Pictures & Comments - 2018 Indy Roadshow Class

[Mike Phillips]

Hi Mike, what year was this Mercedes?

And did it have single stage paint or no?

Great question and thank you for asking. I was surprised to find out this car still had the original factory basecoat/clearcoat paint on it. There were two places where the car was repainted and these two had basecoat/clearcoat repair sprays.

The earlies AMERICAN cars to get basecoat/clearcoat paint technology was the Corvette in 1980, I cover this in my how-to book, "The Complete Guide to a Show Car Shine" on page 5 & 6 where you will see me working on an all-original 1980 Corvette when I was the guest speaker for the 2007 National Corvette Restoration Society's National Meeting.


In other parts of the world, primarily in Europe, they started switching over too basecoat/clearcoat paint technology in the 1970s.


This car was a beige metallic color and it's a tick on the difficult to capture swirls and scratches on light colored metallic without a little effort on the part of the photographer. I didn't have a ton of time for this type of stuff but somewhere I do have pictures showing the absolute HORRIBLE condition the paint on this car was in. It had been run through a car wash like the 1971 Cadillac and it looked like someone washed it with a Scotchbrite pad. I sued this car and the Cadillac on Friday morning for the first tool set, simple 8mm free spinning orbital polishers with Pinnacle compounds, polishes and waxes to build a foundation for the class to build on. The cars came out looking like they were brand new.

1971 Fleetwood Brougham Sixty Special?

Wow, where’d you even find that car?

Looks amazing

This car belongs to the Tony George family, it was stored in the basement of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum. The museum staff brought the car out along with the Mercedes for the class to train on. The paint on the Cadillace was the second worst car in this class. The 1967 GTO actually had the worst looking and worst condition paint out of all the cars and the class used BLACKFIRE One Step to fix it.



The Caddy was great for starting the class as it was HUGE and provided plenty of room for hands-on training.


Just to comment...

I know a lot of people think I like old cars because they see me using old cars in my class but that's not accurate. I use old cars or what I would call "Cool Cars" in my classes because they tend to be HUGE or LARGE and my classes are HANDS-ON! And this means I need lots of real-estate so there's plenty of room for everyone to get LOTS of hands on time with all the different tools, pads and products.

Think about it.... not a lot of real-estate with a Mazda Miata, or even Porsche, compared to classic 1950s, 1960s and 1970s cars. Plus the classics tend to be more fun for the students to work on because most people in the real world don't get to buff out cars like a numbers matching 1967 Pontiac GTO.


Just thought I'd share all that for all the people that will read this thread into the future, which vindicated by the numbers of all these types of threads will be thousands, even tens of thousands.

[JKDesign]

Wow!!! Look at all those black cars!!!!!

[Eldorado2k]

Great question and thank you for asking. I was surprised to find out this car still had the original factory basecoat/clearcoat paint on it. There were two places where the car was repainted and these two had basecoat/clearcoat repair sprays.

The earlies AMERICAN cars to get basecoat/clearcoat paint technology was the Corvette in 1980, I cover this in my how-to book, "The Complete Guide to a Show Car Shine" on page 5 & 6 where you will see me working on an all-original 1980 Corvette when I was the guest speaker for the 2007 National Corvette Restoration Society's National Meeting.


In other parts of the world, primarily in Europe, they started switching over too basecoat/clearcoat paint technology in the 1970s.

Thanks for the info, Mike. I’ve been wondering for a long time how this 1975 Mercedes was all original, yet I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that the paint somehow wasn’t single stage...





Feels good to finally have some closure to the question.

[Mike Phillips]

Continued....


People travel from all over to attend our detailing classes. For example, Fadhel Jerkhi travelled from Kuwait and attended both days of the Indy Autogeek Roadshow Car Detailing Class.

It was a pleasure meeting and working with you Fadhel!



Fadhel Jerkhi at the Indy Motor Speedway for the 2018 Indy Roadshow Detailing Class




Kuwait is approximately 7,218 miles away in one direction.






More pictures tomorrow, today was catch-up day.

[Dan Tran]

LOVE IT!!!


Dan Tran
Car Care Specialist
The Buffing Moose Detailing: High-Quality Car Detailing

[Mike Phillips]

Thanks for the info, Mike. I’ve been wondering for a long time how this 1975 Mercedes was all original, yet I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that the paint somehow wasn’t single stage...

Feels good to finally have some closure to the question.

And that's what we're all about... dissemination of information...

[Eldorado2k]

And that's what we're all about... dissemination of information...

Earlier today I was thinking about how you once said that “detailers who are active members of this online forum tend to be more knowledgeable than those who aren’t”... Or something along those lines. These type of titbits of information are the good example of why.

