cardaddy
New member
- Nov 20, 2012
- 3,937
- 0
Hello boys and girls, Cardaddy is at it again.
Warning; this is a long one.
OK, So I get an invite last week from an old friend that we used to go to school with in the early-mid 70's to come up Saturday. He has a Polaris Ranger 800 that he just bought a new windshield for and wanted me to come help. His wife was in the middle of a 7 day convention over on the left coast in "the OC" so why not have a 'boys day out', drink a couple beers and go 4 wheeling!
We talked about it for a few days so while I was at it I told him I'd come, but ONLY if we detailed his wife's 2007 ES350 while I was there. I mean, I freaking KNOW he doesn't do it, and I also know his wife isn't that thrilled that he even HAS a 'boys day out'! (With his past evidence who can blame her as she came home TWICE to find new tatoos, on one arm or the other. YIKES!) Figured he SERIOUSLY NEEDED to gain some respect points with her just for putting up with his sorry arse.
So anyhow, we do the windshield on the Polaris and head out in the woods. His subdivision is all 350K ~ 1-Mill custom homes situated to where there is accessable green space behind all the homes. That space goes down to a huge river with probably 10 miles in each direction at least as it snakes back and forth winding along. Great trails, great fun! Problem with the new windshield is it blocks off the winter wind TOO GOOD. It was 52° out and felt like it was in the mid 80's with all the heat coming up from the radiatior as well as from under the seat, engine area. Darn good thing it's 2-pieces so you can take off the bottom part and get some much needed air!
We get back and I move to how we need to get the Lexus out of the garage, 1; because his garage is dark as a freaking CAVE, and 2; it was a beautiful weekend out. Keep in mind that for days I'd been telling him to WASH THE CAR. Do you think it was washed? He!! no! I went prepared however, and then told him to round up what HE washes the car with. All along I was getting out my buckets (2 bucket method, grit guards, Megs Gold and ONR). Should have seen what he dug up to wash it with, OMG!
So we get it into the sunshine and yes, the interior was really nice, but that's about it. Being a 2007 with 62K on it, all road miles I guess I wasn't suprised. Overall it wasn't that bad, but the front bumper looked like she spent all her time following a gravel truck! It has a factory ppf on the hood and front fenders but that's it. Nothing on the headlights and nothing on the front bumper. Mild swirling all over with a few RIDS, along with some very deep scratches here and there. Also... it was eat up with water spots! Oh, and the messy white residue on rubber trim from "her" wax spreading, especially all around the sunroof.
Get to washing, trying to break his bad habits and showing him how to do a 2-bucket wash. All the while he was raving on about how "she" keeps her car so clean, and "she" never parks it outside, and "she" keeps it waxed. Blah Blah BLAH FREAKING B-L-A-H. Did the wheels and scrubbed the tires too. He was asking why the tires turned so brown? Can we say it yet, 'You can't fix stupid!'. He actually wanted to STOP and put it back in the garage as soon as it was washed (with a quick coating of Megs Endurance on the tires). "SORRY DUDE, we are just getting started!"
Here it is before claying.
Quickly broke out the clay and did the trunk showing him how to get a handle on it. Then turned him loose on the upper surfaces while I did the upper portions of the sides. Once I moved around it, including the bumpers I let him hit the bottoms and I broke out a new bar of clay for the hood and ppf. Keep in mind that he wasn't EVEN thinking of doing it at all. Yet he's seen me claying, knows why I do it, and knew it was coming. By the time we finished claying he was saying "Well, that looks fine, let's wipe it off and put it back in the garage." I agreed to pull it in for the night, but first thing in the morning we ARE going to start buffing.
And after claying, which is when he WANTED TO QUIT!
