heatgain
Neutral & Detached
Word's out among friends and co-workers that I'm detailing. So I get a phone call from a friend of a friend about detailing her car. "What kind of car is it?", I ask.
"Uh, it's a Lincoln," she replies. "What color?" I cleverly come back with.
"Black," she answers. "How much would it cost?"
Well, if there's one thing I've learned from these forums it's not to price a job over the phone, so I agreed to go to her house the next morning and we'll talk about it.
I drive up to her house the next morning and her husband is standing on the porch. I pull into the driveway and sitting there among 5 other cars is a black Lincoln limo, with a 72" center section. OK, now I'm starting to freak. Not only will this be my first black car, but the thing looked about 50 feet long to me. The customer and I talked and he pointed out all the white wax remnants left in the crevices from his last "detail," and how unsatisfied he was with people who do sloppy work.
I assure him how good I am (gulp) and try and sell him a full detail. He insists on just a "wash and wax," and talks about me getting to know this car this time, and "we'll talk about other work" when this is finished. Well, the car is LOADED with swirls, scratches, sprinkler stains and tons of holograms on the finish. I try to upgrade him to a full detail, but he insists on just a wash and wax. I agree, making sure he understands that although some of the swirls might be gone when I'm done, the car will still have all the faults I'm pointing out. He sticks to a wash and wax. I agree.
He brings the car to my house the next morning, and here we go.
For wheels and tires
Meg's APC
Autozone's version of an EZ brush
Tire brush from Walmart to scrub the tires
DG 501 to coat the wheels
AA Tire Foam on the tires
For the paint:
Meg's clay with Mother's Showtime QD as a lube
Meg's #66 via G110 at speed 5
Meg's yellow polishing pad (2)
DG 521 (Marine QD for stubborn stuff)
Meg's 105 by hand to get rid of the sprinkler stains
DWG on top of the #66
Opti-Seal (one quick coat on top of the DWG)
Now the pics. They're not great pics....oh well.
The boat, er, car arrives:
The size of the car makes my 10x10 canopy look like an umbrella in a drink:
A tire and wheel on arrival:
After tires/wheels done and a wash:
Left side after M66:
Rear door M66'd, but not the center section. Hopefully you can see the clearer reflection of the trees from the door:
After M66 and DWG:
Holograms and scratches still there as promised, but SHINY!:
See the scratches/swirls mid/bottom of the photo? Maybe next time I'll get to handle those:
An after of a tire/wheel. I even removed the all middle wheel pieces and scrubbed to make sure no residue remains in crevices because of his concern:
All done: Looks good to me from 5 feet away:
OK. Looks good from 2 feet away too:
Finish shots. I should've taken better ones but oh well:
Thanks for looking.
"Uh, it's a Lincoln," she replies. "What color?" I cleverly come back with.
"Black," she answers. "How much would it cost?"
Well, if there's one thing I've learned from these forums it's not to price a job over the phone, so I agreed to go to her house the next morning and we'll talk about it.
I drive up to her house the next morning and her husband is standing on the porch. I pull into the driveway and sitting there among 5 other cars is a black Lincoln limo, with a 72" center section. OK, now I'm starting to freak. Not only will this be my first black car, but the thing looked about 50 feet long to me. The customer and I talked and he pointed out all the white wax remnants left in the crevices from his last "detail," and how unsatisfied he was with people who do sloppy work.
I assure him how good I am (gulp) and try and sell him a full detail. He insists on just a "wash and wax," and talks about me getting to know this car this time, and "we'll talk about other work" when this is finished. Well, the car is LOADED with swirls, scratches, sprinkler stains and tons of holograms on the finish. I try to upgrade him to a full detail, but he insists on just a wash and wax. I agree, making sure he understands that although some of the swirls might be gone when I'm done, the car will still have all the faults I'm pointing out. He sticks to a wash and wax. I agree.
He brings the car to my house the next morning, and here we go.
For wheels and tires
Meg's APC
Autozone's version of an EZ brush
Tire brush from Walmart to scrub the tires
DG 501 to coat the wheels
AA Tire Foam on the tires
For the paint:
Meg's clay with Mother's Showtime QD as a lube
Meg's #66 via G110 at speed 5
Meg's yellow polishing pad (2)
DG 521 (Marine QD for stubborn stuff)
Meg's 105 by hand to get rid of the sprinkler stains
DWG on top of the #66
Opti-Seal (one quick coat on top of the DWG)
Now the pics. They're not great pics....oh well.
The boat, er, car arrives:
The size of the car makes my 10x10 canopy look like an umbrella in a drink:
A tire and wheel on arrival:
After tires/wheels done and a wash:
Left side after M66:
Rear door M66'd, but not the center section. Hopefully you can see the clearer reflection of the trees from the door:
After M66 and DWG:
Holograms and scratches still there as promised, but SHINY!:
See the scratches/swirls mid/bottom of the photo? Maybe next time I'll get to handle those:
An after of a tire/wheel. I even removed the all middle wheel pieces and scrubbed to make sure no residue remains in crevices because of his concern:
All done: Looks good to me from 5 feet away:
OK. Looks good from 2 feet away too:
Finish shots. I should've taken better ones but oh well:
Thanks for looking.
