Help with a booth at a car show

[ASPHALT ROCKET]

Yes you can be my wash boy.

[S2K]

Thats a good idea too! Thanks! The only thing I thought about was being careful not to teach too much so they don't need me...lol

I see what you mean. You could stress how expensive the tools and products can be and how many steps can be involved. Most people won't want to invest a lot of money if they think it might be more work than they are willing to do and it might just be easier and cheaper to pay you to do it.

[twistedframe]

Yes you can be my wash boy.

LMAO thanks Dana, it would be an honor!

[twistedframe]

I see what you mean. You could stress how expensive the tools and products can be and how many steps can be involved. Most people won't want to invest a lot of money if they think it might be more work than they are willing to do and it might just be easier and cheaper to pay you to do it.

Thats a good way to spin it!

[sgtmillhouse648]

It may not hurt to have a few of the products you use setup on the table as more or less a way to say "Hey, I know what I'm doing and use the best stuff, none of the cheap turtle wax at wallyworld"

Remember to put some LSP on the half of the corrected hood...people like smooth and slick, not squeaky

If you can find an aluminum rim with some abuse a 50/50 correction on it with one side polished would be nice too.

[Mike Phillips]

• 
  
• Swirled hood or trunk that has been half corrected to show a 50/50

-Dave

Maybe take a Brinkmann Swirl Finder Light for the before and after panel?

I take a Brinkmann with me wherever I go, most of the masses have never seen one and often times I find myself around someone with a cool car that looks great in the light setting it's in, I pull out the Brinkmann and show what the true condition of the paint is and it always grabs "car guys" attention.

Kind of shows you know a thing or two about the tools used to create a show car finish too...

I would also have the electric polishers you use on hand and electricity to them if possible. Nothing grabs people's attention like turning a polisher on...

I've had booths at car shows ever since I got into this industry and one of the most important criteria I have for attending a show is access to electricity so I can do live demonstrations on how to remove swirls.

Of course I always take a flat paint panel to work on too...

I have flamed paint panels and black/red paint panels and sold paint panels. I have half and half, single stage and basecoat/clear coat panels.

I have a utility table that has a sheet of plywood hinged to it with metal glued to the top and then one half is painted in single stage lacquer and the other half is basecoat clearcoat, then I can demonstrate on what the person I'm talking to has on their car. The hinge allows me to work on the panel and then tilt it towards the crowd so they can see themselves in a black mirror.

I've also done before and afters on complete cars, taping them down the middle and then buffing out only one half of the car, while the car used in this thread is by far the most famous,

RIDS and Feathersanding - A Highly Specialized Technique by Mike Phillips


Below Photos Courtesy of MeguiarsOnline.com

Before





Process









Meguiar's Booth at the 2002 Bimmerfest in Santa Barbara, California



Sometimes your car might even end up on a bottle label...





I have pictures of at least 5 other cars I've done this to including a 1934 Chevrolet Coupe, black with white overspray all over it, (except for the half I removed it from), and a 1956 Corvette with a copper metallic paint job that I removed just half the swirls out of.

Full size half and half cars are a pretty powerful demonstration of your skill and ability but you have to arrange for the booth space and also with the owner of the car because you'll need the car twice, once before the show and once after the show.


Having a panel set up so that you can demonstrate claying is also a good idea... just have a can of black primer on hand and only "dust" the panel.

This way your crowd can interact and see how something works and then feel the difference.

I used spray paint at our last class because the rental car didn't have any above surface bonded contaminants...


Rental Car Fun...

So we induced some Above Surface Bonded Contaminants so our students would be able to feel the difference between paint with a rough texture and paint that feels as smooth as glass. Plus there's the experience of feeling clay drag over paint that's contaminated and then feeling it glide effortlessly as the contaminants are removed.







When I worked at the Mothers Booth in this thread, they had a car fender set up for claying demonstrations and continually sprayed paint on it to give us something to show the crowd.

Pictures from Barrett-Jackson 2010 - Mothers Virtual Power Tour


If you look at the middle left side of this picture you can make-out the fender we demoed on...





Use this recipe MWR

MWR = Most Wanted Response

Figure out what you want the person on the other side of the table to do, in you case hire you to detail their car, and everything in your booth should be targeted at and designed to get the most wanted response.


Anything you print should also soliciit the MWW, including your business cars, website, etc...

[sullysdetailing]

Nice write up Mike good read

[twistedframe]

Wow Mike! Lots of great information in there! Thanks for all the advice!