Curiosity - What Started Your Detailing Journey as a Car Owner (not professional)

J

jerry@robs

New member
We all didn't start off as O.C. detail nuts right off the bat. I'm sure most car folks started with a beater in high school or college, probably concentrating on performance, visual, or audio modifications and not detailing.



What set you off to pay attention to the aesthetics and benefits of auto-detailing?



Was it a problem or issue that set you to the path of car care or was it purely out of interest?



It'd be great to hear your stories.



Here's mine. I've always been interested with keeping cars the way they look on sales posters and other than car audio, I've always been interested in having a blemish-free car. I didn't know about 'detailing' beyond wash and wax back in the 80s, but luckily, most car magazines in Hong Kong are plastered with car care products, specifically Soft99, 3M, Autoglym, and Turtle Wax, which made me aware of such products at an early age.



I was fortunate that my father had a couple of buddies who imports and distributes these products and we get free samples often, which made waxing/washing routine fun for me when I was young, in addition, it's the least costly thing as well compared to car mods and audio.



Note: Sorry, I've been an Autopia member for over a decade but the terms I'm curious about are too generic for a search and I don't recall a recent similar thread exists, if there's one, I'd love to know the URL, thanks.
 
I began detailing Mercedes-Benz / BMW helping out at my Father’s dealership where we would spend three or four days or more detailing vehicles. As well as his Jag collection back in the late 50's, which he used to enter in Concours d’élégance events (detailing to another level) and as such I’m used to a large number of high-end new and used cars. The one thing I learned (and still have that last 98% to learn, mind you) way back then still holds true today “ It’s the surface preparation that makes the difference, not the product�.



I detailed my first car when I was fourteen (a mere five and a half decades ago) it was a 1929 Bentley Production 1926–1930 (supercharged model from 1929) 720 produced (cost today £2M) that belonged to my Fathers friend Brigadier John Dix of Kensington, London. If, as they say, "God is in the details," then a 1929 Bentley is truly a religious experience. I knew then that detailing would become a passion and my metier



Detailing has always been a relaxing past time for me and while at college I had a part-time business detailing classic vintage cars. From there to Concours d’élégance entrant then judge, and then on to writing car care articles /instructions, then writing articles on my favourite subject. I have tried virtually every top product on the market ever since using the arm-breaking Simonize as well as T-Cut polish and Chelsea leather cleaners
 
TOGWT- That bit about the Brigadier's Bentley is just soooo great :bow



theveed- Heh heh, actually I kinda *did* start off as a fanatic about this kindof thing right off the bat! I was always serious about detailing, even back when I was a little kid. It was just the cosmetic part of taking proper care of my stuff.



Greatest influences (on detailing specifically) were my mother and her sister, who drove hi-po cars and used Meguair's Mirror Glaze stuff (#7 and #16, the scents of which still remind me of childhood in the '60s). They would go on about how user-friendly the Mirror Glaze stuff was compared to Simonize, which they both hated with a passion. Old pics from my childhood show spotless doorjambs. (They cared more about such stuff than my father, until he suddenly developed his own serious interest in his 70s.)



I've just *always* been fanatical about this stuff, other than the year I simply blew it off completely (quarter wash/etc. only for the whole time) to concentrate on wrapping up my degree. But then hey, I'm pretty fanatical about taking proper care of all my stuff, not like the cosmetics of my vehicles get better attention than anything else. Guess I'm pretty fanatical in my approach to most things that I care about.
 
I rarely ever washed my own car, let alone polished it. It was always a Turtle Wax type of situation with me, as I didn't know anything back then, and yes I dried my cars with a normal beach towel ... UNTIL I decided to repaint and rebuild my car, I wanted to keep it nice and take care of it since I put so much money into it, so while it was being painted and I was rebuilding it from the inside out, I started reading, and researching on this forum. This was back in 2008 I believe, and I researched and read for about 9 months before ever trying anything at all. I bought thousands of dollars worth of products, and experimented on my car. I would spend hours upon hours reading and studying Todd Helmes threads, and I learned a great deal from them, amongst others at the time. Autogeek was the only retailer I knew of so I initially bought everything from them. This was in the Megs 80 and 83 and 95 days, pre-105/205 and just a PC and LC CCS pads, all 4" (that was taking Accumulators advice). Little by little, others saw my car and asked if I could make theirs "shine" like mine, so I thought, yeah, why not? Word of mouth spread from there and it sort of ballooned.



My friends that I grew up with still tease me about how I never took care of a car growing up and now I won't allow anyone to even touch my paint. Go figure.
 
My obsession started with my first car. I couldn't stand the rusty build up on its wire wheel covers. I experimented and experimented and finally did get them sparkling clean,like new. From there, everything just morphed. I always enjoyed a clean vehicle and well, I just kept on wanting to take it to the next level, and the next, and the next, till fast forward to today where I'm routinely cleaning and polishing the undercarriage of my vehicles. The bug has really bit hard! :D I've found a great deal of therapy in detailing. Only those who frequent this site can really understand that.
 
I started out on this journey with my first job in the late 50's. I was washing and detailing limos for a local limo service. The owner taught me to wash his limos with a couple ounces of kerosene in the wash bucket, LOL. These limos never saw any wax but they always shined like crazy and beaded water profusely. In the early 60's I worked for an Oldsmobile dealer applying Blue Coral on his demos and new sales. I next spent a stint in the Army in the 60's and when I returned home I started detailing on the side. Things were going so well I had to hire help. I soon had to choose between my day job or detailing. I decided to keep detailing as a sideline and have continued for several decades. I officially retired two years ago but I still wind up doing 2-3 cars a month during the warmer months. All the detailing has taken a toll on my joints and I've pretty much cut all but family and friends. It's been a great run.
 