Water Spots - etching
Where was I... Oh wash and clayed, getting dark. Time to call him up on that steak dinner! After all, what I told him was if I came up then we needed to do something I liked too. He *obviously* doesn't wash and/or wax his cars, much less detail them. So I made a deal to give him a better detail than he's ever had for a fraction of what it should have cost. Took $70 and a Ribeye dinner for it all. Needless to say he got the better end of the deal. :
oke:
Speaking of not taking care of his stuff.... He would just rather buy toys. Being as they are 'empty nesters' now you wouldn't think they need 4 cars sitting there but then again, in his mind they are disposable. He has an 'airport' car that's his 2009 Corolla with a ton of miles, then the 2007 Lexus, 2008 Tacoma 4dr 50K on it, 2012 Ford Flex (he's trying out for a couple of weeks). Then there are the toys, the Polaris 800 and a 2007 Harley Electra Glide. From what I could see he doesn't have a CLUE how to keep any of them up!!! He actually told me he couldn't imagine WHY someone would want to do "this" to their cars. As we know, "you can't fix stupid!"
In any event, it's now Sunday morning and I told him after a quick breakfast that we needed to spend a few hours to get it finished. I had taped off several areas for test spots on the trunk to get an idea of what I could get away with. (More like get away "without", hoping I could do an AIO like Megs 83 perhaps, or even 205. I have just started working with D300 but don't have enough pads to feel comfortable doing the whole car. Although I could have done the horizontal surfaces then moved to a yellow pad and MAYBE 205 on the sides. :dunno:
Grabbed a few pads along with 101 (my new best friend), 205, Megs UC, and Megs 83. For reference, when doing test spots I set all the pads and product combos to speed 5 and 4 section passes only.
Hit a spot on the trunk with orange pads and 205, right away NOT gonna' work. Stepped to UC and orange pads, better but let's try yellow. Still better but not working with only 4 section passes. *Yes I know I can do more, but at this point he's already thinking it's taking too long!* OK, I'm thinking either I'm going to whip out the D300 and MF pads or my new friend 101. Same thing with 101, but I tried white, orange, then yellow. By now he's looking at everything and can ACTUALLY SEE THE IMPROVEMENT right before his eyes! Yipeee! :laughing: I asked him what he liked and explained the micromarring was there but it'd be taken care of in the polishing stage. OR.... we could do less cut but it would mean more section passes and it might look more like 'this'. (Which was the UC and orange test spot.) He chose the 101 with yellow pad combo, which I'd already decided on anyhow. Still "can't fix stupid" but at least he was starting to see what it could turn out like.
Starting compounding on the hood.
Fast forward to the end of compounding and he's ready to quit. Not just a little here but I mean HE WANTED TO STOP! I told him, "Mike, the paint doesn't have any protection on it AT ALL! We just can't quit yet, it still has to be polished, THEN it has to be sealed at the VERY LEAST." At this time he's saying, "I just had no idea it would take so much time. I don't know why anyone would spend time doing this. My wash and wax takes about 45 minutes."
After 101 on the paint. Nothing to the ppf yet (205 later).
The bumper doesn't look great, but BOY does it look better than it started!
On we go to polishing. I told him each step would take less time so he was getting happier but still complaining. About half way through polishing with 205 (white pads btw) he kept asking how much longer. He even said now, "Had I known how much time this would take I would have just told you NO, we cannot do it." I just looked at him and said, "Dude, what is the 2nd most expensive thing you've ever bought in your life?". With a puzzled look on his face he looked around and said, "Your car", well DUH!!!!Then I said, "So why would you not protect to some degree, the one single largest investment you have outside of your home?"
He just stood there saying how he works so much he just doesn't have time, YET he'll goof off forever, and we were indeed using the one thing he said he didn't have TIME. Not only that, he had nothing else to do BUT this which BTW... is an excellent deposit into the 'good favor bank' with his wife. Let's say it in unison this time boys and girls.... "You can't fix stupid!"
Any-who..... Get the 205 done and AGAIN he says "It's time to stop, let's put it in the garage". JESUS! Again, "Mike, your paint doesn't have ANY protection on the paint yet." Seems he's drinking his 3rd coffee cup of stupid this morning already. 
