What did you do today, in regards to detailing?

I did something today that I’ve never done before. I’ve known about this, but never had a vehicle come across in such condition that actually needed it until today. The paint on my buddys Honda Accord is Hacked up. I’m talking about beyond paint checking, surface rust in many places, clearcoat peeling, etc.

I sprayed a section of the hood with iron remover and it tuned dark purple almost instantly. Lol. Unfortunately it did little to help the actual surface. Next I tried to rub in a little Meguiars #7 by hand, it made little difference as this paint, if you can call it that is too dry for that to work.

So that’s when I tried what I’ve always wanted to try for the 1st time to see if it actually works. A true hack, Transmission fluid.

And let me tell you, on This paint in horrendous condition, it actually did a phenomenal job.
Take a look at this 50/50. Pictures don’t do it justice. My friend was thrilled at the results. Lol.

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Did the entire car in a matter of minutes. Didn’t even have to wash it.lol.

Totally worth doing this hack job. It actually looks way better now than it did before.

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All I can say is...ay ay ay

PS What is that, about a 1990? I knew someone then that had one, that was so weird that period when the Accord had pop-up headlights.
 
I was once again reminded that as a whole, humans suck. I tried to help a couple of teens navigate a tricky situation but sometimes you have to learn the hard way.

The teens that I mentor booked a customer that wanted the oxidation removed from his 2006 Tundra. This was above their pay grade and I told them to hold off a week so that I could help but they’re teens and we all know how well teens listen to adults.

I told them to have the customer stop by to see the vehicle in person to discuss the job. I was present at this meeting to make sure realistic expectations were discussed. I measured the paint thickness and it was painfully thin in some places. A good polish would be enough to remove the oxidation but I explicitly told the customer that doing anything more aggressive was not recommended. He was fine with that and was more than thrilled that the oxidation could be removed.

The day of the detail the customer had the teen demonstrate what he could do with his polishing setup and he was satisfied with the teen’s skill. The job was finished and I stopped by to inspect and pointed out some areas that needed some attention. This customer was cheap and I knew he would be the type to nitpick everything. And that’s exactly what he did.

He mentioned that he could still see swirls when it was explained that going after anything other than the oxidation would be detrimental to the thin 20 year old paint. The headlights were covered almost completely in water spots and they were given a complimentary polish and looked 10x better. He can now see at night but since they weren’t perfect he complained. He took over 30 minutes pointing things that needed to be corrected before paying. This was a tough lesson to learn for the teens but they realized that not every custom with a smile is a good customer. This was a man that was hoping to take advantage of two teens and get a ton of work done on his neglected truck for next to nothing. This debacle was the fault of both parties; the teens for taking on a job too difficult but I place most of the disappointment on the adult. With such specific concerns about his truck, he should have gone to someone that specializes in paint correction as opposed to being cheap and hiring two teens that clearly didn’t have the skill to handle the full job.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
All I can say is...ay ay ay

PS What is that, about a 1990? I knew someone then that had one, that was so weird that period when the Accord had pop-up headlights.
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Yup it’s like a 1990. I once had a 92’ Accord similar to that one. That car was a great beater. Never maintained it but it ran for years trouble free.
 
Optimus Grime said:
The headlights were covered almost completely in water spots and they were given a complimentary polish and looked 10x better.
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This is typical with budget jobs and cheap customers. You do something complimentary and then they have the nerve to complain it’s not perfect..

There’s an old man that always walks his dogs and winds up taking up too much of my time trying to talk to me while I’m busy trying to work on cars and he sometimes asks me how much I’d charge to polish his Ford Focus.

I make sure to give him a high balllpark price because I already know he’s not seriously going to have me do it but mainly because I know he’s going to be one of those guys who expects the world for dirt cheap and if I’m gonna do all that I better be getting compensated for it.

The other day he asked about getting his interior detailed, shampoo carpets etc. I quoted him him something like $200 and his eyes nearly popped out of his head. But I haven’t even seen the car so that much isn’t really outrageous considering it might be a total disaster and I ain’t about to do it for nothing. If you want me to detail it I can do it. If you’re just window shopping then don’t waste my time. Lol.
 
Eldorado2k said:
This is typical with budget jobs and cheap customers. You do something complimentary and then they have the nerve to complain it’s not perfect..

There’s an old man that always walks his dogs and winds up taking up too much of my time trying to talk to me while I’m busy trying to work on cars and he sometimes asks me how much I’d charge to polish his Ford Focus.

I make sure to give him a high balllpark price because I already know he’s not seriously going to have me do it but mainly because I know he’s going to be one of those guys who expects the world for dirt cheap and if I’m gonna do all that I better be getting compensated for it.

The other day he asked about getting his interior detailed, shampoo carpets etc. I quoted him him something like $200 and his eyes nearly popped out of his head. But I haven’t even seen the car so that much isn’t really outrageous considering it might be a total disaster and I ain’t about to do it for nothing. If you want me to detail it I can do it. If you’re just window shopping then don’t waste my time. Lol.
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This is pretty much what I told the teens. They want to level up in detailing and I told them that they are going to have to work on their skills and I’d help with jobs to refine their techniques. The other side of that coin is that they are going to have to drop their repeat customers that only stick around because they have been the cheap option.

