Driven Auto Detail
06-05-2007, 02:37 PM
Hey all! I detailed this car for a guy that I met recently
Background story:
I went to an entrepreneur /small business workshop a few weeks ago that my wife had signed me up for. While at this workshop, I met the owner of this car. He has a few jobs, and I use the term "jobs" very loosely. One of his jobs is as a pit crew member for the #98 Alex Barron Indy Car race team. His other "job" is building custom Noble kit cars when he's here in Indy, which is only about 3-4 months out of the year. The build shop is actually about 2 minutes from my house in Brownsburg, IN. A lot of race teams have their shops in Brownsburg because Indianapolis Raceway Park is just on the outskirts of town.
Anyway, when I met him at the workshop I explained to him that I was in the process of starting my own detailing biz. He said he could use a detailer and would call me sometime. Even though I sat and talked to him for about 30 minutes about his cool “jobs”, I was still unsure if he'd really call. After all, he builds $100-$200K cars and he doesn't know my detailing background. I emailed him the day after the Indy 500 to congratulate him on their 15th place finish and to also let him know that I'd love to check out his shop and/or provide my detailing services to him. After a few days I didn't hear anything back so I started thinking he had already left town. On my way home from work on Friday (from my full-time job) he called me and asked if I could detail his car the next morning. I of course said yes. I was actually quite nervous when I found out it was his Noble kit car. I have never detailed any exotics before so I knew I had my work cut out for me. He asked me to be there at 10am and be done by 4pm because he had to drive to Ohio and he wanted to take the Noble. So, I spent every minute of those 6 hours working on this car.
While I was working on the Noble, "Booger" McFarland of the Indianapolis Colts (previously played for the Bucs) rolled by about 3-4 times in his '07 Escalade checking out what I was doing. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to talk to him but Ed (owner of the Noble) & "Booger" live in the same condo building. I'm going to give some of my business cards to Ed so he can hopefully get a chance to give one to "Booger". If I could land a high-profile Colts player like him, I think I could get some other really good contacts.
As far as the detail is concerned, I wish I could have spent more time on it. I’m still not as fast as I would like to be. One thing that threw me off was that a lot of the car was covered in a clear bra and most of it had blemishes/scratches. The areas that weren't covered in the clear braw had some moderate swirls & the paint seemed to be very hard. For overall paint correction, I wish it would have turned out better. I have such high expectations for myself that I'm never satisfied with the work I do. The inside was a real PITA to detail because it was so small. I'm only 5'9"/190lbs. and I had a hard time maneuvering when cleaning the inside.
Overall, Ed was absolutely thrilled. So much so that he paid me more than what we originally agreed upon and he said he'd have 2 more Nobles for me to detail soon.
Alright, enough rambling from me. On to the process & pics:
Wash Cycle
DP 4-n-1 (paint/glass/wheels)
DP Wheel Gel (wheels)
DP All Exterior Cleaner (tires)
Because this is a kit car, Ed said it leaks water to the inside like crazy. This meant I couldn't use my power washer like I normally do. While 4-n-1 is a great alternative, I personally like being able to use the PW for all those hard to reach or just really dirty areas.
For the wheels, I sprayed on DP Wheel Gel, let it sit and then went to work with a small brush. For rinsing, I mixed up a gallon of 4-n-1 and used some sopping-wet MF towels (dedicated for wheels). Final rinse came by way of 4-n-1 in a spray bottle w/some dry MF towels (again, dedicated for wheels).
Paint Cleaning/Correction Cycle
Clay Magic
Cyclo w/orange light cut pads & XMT #3 (paint)
PC w/green Edge 2K light cut pad & XMT #3 (paint, carbon fiber spoiler/air ducts)
PC w/blue Edge 2K finishing pad & XMT 360 (clear bra areas)
The car only needed very light claying as it is garage kept. As I said earlier, much of the car was covered with the clear bra material but also had some blemishes. XMT 360 did a good job of cleaning these areas and leaving a nice slick finish. For the non-clear bra areas I used a combination of the Cyclo & PC (for those hard to get to areas). Again, the paint seemed very hard so I wasn't completely happy with the final result but I only had so much time.
Paint Protection
DP Max Wax
This is still my favorite wax. This made the midnight blue metallic paint dark and reflective. Even in full sun it went on and came off very easily.
Trim Protection
Aerospace 303
Nothing to say that already hasn't been said about 303. It's great!
Tire/Wheel Dressing & Protection
Meg's NXT Polysh (wheel lip)
DP Tire Gel
DG Aquawax (wheels)
I am really liking DP's Tire Gel. It leaves, IMO, the perfect finish. I did a final wipedown of the wheels with AquaWax to add some shine & protection.
Window Cleaning
DP Krystal Vision
This is a great product. I encourage anybody that hasn't tried it to do so.
Sorry, the pics aren’t the greatest. The car was in and out of the shade on the before pictures. Plus, I was using an SLR camera (I think) that I had never used before.
Before Pics:
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n59/mshu7/Detail_Noble_06-02-2007/IMG_1463.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n59/mshu7/Detail_Noble_06-02-2007/IMG_1464.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n59/mshu7/Detail_Noble_06-02-2007/IMG_1465.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n59/mshu7/Detail_Noble_06-02-2007/IMG_1470.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n59/mshu7/Detail_Noble_06-02-2007/IMG_1472.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n59/mshu7/Detail_Noble_06-02-2007/IMG_1473.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n59/mshu7/Detail_Noble_06-02-2007/IMG_1480.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n59/mshu7/Detail_Noble_06-02-2007/IMG_1489.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n59/mshu7/Detail_Noble_06-02-2007/IMG_1491.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n59/mshu7/Detail_Noble_06-02-2007/IMG_1492.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n59/mshu7/Detail_Noble_06-02-2007/IMG_1493.jpg
Background story:
I went to an entrepreneur /small business workshop a few weeks ago that my wife had signed me up for. While at this workshop, I met the owner of this car. He has a few jobs, and I use the term "jobs" very loosely. One of his jobs is as a pit crew member for the #98 Alex Barron Indy Car race team. His other "job" is building custom Noble kit cars when he's here in Indy, which is only about 3-4 months out of the year. The build shop is actually about 2 minutes from my house in Brownsburg, IN. A lot of race teams have their shops in Brownsburg because Indianapolis Raceway Park is just on the outskirts of town.
