Detail Time?

9

9935annivgt

New member
If you are doing a two step polish on a average size car (mustang lets say) how long do you normally spend to wash, clay, polish and detail the interior (vac. and wipe) using a PC? Last time I polished one out it took 5 hours to do this and I think I am moving too slow but I was wondering how long others and pros are doing?
 
hard top or convertible?



convert. prob 5 hours perhaps a little less, haven't done my regulars mustang in a while...Hard Top, the better part of 7 hours or longer depending on the results you want.
 
craigdt said:
Probably 5 hours at least, depending on how picky you are and how fast you move. Just allow plenty of time
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Yeah, it all depends on how much detail you get into. If you are polishing door handles, claying till the clay comes perfectly clean, getting everything in the cracks and crevices, you can easily spend 8-10 hours. Hell, for me a "good" interior detail takes 8+ hours, where "good enough" is about 2. I think you'd be better off braking it down to individual steps to get a time assessment.
 
You don't want to know how long it takes me :o



Even KBMing, doing cars via PC takes a while (to put it mildly). Using SurBuf pads and M105 might save some time.



Unless you're in a time-is-money/pro situation, I'd say that all that matters is your satisfaction with the end result, relative to the time/effort it takes to get there.



If you *are* doing it professionally, then I'd just take the time it takes (while doing whatever's possible to speed things up) to do what's necessary and charge accordingly.



Wasn't it Barry Theal who once spent *six hours* just *burnishing* a customer's vehicle?!? Note that Barry is a no-BS guy who puts food on the table by doing this stuff.
 
Not a pro by any means but I do the occasional detail for dough and it just does not seem worth it some times, to charge what I feel is worth my time they do not want to pay. The guys in my car club are probably my best customers, they understand what the finished product is and how much effort it takes. I tend to do more single steps for about 85% correction and then a sealent. That seems to be all the customers want to pay for, but you got to start somewhere.
 
9935annivgt said:
If you are doing a two step polish on a average size car (mustang lets say) how long do you normally spend to wash, clay, polish and detail the interior (vac. and wipe) using a PC? Last time I polished one out it took 5 hours to do this and I think I am moving too slow but I was wondering how long others and pros are doing?
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this is a good question, something i've been wondering for quite a while myself since I'm a noob-but the above responses reassure me that its simply time consuming. Try to limit the 2 step corrections you do. Not every car is a show car (like a stang should be). I did a 10 hour correction on an acura TSL and the guy said "thanks" and proceded to drive it 100 miles through salt and snow the next day. he would have settled for a single step polish and probably not known the difference. I promised myself from that day forward never to include a 2step in any packaged services.
 
It depends on the level of defects, 7hrs at least for the outside and at least 2hrs for the interior. Might take more, might take less, but thats a good average for me and thats with a rotary. If your using a PC probably at least twice as long would be my guess.
 
My choices are for now: ZPC, Megs D-151, Danase Swirl Abolisher 1 & 2, Sonus Swirl Buster and ZAIO if you want to call it a polish.
 
9935annivgt said:
My choices are for now: ZPC, Megs D-151, Danase Swirl Abolisher 1 & 2, Sonus Swirl Buster and ZAIO if you want to call it a polish.
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Time for some M105/M205! :D
 
RaskyR1 said:
Time for some M105/M205! :D
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I like D151 for a one step, it works great. I have the original M105 and found that it powders very quickly. I haven't used the new formulation however. I like Menzerna SIP and 85d. For speed, I recently started using System One APS with their dual sided screw on pad. Pre-LSP I will use Dodo Juice Lime Prime.



That said, if there aren't any paint defects, or very faint ones, I go from clay right to Lime Prime on a DA then onto LSP.
 
For a true one step I have not found anything in my arsenal that can beat D-151 on a green or Orange pad (green on dark colors and orange on white or silver) as well as depending on the severity of the swirls. I have to polish my stang for stang week in Myrtle Beach SC this summer and I will probably spend 2 full days on the exterior and a full day polishing under the hood. Hope my wife does not leave, but this is going to be a long one have not polished out to 100% defect free in a couple of years on mine.
 
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