I have to know that whatever the project might be, I have to be able to fix it.
3. I have to like the car. Hard to invest any passion, let alone blood, sweat and tears into something I don't care about. So yes, I have to like all three.
Thank you. This was a real simple, by the book detail that took me right at 4 hours from start to finish.
Mike Phillips
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Just take your time and work carefully. Read my article here, it walks you through every step you want to do and the order to do them.
How To Detail Your Brand New Car by Mike Phillips
If I was taking possession of a brand new Corvette Stingray, here's what I would do in order....
1. Inspect the car for damage before taking possession of it. That means inspecting it carefully at the dealership.
After the car is accepted, then here's what I would do,
1. First get so excited because I now own a BRAND NEW CORVETTE STINGRAY!
Im the MAN Im the MAN Im the MAN Im the MAN Im the MAN Im the MAN Im the MAN
Okay, once I get the initial excitement out of my system and finish drinking my toast to the accomplishment now parked in my garage, I would,
1. Carefully and methodically wash the car starting with the wheels and tires first and then working from the top down. Like I teach in my how-to book.
Detailing How-To Book and Detailing How-To E-book by Mike Phillips
The first wash would include machine scrubbing the tires to prep them for TUF Shine Tire Clearcoat. The body would be washed using the Autogeek Foam Gun and Detailer's Xtreme Foam Formula Auto Shampoo and a Microfiber Chenille Wash Mitt.
After the initial wash, I would spray the paint down with Iron X to make 100% sure there was no iron contamination in the paint. Then re-wash and rinse again using the Autogeek Foam Gun and Detailer's Xtreme Foam Formula Auto Shampoo and a Microfiber Chenille Wash Mitt.
2. Dry the car, probably using a simple Guzzler Waffle Weave drying towel and a Metro-Vac Sidekick to blow water out of all the cracks and crevices.
3. Inspect the paint using bright overhead sunlight and some time of swirl finder light. The new Flex Swirl Finder Light works great for this.
4. Feel the paint with my bare hand, (clean of course), and then feel the paint using The Baggie Test. If I discovered any type of bonded contaminants on the paint I would mechanically decontaminate the paint using a Nanoskin Autoscrub Pad, both 4" and 6" on dual action polishers like the Rupes Mini 12 and the Porter Cable 7424XP.
5. Machine polish the paint to remove any marring inflicted by the mechanical decontamination process. For this I would follow the least aggressive approach best practice and test to see if Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish with either a foam polishing pad or a foam finishing pad on a dual action polisher would do the job.
Chemically strip my test spot to make sure the results I'm seeing are the results I'm getting. Once I've proved my system, continue around the car.
6. Chemically strip the paint to remove the polishing oils using the Black Label Surface Cleansing Polish, (just like I did to this Stingray).
7. Hand apply the Black Label Diamond Paint Coating.
8. Apply 2-3 applications of the TUF Shine Tire Clearcoat.
9. Apply the Black Label Diamond Glass Coating to all the glass.
10. Apply the Black Label Diamond Wheel Coating to the rims.
11. Apply the Black Label Diamond Surface Coating to the exterior hard plastic and anything else that was smooth on the outside.
12. I'd probably wipe down all the door jambs, trunk and engine compartment jambs, etc.
13. Next day I'd detail the interior using the Black Label line.
14. At some point, detail the engine compartment using the Black Label line.
After that just maintain using the Black Label Detailer and Booster.
The goal is while the car is BRAND NEW and everything is in excellent shape, start right then and their by taking care of it. that is,
"Find something you like and use it often"
That's what I would do if I had a brand new Corvette Stingray.
I would never buy a brand new Corvette Stingray though as I don't fit into cars very well. I'd rather have exactly what I have today and that's a classic truck as I'm kind of a truck guy. I appreciate new cars like the Stingray but don't want to drive one everyday.
Mike Phillips
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bwatereagleman
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Ok, I'm going to bite. I am completely interested in knowing what you mean. I think I have an idea, but I would like a little more insight, please. Can you elaborate? PM me if you wish, or include it in the thread for others, as there may be several more interested in picking your brain.
Mike Phillips
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I'm completely happy to share in public, not actually a big fan of using PM's for disseminating information.
What I mean is that most people, that is the masses don't know anything about their car's paint. They don''t know that it's thin, they don't know that it scratches easily and they don't know it takes hours to methodically work out the scratches.
So what I mean when I say I evaluate my customers first and I teach the people that attend my detailing classes to do the same it's because the masses don't know anything about their car's paint I need to find out where their thinking is at when it comes to their car's paint and spend some time educating them on it.
Here's a real life example....
I had a gentleman bring me his brand new black Corvette to show me the swirls in the paint.
He then told me that right after he bought the Corvette he hired a detailer with a very good reputation to buff it out to make the paint perfect.
Then he pointed to the car and explained to me that after only a few weeks have passed the car is all swirled out.
The reason he brought me his car was to show me the swirls and then ask me if I thought he would be within his rights to ask the detailer he hired to give him back the money he paid him?
I looked at the car and then looked at him and said,
How do you wash the car?
He said, I take it to the car wash.
I told him the reason his black Corvette is covered with swirls is from taking the car to the car wash.
This guy did not understand that the paint on his Corvette, while it might be hard, it still scratches very easily. He thought because he paid a lot of money and hired a really good detailer to buff out his car, that it shouldn't get swirls in the paint.