Anyway, when I met him at the workshop I explained to him that I was in the process of starting my own detailing biz. He said he could use a detailer and would call me sometime. Even though I sat and talked to him for about 30 minutes about his cool “jobs”, I was still unsure if he'd really call. After all, he builds $100-$200K cars and he doesn't know my detailing background. I emailed him the day after the Indy 500 to congratulate him on their 15th place finish and to also let him know that I'd love to check out his shop and/or provide my detailing services to him. After a few days I didn't hear anything back so I started thinking he had already left town. On my way home from work on Friday (from my full-time job) he called me and asked if I could detail his car the next morning. I of course said yes. I was actually quite nervous when I found out it was his Noble kit car. I have never detailed any exotics before so I knew I had my work cut out for me. He asked me to be there at 10am and be done by 4pm because he had to drive to Ohio and he wanted to take the Noble. So, I spent every minute of those 6 hours working on this car.
While I was working on the Noble, "Booger" McFarland of the Indianapolis Colts (previously played for the Bucs) rolled by about 3-4 times in his '07 Escalade checking out what I was doing. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to talk to him but Ed (owner of the Noble) & "Booger" live in the same condo building. I'm going to give some of my business cards to Ed so he can hopefully get a chance to give one to "Booger". If I could land a high-profile Colts player like him, I think I could get some other really good contacts.
As far as the detail is concerned, I wish I could have spent more time on it. I’m still not as fast as I would like to be. One thing that threw me off was that a lot of the car was covered in a clear bra and most of it had blemishes/scratches. The areas that weren't covered in the clear braw had some moderate swirls & the paint seemed to be very hard. For overall paint correction, I wish it would have turned out better. I have such high expectations for myself that I'm never satisfied with the work I do. The inside was a real PITA to detail because it was so small. I'm only 5'9"/190lbs. and I had a hard time maneuvering when cleaning the inside.
Overall, Ed was absolutely thrilled. So much so that he paid me more than what we originally agreed upon and he said he'd have 2 more Nobles for me to detail soon.
Alright, enough rambling from me. On to the process & pics:
Wash Cycle
DP 4-n-1 (paint/glass/wheels)
DP Wheel Gel (wheels)
DP All Exterior Cleaner (tires)
Because this is a kit car, Ed said it leaks water to the inside like crazy. This meant I couldn't use my power washer like I normally do. While 4-n-1 is a great alternative, I personally like being able to use the PW for all those hard to reach or just really dirty areas.
For the wheels, I sprayed on DP Wheel Gel, let it sit and then went to work with a small brush. For rinsing, I mixed up a gallon of 4-n-1 and used some sopping-wet MF towels (dedicated for wheels). Final rinse came by way of 4-n-1 in a spray bottle w/some dry MF towels (again, dedicated for wheels).
Paint Cleaning/Correction Cycle
Clay Magic
Cyclo w/orange light cut pads & XMT #3 (paint)
PC w/green Edge 2K light cut pad & XMT #3 (paint, carbon fiber spoiler/air ducts)
PC w/blue Edge 2K finishing pad & XMT 360 (clear bra areas)
The car only needed very light claying as it is garage kept. As I said earlier, much of the car was covered with the clear bra material but also had some blemishes. XMT 360 did a good job of cleaning these areas and leaving a nice slick finish. For the non-clear bra areas I used a combination of the Cyclo & PC (for those hard to get to areas). Again, the paint seemed very hard so I wasn't completely happy with the final result but I only had so much time.
Paint Protection
DP Max Wax
This is still my favorite wax. This made the midnight blue metallic paint dark and reflective. Even in full sun it went on and came off very easily.
Trim Protection
Aerospace 303
Nothing to say that already hasn't been said about 303. It's great!
Tire/Wheel Dressing & Protection
Meg's NXT Polysh (wheel lip)
DP Tire Gel
DG Aquawax (wheels)
I am really liking DP's Tire Gel. It leaves, IMO, the perfect finish. I did a final wipedown of the wheels with AquaWax to add some shine & protection.
Window Cleaning
DP Krystal Vision
This is a great product. I encourage anybody that hasn't tried it to do so.
Sorry, the pics aren’t the greatest. The car was in and out of the shade on the before pictures. Plus, I was using an SLR camera (I think) that I had never used before.
Before Pics:
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n59/mshu7/Detail_Noble_06-02-2007/IMG_1463.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n59/mshu7/Detail_Noble_06-02-2007/IMG_1464.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n59/mshu7/Detail_Noble_06-02-2007/IMG_1465.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n59/mshu7/Detail_Noble_06-02-2007/IMG_1470.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n59/mshu7/Detail_Noble_06-02-2007/IMG_1472.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n59/mshu7/Detail_Noble_06-02-2007/IMG_1473.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n59/mshu7/Detail_Noble_06-02-2007/IMG_1480.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n59/mshu7/Detail_Noble_06-02-2007/IMG_1489.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n59/mshu7/Detail_Noble_06-02-2007/IMG_1491.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n59/mshu7/Detail_Noble_06-02-2007/IMG_1492.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n59/mshu7/Detail_Noble_06-02-2007/IMG_1493.jpg