My first "paid" detail... i still need more experience.

C

CHAOS

New member
well guys... i wasn't initially going to post this... but i want to get some opinions and tips...first i guess ill start with some background... its a 2005 Dodge Neon SRT-4 ...the car is owned by a good friend of mine who drove roughly 2.5 hours to have me clean his car (i guess being that my car is super clean i have a good rep to start with)... well IMO the process took entirely too long... 6-7 hours... full interior and exterior... it was swirl city lol... and honestly i wasnt sure how to approach it... and i scared myself a few times... ill explain as i go i guess...



process:

wash - PB SSnS

clay - Megs gray w/ Megs QD as lube

compound/buffing - SSR3 on LC orange pad speed 6, SSR1 on a white pad speed 5-6, RMG on blue lc pad speed 5

LSP -PB Natty's Red (really wanted to try this out)

wheels - cleaned with p21s taw, owner opted for no protection, tires got Bold & bright

interior - cleaned with DP int cleaner (not a fan of this yet) and treated with NL

faded trim - PB Trim Restorer

exhaust tips- Noxon metal polish by hand



heres the only before he posted:

Detail5.jpg




as you can see it wasnt pretty... and i wasnt really sure how to approach it... so i started off hitting it with the 2.5 and an orange pad... that wasnt doing enough so i stepped it up... using the trunk as my test section... i hit it with ssr3 and the paint looked hazy after that... i was about to crap my pants as ive never had to deal with this before... so i calmed myself then hit it with the ssr1 to reduce the haze/micromarring, this looked ok but not quite what i wanted so i hit it with some Red Moose... i liked this and knew it would look great with the PBNR on it so i decided to do the whole car like this... HOWEVER... even after getting IMO aggressive with the compound i was still left with some visible marks/mini swirls in the paint that just didnt want to come out... and i knew they werent inflicted by me because of the shape and such... so if you guys can give me some confidence/tips on how to defeat such things itd be greatly appreciated.. ok on to the afters... he didnt post any of the interior shots :( so here they are... and enjoy!





Detail4.jpg


Detail.jpg


Detail9.jpg


Detail6.jpg




thanx for looking and thanx in advance for tips and such!
 
It looks pretty good. :goodjob



The swirls look pretty heavy in the before pics. You probably needed to use a yellow pad or a LC foamed wool first with SSR2.5 or 3. Then step your polish down and use a white pad to finish out. The orange pad is a light cut pad and the yellow is a heavy cut. It also sounds like you were moving the PC too quickly since you did the entire detail faster than I would do an exterior only. Try making slower passes next time. It just takes practice. Keep up the good work.
 
yea i was thinking i shouldve tried the LC yellow pad... and i definitely agree about the speed... it took me 3-4 hours to do the exterior including prep... i mean he's super happy with the car but i know i can do better... i mean... look at my car haha....
 
I think you stepped down too far in going from SSR3 to SSR1. IME SSR3 doesn't finish down well enough for SSR1 to fix it, which may be why you weren't happy after the SSR1, and you may have just covered up the marring with the RMG (never used that myself). SSR2.5 finishes well (although it leaves something behind, do an IPA wipe if you intend it to be your last polishing step), so you could have used that in the middle, and then gone right to the RMG perhaps.



EDIT: And I agree, your time wasn't bad.
 
ill have to give that a try next time... i was trying to save time for him to drive home... i was going to go from 3 to 2.5 or 2.. then down to 1 but he had a long drive so i tried to go as fast as i could and still have the car look good.



edit: i also had a guy on a local forum harass me sort of... for taking so long buffing a neon... hes like the "resident" detailer that people think is good, and his car and others hes done looks good but i just dont think i took too long the paint was in bad shape...



3-4 hours to buff a neon? what speed were you buffing at? And is that a porter cable I see?
Click to expand...

and i explained that this included 4 steps of buffing the entire car

then he said
Yeah I guess you do need the experience then. heh.
Click to expand...



this kind of comment makes me disheartened about the whole thing... its like am i really not doing this fast enough or is he not doing it slow enough to get the kind of results that i personally demand from myself.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
Oh, you have 2...I guess I would have done 3 and 2 and then 1 or RMG. Tell him not to take it to the scratch n' swirl anymore!
Click to expand...





haha yea, he actually gave me a hand the whole time because he wasnt paying me that much... we agreed on a low price to get me some experience and word of mouth... anyway he commented several times about how the car was just not taken care of before i touched it and how excited he was to see it shining.
 
Jon, is that guy harrasing you from tri-state tuners? No offense, but most of the so called "detailers" on that site really are clueless and you know more than they do.



If he gets on your case again about buffing time tell him that you don't use filler products and when you buff a car it stays looking good even after the first wash.



I just don't like it when people criticize others because they think they're better at something.

~Albert
 
yea hes on tristate... and hes a good guy but that comment just irked me...i dont claim to know more or be better... but i mean come on man... dont hate, congratulate...
 
Get a bottle of Menzerma SIP and use a yellow pad!! Work slow, apply medium pressure and it will finish down nicely!!
 
I agree with the others, SSR3 is too aggressive for SSR1 to remove the hazing it leaves behind.



The car definitely has a nice wet shine in the afters. :)
 
It takes practice...and I know, because I'm in the same boat. I'm having a real hard time getting swirls out, and I have a rotary. My details get better each time, but I'm not satisfied yet. As recommended, I just bought some SIP, but haven't tried it yet. I think going to fast is my problem. I have my exterior done in 2-4 hours depending on vehicle size, and it just takes more time and finesse. Keep on with it...as it has with me, each detail gets better and better. In no time, you (and me) will be as good as Scottwax.
 
thanks for the positive remarks guys! one of my next customers very soon will be a reminder of my own car... water spots EVERYWHERE... cant wait to try my luck and make his car look better than mine haha...
 
Next time try working down through the SSR line. If you start with SSR3 for example, step down to SSR2 or SSR2.5 and then to SSR1.



Try diversifying your polish line as well, the more the better, at least I feel. You can never be "too prepared."
 
Screw the guy who says it took to long. Considering what you started with and using a PC you did it in a decent amount of time. I couldnt do it much faster with a PC and ive done many many many many cars with nothing but a PC.
 
i will diversify my polishes and such when i feel that i have done well with the current stuff i have... i know it works i just have to learn how to use it properly... ill def try to step down the line.... i think after i use up this stuff ill get more of it as well as some menzerna stuff...
 
Jon, anytime you wanna come down and practice with me just lemme know. Maybe I could help you out, but you seem to know what you're doing.

Or if you wanna give a rotary a try without actually having to buy one you could use mine. It's very different than a PC, but soooo much better.

~Albert
 
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