Latest detailsâ„¢ v.10000th vehicle and '05 BMW X5 4.8 + coke explosion interior

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Scottwax

New member
10,000th vehicle cleaned. Regular customer, waxed with Natty's Blue a few weeks ago, QEW wash, vac, tires/fenderwells this time.



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Quick shot of my car with OCW x 2 and topped with Natty's Blue. Yes, I know the background is washed out, still trying to figure out which way to adjust the camera to compensate shooting black cars in direct sun. :think:



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2003 Cadillac Escalade ESV. Last waxed with Acrylic Jett...okay, the beta version, Shokar, back in late April. Still looked good, keeping it away from his wife I guess. I applied Detailer's Pride Premium Surface Shield Paint Sealant by hand. Excellent sealant, super slick, glossy and wet but seriously, the name is just too long! Reminds me very much of UPP.



Stuck in the warehouse, storms were close by and the sealant has to stay dry for 12 hours to properly bond and cure so I took the pics where I cleaned it.



No flash



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Flash



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The close-up shows how glossy and wet the sealant looks.



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2005 Lexus LS430. Light claying on driver's front fender then sealed with Detailer's Pride Premium Surface Shield Paint Sealant (DPPSSPS?). Brand new, really didn't need anything else. Only had two shots left on the roll so this is it.



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2000 Honda Accord. Interior only on this one. The owner said 5 cans of Coke exploded and showered the headliner. Suprisingly, the rest of the interior was spared, just the usual dirt and spotting you'd expect in a 5 year old car.



Headliner before and afters. I used Optimum's Degreaser to clean the interior. Seems to work well and has a light clean scent.



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Still a little damp and yes, I got the small spots that remained after the initial cleaning.



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Already cleaned the passenger side in this shot (used flash on the before and afters here):



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Finished both sides:



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Dressed the vinyl with Armor All:



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2005 BMW X5 4.8is. Brand new, less than 2000 miles on it. Smart man, passed on letting Moritz BMW swirl it up with their wonderful wax jobs.



Clearkote's Vanilla Moose by hand (no electricity) and Poorboy's EX-P by hand. Had extra work on this one because the landscapers came by just after I removed EX-P and got grass all over it. The owner of the BMW (who also owns the company) happened to see what they did and came outside and had words with their supervisor. One of them came by with the blower and got off most of the grass, I had to QD the rest off.



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Amazing job as always.



On the accord with soda stains did you spray the degreaser right on the headliner and let it soak in? What did you use to scrub it? Also did he say how long the stain has been there? Thanks.
 
krsjuan said:
Amazing job as always.



On the accord with soda stains did you spray the degreaser right on the headliner and let it soak in? What did you use to scrub it? Also did he say how long the stain has been there? Thanks.
Click to expand...



I didn't let it soak in at all, spray, scrub with a nail brush, wipe dry, then wet vac. The cans exploded the day before so they came out pretty easily.
 
wow! great work as always, Scott! That X5 is dripping. Beautiful job all around.



As far as your exposure compensation when shooting black cars... Depends on what kind of camera you've got, but basically what you're seeing is the camera metering the exposure for the black car, as it's taking up most of the camera's metering area (the center of the frame). Obviously it's dark, and the camera tries to expose the metered area for 18% gray - to compensate for the darkness, it makes a longer/brighter exposure. There are a couple ways to get around this...

  1. if your camera has an "exposure lock" you can meter for the scene without the car in it (turn 30 degrees right or left, meter, move back with locked meter reading and press shutter)
  2. shoot in Manual mode - basically the same as above - get your camera to meter for the scene without the black car, then dial in those settings in Manual mode and shoot the car
  3. Exposure Compensation - if your camera has this, you can best-guess that the car is going to make the camera overexpose the shot by XX (looks like it's about 1-1.5 stops over) and tell the camera to underexpose by XX (in this case, 1-1.5 stops), thereby getting a correct exposure.



It all depends on the camera. Some pocket digitals you can get to lock an exposure (and focus, so be careful) by half-pressing the shutter release button. If it's an SLR, there are likely controls for all this.



Judging from the depth of field, it looks like you're using a SLR and judging by the color balance between images, I'm guessing daylight-balanced print film? I could be completely off :) You might look at a gray card to assist in getting proper exposures if you're shooting film... It can also be used to set a proper custom white balance if using digital.



Again, great work.. and 10,000!?! How do you keep track to know this is #10,000? Does that include cleaning your own vehicles? :)
 
10000 cars :woohoo: ...Amazing , only in the USA :xyxthumbs



Im in my 25th car :wall ...3 months for a year ;)



All the cars are awesome, the depth of the X5 is just.... :shocked
 
Wow. That X5 is stunning... you sir, are an inspiration. How long have you been detailing to achive 10,000 cars? That's a stunning amount!
 
10.000??? Man, you must have arms like Popeye!



Awesome job, especially the Coke removal. Ive been in that mess once or twice myself. Thankfully the kids have grown up......
 
Congrats on the milestone thats some amopunt details.



Great details as ever Scott, fantastic work on the stain removal.



Is the X5 Metallic black? Not used Ex-p on my car yet looking at those pics maybe a next try out for me.



The Escalade ESV looks fantastic, deep and wet for a white vehicle very deep and wet. Have you tried the Detailer's Pride Premium Surface Shield Paint Sealant on any other colours?



Your car is looking great to, waiting for my OCW to turn up so I can try the same on mine. Have the Nattys sat ready!
 
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