There are some great stories here, and I'd like to share my own if anything, for a bit of nostalgia.



Growing up in the UK, I was always a bit of a fanatic about my personal belongings as a child. I was always that kid at school whose shoes were nicely shone, and pencils perpetually sharpened. At home, I spent hours "touching" up my Matchbox and Dinky cars' wear and tear using hand-me down touch up paints and nail polishes. I spent many a summer evening helping my father wash and "wax" his cars; the first I remember was a Morris Minor, then a Morris Marina, and later a Datsun 120Y Coupe.



In 1984 my father purchased his first brand new car; a 1984 Ford Escort Ghia (then top of the line), and I remember him being so proud of it. The car always shone, and doorjambs were always spotless (Accumulator!). In 1988 my father passed away tragically, and I was 10 years old at the time. The first autumn without the old man around, I tried to help my mother give the Escort a pre-winter "wax". A combination of little experience, likely misuse of products and other factors resulted in marring and minor scratches that left our Escort in a miserable state. Oh how we cried that night, thinking how disappointed my father would have been with us....



Fast forward to 1993 when we immigrated to Canada and I, through years of delivering newspapers and saving, was able to purchase my first new car; a 1993 Honda Civic. I was so thrilled at the freedom of being a teenager with a "hot" ride that I forgot all about vehicle maintenance until the winters of the great white North started to take a toll on the car's condition. Harkening back to my formative years with my father, I started to take a keener approach on vehicle care, since my life savings were "invested" in this machine. Since Autoglym was unavailable in NA at the time, I would stock up on the entire line during visits back home to England.



Ultimately, the OCD paid off when I won numerous awards at a "World Of Wheels" car show in Calgary back in '97. I haven't looked back since, and my philosophies on caring for life's material assets haven't changed much. My neighbours often balk at me for having the cleanest cars on the block, the neatest lawn in the neighbourhood and the tidiest garden on the street. I smile gleefully because I still have clean and shiny shoes that I wear to work everyday....:tongue:



Asif
 
My story is very simple... First car was a black 1997 VW Golf, nicest car in my highschool... I spent every weekend waxing it and almost every day washing it... Learned how to polish a black car before any others made it pretty easy!



At the same time, I was a member of a local Volkswagen club, and upon learning the awesomeness of claybarring, I offered a claybar and wax for $60 for any VW club members... That got me into the paid-to-detail side of things!
 
Over the years I have shared many times how I got involved, as a young man.

In my photo gallery are some photo's of the first all out car I built, the 48 Plymouth convertible, and some others.

It would take days to go into all that brought me to today.

Grumpy
 
My dad was a car mechanic and I grew up around his shop. I became interested in cars at an early age. What got me started into detailing was when I was 12 and washing and waxing the cars became my chore. I ended up liking that chore and still do it.
 
WOW....I guess I am not the antique I thought I was. I too have been doing this quite heavily since the age of sixteen. I painted my 1966 Ford Fairlane BLACK in 1969, and when I found out what they wanted to sand and buff it, WELL, the rest was history. I now only work part-time when the work comes around. I too have had a fantastic run. I have no regrets, I have some fantastic toys I acquired along the way! Now its time to pull them out and enjoy them. Go to: "Expert Auto Polishing" I usually come up in the first three. That is how I know I have made an impact in the industry. I get people taking my "Paintxpert" handle all the time. Auto----.com redirected my site to his. I can only take that as a compliment. I am BBB rated As A++. Basically you could say Ive arrived and always willing to help someone if I can. There is enough work for everyone! Be Well! Happy motoring!!!!:yo:
 
Confession time.. I wasn't always a clean car fanatic. My first 2 cars ( a 69 VW Beetle and a 68 Chevy Nova) were the typical college clunkers. I kept them fairly clean and waxed them, but never really got into detailing them.



The first decent car I owned after graduation in 1977 was a 1973 Plymouth Sateliite Sebring Plus coupe. I bought it from a family friend who babied it and she had only 20K miles on her. That was the car that started my detailing obsession.
 
Well I started when I was about 12 or so just so I could drive my parents cars down the road and back to "turn them around." I then got my first car, a black 2000 Honda Accord coupe, and it just went downhill from there :D
 
I started back in the 1970's detailing my bicycles with my dads turtle wax. Then moved on to cars when I got my drivers license.
 
I remember Simoniz, Classic, Turtle Wax. But it was Meguiar's #7 that caught my fancy.



I owned a H-D XLCH Sportster in the early 70's. Kick start et all. Maroon gas tank. I noticed everytime that I polished with #7 it would shine like the sun. Next day the shine disappeared. So I polished it again the next day and again and again. And everyone asked me what did I use on the tank. Then I sold the XLCH to travel Europe for 4 months. Then I joined Autopia 10 years ago. Now its Zymol and Zaino and EXO. But, it was #7 that started my detailing journey many, many years ago.
 
jmsc said:
I remember Simoniz, Classic, Turtle Wax. But it was Meguiar's #7 that caught my fancy... it was #7 that started my detailing journey many, many years ago.
Click to expand...



I bet that's how it was for a lot of people!
 
#7 was formulated by Floyd Mequiar when he was still with the company.

He later left and started Finish Kare Products.

I was his Sales Manager for 11 years and heard many of his stories of products, etc.

One of his favorite was the #7, he said they made it for GM, back in their lacquer paint days.

He always referred to the product as "King for a Day", as it was basically some refined mineral spirits and kaolin clay, once the oil evaporated it was back to square one, which is what you observed.

Grumpy
 
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