As if somehow, paying a lot of money changed the characteristics of the paint.
He had unrealistic expectations.
I then told him the only way to keep a black clearcoated car swirl free would be to take ownership of the car washing process or hire a professional detailer that knows and understands how to "touch" paint to wash it for him and expect to pay the detailer well in order to make it worth his time to come to his house just to wash and dry his car.
He didn't like either of the above two options. He told me he had retired and the Corvette was his retirement gift to himself and now that he's retired he didn't want to work any more and by this he mean he didn't want to take up car detailing as his new hobby and learn how to carefully wash his Corvette.
So then I told him to sell the black Corvette and buy a silver metallic Corvette because it's hard to see swirls in silver metallic paint.
He then told me that right after he bought the Corvette he hired a detailer with a very good reputation to buff it out to make the paint perfect.
Then he pointed to the car and explained to me that after only a few weeks have passed the car is all swirled out.
The reason he brought me his car was to show me the swirls and then ask me if I thought he would be within his rights to ask the detailer he hired to give him back the money he paid him?
I looked at the car and then looked at him and said,
How do you wash the car?
He said, I take it to the car wash.
I told him the reason his black Corvette is covered with swirls is from taking the car to the car wash.
This guy did not understand that the paint on his Corvette, while it might be hard, it still scratches very easily. He thought because he paid a lot of money and hired a really good detailer to buff out his car, that it shouldn't get swirls in the paint.
As if somehow, paying a lot of money changed the characteristics of the paint.
He had unrealistic expectations.
I then told him the only way to keep a black clearcoated car swirl free would be to take ownership of the car washing process or hire a professional detailer that knows and understands how to "touch" paint to wash it for him and expect to pay the detailer well in order to make it worth his time to come to his house just to wash and dry his car.
He didn't like either of the above two options. He told me he had retired and the Corvette was his retirement gift to himself and now that he's retired he didn't want to work any more and by this he mean he didn't want to take up car detailing as his new hobby and learn how to carefully wash his Corvette.
So then I told him to sell the black Corvette and buy a silver metallic Corvette because it's hard to see swirls in silver metallic paint.
The above is a true story and represents the masses in that most people really don't know that much about their car's paint and that's normal and okay. But I'm not going to detail their car and put a really nice finish on it if they don't understand that afterwards they're going to have to be careful in every way they now "touch" the paint moving into the future.
If they're not okay with that then that's when you either turn down the detail job or you simply use a one-step cleaner/wax and educate them that the cleaner/wax is not going to remove all the swirls but is going to clean the paint, (remove road film), and make it shiny and for most people that own and drive "daily drivers", this is the right thing to do and I explain that in this article.
A few tips on starting a part-time detailing business
Match your services to your customer
I interviewed the owner of the 2014 Corvette Stingray in this write-up and I could tell right away he understands car paint. He's read my articles, has purchased quality product for washing and drying his cars. He knows that if he's not careful with the finish it can be easily scratched and become filled with swirls. That's why I buffed out his car. He passed my test.
Believe it or not, the guy that owns the 1959 Impala we buffed out recently, sincerely thinks that the paint on that car was in pretty good shape. When he picked it up he said it looked great but it wasn't in bad shape to start with.
This is why I document with pictures and sometimes videos, what the true condition is of the paint before any work is done. I even pulled-up the thread for the write-up for his car on the big screen to show him and remind him of how the paint looked before we buffed it out.
Pictures: 1959 Impala - Mothers Extreme Makeover!
I took this picture of the car leaving and look what's on the TV screen in the background?
Big picture is this, before working on someone's car you need to evaluate them, kind of interview them to see how much they know about detailing in general and their car's paint in specific and in most cases you'll find that most people don't know much.
Expect that.
Then if you're going to detail their car, find out what they want, what their expectations are for the finish quality and determine for yourself if the person has real world expectations or if their expectations are un-realistic.
At this point you can either educate them and bring them up to speed or as I say....
Let someone else have the blessing...
By this I mean, let someone else detail their car. It's not worth risking your reputation to work for people with unrealistic expectations.
Make sense?
Mike Phillips
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Oh my gosh no.
I like "cars" and I love how the Stingray looks but I'm a truck guy. I fit in a truck better than a car and I like to be able to haul stuff and tow stuff. Plus I like sitting higher on the road than what a car offers.
Nah... I like trucks... and I like them simple, that is with a carburetor. The most complex thing I want on anything I own is a HEI distributor. That way if it ever needs work or rebuilding I can do everything myself.
I've always been a car guy, I can thank my dad for that. I actually like wrenching on cars, that is the nuts and bolts side, like going from this...
To this....
To this....
Or this....
Removed the 350 small block on Sunday and cleaned the engine compartment.
To this....
custmsprty
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Pinnacle Black Label Diamond Paint Sealant, I put this on my GC a couple weeks ago, it's the best sealant I've used so far(and I don't say that often about many products). I had WG 3.o topped with Blackfire Black Ice before and used the PBL Paint Cleanser then applied the PBL sealant. That's one coat!
I enjoy detailing my vehicles so I probably would never use a coating so I like sealants and waxes.
custmsprty
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I saw this Vettes twin today on the way into the grocery up here in Tampa and it sure didn't look like this Vette detailed by Mike!