To give him something to do I offered up a bottle of 303 protectant and by now he's going everywhere with it. He started easy, but by now he's opening all the doors hitting all the gaskets, opening the trunk, smearing it all over the glass.... you name it. But FINALLY he's not looking like it's the end of the world. :laughing:
Very quickly now I grab another pad and the M21 and start going at it. He's pacing like he's late for an important date. He's also dropping my MF towels on the ground left and right! Thank God only one 530 got trashed!
However....... when I told him the M21 needed to sit on there for AT LEAST 15 minutes I thought he was gonna' pass out. He waited a bit, but by the time I got the trunk half the roof and rear quarter done he started wiping. JESUS here we go again! I jumped back to the roof to get the other side and coated it all over really quick, daring him to touch it! Did manage to leave it on for a few minutes before he wiped it off but not as long as I'd have liked.
The finally, before he could even react I grabbed the ULW and hit the trunk, roof and hood. He was almost in a panic! Nowhere to go, nothing to do, just did NOT for the life of him, want to spend that time on a $40,000 car. Time management folks and remember (all in a really loud chant now) "You can't fix stupid!" :laughing:
Managed a few finished shots (while being rushed)
Didn't have *time* for the finished shots I needed, but needless to say he was pleased, and actually sent me a text yesterday telling me how good it looks. My problem is, I hate for ANY flaws that they may see in it, (and he put some NEW scratches in it with towels he kept dropping) to be associated with MY work.
Thanks for indulging me boys and girls. This one was indeed a labor of love. For less than a hundred bucks I'd never do it for anyone else like that. But, we've known this guy for 39 years so it wasn't a big deal. If he were closer I'd do his cars regularly, but at 82 miles away it's a bit of a stretch. The hope is, (as with the rest of us) he'll let me take care of some of later. They travel for business, and the airport is on MY side of town. I can do the pickup and drop off thing, round trip to my house in WAY less time than it takes to drive 1-way to his.
Warning; this is a long one.
OK, So I get an invite last week from an old friend that we used to go to school with in the early-mid 70's to come up Saturday. He has a Polaris Ranger 800 that he just bought a new windshield for and wanted me to come help. His wife was in the middle of a 7 day convention over on the left coast in "the OC" so why not have a 'boys day out', drink a couple beers and go 4 wheeling!
We talked about it for a few days so while I was at it I told him I'd come, but ONLY if we detailed his wife's 2007 ES350 while I was there. I mean, I freaking KNOW he doesn't do it, and I also know his wife isn't that thrilled that he even HAS a 'boys day out'! (With his past evidence who can blame her as she came home TWICE to find new tatoos, on one arm or the other. YIKES!) Figured he SERIOUSLY NEEDED to gain some respect points with her just for putting up with his sorry arse.
So anyhow, we do the windshield on the Polaris and head out in the woods. His subdivision is all 350K ~ 1-Mill custom homes situated to where there is accessable green space behind all the homes. That space goes down to a huge river with probably 10 miles in each direction at least as it snakes back and forth winding along. Great trails, great fun! Problem with the new windshield is it blocks off the winter wind TOO GOOD. It was 52° out and felt like it was in the mid 80's with all the heat coming up from the radiatior as well as from under the seat, engine area. Darn good thing it's 2-pieces so you can take off the bottom part and get some much needed air!
We get back and I move to how we need to get the Lexus out of the garage, 1; because his garage is dark as a freaking CAVE, and 2; it was a beautiful weekend out. Keep in mind that for days I'd been telling him to WASH THE CAR. Do you think it was washed? He!! no! I went prepared however, and then told him to round up what HE washes the car with. All along I was getting out my buckets (2 bucket method, grit guards, Megs Gold and ONR). Should have seen what he dug up to wash it with, OMG!
