Things you feel while detailing

stilltipping3

stilltipping3

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In the beginning I am anxious to start. By the afternoon I'm in a groove. By night fall I am exhausted. When the pocket is full and the car looks awesome the feeling is uplifting. That's why I do it.
 
Just relaxed and at peace throughout the entire process. No stress, nobody pressing you to meet some deadline, nobody shooting at you.....just me, my machine, and some good music. What's not to love?
 
I do cars on the side so for me I'm excited to get started, enjoy the time by myself, love the work that goes into it and seeing the result compared to where I started. Very few things I do make me feel the sense of accomplishment as does making a vehicle look its best and customer compliments are icing on the cake! :dblthumb2:

PC
 
I'm not a pro so it's not about the money. I do it because it relaxes me and gives me great pride in the results.


Plus with 5 kids, 4 of them girls, it gets me out of the house
 
I look at each car as its own challenge.

Before I start and during the project I feel the pressure for all the responsibility for the work and risk involved. Most, not all but most of the cars I detail are special interest vehicles and they bring with them their own kind of stress. For example I buffed out the below red car about this time last year and not only was the paint completely swirled out it was also,

Soft.
Single stage paint.
Had pre-existing burn-throughs on the hard thin edges of the body panels that showed white primer.

While it was a little stressful doing the machine polishing work I did the job in about 5.5 hours and charged $600.00 so the reward made the stress worth it.


Christmas Detail - Ferrari P4 - Move over Rudolf

Ferrari_P4_Detailed_by_Mike_Phillips_009.jpg





First thing I science out the plan of attack and then get started with a Test Spot. I rarely take a break except to drink something cold to stay hydrated.

I try to stay focused on the task at hand, concentrate on the car and try not to think about other things. (paint is thin, don't want to make a mistake).

Strive to get to the last step which is the final wipe.

Ask someone else to inspect the results, look for any smudges or residues I might have missed. A fresh set of eyes will often see things I miss after looking at the same car all day.

Return the car to the customer. That's its own reward.


It's always a sense of accomplishment to take a diamond in the rough and turn it into a glistening gemstone.


It's also rewarding to meet someone with a cool car that's jacked-up, feel their pain because they can't fix it and then fix it for them.



:)
 
jpegs13 said:
I'm not a pro so it's not about the money.

I do it because it relaxes me and gives me great pride in the results.
Click to expand...


At this point in my life it's never about the money, it's about helping the owner and fixing their car.

Fixing the paint so

A: It's fixed.

B: The owner doesn't have to risk having it done wrong by another person or having to repaint it because it's to far gone to fix.


That's the part I like, helping someone else with their car project. The money is just the reward for the time invested in someone else's project instead of working on my own project.




In my detailing boot camp classes I start the class by teaching people to first evaluate the customer. Make sure the person has realistic expectations and that you can make them happy. If you can't, turn the work down.


Most classes teach to first evaluate the car. I start with the customer because if the potential customer has unrealistic or out of this world expectations then you'll never please them and they can become your worst nightmare and harm your reputation.


So when I take on a car project it's because,

First, I genuinely like the person.

Second, I genuinely like the car.
​
In that order and I have to like both, it can't be one or the other and it starts with the person.



:)
 
I actually HATE the interior process as well as wheels..absolutely hate it to the max. I enjoy doing exterior body, especially paint correction.
 
Due to having:
Accumaltive Stress Disorder (ASD); Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS);
Vibration White Finger Syndrome (VWFS); Peripheral Neuropathy; Paresthesia:

I feel tingling, numbness, pins & needles, and burning...accompanied by pain.


When I was younger:
I loved doing work (and play), of any and all sorts, all day and night.

Good thing I'm retired:
Now it takes me all day and night to do it...No matter the work and/or play!!
(Don't get me wrong...Sometimes that's a good thing!)


:)

Bob
 
I tend to get anxious to finish because I wanna see the finished product (not my own car either) and then see the look on the owners face when they see the car done, well worth it!

Sent from my SPH-M930 using AG Online
 
Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
So when I take on a car project it's because,

First, I genuinely like the person.

Second, I genuinely like the car.
​
In that order and I have to like both, it can't be one or the other and it starts with the person.



:)
Click to expand...
Wow!!! That's a mouthful right there.

I'm going to keep this in the back of my mind for future reference for knowing when to walk away from a project. Great rule of thumb!!
 
I love posts like this (seriously), I find it fascinating to hear what other people think/feel and how life's experiences help form a person's answer. For example; several people say they feel stress. I feel some sense of concern for doing a quality job, but to me there is nothing stressful about detailing a car. To me sitting through a rocket attack not knowing if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time until you hear the boom, or going out on a convoy knowing that at any second an IED could ruin your day is stressful. Just different perspectives. Detailing for me is so relaxing, I just drift away into my own world. I've never used any type of drugs, but I guess this is my form of escape from reality. Please don't be offended, I'm not knocking anyone. As I said, I just find it fascinating how different life experiences form people's thoughts/opinions.
 
I feel like at times I am saving a car and giving it a new lease on life. It's almost like i'm doing my part to keep one more vehicle out of the big auto graveyard. *silly I know*
 
It challenges me to use all my skills and knowledge when it comes to detailing a vehicle. But in the end, its my customers satisfaction. Seeing them amaze and happy is priceless.
 
I love doing exterior and interior the finished product makes me happy. The best part for me is when the customer comes to get the car and see the look on their face is priceless. I'm losing the battle with the pain in my wrist and the arthritis in my hands so paint correction may be coming to an end :(
 
jpegs13 said:
I'm not a pro so it's not about the money. I do it because it relaxes me and gives me great pride in the results.


Plus with 5 kids, 4 of them girls, it gets me out of the house
Click to expand...

+1 on that , minus the boy and three daughters.
Weekends aren't long enough.....
 
After a hard week there's nothing better than detailing a car for relaxation.
Some call it work but for me it's therapy.
No matter how tired I may get I keep going, not to finish but to get back to it, that's the best feeling in the world for me. :dblthumb2:
 
Starting: Okay to have breakfast or not to have breakfast...hmm I have no time no wait I need energy...okay so...breakfast. what am I going to eat... *finds something to eat*

Next: Time to put on some tunes!! (Excitement!)

Proceed to interior: I feel extremely relaxed when doing leather, carpets etc... I find it very theraputic. If it's hot though, which it often is, I'll probalby be feeling thirsty lol. By the time I get to the dashboard (usually do that last) I'm usually psyched to do the exterior! Pretty much the entire interior is theraputic for me.

Then I get to the exterior and washing is a breeze. Claying always is fine too, but then I feel like I'm behind schedule after claying because I set too high time standards of myself. But I always make sure to be thorough over racing. The first few section passes during polishing are great, I stand back, look at the hood (usually start there), and I'm either impressed or unimpressed. I either go to the rest of the car feeling good, or reassess. A few panels later dehydration, hunger, heat, monotony or all of the above start sinking in. If I don't like the car I'm working on its difficult. If on the other hand its a cool classic, then I'm more inclined to notice the craftsmanship of the car. Not going to lie, in totality I do like correcting paint don't get me wrong, and the end results are always totally worth it... but paint correction does take a toll on me physically ...my GG polisher is loud, my hands vibrate, it's usually hot, my gravel is driveway and uncomfortable on the lower panels...so the outside does get a bit monotonous for me, I don't have a garage...so yeah. Ik Mike says that car guys are more impressed with the exterior...but I think the interior is more important because cars are meant to be driven not just admired, and when driven you inhabit the interior. Just my two cents! In any case I still choose to detail continuously and I do love it, but, at the end of the day it is still manual labor.
 
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