One brother mentioned that he’s got a job next Saturday, a repeat customer that he hasn’t seen in over a year. I told them that the price for a car that hasn’t been detailed in over a year was too low and to let the customer know that they were going to have to book him for an exterior detail instead of a maintenance wash. The customer then cancelled which was good. The customer tacitly told them that he only valued their services as long as they were cheap and they’re starting to realize that it’s time to drop dead weight.
 
Saturday was a wash out, so wash/detail today. Clouds so perfect for trying out the TWHS Black polish. Ceramic Acrylic black polish all in one formula corrects enhances and adds protection to black paint finishes. Did hand application with TW application pad and black MF towels. Really? This product amazed me! Easy application and no streaking on removal. Looked like a deep black ink pool when I was done. SOLD!! Can be topped 24 hours later with TWHS black wax or any other TWHS coating.

www.turtlewax.com

Ceramic Acrylic Car Polish | Polish & Body Paint | Hybrid Solutions

Achieve a glossy finish with Hybrid Solutions Black Car polish. Its unique ceramic-acrylic formula smooths scratches and enhances shine. Shop now!
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Klasse Act said:
Not ready to do a full post right now as I'm making chicken wings and onion rings for lunch but when I pulled in this greeted me️
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Mehhh, I'd rather the DB9 in the background.
 
Eldorado2k said:
There’s an old man that always walks his dogs and winds up taking up too much of my time trying to talk to me while I’m busy trying to work on cars and he sometimes asks me how much I’d charge to polish his Ford Focus.
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I have one of those too, although he's not asking me to do work for him. But the concept is the same, he bails me up while I'm usually occupied on a job of some sort. Genuinely nice guy, but it's always the same conversation, always the same whinge about the neighbour's barking dog. I don't do small talk, it just burns up time that I don't always have to spare, so it's frustrating when I get distracted by this nonsense when I'm clearly busy.
 
DFB said:
I have one of those too, although he's not asking me to do work for him. But the concept is the same, he bails me up while I'm usually occupied on a job of some sort. Genuinely nice guy, but it's always the same conversation, always the same whinge about the neighbour's barking dog. I don't do small talk, it just burns up time that I don't always have to spare, so it's frustrating when I get distracted by this nonsense when I'm clearly busy.
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If I walk past someone washing their car while I'm walking my dogs, I restrict myself to a nod, a wave, or maybe a "ooh shiny" if it looks good, while I try and figure out what they're using of course. At the moment there's a bit of Salty Captain going around.
 
Yesterday I decided to do a RW on the EN after work (touch-free wash was down before work). I started by cleaning the tires & wheels with Brake Buster and 3 brushes. I then moved the EN into the garage and did a RW, chose Koch Chemie Rrw. I have to say this product is very impressive, cleans great and finishes out VERY nicely! I finished with a top up on the tires with Adam's VRT, nice matte finish

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Well...it sprinkled on the EN about 15 minutes after starting work, then a little more steady and then stopped, sun came out, so after work it was off to my touch-free wash and drove home. Once home I used Labocosmetica Perfecta Sio2 ceramic quick detailer...🤌🤌

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Klasse Act said:
Yesterday I decided to do a RW on the EN after work (touch-free wash was down before work). I started by cleaning the tires & wheels with Brake Buster and 3 brushes. I then moved the EN into the garage and did a RW, chose Koch Chemie Rrw. I have to say this product is very impressive, cleans great and finishes out VERY nicely! I finished with a top up on the tires with Adam's VRT, nice matte finish

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Just tried the Koch Chemie Rrw last week. It really impressed me also. I’ll definitely purchase this again.


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Decided to knock out a Griot's Garage Rinseless Wash and Wax on the EN this morning. Now I've used it before and liked it but should check the directions more often, 1 oz to 2.5 gallons, I did 2 oz to 3.5 gallons, next time a little over an ounce for 3.5 gallons
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Took advantage of cloudily and cooler weather. Weekly wash. Finished with TWHS Flex wax as a rinse wax. Wanted to try the new wax plus from TW but it will not be here till Sunday. wheel wells got hyperdressing 4:1. I will be going back to dressing the wells this way. So easy. That was the last of the HD, so have MALCO aqua bead also arriving Sunday. Another WB dressing that dilutes just like HD.
 
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From the 30th of April
Carpro Reset
Koch chemie PSS- side steps and front grill
Meguiar's hyper dressing- mud flaps/wheel arches
Bowden's own alkaline snow foam the orange one
Headlights sealed
Bowden's own sweet rubber
Bowden's own vinyl revival ute cover
OG drying aid for paint

Interior
Nextzett Cockpit Premium
Vac
Simple green on the rubber mats

10 year's old with rock chips and under 200,000km done.
 
PA DETAILER said:
Took advantage of cloudily and cooler weather. Weekly wash. Finished with TWHS Flex wax as a rinse wax. Wanted to try the new wax plus from TW but it will not be here till Sunday. wheel wells got hyperdressing 4:1. I will be going back to dressing the wells this way. So easy. That was the last of the HD, so have MALCO aqua bead also arriving Sunday. Another WB dressing that dilutes just like HD.
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Didn't know TW had a new product out

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Go got a little bored after dinner and went out to the garage (I'm still soooo appreciative I can just walk into a garage and do this) and applied a coat of ADS Ceramic Spray Sealant to the EN. I watched Sheep Star's video this week about the v2 of this product, so might as well use this bottle up...quickly, will probably boost up my rims with it, same with the TAOS

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