imported_Dave KG
New member
I've been wondering lately about how long it actually takes to do a full detail on a car.
Speaking as the enthusiast detailer that I am, with no business time pressures to consider, I have sat back and considered the amount of work that goes into a full exterior only detail - from the washing and pre-polish preparing stages, the machine polishing stages, and the finishing stages. This kind of detail typically takes two of us, Bryan and myself, from about 9am to around 5pm to complete on a fairly standard car which on contemplation seems rather slow. But I simply cannot see how we can possibly go any faster...
The biggest chunk of time for us is the machine polishing stage, typically taking anywhere from 6 - 10 man hours to complete. And this is lazing around admiring the view, but making steady and continued progress. Sitting and looking at the times, I will work say in round number a 1' square section of car at a time (18" square generally, sections overlap so got for 1' square for round numbers). For standard defects, a single hit of say Menz Intensive Polish is required. This takes three to four minutes to work per section: or at least it does for me, as this is how I feel personally that I get the most out of the finish as far as clarity goes by fully working the polish right until the abrasives are very fine. So one set taking 4 minutes per square foot, and thats just a single set. Some marring requires double hits. Sometimes a finishing polish is used in addition. A bonnet can typically take anywhere between half an hour (small bonnet, one hit) and two hours (big bonnet, multiple hits) to complete!! Just one panel, just the machining. And I simply cannot see a way of making this process any faster while personally being able to maintain crystal sharp clarity in the finish.
With the huge amount of time spent machining, which at the end of the day is where all of the head turning results are going to come from (the wax just being the icing on the cake, and I like tasty icing!), I simply cannot see how a full correction detail could be carried out by myself alone in anything less than a day - exterior only. And thats trucking along. Ideally, to ensure everything is carried out to my satisfaction, working alone I would need a day and a half - thankfully I work with Bryan so between us, we can get an exterior complete in a day.
What makes me think though is that many people are quite genuinely surprised by the length of time taken to carry out a detail... Is it just me being particularly slow on the rotary (I'm a fussy sod, after all), or is this time scale normal for all detailers?? If not, where do you make up the time if you work faster??
Thoughts please, folks.
How long do you take (generally speaking)??
Speaking as the enthusiast detailer that I am, with no business time pressures to consider, I have sat back and considered the amount of work that goes into a full exterior only detail - from the washing and pre-polish preparing stages, the machine polishing stages, and the finishing stages. This kind of detail typically takes two of us, Bryan and myself, from about 9am to around 5pm to complete on a fairly standard car which on contemplation seems rather slow. But I simply cannot see how we can possibly go any faster...
The biggest chunk of time for us is the machine polishing stage, typically taking anywhere from 6 - 10 man hours to complete. And this is lazing around admiring the view, but making steady and continued progress. Sitting and looking at the times, I will work say in round number a 1' square section of car at a time (18" square generally, sections overlap so got for 1' square for round numbers). For standard defects, a single hit of say Menz Intensive Polish is required. This takes three to four minutes to work per section: or at least it does for me, as this is how I feel personally that I get the most out of the finish as far as clarity goes by fully working the polish right until the abrasives are very fine. So one set taking 4 minutes per square foot, and thats just a single set. Some marring requires double hits. Sometimes a finishing polish is used in addition. A bonnet can typically take anywhere between half an hour (small bonnet, one hit) and two hours (big bonnet, multiple hits) to complete!! Just one panel, just the machining. And I simply cannot see a way of making this process any faster while personally being able to maintain crystal sharp clarity in the finish.
With the huge amount of time spent machining, which at the end of the day is where all of the head turning results are going to come from (the wax just being the icing on the cake, and I like tasty icing!), I simply cannot see how a full correction detail could be carried out by myself alone in anything less than a day - exterior only. And thats trucking along. Ideally, to ensure everything is carried out to my satisfaction, working alone I would need a day and a half - thankfully I work with Bryan so between us, we can get an exterior complete in a day.
What makes me think though is that many people are quite genuinely surprised by the length of time taken to carry out a detail... Is it just me being particularly slow on the rotary (I'm a fussy sod, after all), or is this time scale normal for all detailers?? If not, where do you make up the time if you work faster??
Thoughts please, folks.
How long do you take (generally speaking)??
) of the S8, so light it would take me several minutes just to find each flaw and if I looked away I'd have to start searching all over again. Correcting this (with the rotary for most of the work) took me a few hours. 
