New from Missouri, stationed in Okinawa

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HABU32

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Hi everyone! Been lurking here a few weeks now, reading here and there and finally decided to register and get serious about detailing, possibly might start a small side detailing business here if time and the wife allows. :D

I'm originally from Missouri, active duty AF, been in just over 9 years. I just got one of my dream assignments to Okinawa Japan and i'm loving it here so far (about 2 months on island). I am a car obsessor (lover is too light of a term for me), I appreciate most any car and could talk car stuff all day. I just picked up one of my two dream cars (a Corvette being one), a white R32 1993 Nissan Skyline GT-R. I love old school muscle, but my true passion is with Japanese imports (thought anything with an LS motor definately gets my attention!).

Other than cars, i like photography and traveling (plan to do a lot of traveling around Asia, wife is from the Philippines and i've been stationed in Korea, so i've got a decent start to SE Asia).

One of my first priorities is to buy a polisher and pad kit and some quality cleaners/polishes/wax/etc. I see there's a nice lil sale going on right now, hopefully i can pick something up before it's over!

Anyway, enough rambling. I'll throw up some pics of the car and start a thread in the appropriate section to get a good start on things. I've already read numerous threads/how-to's on here (my fav being the "The lesson white paint teaches us" thread by Mike, being as my GT-R is Crystal White, haha) and have some detailing background, but am always open to suggestions/tips. :xyxthumbs:

Brett
 
Welcome. pics of the GTR. I was stationed @ Kinser back in the late 90's.
 
Welcome to AGO!!! Okinawa! Way cool!! My pops was a drill sergeant in the Army and our family was stationed in Seoul, Korea 8th Army Base back in the late 60's and 70's.

You will enjoy this site tremendously and learn quite a bit. I have been to Okinawa and I know that the Okinawans like to be called "Okinawans" NOT Japanese or Chinese! Learned that when I was there.

As for the DA Polishers IMO the Flex 3401 VRG is the way to go with either the Menzerna FG400/SF4000 kits or the Wofgang Kits. The LC Backing Plate and the Hybrid Pads.

You will get a ton of opinions and suggestions....do what YOU think is best!! The Skyline IMO is a Bad Azz Ride...Great choice!! Corvettes rock too even though I am a Ford guy!

Ha Ji Mae Maash It Tae!

Peace!!
 
Welcome.
Kadena AFB 1980
You will learn a lot here. I have
 
Welcome!

I lived on Okinawa in the early 70's for 4 years. We lived down at Sukiran area but lived near Kadena Circle waiting for on base housing.
 
Welcome aboard.... I started detailing here May of last year. It's not too bad but you won't get the $ here you see in the states. I leave in about 3months though. If you have any questions lmk. BTW - the USMC hobby shops are selling Collinite now!!

Also - don't detail any cars but your own at the Kadena Auto Hobby shop. They will freak out lol.
 
Welcome to the madness. There are many experts here who willingly share their knowledge. I'm a newb and have learned tons. Mach1USMC sounds like a great local resource four you.

Thank you for your service.
 
Wow! Thanks for the warm welcome ya'll. I'm glad to see a lot of people on here that know about Okinawa and how beautiful it is here. I'll make sure I post up some pics of places around here, might bring back some good memories.

Kamakaz1961- I have been looking at both the PC and Flex. I was fairly set on the PC, but i'm kinda leaning toward the Flex after reading a few more articles on here about it. Seems like either way I can't go wrong. And no hate on Ford really, if I had to own any Ford it'd have to be a Terminator. Those sumbitches are just nasty! Or an old Ranger, my dad had one and we went all over the U.S. in that thing, he still has it and it's an 83, with the awesome red/white two tone, haha.

Mach1USMC- Thanks for the tip on $$... it's just an idea, not sure if i'll do it or not, just would like the extra dough for car parts and traveling. I've been over Foster a bit, but haven't been to the others yet. I heard Kinser has a pretty good shop. All the shops are called Typhoon Motors, correct? Just wondering which one has the best variety of stuff. Kadena doesn't have squat for selection. Maybe i'll catch ya around before you leave. Where ya headed off to after here?

