tuscarora dave
"Luck" Residue of design
Some folks just don't realize the effort it takes to bring a terrible paint condition back into the realm of decent looking. The owner of this Chevy Tahoe is a guy I went to high school with. He is a good friend of a friend. We both go to this mutual friend's place for thanksgiving dinner each year and during our conversations at thanksgiving dinner I told him that I would give him a good deal on a detail.
He called me Wednsday to procure my services telling me the condition of the vehicle, it didn't sound that bad to me over the phone. So... Being a buddy I offered a 2/3 reduction of my regular estimate (over the phone):wall.
When I arrived and saw the condition of the paint...Well let's just say I got the same feeling in my gut that I got on April fool's day when I saw the thread title..."Going out of business sale" Posted by Poorboy.
In a recent thread that I posted, Bill (Njcarting1) mentioned that what most people have in their garage (in the way of detailing tools and supplies) I have in the trunk of my car. Well it's a good thing too because I had to pull out the "BIG GUNS" for this job. As I mentioned above I offered a 2/3 reduction in my normal fee, The owner of this truck then went into a story of hardship and chizeled a little more off of my reduced price. Normally I would just pass on the job without even seeing the vehicle but since he's a buddy....
I showed up and saw the vehicle and decided to do "only the paint correction" For what he had to spend I just couldn't do more. So I have adopted this policy for "chizeling friends"..."You want a reduction in price, you clean up the aftermath of the paint correction" and that's how it went. I did just the paint correction and he cleaned up all the dust and splatter left behind by that process.
I was just expecting maybe 75% correction on this job but do believe it turned out a little better than that. The customer wasn't aware of the history of the vehicle because he had just purchased it. I saw right away that one whole side of this truck was a repaint. I had to assume that the repainted side was all full of plastic body filler under the paint and that the heat dissipation would be different there than on the factory painted side so I did several test sections on that side to avoid burning with the rotary.
The process was as follows, on the factory painted side:
The customer already had the vehicle washed.
Given the condition of the paint I felt no need to clay.
Cut pass using 8" Makita Wool cutting pad on Makita rotary on speed setting #4 using 3M Super duty rubbing compound.
Cleaned up after the cut pass using 8" Edge 2000 green medium cutting pad on Makita rotary on speed setting # 3 1/2 and Poorboy's SSR 2.5, breaking the polish down fully.
Given the condition of the vehicle overall and the money being made I felt no need to go any further.
The repainted side was the same process except that instead of using the Wool cutting pad, I used an 8" Edge 2000 yellow cutting pad using same machine on speed setting # 3 1/2.
I was surprised to see that the clear on the repainted side was nearly as hard as the side with the factory paint.
After the polishing process I Spray & wiped the painted surfaces and applied Poorboy's World Natty's Blue.
I was hardly impressed with the looks of the outcome and to some degree fear a job like this may be damaging to my reputation as a detailer but the customer was wowed by it, saying "OH MY GOD, I can't believe how good it looks"
Some before photos
Two 50/50 shots of the factory painted side
50/50 shot of the repainted side
Some after photos
He called me Wednsday to procure my services telling me the condition of the vehicle, it didn't sound that bad to me over the phone. So... Being a buddy I offered a 2/3 reduction of my regular estimate (over the phone):wall.
When I arrived and saw the condition of the paint...Well let's just say I got the same feeling in my gut that I got on April fool's day when I saw the thread title..."Going out of business sale" Posted by Poorboy.
In a recent thread that I posted, Bill (Njcarting1) mentioned that what most people have in their garage (in the way of detailing tools and supplies) I have in the trunk of my car. Well it's a good thing too because I had to pull out the "BIG GUNS" for this job. As I mentioned above I offered a 2/3 reduction in my normal fee, The owner of this truck then went into a story of hardship and chizeled a little more off of my reduced price. Normally I would just pass on the job without even seeing the vehicle but since he's a buddy....
I showed up and saw the vehicle and decided to do "only the paint correction" For what he had to spend I just couldn't do more. So I have adopted this policy for "chizeling friends"..."You want a reduction in price, you clean up the aftermath of the paint correction" and that's how it went. I did just the paint correction and he cleaned up all the dust and splatter left behind by that process.
I was just expecting maybe 75% correction on this job but do believe it turned out a little better than that. The customer wasn't aware of the history of the vehicle because he had just purchased it. I saw right away that one whole side of this truck was a repaint. I had to assume that the repainted side was all full of plastic body filler under the paint and that the heat dissipation would be different there than on the factory painted side so I did several test sections on that side to avoid burning with the rotary.
The process was as follows, on the factory painted side:
The customer already had the vehicle washed.
Given the condition of the paint I felt no need to clay.
Cut pass using 8" Makita Wool cutting pad on Makita rotary on speed setting #4 using 3M Super duty rubbing compound.
Cleaned up after the cut pass using 8" Edge 2000 green medium cutting pad on Makita rotary on speed setting # 3 1/2 and Poorboy's SSR 2.5, breaking the polish down fully.
Given the condition of the vehicle overall and the money being made I felt no need to go any further.
The repainted side was the same process except that instead of using the Wool cutting pad, I used an 8" Edge 2000 yellow cutting pad using same machine on speed setting # 3 1/2.
I was surprised to see that the clear on the repainted side was nearly as hard as the side with the factory paint.
After the polishing process I Spray & wiped the painted surfaces and applied Poorboy's World Natty's Blue.
I was hardly impressed with the looks of the outcome and to some degree fear a job like this may be damaging to my reputation as a detailer but the customer was wowed by it, saying "OH MY GOD, I can't believe how good it looks"
Some before photos
Two 50/50 shots of the factory painted side
50/50 shot of the repainted side
Some after photos
You diddnt step down from 2.5????