Recent content by Ben Carufel

Anyone know if there even is a detailer in Fairbanks?

...so today was day 2 of detailing a fellow San Diego BMW Club members' Topaz Green Metallic 1998 M Roadster. I washed, clayed, and did a coat of 3M Finesse-It II FCRC with a CMA yellow pad yesterday. Thought I'd just follow up today with a coat of 3M SMR and be done with it, but when I...

A friend of mine bought a tube of it at SEMA last November and can't stop raving about how incredible it is. I've polished the headlights on my Coupe (BMW uses plastic lenses), which have 65,000 miles on them, with 3M FCRC and a CMA yellow pad on the PC, and I got decent results. However, I...

DISCLAIMER: I ***KNOW*** not to use Dawn, Tide, Pine Sol, etc., this question isn't about *that*. I'm wondering how much different soaps can affect a finish. For instance, on my customers' cars I use the big 1.25 gallon Turtle Wax gold car soap bottle you get at Costco. It seems to be pretty...

This is an idea I've been going over in my head during my past few details...someone might have already posted it on Autopia or someone might find a good reason to not do it, but I figured it might help someone out just the same. I have a few products I wish were aeresol. Such as: Klasse...

Just wondering if this kind of thing exists. I really am thinking about picking one up since I'm not too happy with the results I'm getting with my Hoover SteamVac.

I'm really having some trouble with swirls...and I'm sure it's something in my equipment/technique, but I can't for the life of me figure out what. Any help would be appreciated. Here's an example: This weekend I helped a friend out by detailing his 1996 M3 for him. The car has always been...

I detailed a friend's '96 M3 this past weekend... ...3M Rubbing Compound/Machine Polish/SMR on the body panels with CMA pads and the Porter Cable ...Klasse AIO and SG My question is how long can I leave the SG to cure on the paint? I'd rather leave it till next weekend (about 6 days) so...

Took these the past two days. Since I work in photography I really don't get that much time to take my own shots, and when I do have time I sometimes just don't feel like picking up a camera. I got inspired a few days ago, though, so I headed out to take some snapshots. Comments are welcome...

Hey guys, I'm not sure which forum to put this in so I just stuck it in here. Sorry to create more work for you mods, but feel free to move it to the appropriate forum. I've got a friend who needs a few cars detailed and also some door dings removed from them. He asked me to detail them...

I'm tired of saving the piece of cut-up sponge I use to shine tires. I keep it in a ziploc bag, but that gets pretty dirty and it's just a mess. I stocked up on latex gloves at Costco the other day and figured since I'm using disposable hand protection I might as well look into disposable...

Haven't been around for a few months -- work and travel have had me pretty busy. I did manage to sell my 1989 325i Coupe (which was in perfect condition, I might add) and picked up my new car in the Bay Area last week -- a 2000 Estoril Blue M Coupe. Here are some snapshots from this past...

What do you guys think of S100's Detail + Wax spray, which apparently is their take on Quick Detail? I saw some at the Harley store the other day (OK OK so it's a Buell dealership, too, which is what I was there oogling) and figured I'd get some opinions before I bought it.

I've been asked to get a red 2003 Mistubishi Evo8 ready for a magazine photoshoot this Sunday morning. The main problem is that the car has minor swirls. Now, I figure I could just fill them and it would look great for the shoot, but I'd like to land this guy as a customer, as well. I'm...

My new wheels came a little over two weeks ago, and I'm even more in love with them now than before I bought them! Yes, you know you're a car nut when your lust for the same set of wheels for two years and finally buy them. Unfortunately until I redo my suspension (springs, shocks, sway bars...