Mike Phillips
Active member
- Dec 5, 2022
- 51,004
- 7
The most hands-on FLEX 3401 Detailing Classes available only at Autogeek
The FLEX 3401 aka the BEAST and the only book on how to use the FLEX 3401
Question: What do you get to do when you attend a Competition Ready Detailing Class at Autogeek?
First - You get to use ALL the cool tools in the car detailing industry!
Second - And you get to use them on cool cars that are in dire need of restoration!
Without exception - these are the MOST HANDS-ON Detailing classes on planet Earth!
I personally guarantee it -Mike Phillips
The Hands-on FLEX 3401 Detailing Class - February 2017
This is 1996 Corvette with the ORIGINAL factory basecoat/clearcoat finish is one of the training cars for the February 2017 Flex 3401 class.
The paint is dull and weathered. The paint is also filled with swirls, scratches, oxidation and water spots
These are Type II Water Spot Etchings or Craters. This means the spots you see are not something ON the paint but etchings IN the paint.
Here's a couple of pictures taken inside under Florescent lights
The car behind the Corvette is a 1950 Hudson Hornet.
The 1950 Hudson Hornet has a 1-year old basecoat/clearcoat paint job with lots of swirls and scratches.
Car Washing
Here at our Competition Ready Detailing Classes we teach
1: Traditional Car Wash with a hose, bucket and foam gun - The Aggressive Approach (we cover the Gentle Approach)
2: Rinseless Wash
3: Waterless wash
For the Hudson and the Corvette the class will learn how to use the Rinseless Wash
From left to right...
Gregg, Steve, Daniel and Anthony
Mechanical Decontamination
After using the Rinseless Wash to get these two cars clean, the class then used Nanoskin Towels to mechanically decontaminate the paint to remove above surface bonded contaminants.
(no pictures of this process)
Paint Correction
After mechanically decontaminating the paint, the class was taught how to do a Test Spot to see what it would take to remove the below surface defects and restore the best finish possible.
Process for the Corvette
The water spot etchings were deep in the Corvette as were the swirls and scratches. For the paint on this car, here's what we used.
Note the orange colored pads in the pictures below for the first step.
From left to right...
Robert, Travis and Steve
Travis mastering the FLEX 3401 for compounding
Bobby mastering the FLEX 3401 for compounding...
Bobby works here at Autogeek in Wholesale and attended this class to get caught up on all the latest tools, pads and products being introduced to the market. Bobby is also an enthusiast detailer detailing cars for family and friends and occasionally for profit. You will also see Bobby on Competition Ready in the episode where we did an Extreme Showcar Makeover to AJ's 1968 Firebird. Bobby was my "Wheel Guy" as he's damn good at polishing out wheels.
As the class is taking place I move around the classroom and work one-on-one with each student.
Here's David inspecting his results with the FLEX Swirl Finder Light...
Process for the Hudson
The Hudson was painted using a paint system where the clear is mixed in with the color coat and after the paint is sprayed but before it dries, the clear portion migrates to the outside. This gives the appearance of a 2-stage paint job while only shooting one stage paint. For this reason the clearcoat effect is VERY THIN.
It was decided to NOT get super aggressive for the correction step for this car.
Note the white colored pads in the pictures below for the first step
Here's Nancy learning to master the FLEX 3401 on this cool old Hudson. Nancy doesn't detail cars professionally, she attended this class simply to bring her own skill level up when taking care of her own cars and trucks. You'll see Nancy on Competition Ready for the Custom Car Builder's Challenge that we shot at Detail Fest.
Buffing on the roof in the front are Daniel and CJ - These two guys own their own detailing businesses and attended this class to take their knowledge and skills to a higher level.
This is Anil, he's from Trinidad and Tobago
Anil owns his own detailing company. He flew here from Trinidad and Tobago, which is 1,700 miles from Stuart, Florida (one way), to take his skills and knowledge to a higher level. Tom is a retired College Professor and loves to detail cars for both fun and profit.
This is Tom aka TMQ on the AGO forum
Tom was our hearing impaired student for which we brought in professional signers so he understand the information being taught and take his knowledge and skills to a higher level.
Below in the front is Will working on the driver's side passenger door
Will works here at Autogeek in Customer Service and attended this class to get caught up on all the latest tools, pads and products being introduced to the market.
This is Roger! aka Roger that on the AGO forum!
I became good friends with Roger while he attended this class. Roger owns and runs a towing company and body shop and wanted to learn more about all the different tools, pads and compounds on the market for the buffing side of the painting industry. Roger also owns a couple of cool cars in his collection and of course wanted to know how to truly create a show car finish on his own rolling works of art.
You'll see Roger on Competition Ready for the Custom Car Builder's Challenge that we shot at Detail Fest.
Here's CJ taking care of business on the lower portion of the Hudson driver's door.
You'll also see CJ on Competition Ready for the Custom Car Builder's Challenge that we shot at Detail Fest.
