What did you do today Auto Detailing related?

puzzlemaster94

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Well I still work at the detail shop and I've learned quite a few things.

I bought a Porter Cable DA and it really does help.

On Saturday, I compounded, polished, and waxed my car using the DA. Really speeds up the process and keeping my arms from dying.

Used Ultimate Compound, followed by Mirror Glaze 205, then NXT wax. Really pops and shines now. I'll get the pictures finished soonish
 

CG6Lemon

Detailing Enthusiast
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Well I still work at the detail shop and I've learned quite a few things.

I bought a Porter Cable DA and it really does help.

On Saturday, I compounded, polished, and waxed my car using the DA. Really speeds up the process and keeping my arms from dying.

Used Ultimate Compound, followed by Mirror Glaze 205, then NXT wax. Really pops and shines now. I'll get the pictures finished soonish


Evan, based on your post, I can tell you have grown and gained some good valuable experience within the detailing industry and used car industry. Keep practicing with the PC DA and master it. Then expand and work on other cars. Within 1-2 years maybe you will follow the same path as me who knows..... Keep it up bro!
 

puzzlemaster94

6GA Connoisseur
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Evan, based on your post, I can tell you have grown and gained some good valuable experience within the detailing industry and used car industry. Keep practicing with the PC DA and master it. Then expand and work on other cars. Within 1-2 years maybe you will follow the same path as me who knows..... Keep it up bro!

I plan to learn as much as I can. I kind of have a little side business going on where I sometimes detail my friends cars. I used a rotary buffer on my friends 350Z and it turned out very decent.

Here's the 350Z

IMG_0820 by Evan Aschbacher, on Flickr


And a few randoms I took during different stages of cleaning/polishing the Accord.

IMG_0789 by Evan Aschbacher, on Flickr


IMG_0787 by Evan Aschbacher, on Flickr


IMG_0779 by Evan Aschbacher, on Flickr


IMG_0776 by Evan Aschbacher, on Flickr


IMG_0775 by Evan Aschbacher, on Flickr


IMG_0774 by Evan Aschbacher, on Flickr


IMG_0770 by Evan Aschbacher, on Flickr


IMG_0767 by Evan Aschbacher, on Flickr
 

CG6Lemon

Detailing Enthusiast
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Not bad.... for just starting out working at the detail shop.



Couple tips:

Never get too comfortable with the rotary machine. Slip ups can happen in one sec compared to using a DA

clean out the compound in the cracks and crevices before taking a pic

some pics are a little blurry. Maybe camera focus issue?

Look up your local area detail shops and see how much they charge for their services. Then price your prices higher than theirs at a desired rate you wanna earn. Do exceptional quality work and word will spread I promise you. Do not compete with shops, but DOMINATE! You will never win trying to compete, besides you are probably aiming to do high end work only like I am.
 

CG6Lemon

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2015 Toyota Tacoma Offroad






This customer was a referral from the Acura job. He wanted the same thing as in wash, decontaminate, Iron X, clay bar, and sealant. In addition to remove emblems and headlight restoration for his retrofit headlights he purchased. The main focus was to remove all the deep scratches on the headlight because the customer paid a pretty price for them. I took a look at the headlight and knew I had my work cut out for me.




Started off with removing emblems. Heat gun, plastic card, adhesive remover, polish




DetailedByPrecision2726 copy by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2727 copy by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2728 copy by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2731 copy by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2732 copy by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2733 copy by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2734 copy by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




Continued with washing car, decontaminate, Iron X, claybar




DetailedByPrecision2739 copy by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2742 copy by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DSC_2743 copy by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2745 copy by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2746 copy by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2748 copy by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2749 copy by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2752 copy by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




Headlight restoration using 800 grit, 1500, 2000, 3000




DetailedByPrecision2754 copy by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2761 copy by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2757 copy by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2762 copy by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




Finished pics:




DetailedByPrecision2764 copy by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2765 copy by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2766 copy by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2778 copy by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2779 copy by Limny Kuang, on Flickr






Total time: 8 hrs 18mins


What I learned from this job:

adhesive remover can stain single stage white paint

truck tires takes more time and effort to get an even finish with tire gel due to grooves

passenger headlight took longer to polish out sanding scratches compared to driver side even though same products and techniques were used.




That sums up this project. Feel free to contribute or comment. Thanks for viewing.
 

