Efficiency Questions

[shadowstep]

I just wanted to ask a few questions on staying efficient. For multistage polishing and sealing do you guys perform each stage throughout the whole car prior to go the next step or do you guys perform all stages per panel prior to moving onto the next one?

[parboy]

I go around the whole car with each product one at a time.

[SeaJay's]

I do my test spot 1st, doing each step on that to ensure I get the result I want. Then I do each stage on the whole car one at a time.

[eversio]

My thoughts are that 1 step/product around the whole car would be the most efficient. When you consider all the pad, product and maybe even backing plate/tool changes you have to make in between steps, a "1 complete panel at a time" method becomes terribly inefficient.

[NBD]

I agree 1 product at a time --
The only time I have not doen it like that is if i am working in stinky weather and under a tent. If that is the case I will finish a section of the car in the dry part of the tent with all products, then move onto the next area.. I hate doing this but -- sometimes you dont have an option.

[shadowstep]

I have been doing it that way also, I have been working on my gf's car and it is a long process I have been knowing that. She has an 08 scion xB and I am trying to be efficient enough to get her car done as soon as I can without minimizing my efforts.

[Mike Phillips]

I do my test spot 1st, doing each step on that to ensure I get the result I want. Then I do each stage on the whole car one at a time.


Ditto... with an exception...

For show car work, if the car has a painted roof, then after the Test Spot I tackle the entire roof all the way to first LSP and then tackle the rest of the car below the roof line.

I shared a couple reasons for this somewhere on this forum, any possibility anyone remember where?


:)

[Mike Phillips]

Did a quick search, couldn't think of the best search terms...

Here's a couple reasons why to polish out the roof all the way to the wax or sealant step and then work down...

1. Reduce the potential
No chance of getting splatter on previously cleaned and polished surfaces below the roof line and then having to wipe the splatter off. This is part of "reducing the potential" for re-instilling scratches that have already been removed. While it's important to be careful and if you are careful then this isn't an issue, it's just my personal preference to know out the roof all the way to wax and not ever have to worry about wiping any kind of residue off a lower panel when moving onto any step after the first step...

2. Marketing
Doing a multiple step process to a car requires a lot of time. From the time you start to the time you've wiped the first coat of wax off could be anywhere from 10 to 12 hours to a couple of days depending upon the project.

Now follow me on this...
If while you're working on the car you have not "finished section", then you have no way to showcase your work and talent to anyone that happens by, this could be the owner or a potential customer.

If all they can see is a "work in progress", there's nothing to get too excited about...

Now if you quickly work the roof all the way to the first application and removal of the wax or paint sealant step, now anytime someone walks by and comments or asks questions about your work you can make a "Presentation".


"Well I still have the lower portions of the car to finish but come here and check out the paint on the roof, this is how the ENTIRE car is going to look after I wipe off the last coat of wax..."

Then you carefully remove a little piece of painter's tape holding the soft, flannel sheet onto the roof and then pull the sheet back carefully and let whoever is standing there check out a perfectly polished, high gloss finish.


That can be pretty powerful and even more so if there's any "original" paint or un-polished sections left that you can then show them before-and-after, even more so, you can leverage this if you have a Brinkmann Swirl Finder Light handy...


Those are two reasons off the top of my head I think there were a few more...


Of course, it goes without saying that this "style" of doing a multiple-step process to a car is "personal preference" and each person can find a way that works best for them... this is just what tends to work best for me...


:)

[Mike Phillips]

I found this picture of a 1952 DeSoto that Richard Lin and I dampsanded using Porter Cables before dampsanding was a commonly used detailing term.

The flannel bed sheet is covering the roof because at the point in time this picture was taken the paint on the roof had been sanded, compounded, machine polished twice and machine sealed. We didn't want any airborne dust landing and settling on the paint while we continued to work downward.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/715/1951Desoto001.jpg


Of course, it goes without saying that this "style" of doing a multiple-step process to a car is "personal preference" and each person can find a way that works best for them... this is just what tends to work best for me...


:)