This is what has been taking up all my free time...

Dans Detailing

Dans Detailing

Dan's Detailing
I have a full time job as a network administrator from 7-4, then I do to my scheduled detail appointments after 4 and on the weekends. I recently picked up a contract for a major truck leasing company to polish wheels and Aluminum gas tanks.

The wheels arn't so bad, and I get $100 a wheel to polishand it takes me about 45 minutes each.

The gas tanks oon the other hand are a VERY soft and thin aluminum. I get $120 a truck ( 2 55gal tanks). The customer just wanted a quick polish on each tank and specifically said they do not care about a mirror polish, just make them look better then they are. I tried and tried to mirror poish them anyways, but they take 2 hours for each truck ( 1.5 hrs a tank) . Thats still $55 hr after supplies, and I have a total of 24 trucks to do. I have a good dent in the amount of trucks I have completed. So every night at 4:30 I polish 4 gas tanks and two wheels for $440 , $35 of which is supplies.

So basically for a "part time" mobile detail business, I will be making alot more then what I normally make this month. $7680 will be the total minus expenses, but I will still clear $7K this month JUST with this contract, plus I have my regular customers whic averadge abotu $1000 a month.

Here is a sample of what I do for this leasing company:

BEFORE:

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AFTER

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BEFORE

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AFTER

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I have never done this much aluminum polishing and have lost 10 lbs over two weeks and have gained a bunch of definition in my muscles, in places I didn;t know I had muscles:) By the end of this I will be pretty burnt out, I am about 1/3 done:)
 
Congratulations on a very nice looking outcome.

PLEASE, list process and products used to do the aluminum fuel tanks. I have an aluminum canopy that I have been working on to try and get a mirror finish. Would be interested in comparing notes.

For me time is not a consideration. Mirror finish is!!!!
 
Nice job on the tanks...did you do the steps with a polisher? like with a rotary or PC, looks like the pads would get caught in those holes. Either way they came out great.
 
I used a rotary first, but the finish only came out as a satin finish. SO I went back and got my mini die grinder and went to a industrial wholesale outlet and picked up some 1/4" arbors and 4" stitched cotton polishing pads. These type of pads requrie high rpm ( 20K+) and you use the edge of the pad unstead of the flat surface. Aluminum needs to get very hot before it will mirror, and all of a sudden when you get enough heat in one area, it will flash and mirror and then you move slowly to polish in a straight line. The compound I use is "tripoili" which is a fine metal polish in hard form. You spin teh wheel over the stick so the material ends up on the pad and polish about a half of a square foot, then repeat, continue etc..My final step is to take a black polishing pad and Mequires cleaner wax and run it over to seal the aluminum and to add a little more mirror. If you wanted to get out the swirls afterwards, you need to polish with 15-18K RPM and a loose metal polishign pad.. a PC or rotary just will NOT cut it..

The steps I removed to polish the tanks, then cleaned them up and reinstalled them.
 
Now you need to shoot him a price for detailing the whole truck.
If they have several on the road then it would be a never ending job.
Before I retired I worked for a trucking company and they had a guy come in with a Mobile wash and they would wash trucks on the weekend. That was the only time that the trucks were in off the road. He washed the tractors and trailers. He had several kids helping and they would do about 30 per day. I have no idea what they paid him for it.
 
DKKNE said:
I used a rotary first, but the finish only came out as a satin finish. SO I went back and got my mini die grinder and went to a industrial wholesale outlet and picked up some 1/4" arbors and 4" stitched cotton polishing pads. These type of pads requrie high rpm ( 20K+) and you use the edge of the pad unstead of the flat surface. Aluminum needs to get very hot before it will mirror, and all of a sudden when you get enough heat in one area, it will flash and mirror and then you move slowly to polish in a straight line. The compound I use is "tripoili" which is a fine metal polish in hard form. You spin teh wheel over the stick so the material ends up on the pad and polish about a half of a square foot, then repeat, continue etc..My final step is to take a black polishing pad and Mequires cleaner wax and run it over to seal the aluminum and to add a little more mirror. If you wanted to get out the swirls afterwards, you need to polish with 15-18K RPM and a loose metal polishign pad.. a PC or rotary just will NOT cut it..

The steps I removed to polish the tanks, then cleaned them up and reinstalled them.
Click to expand...

Thanks foir the information. It is definitely food for thought. I sure would like my new canopy to have a mirror finish. Will look into those items that youmentioned. Will post my results to see what you think when I am finished.

THANKS AGAIN!!
 
nice work, they look really good. Congrats on the contract, hopefully he will be giving you a call next time, or maybe he will want more work done, nice job
 
NXT all metal polish huh? I tired mothers polish, but its way to messy, I mean at 20K RPM liquid or soft polish flings everywhere and the results were not even close to what they look like now.
 
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