CG6Lemon

Detailing Enthusiast
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2016 Subaru Sti New Car Prep & 3" scratch removal success







This job was a referral of the white tacoma truck I did beforehand. The customer is a coworker of the tacoma owner and commented on how clean his truck looked parked at work. They had a conversation and my contact information was given to get in touch with me. Had a couple brief text messages and set up an inspection to go over the car and talk about the customers concerns and goals for his new to him car. He stopped by and he wanted the same job done as his co workers truck, but on top of that also polish out the right fender and hood for scratches. But, his main concern was a 3 inch scratch on his rear bumper which he did not know how it got there. I went over the options with him and explained my process clearly and thoroughly so we are both on the same page and no miscommunication. I advised him to buy a bottle of touch up from the dealer just in case I needed to use it on the scratch. We set up a drop off day for me to work on the car and his anticipation to see the end outcome of the 3" scratch was exciting.




Worked on the exhaust tips first




DetailedByPrecision2878 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2879 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2882 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2885 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




Started the wash, decontamination process with foaming the car, Iron X, Claybar




DetailedByPrecision2886 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2889 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




Applied Carpro Hydro onto the wheels for protection




DetailedByPrecision2893 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2894 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2896 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2898 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




Post claying, a lot of defects showed up on various panels. I'm pretty sure the dealer slapped on some glaze to prepare the car for sale and the claybar removed it and the original defects resurfaced at this point. Some glue residue on the windows and some bird poop shape stains on the hood with some scratches.




Used FG400 and Menz203




DetailedByPrecision2899 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2959 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2906 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2932 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2905 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2933 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2909 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2914 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2920 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision292 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2911 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2915 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2922 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2923 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2930 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2931 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2902 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2960 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




Onto the film residue. Used Menz203 by hand




DetailedByPrecision2907 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2918 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2926 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2927 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




Couple 50/50's from polishing the hood and driver fender




DetailedByPrecision2958 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2939 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2941 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




Now the fun part and most pressure to perform.... the 3" scratch. I assessed it under LED lighting and using my finger nail to see if it catches or not before I dialed in my process. It barely caught my finger nail so there was hope of not having to use the touch up.




DetailedByPrecision2962 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




I hit the scratch with M101 w/ MF pad first to see if there is an improvement or not. Not as obvious anymore...




DetailedByPrecision2963 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




Was not satisfied with the result. I decided to use 2000 grit block and wetsanded the area.




DetailedByPrecision2964 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




Polished out using same combo listed above




DetailedByPrecision2965 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




After polishing it out, the damage minimized a lot at this point. I took a look at it and decided I can push it a little more to get that last percent of correction.




DetailedByPrecision2966 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2967 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




Success! You cannot see it in day time unless you have LED lights blasting at it and looking at it within inches like this....




DetailedByPrecision2969 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




Sealed the paint afterwards with Blackfire wet diamond paint sealant




DetailedByPrecision2974 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




Finished pics of the car




DetailedByPrecision2975 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2979 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2980 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2985 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2995 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2987 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2986 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision3000 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2883 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




Took some shots of the interior to appreciate the mods done to it. I did not work on the interior.




DetailedByPrecision2993 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2992 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2991 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2989 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr









Total time: 8 hr 18 mins

What I learned from this job:

You can't tell the paint's real condition until you wash and clay it. Not just a wash alone.

The paint was easy to correct and did not have micro marring occur upon wiping off polish residue. Easy to work with.

Never get too confident with sanding isolated deep scratches. I need to focus on task 110% of the time. One slip up is a repaint.




Thanks for viewing for those who made it this far. Appreciate comments and questions are welcomed. I had a lot of fun working on this car. I accepted a challenge and I prevailed. The customer was extremely happy I did not have to resort to touching it up.
 

CG6Lemon

Detailing Enthusiast
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2005 Lotus






A longtime and good friend of mine recently acquired a new to him car, which is a 2005 Lotus. He wanted to learn how to clean it up and maintain. I offered him to teach him on a weekend where I was free. He gladly accepted my offer and we set up a day. The car only had a single owner before he bought it so it was in good condition to begin with. After a couple of hours of hard work on his part of course we took it for a drive to get a feel of the car. We took it to some back roads and surprisingly the car's power to weight ratio feels really good. Had a blast and grabbed some food to catch up and parted ways. Onto the pics....






Started with wheels, applying Hydro afterwards




DetailedByPrecision2795 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2803 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2799 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




Followed with foam, clay, iron X. For protection, applied Hydro to all surfaces




DSC_2809 copy by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DSC_2810 copy by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2822 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2812 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2826 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




Applied Wolfgang Trim Sealant to trim pieces as well




DetailedByPrecision2804 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2840 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2806 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2842 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2853 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




Finished pics:




DetailedByPrecision2833 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2837 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2836 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2835 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2830 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2843 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr




DetailedByPrecision2852 by Limny Kuang, on Flickr






What I learned from this detail:

Cannot spray water around rear tail lights. The design of it will allow water to seep through and flood the trunk area.




Thanks if you guys read the whole thread. Any comments or input are always welcomed.
 
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