So we get it into the sunshine and yes, the interior was really nice, but that's about it. Being a 2007 with 62K on it, all road miles I guess I wasn't suprised. Overall it wasn't that bad, but the front bumper looked like she spent all her time following a gravel truck!
It has a factory ppf on the hood and front fenders but that's it. Nothing on the headlights and nothing on the front bumper. Mild swirling all over with a few RIDS, along with some very deep scratches here and there. Also... it was eat up with water spots! Oh, and the messy white residue on rubber trim from "her" wax spreading, especially all around the sunroof.Get to washing, trying to break his bad habits and showing him how to do a 2-bucket wash. All the while he was raving on about how "she" keeps her car so clean, and "she" never parks it outside, and "she" keeps it waxed. Blah Blah BLAH FREAKING B-L-A-H.
Did the wheels and scrubbed the tires too. He was asking why the tires turned so brown? Can we say it yet, 'You can't fix stupid!'. He actually wanted to STOP and put it back in the garage as soon as it was washed (with a quick coating of Megs Endurance on the tires). "SORRY DUDE, we are just getting started!"Here it is before claying.
Quickly broke out the clay and did the trunk showing him how to get a handle on it. Then turned him loose on the upper surfaces while I did the upper portions of the sides. Once I moved around it, including the bumpers I let him hit the bottoms and I broke out a new bar of clay for the hood and ppf. Keep in mind that he wasn't EVEN thinking of doing it at all. Yet he's seen me claying, knows why I do it, and knew it was coming. By the time we finished claying he was saying "Well, that looks fine, let's wipe it off and put it back in the garage." I agreed to pull it in for the night, but first thing in the morning we ARE going to start buffing.
And after claying, which is when he WANTED TO QUIT!
Water Spots - etching
Where was I... Oh wash and clayed, getting dark. Time to call him up on that steak dinner!
After all, what I told him was if I came up then we needed to do something I liked too. He *obviously* doesn't wash and/or wax his cars, much less detail them. So I made a deal to give him a better detail than he's ever had for a fraction of what it should have cost. Took $70 and a Ribeye dinner for it all. Needless to say he got the better end of the deal. :oke:Speaking of not taking care of his stuff.... He would just rather buy toys. Being as they are 'empty nesters' now you wouldn't think they need 4 cars sitting there but then again, in his mind they are disposable. He has an 'airport' car that's his 2009 Corolla with a ton of miles, then the 2007 Lexus, 2008 Tacoma 4dr 50K on it, 2012 Ford Flex (he's trying out for a couple of weeks). Then there are the toys, the Polaris 800 and a 2007 Harley Electra Glide. From what I could see he doesn't have a CLUE how to keep any of them up!!! He actually told me he couldn't imagine WHY someone would want to do "this" to their cars. As we know, "you can't fix stupid!"
In any event, it's now Sunday morning and I told him after a quick breakfast that we needed to spend a few hours to get it finished. I had taped off several areas for test spots on the trunk to get an idea of what I could get away with. (More like get away "without", hoping I could do an AIO like Megs 83 perhaps, or even 205. I have just started working with D300 but don't have enough pads to feel comfortable doing the whole car. Although I could have done the horizontal surfaces then moved to a yellow pad and MAYBE 205 on the sides. :dunno:
Grabbed a few pads along with 101 (my new best friend), 205, Megs UC, and Megs 83. For reference, when doing test spots I set all the pads and product combos to speed 5 and 4 section passes only.
Hit a spot on the trunk with orange pads and 205, right away NOT gonna' work. Stepped to UC and orange pads, better but let's try yellow. Still better but not working with only 4 section passes. *Yes I know I can do more, but at this point he's already thinking it's taking too long!* OK, I'm thinking either I'm going to whip out the D300 and MF pads or my new friend 101. Same thing with 101, but I tried white, orange, then yellow. By now he's looking at everything and can ACTUALLY SEE THE IMPROVEMENT right before his eyes! Yipeee! :laughing: I asked him what he liked and explained the micromarring was there but it'd be taken care of in the polishing stage. OR.... we could do less cut but it would mean more section passes and it might look more like 'this'. (Which was the UC and orange test spot.) He chose the 101 with yellow pad combo, which I'd already decided on anyhow.