To the rest of ya- Thanks for the welcome again and thanks for any help/opinions/tips you bring with you. I knew I was gonna like this place.

Pics!






:thankyousign:
 
Hi Brett, welcome to AGO from Germany!

Active Duty Air Force here as well with just over 11 years in. Also from Missouri as well. Grew up in a town called Arnold along highway 55.

This is my second tour in Germany. First Rammstein, then to Nellis, then here to Spangdahlem. The Nurburgring is 45 minutes from me. Cant wait for warmer weather to head back up there.

Seeing as you are an auto enthusiasts and stationed in Japan, check out this video recently posted on my BMW forum. Make sure you are connected to quality speakers and set the video on full screen.

http://youtu.be/ORu58PY1S_g


Best Regards,
Mike
 
Hi Brett,

Welcome to AutogeekOnline! :welcome:


whiteZilla said:
Hi everyone! Been lurking here a few weeks now, reading here and there and finally decided to register and get serious about detailing, possibly might start a small side detailing business here if time and the wife allows.
Click to expand...


Seems like a natural progression...

Get set-up and supplied to detail your own cars... word-of-mouth and shining examples of your own cars leads to part-time income. Hobby pays for itself.



whiteZilla said:
I've already read numerous threads/how-to's on here (my fav being the "The lesson white paint teaches us" thread by Mike, being as my GT-R is Crystal White, haha) and have some detailing background, but am always open to suggestions/tips. :xyxthumbs:

Brett
Click to expand...


The white paint article, this one,

The Lesson White Paint Teaches Us


Was actually a chapter in my first how-to book I self-published called,

"The art of polishing paint"

Lots of people think it's an article about white paint or after reading it they think it's an article that says I don't like white paint.

Neither are correct.

The article is about how white paint can best show people how paint gets dirty over time and thus why it's important to polish the paint from time to time or use a one-step cleaner/wax. The bra on the front of the Honda Prelude is the key part about this point in the article.

My take on white paint is that compared to colored or pigmented paint, it's boring to work. I never say I don't like it I just say I'd rather work on something with some color to it.

As for making white paint look GREAT! The key is to do the same things to white paint that you would do for any color and that is the basics.

  1. Wash and dry
  2. Decontaminate
  3. Polish
  4. Wax
Just do a super duper job of each process and that's where you can take the 4 things listed and turn it into a dozen procedures depending upon how complicated you want to get.

Because you can't get the deep reflections out of white paint like you can out of black paint and other dark colors the key aspect to focus on is getting the paint as smooth as possible to maximize gloss.

See this article as the paint in this article looks about as glossy as you can get....


Gloss starts first with a smooth surface...

And this more recent article,

How to create a high gloss finish



Then choose and use a quality paint coating to create a glassy look plus make washing and drying faster and easier.


See the paint on this old Jeep...


Cleaned & Coated in 3 Hours - 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee



:dblthumb2:
 
Hey, nice to talk to another fellow Missourian. I know I've been through Arnold before, had a lot of friends that moved to east side of Missouri and we'd go party up that way on the weekends. I grew up in Dixon, which is just near Fort Leonard Wood off of I-44. What's your AFSC? I'm an AMMO troop, been at Luke AFB, AZ, Osan AB, Korea and the last 4 1/2 years at Whiteman AFB, MO.
And thank you for that video, that was honestly one of the coolest vid's I've seen. I'd love to hit up that road sometime... I've heard it's only like $600 to ferry a car from here to mainland Japan... hmmmm :D
 
Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
Hi Brett,

Welcome to AutogeekOnline! :welcome:





Seems like a natural progression...

Get set-up and supplied to detail your own cars... word-of-mouth and shining examples of your own cars leads to part-time income. Hobby pays for itself.