@Mike Phillips. Thanks for the work you did and continue to do in putting this forum together and organizing it the way it is. The detailing world wouldn’t be the same if it wasn’t for the time & effort you’ve put into it. Thank you.

[RChicago]

I had a chance to sit and reflect of my experience with the two day class.



The venue
There is nothing better than looking out and seeing the Indy 500 when it comes to vehicles!!! The garages were well protected from the elements and other than the temp outside is was extremely comfortable. The outside temp was not that bad during the midday when it was a little warmer but there is ZERO that could be controlled about that and I am by no means stating ANY displeasure with that.

Conclusion: Awesome.



The expectation going in
Like any workshop I have attended in the past dealing with photography (Another passion of mine), I expected to learn one thing each day. That was a comfortable expectation for me going in. If that is met, I would consider this complete and successful.

This was not the case however! I learned just about everything that was shown. Why? Because of repetition and triangle learning - Learn a foundation and then build on that approach. Learn the vocab, then sentences, the paragraphs to essays and completing with writing books. This class seemed to be founded on that. Clean then evaluate and inspect then contaminate removal if needed all the way to ceramic coatings for each and every car totaling approximately 12 times we did the process. The repetition was there and I learned MORE than just one thing per day.

Conclusion: Expectations exceeded.



While I have already discussed the teaching style in general you made mention that you didn’t get to everything on the agenda. Your agenda is very detailed and thorough. You have managed to cram 3 days into two. Could we have done with one less car on Friday? Yes and No, Yes we could have and that would have made it so you might have touched on the missed topics BUT, NO! That one additional car cemented things for me. So, for others who stated you missed covering something, I said your Friday and Saturday classes were perfect for me! I missed nothing! Saturday’s class was jam packed again but equally as informative and built on the same principle. My opinion is if you changed something in this area, you are messing with perfection and that’s a slippery slope.

Conclusion: Perfect.






The companies you had there representing. Oh-my-god! FAN-Freeking-Tastic!.

First I will discuss Sonax, then Flex. Just outstanding!


SONAX
I personally talked to all members of the Sonax crew. Their knowledge was incredible on their product. Dimtri was a fantastic addition being there from afar. I could just go on and on but the one things that I DID notice right away was the fact that while they were there representing their companies, they not once talked down about another product or company.

If there was another product being discussed, they did not talk down about it or slide one of their products in place of the other companies, instead, they helped with a technique being discussed. They could have said, brand-x’s polish is horrible and here use ours….they didn’t. What I received was, “If you slow the passes down a touch, you’ll get more correction!”. Nothing bad about the product just a technique of the way I was working that could be translated to ANY product. They were concerned about my physical application and polishing process.


From the Sonax crew again, Jason was another standout person to me. I got to talk to him and he helped me get my head around some items relating to transitioning form another product to theirs WITHOUT pressure or pitch. I wanted a new system and he listened to my needs. He asked what I was using and when I told him, he said that I should really look at their system, we were going to use the next day(Saturday). It sounded like it would fit the bill. Nothing about talking down about my current product I had, just that the Cutmax and EX 04-06 system they had there was close to the system I was using in characteristics. I should evaluate the product and see first-hand which product I liked.

Usually rep’s at workshops dig or downplay other companies products. Not with Sonax. What a great group of guys.



Flex was the same
They didn’t talk about one companies chemical over another’s but instead were focused on tools. Making sure my curiosities about a tool was tested and satisfied. When I showed fears about rotaries, they were there to help with technique and when I still said I didn’t feel comfortable with rotary they NOT ONCE told me “That’s what the pro’s use!” They got another device and told me what was the same and what was different.

Nobody treated me different and I told them upfront when they asked if detailing was my profession it was more and an obsessive hobby. Many companies who come to workshops once they find out I am not a mass buyer or not able to purchase every tool they bring, are very hands off then.


I will admit I have loved their tools since I first got my 3401 many years ago. I probably was a little biased with the company and products but I went in with an open mind. I had a friend purchase a Griot’s Garage polisher last month and loves it. I have also heard great things about Rupes and their system. I tried them at this event.

I even went up to a Flex person at this event (without knowing at first) and asked him if he knew if there was an open Rupes polisher lying around. What did he do? He found me one. He easily could have told me that while this brand is good, use ours.

The whole FLEX company could have forgone the first day as it did not apply to their polishers. They did not. They were there helping the event even if it meant they were helping us with others tools. They even had the big wig of Flex North America, Bob, there. Seeing this told me I was using a company’s tool that first cared about the knowledge and process of the individual person and then cared about their tools. Seeing this and their attitudes while at the event, I knew I had the company with the right attitude and because of the old infomercial line, “Try the rest, stick with the best!” I would be sticking with the Flex line.


