Nano ibird is a beast

[512detail]

Received a facebook inquiry from a local individual who advised me he had tried to wet sand some scratches out of his...and I hope you`re sitting down...black truck.

So I went over to inspect the carnage and, yep, just about what I was imagining.

After reading and inspecting the entire truck, I advised him I would have no issues with the majority of the truck but made sure he had realistic expectations and discussed his plans post detail as this would be The Last Time this clear could be cut into, period. I also educated him on the proper progression of polish, compound, and #grit sand paper as needed.

I advised him I would have to do a small test spot, with his approval to even begin to consider taking this job on.

He agreed and we picked the worst looking spot on the truck.

enter my little friend who I really enjoy having for test spots as well as everything else it does...


enter scary and dramatic music as you see each picture...











bad thing is this truck is too tall to fit in my garage!

So since I`m always interested in a challenge...I quoted him a 2step price and we discussed a basic ceramic coating for a sacrificial layer.

He said he should be ready in August or so (we all know how that goes).

Either way, I won`t be too sad if he never actually books. This is quite the large job and I have a feeling he may end up calling around and finding some other legitimate hack who quotes much less, haha.

This ibird nano...so glad I bought it. Sure does come in handy.

I am going to start offering test spots now if the customer is ok. But I do kind of feel bad about leaving him a small section of his paint almost proper.

But hey, at least he has a reminder of what it should look like.

[Lonnie]

This process of a test spot on a customer`s vehicle reminds me of way-back-when in this forum when Barry Thiel in his budding professional day did this to a gentlemen`s badly faded black Mercedes sedan with a rotary and rocks-in-a-bottle compound to a test spot on the hood of the car. Supposedly the gentleman ran his Mercedes for "a while" (3 weeks IIR) before having the whole car redone. When it was finished, it was/is one of THE most astonishing "saves"/re-conditioning I have seen in this forum, but then again, we are taking about "the master", Barry Thiel. (Sorry, "the master" must be in small caps; "The Master" rightfully belongs to The Man Upstairs, so their is no confusion or disrespect)

Looks like you are "heir to the throne", 512detail!!

[512detail]

This process of a test spot on a customer`s vehicle reminds me of way-back-when in this forum when Barry Thiel in his budding professional day did this to a gentlemen`s badly faded black Mercedes sedan with a rotary and rocks-in-a-bottle compound to a test spot on the hood of the car. Supposedly the gentleman ran his Mercedes for "a while" (3 weeks IIR) before having the whole car redone. When it was finished, it was/is one of THE most astonishing "saves"/re-conditioning I have seen in this forum, but then again, we are taking about the master", Barry Thiel.
Looks like you are "heir to the throne", 512detail!!

lol alsmost fell out of the seat when you put my name in the same breath as Barry

I just posted this because that result kind of surprised me.

edit: I appreciate the kind words but I`m just a texas wax waster man

[Mr. Slick]

Very nice! lol every time someone says "yeah I’d like this done later on" they disappear off the face of the earth


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[512detail]

Very nice! lol every time someone says "yeah I’d like this done later on" they disappear off the face of the earth


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

oh I know. and I wasn`t friendly on my quote either

to be honest I really wanted to tape off a much larger section just for the photo opportunity alone but it was hot and I reminded myself I was running a business...at least I know I can fix something like that now, which makes me feel WAY better about learning how to (properly) use wet sanding as a method

[NLove]

I like how you put the test spot on the drivers door!!! Do you know what grit he used to wet sand?

[512detail]

I like how you put the test spot on the drivers door!!! Do you know what grit he used to wet sand?

that may or may not have been intentional

IIRC he said he started with 1000 and then did 3000

he had also compounded the tailgate after that sanding but it looked like it had been practiced on by people applying to a local car wash so I`m guessing he was compounding by hand

[Angus]

Wonder if this guy was "Chris Fixed" into wet sanding...

Nice test spot example inorder to show the correct way to polish paint. From your description, it seems like this truck is a good example to know when to walk away from a job.

[512detail]

Wonder if this guy was "Chris Fixed" into wet sanding...

Nice test spot example inorder to show the correct way to polish paint. From your description, it seems like this truck is a good example to know when to walk away from a job.

I`m a little crazy...I actually feel I could bring this truck back to respectable standards but I told him to look into how much wrapping his entire truck would cost relative to what I quoted because wrapping the truck might not be a bad idea in his situation

and if he does end up booking, well then I guess I just made the money for one of those new fancy Rupes polishers I saw a few weeks ago on here
or half of a hot water carpet extractor (still get so many calls I`m debating getting one)

[HCF]

He will have a nice shine in one spot on door to look at, lol. I understand people want to price shop but certain things you get what you pay for. For the majority of people a car is 2nd largest purchase they make besides a house. I`ve really been eyeing the ibird and got to test one at esoteric open house. There has been couple times so far it would have been great to have to pair up with Rupes 15 mkii and mini.
I`ve only got a 1 car garage so I have to setup 2 10x10 canopies, I just ordered a 16x20 rectangle sun screen shade I`ll be able to hang off house and 2 poles and pull cars under an have plenty of room and take it down when not in use.

[512detail]

He will have a nice shine in one spot on door to look at, lol. I understand people want to price shop but certain things you get what you pay for. For the majority of people a car is 2nd largest purchase they make besides a house. I`ve really been eyeing the ibird and got to test one at esoteric open house. There has been couple times so far it would have been great to have to pair up with Rupes 15 mkii and mini.
I`ve only got a 1 car garage so I have to setup 2 10x10 canopies, I just ordered a 16x20 rectangle sun screen shade I`ll be able to hang off house and 2 poles and pull cars under an have plenty of room and take it down when not in use.

I`ve paid for the cost of it alone just by doing spot scratch corrections at car club shows and meets for $20 or so here and there (takes about 15 mins) and is good for marketing as well.
I used to do headlights at my workplace on my lunch break when I worked in the office.

[Accumulator]

512Detail- Heh heh, you`re killing me...that unit is probably the next thing I won`t be able to live without!

[512detail]

512Detail- Heh heh, you`re killing me...that unit is probably the next thing I won`t be able to live without!

I honestly never thought it would be as useful as it is and I`m ONLY using it as a polisher. It also has another DA ext and the rotary ext as well as the brushes and the denibbers. I haven`t even used those and I have all the different brushes, etc.

[Accumulator]

512Detail- Yeah, when I do finally get one I`ll be using all that stuff. Oops, I mean "if" I get one

[Never Enuff]

That truck maybe your "path way" to the Hellcat. Some people seem to never learn that there are things that are not DYI.
Jay