Pictures & Comments: July 2015 Detailing Boot Camp Class!

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

The owner John, brought his way-cool 2005 Chevy SSR to our Cars & Coffee show last Saturday to show it off and I took this picture.

Thanks John for trusting Autogeek with our black SSR!


:dblthumb2:

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

How to do high quality production detailing - Your largest market!


We cover show car detailing or what you would call multiple step car detailing in-depth at all our classes.

To me and my guess is most the people that attend our classes, this is the fun part of car detailing, that is taking a diamond in the rough and turning it into a glistening gemstone. In fact we have more cars in our class to teach show car detailing in order to showcase all the tools you get to use at our classes and of course, how to use them to their fullest extent.

That said, we also cover high quality production detailing because that's the largest chunk of the DIF detailing market.

DIF = Do it for me


Production detailing is where you do ONE step to the paint besides the normal car washing, drying, claying, etc. Instead of doing dedicated compounding, polishing and protecting steps you use a high quality one-step cleaner/wax and do all three of these procedures in a single step as this SAVES YOU TIME and that's important for your entry level detailing packages if you detail for money.

Using a one-step cleaner/wax is also a good approach for any car owner and their daily driver as the paint on a daily driver will get a dirt stain embedded onto and into the paint when exposed to road grime over time.

Road grime is the dirty, oily water spray that's kicked up onto your car by cars in front of you when you drive in the rain. I have an article on this topic with pictures that tell the entire story here.


So besides all the cool cars we bring in for our classes I always bring in 2-3 mundane daily drivers in dire need of a good detail job to teach how to correctly do production detailing.

Here's our victim for the production detailing class, my buddy Henry's 2002 Chevy Avalanche.


The owner says he'll have the factory rim back on the passenger front when he drops her off.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

So here's how the process I show at our 3-day detailing boot camp classes for doing high quality production detailing.



Wash wheels and tires

Of course you can hand scrub tires using a brush but the Porter Cable 7424XP with a Cyclo Gray Interior brush takes all the work out of the job and does a much better job than you and your arm.

Chemically decontaminate paint
This is an optional step in any detailing process and especially when doing production detailing as a production detailing package usually doesn't have the profit margins built in for this type of optional step. That said I like to show all the students that attend our classes how to do this step so if they choose to do this step they'll have hands-on experience.

After washing and rinsing the wheels and tires, while the vehicle is still dry, spray it down with Iron X.

Using a foam gun, foam the vehicle and wash the vehicle working from the top down.

Note the Microfiber Chenille Wash Mitts on the hood in front of the windshield. Place your wash mitts here and then spray them with water to get them wet before foaming the vehicle.

Clean plastic cladding
This Chevy Avalanche has a lot of dull, oxidized plastic cladding. During the washing step we also scrubbed and cleaned it to prepare it for Solution Finish.

Machine scrubbing plastic cladding

Re-wash vehicle and decontaminate - Optional step
After washing and rinsing the entire vehicle as an option and a time-saver you can re-foam the body panels and then mechanically decontaminate them using Nanoskin Wash Mitts.

This takes the place of detailing clay and because the vehicle is still wet you save a couple of steps which saves you time. Basically when you wash and decontaminate at the same time the vehicle will be ready for machine waxing as your next step.

After the final rinse, dry the vehicle off to avoid water spots.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Ready for the next steps.....

Here's our Chevy Avalanche all THOROUGHLY washed and dried and ready to go.

Headlight Restoration
In our detailing classes we go over two ways to restore damaged headlight lenses. There's the simple approach which we cover in the class and the more complicated approach for severely neglected headlights or headlights with OEM coating failure.

Demonstration: Machine sanding using Mirka Abralon 3" Sanding Discs

Student hands-on training

Demonstration: Using a wool pad with a rotary buffer to remove the sanding marks

Student hands-on training

How to use a one-step cleaner/wax

For this part of the class I go over how a one-step cleaner/wax work and the specific techniques to use when doing one-step work.

Students inspecting the before and after difference

Free-for-all
During the production detailing class students can choose any tool they would like to get more hands-on time with using the one-step cleaner/wax

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Next... time to do something with the faded plastic trim....


Plastic Restoration 101 with Solution Finish
My good friend Chris West sent me some information to share how his product, Solution Finish works to restore the color to faded, oxidized plastic trim.

Hello Mike, I can't tell you how much I appreciate your support with Solution Finish and I am honored that you would include it in your workshop.

Here are a few tips and tricks, along with some technical information that maybe your students would find interesting.

First of all, Solution Finish is not an ink, dye, or stain – it is solvent-based modified black carbon.

Solution Finish does 3 very important things that are different than your typical plastic dressing:

1) Because it's solvent-based, it actually dissolves the existing oxidation on the plastic part.

2) It puts the black carbon back into the microscopic pores of the part being treated.

3) It contains antioxidants and light stabilizers that prevent the UV radiation from further oxidizing the trim.

What I’ve done is milled the carbon 7 times, making it as small as a virus – so with our modified and penetrating oil, it is able to draw the black carbon deep into the pores of the plastic.

In silicone-based products, the molecules are too “fat” (as we call it) to do anything other than coat the surface – a Band-Aid, if you will.

Pure plastic does not oxidize – it's the impurities and additives in the plastic that actually break down and cause the oxidation process to start.

When silicone starts breaking down and gasses off, it creates a hydro-peroxide gas which actually accelerates the oxidation process. Once that happens, it doesn't stop unless you prevent the gasses from forming; Solution Finish does just that.

Regarding the Avalanche you’re going to be detailing, it's interesting to note that the truck has 6 different manufacturers of plastics to on the vehicle. The running boards, quarter panels, bed cover, cab extensions, bumper covers and tailgate cap are all made by different companies.

Therefore, they all are susceptible to deterioration in different ways. But, as you will see, Solution Finish brings the black back and keeps it there.

Now if you look at the various sections of plastic cladding in the pictures, just like Chris stated, the plastic comes from 6 different companies and some components fade differently than other components. Just want to point this out as it's very apparent in the pictures and shows that Chris really knows his business.

Sean and Chelsea removing the hard plastic tonneau cover...

Demonstration: How to apply and work in Solution Finish

Using a black wheel and tire microfiber towel to wipe off any excess.

Removing the painter's tape....

Boom! There it is...

Hands on training and real-world experience restoring plastic trim with Solution Finish.

Sean and Chelsea removed the hard plastic tonneau cover so while the class was treating the plastic cladding on the truck I knocked out the tonneau cover.

Have to have a little fun once in a while....

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

The finishing touch.... time to do something with the tires!

I'm a HUGE fan of DP Tire Coating. This is the coolest product for tires because as long as you do a great job of cleaning the tires first and then do a great job of applying the coating, the tires come out looking like new and they stay that way without any sling onto the side of the vehicle. Plus the coating dries to the touch so no mess into the future anytime you wash your vehicle or accidentally touch the tires.


Here's Nick explaining and demonstrating how to apply DP Tire Coating.

Hands-on training and real-world experience

As you can see by the pictures in this thread these classes are about 95 percent hands-on training. There is very little time spent sitting around in chairs because I know that people learn best by doing, not sitting.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

And here are the results.....

Here's what the owner said when he picked her up....

Truck looks amazing!


Good job everyone!

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

***Bump***


This is a fairly well photo-documented class that shows just how much hands-on training takes place at our 3-day class here at Autogeek.


Next class is coming up in a couple of week.


Mike Phillips Detailing Boot Camp - May 3rd, 4th, and 5th



Or call Andre and sign-up over the phone.


1-800-869-3011 x244