I will end my review here. I could write pages and pages on how great this even and you were. I will admit that when you asked me if my car had ever looked this good, it was a rough answer for me to admit…No!. I had wanted it to look that good and tried many times to get it looking this good and keeping it looking this good but I didn’t. I thought I had the knowledge based on the articles and many years of being a member of the forums and watching your how-to videos. NOTHING BEATS A HANDS ON CLASS.

I was making mistakes right and left during my washing phase. I thought I was the most meticulous and non-damaging/ scratching washer there was. My car saw the inside of a car wash once (I had forgot this until my wife corrected me). I had the pleasure of following a trash hauler in a construction zone that was leaking a fluid and spraying me. I had to take it through a car wash as an emergency to get this junk off as I had no time to clean it myself the next few days. I cringed going through and thought when I got out and looked it over, nothing happened to it.


I babied this car for 13 years and via hand washing and using the same product over and over, believed that it would not get microfine scratches. I saw in the bright sunlight that it had scratches and it killed me. I polished it using a 6 step process every start of the summer: Wash, Clay, Wash again, Compound, Polish, Finish and then, an expensive wax. All of these products purchased via AG.

Without seeing the FULL start to finish process, I would never have believed that I could eliminate some steps and get a better looking car. It was the “hands on” of the class under the eye of you and the companies you brought in to help, that showed me how to correctly do the whole process.

When I thought I was doing things right, I was shown I wasn’t. I learned for two days and numerous cars how to do things right. Show me once, I got it but I will forget something when I try it myself. Show me twice, I will learn it a little better. Show me 10-12 times over the weekend, I have it cemented!


I know I am all over the place on this review/critique. I am still in little kid at Christmas mode discussing this class. I want your bosses to know, I want Flex’s heads to know as well as Sonax’s bosses/heads to know how great you and they did over the weekend.

People write “Excellents” and 5 out of 5 or 10 out of 10 on their critique. I wanted to give more than that back to you and tell you that from my end, you went over the top and you should change nothing.


Hopefully you can follow my babblings.

Thank you sir.



Tom Quinn.

[PaulMys]

Not babbling.

Excellent post. Thanks for sharing that.

[Mike Phillips]

I had a chance to sit and reflect of my experience with the two day class.


I could write pages and pages on how great this even and you were. I will admit that when you asked me if my car had ever looked this good, it was a rough answer for me to admit…No!. I had wanted it to look that good and tried many times to get it looking this good and keeping it looking this good but I didn’t.

I thought I had the knowledge based on the articles and many years of being a member of the forums and watching your how-to videos.

NOTHING BEATS A HANDS ON CLASS.

Tom Quinn.

Thank you Tom for your eloquent and detailed review of our roadshow car detailing class.

I appreciate you trust in the Autogeek name that you would sign-up for both days, ($990.00) and even let us use your beautiful Mustang convertible as one of the training cars. It is your trust and everyone else's trust in our name and what we offer at these classes and then sharing your experience that will inspire others to sign-up for our classes.

I like everything you wrote but the most important take-away is this line,


NOTHING BEATS A HANDS ON CLASS.


I've been teaching hands-on classes now for 31 years. I know first hand that people learn by doing, not sitting in a chair listening to someone drone on and on an on. I can do that, I can talk forever, but as you learned I said what needed to be heard and everyone got out of their chairs and got busy. And it was like that from morning till night for 2-days straight. (my 3-day classes and my 2-day boat classes here in Stuart, Florida are the same way).

I've never been to anyone else's class but I've had people that have taken other classes attend our class and they always share the same story, the say the do a lot of sitting and a lot of the class feels like a sales pitch. That's now how we roll.

Heck I feel bad that I don't offer more formal breaks and a longer lunch but if I did... you and the rest of the people wouldn't get to as much hand-on as you do in our classes. So yeah, I'm a bit of a slave-driver in my classes but it's for everyone's benefit. I have two days to do a brain download as best as I can and the reason I'm passionate about this is because I can remember how it was when I first started out. I couldn't find any "good" or "accurate" information. So I make damn sure the information presented is both good and accurate.

And if you recall.... I also did my best to bring comedy to the class to make it fun. That and cool cars and such a plethora of tools, pads and products makes for the what I consider to be the best detailing classes on Planet Earth.

Thank you for attending. Thank you for taking the time to write and share your experience and thank you for your trust.

Yeah buddy.... Mustang is looking good!