The white paint article, this one,

The Lesson White Paint Teaches Us


Was actually a chapter in my first how-to book I self-published called,

"The art of polishing paint"

Lots of people think it's an article about white paint or after reading it they think it's an article that says I don't like white paint.

Neither are correct.

The article is about how white paint can best show people how paint gets dirty over time and thus why it's important to polish the paint from time to time or use a one-step cleaner/wax. The bra on the front of the Honda Prelude is the key part about this point in the article.

My take on white paint is that compared to colored or pigmented paint, it's boring to work. I never say I don't like it I just say I'd rather work on something with some color to it.

As for making white paint look GREAT! The key is to do the same things to white paint that you would do for any color and that is the basics.

  1. Wash and dry
  2. Decontaminate
  3. Polish
  4. Wax
Just do a super duper job of each process and that's where you can take the 4 things listed and turn it into a dozen procedures depending upon how complicated you want to get.

Because you can't get the deep reflections out of white paint like you can out of black paint and other dark colors the key aspect to focus on is getting the paint as smooth as possible to maximize gloss.

See this article as the paint in this article looks about as glossy as you can get....


Gloss starts first with a smooth surface...

And this more recent article,

How to create a high gloss finish



Then choose and use a quality paint coating to create a glassy look plus make washing and drying faster and easier.


See the paint on this old Jeep...


Cleaned & Coated in 3 Hours - 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee



:dblthumb2:
Click to expand...

Awesome, thanks for the tips sir! I bet it gets kinda old with that article, haha. It was very helpful, as were a few of the other white car specific threads. Ironically, both of our cars here are white, but at least our minivan is a pearl white, so it's got some beauty to it. The paint on it is in much better shape than the Skyline, so it'll be a breeze to work with I feel. I plan to make a thread about the car, so I can get any ideas/tips/tricks/etc to make it look the best it can.

I think I've decided to go with a PC kit and a good clay bar system to start off with. Work my way around a few different products and see which I like and what works best and go from there.

Thanks again!
 
whiteZilla said:
Hey, nice to talk to another fellow Missourian. I know I've been through Arnold before, had a lot of friends that moved to east side of Missouri and we'd go party up that way on the weekends. I grew up in Dixon, which is just near Fort Leonard Wood off of I-44. What's your AFSC? I'm an AMMO troop, been at Luke AFB, AZ, Osan AB, Korea and the last 4 1/2 years at Whiteman AFB, MO.
And thank you for that video, that was honestly one of the coolest vid's I've seen. I'd love to hit up that road sometime... I've heard it's only like $600 to ferry a car from here to mainland Japan... hmmmm :D
Click to expand...

Hmmm. Never made it over through your neck of the woods. I did however spend my weekends at Lake of the Ozarks as my dad had a condo on the water and a decent sized Sea Ray.

I am 2T3X1 Vehicle Maintenance. Joined in August '03 with as a mechanic and been that way ever since. First base Barksdale AFB for a year, Rammstein for 3, Nellis for 5, and now Spangdahlem on a four year tour. If I have the option I will IPCOT. Enjoy Germany too much to leave. BMW nut within 45 minutes of the Ring. No reason to leave.

Glad you enjoyed the video. I really enjoyed it as well. I know there are quite a few tuners over there. Namely LB Performance. Really like his style wide body kits. I washed the first two LB kitted M3's in the U.S. for Mfest in '12. Such a wicked looking kit.

Best Regards,
Mike
 
Love that R32 and welcome👍

Sent from my LGLS990 using Tapatalk
 
Thanks for the pics and welcome! That is one sweet R32
 
Thanks! Glad you liked them, I'll be doing a page for it tomorrow so i can get tips/ideas of anything else i might need to order to restore the beauty of this monster. I ordered the Menz-PC kit, CG gray clay bar, blackfire clay lubricant and some blackfire wet diamond shampoo as my free sample. But i feel there are other things i need/want. Once i get pics up of areas of concern in a new thread, it'll make more sense. :D
 
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