Still "can't fix stupid" but at least he was starting to see what it could turn out like.Starting compounding on the hood.
Fast forward to the end of compounding and he's ready to quit. Not just a little here but I mean HE WANTED TO STOP! I told him, "Mike, the paint doesn't have any protection on it AT ALL! We just can't quit yet, it still has to be polished, THEN it has to be sealed at the VERY LEAST." At this time he's saying, "I just had no idea it would take so much time. I don't know why anyone would spend time doing this. My wash and wax takes about 45 minutes."
After 101 on the paint. Nothing to the ppf yet (205 later).
The bumper doesn't look great, but BOY does it look better than it started!
On we go to polishing. I told him each step would take less time so he was getting happier but still complaining. About half way through polishing with 205 (white pads btw) he kept asking how much longer. He even said now, "Had I known how much time this would take I would have just told you NO, we cannot do it." I just looked at him and said, "Dude, what is the 2nd most expensive thing you've ever bought in your life?". With a puzzled look on his face he looked around and said, "Your car", well DUH!!!!Then I said, "So why would you not protect to some degree, the one single largest investment you have outside of your home?"
He just stood there saying how he works so much he just doesn't have time, YET he'll goof off forever, and we were indeed using the one thing he said he didn't have TIME. Not only that, he had nothing else to do BUT this which BTW... is an excellent deposit into the 'good favor bank' with his wife. Let's say it in unison this time boys and girls.... "You can't fix stupid!"
Any-who..... Get the 205 done and AGAIN he says "It's time to stop, let's put it in the garage". JESUS!
Again, "Mike, your paint doesn't have ANY protection on the paint yet." Seems he's drinking his 3rd coffee cup of stupid this morning already. To give him something to do I offered up a bottle of 303 protectant and by now he's going everywhere with it. He started easy, but by now he's opening all the doors hitting all the gaskets, opening the trunk, smearing it all over the glass.... you name it. But FINALLY he's not looking like it's the end of the world. :laughing:Very quickly now I grab another pad and the M21 and start going at it. He's pacing like he's late for an important date. He's also dropping my MF towels on the ground left and right! Thank God only one 530 got trashed!
However....... when I told him the M21 needed to sit on there for AT LEAST 15 minutes I thought he was gonna' pass out. He waited a bit, but by the time I got the trunk half the roof and rear quarter done he started wiping. JESUS here we go again! I jumped back to the roof to get the other side and coated it all over really quick, daring him to touch it! Did manage to leave it on for a few minutes before he wiped it off but not as long as I'd have liked. The finally, before he could even react I grabbed the ULW and hit the trunk, roof and hood. He was almost in a panic! Nowhere to go, nothing to do, just did NOT for the life of him, want to spend that time on a $40,000 car. Time management folks and remember (all in a really loud chant now) "You can't fix stupid!" :laughing:
Managed a few finished shots (while being rushed)
Didn't have *time* for the finished shots I needed, but needless to say he was pleased, and actually sent me a text yesterday telling me how good it looks. My problem is, I hate for ANY flaws that they may see in it, (and he put some NEW scratches in it with towels he kept dropping) to be associated with MY work.
Thanks for indulging me boys and girls. This one was indeed a labor of love. For less than a hundred bucks I'd never do it for anyone else like that. But, we've known this guy for 39 years so it wasn't a big deal. If he were closer I'd do his cars regularly, but at 82 miles away it's a bit of a stretch. The hope is, (as with the rest of us) he'll let me take care of some of later. They travel for business, and the airport is on MY side of town. I can do the pickup and drop off thing, round trip to my house in WAY less time than it takes to drive 1-way to his.
