tuscarora dave
11-15-2011, 11:33 AM
I recently decided to get out of detailing for profit and thought I should share a few pics and a short video of the last for profit detail that I intended on doing. With daylight savings now in effect for the winter months there wasn't much time for photos so there are a few mid process photos and a short video of the finished paint work before I got to do the tires and wheels.
A little background on this vehicle.
When this client first bought this vehicle they brought it to me to wash, clay and apply a coat of paint sealant to prepare it for the winter last year. I applied a coat of Poorboy's World EX-P at that time. About a month or so ago I was working on a car that this client had purchased cheap from one of their customers. These guys own and operate an 8 bay service station that I do lots of work for. While working to clean up the beater that they had purchased to sell, I was informed that his wife's RX350 had been rear ended and sustained $10,000 worth of damage. They booked an appointment for me to come out and take care of any paint issues and apply something durable to carry the corrected finish through this winter.
I showed up on Saturday and washed the vehicle, clayed it and discussed with the owner just exactly what she expected from what I would do to it. She pointed out a lot of wash induced marring as well as some scuffs inflicted by careless people in the parking lot where she works. In addition to what she pointed out, I observed a lot of deep holograms installed by the body shop's buffer. The body shop did an awesome job at prepping and painting the vehicle and the wool pad finishing wasn't all that bad in comparison to what some body shops do.
After a few test sections, 1 on the factory paint and 1 on the repainted sections I determined that the same process/products would work for both. The process/products were as follows.
Wash: Meg's Gold Class Wash solution with chenille MF mitt.
Clay: Meg's Smooth Surface Clay with ONR as lube.
Compound: Meg's D-300 with Makita rotary using orange Poorboy's World 5.5" Variable Contact foam pad @ 1100 R.P.M.
Finish polish: Meg's M-205 with Flex 3401 using a white PRO 6" finishing foam pad @ speed 6.
Removal of polishing oils/finish inspection: complete wipedown with MF towels and Film Buster glass cleaner.
LSP: Opti-Coat 2.0
Tires and wheels: cleaned with ONR and topped with UTTG (not pictured or videoed)
With my limited photography skills and cheap point and shoot camera these 2 photos are the best I could do the capture the defects before compounding. The paint finish looked much worse in person.
http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd323/tuscaroradave/006-20.jpg
http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd323/tuscaroradave/007-32.jpg
As stated above there wasn't much time for taking photos so the next 3 photos are after rotary compounding with the orange PB VC pad and D-300. I have no photos after finishing with the M-205 and finishing pad with the Flex 3401. All I have of the finished paintwork is the poor quality video that is to follow these next 3 photos. D-300 really finished well with just some slight holograms left behind.
http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd323/tuscaroradave/010-30.jpg
http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd323/tuscaroradave/011-29.jpg
http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd323/tuscaroradave/012-21.jpg
Here's the video of the finished paint work. The sun had set at this point so you'll have to use your imagination based on the after compounding photos to determine what the finished sun shots would have looked like. I assure you that the finish was nothing short of spectacular. Sorry for the wheels and tires still being in a cruddy state during the video but I was racing against total darkness so there wasn't enough time for that.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9x7g3LfsdGY]2010 Lexus RX 350 - YouTube[/video]
While this was my last for profit detail, I do still have a few bartered for details on my schedule to get done so I'll try to get some before and after shots of those to share with the community. Thanks for looking, TD
A little background on this vehicle.
When this client first bought this vehicle they brought it to me to wash, clay and apply a coat of paint sealant to prepare it for the winter last year. I applied a coat of Poorboy's World EX-P at that time. About a month or so ago I was working on a car that this client had purchased cheap from one of their customers. These guys own and operate an 8 bay service station that I do lots of work for. While working to clean up the beater that they had purchased to sell, I was informed that his wife's RX350 had been rear ended and sustained $10,000 worth of damage. They booked an appointment for me to come out and take care of any paint issues and apply something durable to carry the corrected finish through this winter.
I showed up on Saturday and washed the vehicle, clayed it and discussed with the owner just exactly what she expected from what I would do to it. She pointed out a lot of wash induced marring as well as some scuffs inflicted by careless people in the parking lot where she works. In addition to what she pointed out, I observed a lot of deep holograms installed by the body shop's buffer. The body shop did an awesome job at prepping and painting the vehicle and the wool pad finishing wasn't all that bad in comparison to what some body shops do.
After a few test sections, 1 on the factory paint and 1 on the repainted sections I determined that the same process/products would work for both. The process/products were as follows.
Wash: Meg's Gold Class Wash solution with chenille MF mitt.
Clay: Meg's Smooth Surface Clay with ONR as lube.
Compound: Meg's D-300 with Makita rotary using orange Poorboy's World 5.5" Variable Contact foam pad @ 1100 R.P.M.
Finish polish: Meg's M-205 with Flex 3401 using a white PRO 6" finishing foam pad @ speed 6.
Removal of polishing oils/finish inspection: complete wipedown with MF towels and Film Buster glass cleaner.
LSP: Opti-Coat 2.0
Tires and wheels: cleaned with ONR and topped with UTTG (not pictured or videoed)
With my limited photography skills and cheap point and shoot camera these 2 photos are the best I could do the capture the defects before compounding. The paint finish looked much worse in person.
http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd323/tuscaroradave/006-20.jpg
http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd323/tuscaroradave/007-32.jpg
As stated above there wasn't much time for taking photos so the next 3 photos are after rotary compounding with the orange PB VC pad and D-300. I have no photos after finishing with the M-205 and finishing pad with the Flex 3401. All I have of the finished paintwork is the poor quality video that is to follow these next 3 photos. D-300 really finished well with just some slight holograms left behind.
http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd323/tuscaroradave/010-30.jpg
http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd323/tuscaroradave/011-29.jpg
http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd323/tuscaroradave/012-21.jpg
Here's the video of the finished paint work. The sun had set at this point so you'll have to use your imagination based on the after compounding photos to determine what the finished sun shots would have looked like. I assure you that the finish was nothing short of spectacular. Sorry for the wheels and tires still being in a cruddy state during the video but I was racing against total darkness so there wasn't enough time for that.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9x7g3LfsdGY]2010 Lexus RX 350 - YouTube[/video]
While this was my last for profit detail, I do still have a few bartered for details on my schedule to get done so I'll try to get some before and after shots of those to share with the community. Thanks for looking, TD