Did some detailing this weekend...

**Jngrbrdman** · 07-20-2008, 06:00 PM

I`ve been so stinking busy lately with the job that pays the bills that I haven`t been able to focus on the job that keeps me sane. Unfortunately I fear that my schedule with my day job may have cost me some clients who are used to me being available whenever they need me. They haven`t called me to schedule something, but typically it is me that schedules it with them, so we`ll see.

Anyway, a new customer that I first detailed for during my `fall detailing blitz` last year called me back to revisit the vehicles. They may have been washed in the last ten months, but the insides haven`t been touched. This is a guy who goes skiing every day of the winter. He lives in Park City right by all of the best skiing in Utah, so I guess that explains it. Anyway, that activity gets the cars nice and dirty. In addition to that, he is very active in the summer and spends a lot of time in southern Utah. Lots of red clay and junk down there, so that gets them nice and dirty too. Add to all of that the fact that they like to take their blue heeler with them everywhere they go, and you can imagine the condition. To give you an example...

So not too terrible, but really not that clean either. The good thing was that it was white. That makes cleaning up IFO much easier. A little clay and that was at least sorted out. I used a light polish to clear up the surface scratches, but other that that the paint was in pretty good shape. I guess that is what you get when you don`t wash the car very often, eh? I just wanted to get any oxidation present off and remove the scratches I could see.

The interior was actually pretty easy too. Just a lot of vacuuming. There was some salt gathered around the gas pedal that took a little work. Fortuntately they used all weather mats in this car, so most of the gunk was confined to those, but some did get on the carpet.

I struggle with knowing what to do with the pedals. I mean, you don`t want to grease them up, but you don`t want to leave them all gross either. Any suggestions there would help, because I`m tired of having those be things that stand out against a well detailed floor.

The other vehicle is one that I really like. It is a fairly modified M5. I`ve seen it at the track before and man can this sucker move. The problem is that you can`t drive it as fast as he does and not get rock chips everywhere. So the paint isn`t in terrific shape, but it is still a slick looking car. I`ll just let some pictures do the talking for me.

Man, I wish my driveway was that big. lol Actually, considering they live in an area that gets dumped on every winter, I guess I`m glad that I don`t have that much snow to clear away.

The job took longer that I thought it would. I started at 9:00 and left at 4:00. I wasn`t really planning on spending all day, but cleaning up all that hair took awhile. The whole back of that X5 was covered in hair as well as every inch of carpet everywhere else. It was also a lot of leather to condition. It was a good way to earn an extra $350 and it was a nice way to get some sun and fresh mountain air, but I was definitely wiped out afterwards. lol The rest of the day is sort of a blur. Hopefully I`ll be able to keep at least a few of my regulars in my detailing schedule now that this project I was working on is over.

Products Used:

Four Star Ultimate Paint Protection
Four Star Bazooka Tire Shine
Danase Paint Sealant
Eagle One A2Z (or whatever they call it now)
Danase Swirl Abolisher II
Danase Final Finish
Four Star Ultimate Leather Conditioner
Meguiar`s Wheel Detailer
Meguiar`s Interior Detailer
Tuff Stuff upholsery/carpet cleaner
Invisible Glass

I think that was about it as far as what I used. I`m sure there was a little of this and that which isn`t mentioned, but I`m sure you can draw lines to what was used on what part of the job. I used the UPP on the M5 and the Danase sealant on the X5. The Danase sealant looks great on lighter colored cars. It is sort of Klasse SG-esque that way. The UPP was the new Polycharged version and I was really looking forward to it on blue.

So there you have it. A good ole` OCDetails style detail after a couple months off. lol I had a slammed March and April for detailing and I haven`t done much since then. I`ve got way too much product to sit still for long. I need to get cracking before some of this stuff goes bad. lol

**Stephan** · 07-20-2008, 06:07 PM

Cars look great nice work.

So that is red clay on the white BMW? It almost looked like rust spots...

**sal329** · 07-20-2008, 06:16 PM

They look great. Love the M5

**Jngrbrdman** · 07-20-2008, 06:22 PM

Nah, that is the typical damage that IFO causes. Just little bits of metal in the paint that cause rust spots. What was actually kind of surprising was the fact that the sides below the door moldings had the worst of it. The back of the truck was clean as was the rest of the paint. For some reason it was just that area that got pounded. This leads me to believe two things... There is a lot of junk in the slush and garbage that gets all over your car that causes damage, and also that this owner doesn`t wash their truck in the winter very often.

The spray from the roads typically sticks to a certian area. As an example, here is my car after a couple weeks in the winter.

The salt and junk can get pretty nasty, but you`ll notice that it sort of has a line going across the car that it doesn`t get much higher than. For the X5 it must not be higher than halfway up the door, because after that I didn`t find any dots. The brake dust and junk that causes the rust dots gets stuck in the slush and then when it gets glued to your car like you see above, it just sits there. If you don`t wash it off pretty quick then you end up with damage to sort out in the spring. If that damage doesn`t get sorted out, then it just gets worse until it looks like ketsup splatters all over the side of your car. I`ve seen cars that look like that before too. It is pretty common out here. Certian vans get it alot too because of the areodynamics and how it deposits stuff like this all over the back of them. Most vehicles get hit with IFO on the rear more than other areas anyway, but some vehicles are just designed to do it worse.