Training Cars for Autogeek’s Competition Ready with Mike Phillips 3-Day Detailing Class - January 2016

[Mike Honcho]

OMG!!! That plastic cladding on the Avalanche is toast!!! What's the expectation on it. Is it too far gone?

[GSKR]

No it can come back,gonna take a whole lot of scrubbing and product.

[Mike Honcho]

That's gonna be impressive!

[Mike Phillips]

That's gonna be impressive!

We restored the plastic cladding on two Chevy Avalanches in my last two classes, July and September. The results are documented on this forum.

[Joshwaa]

That Goat is just awesome. Might have to sign up just to work on that!! Great work AutoGeek!

[Mike Phillips]

That Goat is just awesome. Might have to sign up just to work on that!! Great work AutoGeek!

That Goat is one bad azz muscle car. The 462 Big Block Pontiac shakes the air around you.

I've already used Xenit to remove all the tire rubber off the back of the rear fenders.

The paint however is really overdue for paint correction, polishing and sealing so this will be just one of many training cars for this class.

I have a conference call in 5 minutes for our TV show and the project we're shooting in a few weeks in California.

After that I'll post the pictures of the 1964 GTO and I think everyone is going to be blown away at just how hacked up and swirled out the paint is.

I know I was.


Hang tight....

[le-brazil]

I'm would like to see Makita BO6040 in action..

[Mike Phillips]

I'm would like to see Makita BO6040 in action..

I have one in the class and everyone is welcome to test it out but it's really not a great choice for a tool to buff out cars all day as a detailer when there are so many better options available.


I explain why in this thread.

which one to choose makita bo6040 or Flex 3401??



Here's what I wrote,

I've used both and the Flex 3401 is easier to work with as it's purposefully designed to be a "paint polisher".

The Makita BO6040 is a wood sander. The difference is when sanding with it the tool doesn't require a lot of muscle to control. When polishing paint with it, you will use a lot more muscle energy to control it as compared to the Flex 3401.

Why?

Because of the design shape.

If you look at the two tools, the Flex 3401 is longer with a forward bale handle and the rear grip at the back of the tool. The length of the tool body is not an accident, the length of the tool puts your hands far enough apart at both extreme ends to give you leverage over the tool, this makes it easier to hold and control for HOURS as you work through the,

1. Correct step
2. Polishing step
3. Machine waxing step

Some people might even do a second polishing step.

Point being, buffing out an entire car with a neglected finish from start to finish is going to take you anywhere from 4 to 8 hours behind the polisher.

The design engineers at Flex purposefully designed the Flex 3401 to be an ergonomically correct, powerful paint polishing tool that will remove defects without at the same time instilling holograms or burning high points. (Assuming you use the tool correctly and with quality pads and good abrasive technology).

The design engineers at Makita purposefully designed the Makita BO6040 to be an ergonomically correct, powerful wood sander. Can it be used to polish paint? Yes. And it does do a good job in the way that the Flex 3401 does a good job by offering a forced, dual action orbiting pattern for the buffing pad.

If I had to pick one and go buff out an entire car I would easily grab the Flex 3401 over the Makita BO6040.

Plus, down the road you can get different backing plates for the Flex and I'm a big fan of the 4" backing plate with 5" Hybrid pads.


Hope that helps...

Shared this same above information with a guy on the phone yesterday asking pretty much the same questions and all he wants a polisher for is his own vehicles. He wants to buy one polisher that he can trust to get the job done and now have buyers remorse a few months down the road.

So will the BO6040 buff paint?

Yes.

Is it a good choice?

Not in my opinion due mostly to the shape and ergonomics of the tool. This might not be a huge factor for an individual or "Weekend Warrior" type person that only details their car or cars a few times a year.

If a person is going to buff out cars Monday through Saturday then like I said before, there are much better tool options that will work better for what you're doing while being easier for you to use as well as making more effective use of your time.

But "yeah" I keep ONE in the garage if anyone wants to take it for a test drive. Usually no one is interested and it sits on the bottom shelf of my tool rack.

[le-brazil]

Thanks Mike!

[Mike Phillips]

Hey Mike,

I MAY be able to make the Jan upcoming class. Looks like a lot of cool stuff! However, if I can't make this class do you have dates for future classes so i can make plans?

Thanks.

Dean

We teach our ACR 3-day detailing class three times a year always the same general time,

Last weekend of January - This year Mobil Tech is running late so we're running early.

First weekend of May - This year that's May 6th, 7th and 8th

Last weekend of September - This year that's September 23rd, 24th and 25th

We hold the classes the same time so people can arrange their travel plans accordingly.

At my last class we had people from all across America PLUS

1. Brazil
2. Saint Lucia Island
3. Puerto Rico

People need consistency in order to make long term plans and I've had e-mails and PM's from people over the years that tell me they are saving up for the class and the trip so we understand this and that's why we offer our classes at a consistent time each year.


So if you're a member or a lurker reading this there's no reason to "wonder" when the classes are each year as we hold them the same general time,

1. Last weekend of January
2. First weekend of May
3. Last weekend of September

Hope to see you here in January. Going to post some more pictures of the cars for this class today.