The FLEX 3401 aka the BEAST and the only book on how to use the FLEX 3401
Question: What do you get to do when you attend a Competition Ready Detailing Class at Autogeek?
First - You get to use ALL the cool tools in the car detailing industry!
Second - And you get to use them on cool cars that are in dire need of restoration!
Without exception - these are the MOST HANDS-ON Detailing classes on planet Earth!
I personally guarantee it -Mike Phillips
The Hands-on FLEX 3401 Detailing Class - February 2017
This is 1996 Corvette with the ORIGINAL factory basecoat/clearcoat finish is one of the training cars for the February 2017 Flex 3401 class.
The paint is dull and weathered. The paint is also filled with swirls, scratches, oxidation and water spots
These are Type II Water Spot Etchings or Craters. This means the spots you see are not something ON the paint but etchings IN the paint.
Here's a couple of pictures taken inside under Florescent lights
The car behind the Corvette is a 1950 Hudson Hornet.
The 1950 Hudson Hornet has a 1-year old basecoat/clearcoat paint job with lots of swirls and scratches.
Car Washing
Here at our Competition Ready Detailing Classes we teach
1: Traditional Car Wash with a hose, bucket and foam gun - The Aggressive Approach (we cover the Gentle Approach)
2: Rinseless Wash
3: Waterless wash
For the Hudson and the Corvette the class will learn how to use the Rinseless Wash
From left to right...
Gregg, Steve, Daniel and Anthony
Mechanical Decontamination
After using the Rinseless Wash to get these two cars clean, the class then used Nanoskin Towels to mechanically decontaminate the paint to remove above surface bonded contaminants.
(no pictures of this process)
Paint Correction
After mechanically decontaminating the paint, the class was taught how to do a Test Spot to see what it would take to remove the below surface defects and restore the best finish possible.
Process for the Corvette
The water spot etchings were deep in the Corvette as were the swirls and scratches. For the paint on this car, here's what we used.
- FLEX 3401 - Gear driven orbital polisher
- Lake Country Hybrid Orange Foam Cutting Pads
- Wolfgang Uber Compound
Note the orange colored pads in the pictures below for the first step.
From left to right...
Robert, Travis and Steve
Travis mastering the FLEX 3401 for compounding
Bobby mastering the FLEX 3401 for compounding...
Bobby works here at Autogeek in Wholesale and attended this class to get caught up on all the latest tools, pads and products being introduced to the market. Bobby is also an enthusiast detailer detailing cars for family and friends and occasionally for profit. You will also see Bobby on Competition Ready in the episode where we did an Extreme Showcar Makeover to AJ's 1968 Firebird. Bobby was my "Wheel Guy" as he's damn good at polishing out wheels.
As the class is taking place I move around the classroom and work one-on-one with each student.
Here's David inspecting his results with the FLEX Swirl Finder Light...
Process for the Hudson
The Hudson was painted using a paint system where the clear is mixed in with the color coat and after the paint is sprayed but before it dries, the clear portion migrates to the outside. This gives the appearance of a 2-stage paint job while only shooting one stage paint. For this reason the clearcoat effect is VERY THIN.
It was decided to NOT get super aggressive for the correction step for this car.
- FLEX 3401 - Gear driven orbital polisher
- Lake Country Hybrid White Foam Polishing Pads
- Wolfgang Total Swirl Remover
Note the white colored pads in the pictures below for the first step
Here's Nancy learning to master the FLEX 3401 on this cool old Hudson. Nancy doesn't detail cars professionally, she attended this class simply to bring her own skill level up when taking care of her own cars and trucks. You'll see Nancy on Competition Ready for the Custom Car Builder's Challenge that we shot at Detail Fest.
Buffing on the roof in the front are Daniel and CJ - These two guys own their own detailing businesses and attended this class to take their knowledge and skills to a higher level.
This is Anil, he's from Trinidad and Tobago
Anil owns his own detailing company. He flew here from Trinidad and Tobago, which is 1,700 miles from Stuart, Florida (one way), to take his skills and knowledge to a higher level. Tom is a retired College Professor and loves to detail cars for both fun and profit.
This is Tom aka TMQ on the AGO forum
Tom was our hearing impaired student for which we brought in professional signers so he understand the information being taught and take his knowledge and skills to a higher level.
Below in the front is Will working on the driver's side passenger door
Will works here at Autogeek in Customer Service and attended this class to get caught up on all the latest tools, pads and products being introduced to the market.
This is Roger! aka Roger that on the AGO forum!
I became good friends with Roger while he attended this class. Roger owns and runs a towing company and body shop and wanted to learn more about all the different tools, pads and compounds on the market for the buffing side of the painting industry. Roger also owns a couple of cool cars in his collection and of course wanted to know how to truly create a show car finish on his own rolling works of art.
You'll see Roger on Competition Ready for the Custom Car Builder's Challenge that we shot at Detail Fest.
Here's CJ taking care of business on the lower portion of the Hudson driver's door.
You'll also see CJ on Competition Ready for the Custom Car Builder's Challenge that we shot at Detail Fest.
