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  1. #1
    Mike Phillips
    Guest

    The most hands-on FLEX 3401 Detailing Classes available only at Autogeek

    The most hands-on FLEX 3401 Detailing Classes available only at Autogeek



    The FLEX 3401 aka the BEAST and the only book on how to use the FLEX 3401





    Question: What do you get to do when you attend a Competition Ready Detailing Class at Autogeek?


    First - You get to use ALL the cool tools in the car detailing industry!

    Second - And you get to use them on cool cars that are in dire need of restoration!


    Without exception - these are the MOST HANDS-ON Detailing classes on planet Earth!

    I personally guarantee it -Mike Phillips




    The Hands-on FLEX 3401 Detailing Class - February 2017


    This is 1996 Corvette with the ORIGINAL factory basecoat/clearcoat finish is one of the training cars for the February 2017 Flex 3401 class.





    The paint is dull and weathered. The paint is also filled with swirls, scratches, oxidation and water spots






    These are Type II Water Spot Etchings or Craters. This means the spots you see are not something ON the paint but etchings IN the paint.





    Here's a couple of pictures taken inside under Florescent lights










    The car behind the Corvette is a 1950 Hudson Hornet.





    The 1950 Hudson Hornet has a 1-year old basecoat/clearcoat paint job with lots of swirls and scratches.






    Car Washing

    Here at our Competition Ready Detailing Classes we teach

    1: Traditional Car Wash with a hose, bucket and foam gun - The Aggressive Approach (we cover the Gentle Approach)
    2: Rinseless Wash
    3: Waterless wash


    For the Hudson and the Corvette the class will learn how to use the Rinseless Wash

    From left to right...

    Gregg, Steve, Daniel and Anthony








    Mechanical Decontamination
    After using the Rinseless Wash to get these two cars clean, the class then used Nanoskin Towels to mechanically decontaminate the paint to remove above surface bonded contaminants.
    (no pictures of this process)


    Paint Correction
    After mechanically decontaminating the paint, the class was taught how to do a Test Spot to see what it would take to remove the below surface defects and restore the best finish possible.


    Process for the Corvette

    The water spot etchings were deep in the Corvette as were the swirls and scratches. For the paint on this car, here's what we used.

    • FLEX 3401 - Gear driven orbital polisher
    • Lake Country Hybrid Orange Foam Cutting Pads
    • Wolfgang Uber Compound


    Note the orange colored pads in the pictures below for the first step.

    From left to right...

    Robert, Travis and Steve





    Travis mastering the FLEX 3401 for compounding




    Bobby mastering the FLEX 3401 for compounding...
    Bobby works here at Autogeek in Wholesale and attended this class to get caught up on all the latest tools, pads and products being introduced to the market. Bobby is also an enthusiast detailer detailing cars for family and friends and occasionally for profit. You will also see Bobby on Competition Ready in the episode where we did an Extreme Showcar Makeover to AJ's 1968 Firebird. Bobby was my "Wheel Guy" as he's damn good at polishing out wheels.








    As the class is taking place I move around the classroom and work one-on-one with each student.





    Here's David inspecting his results with the FLEX Swirl Finder Light...







    Process for the Hudson

    The Hudson was painted using a paint system where the clear is mixed in with the color coat and after the paint is sprayed but before it dries, the clear portion migrates to the outside. This gives the appearance of a 2-stage paint job while only shooting one stage paint. For this reason the clearcoat effect is VERY THIN.

    It was decided to NOT get super aggressive for the correction step for this car.



    • FLEX 3401 - Gear driven orbital polisher
    • Lake Country Hybrid White Foam Polishing Pads
    • Wolfgang Total Swirl Remover


    Note the white colored pads in the pictures below for the first step







    Here's Nancy learning to master the FLEX 3401 on this cool old Hudson. Nancy doesn't detail cars professionally, she attended this class simply to bring her own skill level up when taking care of her own cars and trucks. You'll see Nancy on Competition Ready for the Custom Car Builder's Challenge that we shot at Detail Fest.






    Buffing on the roof in the front are Daniel and CJ - These two guys own their own detailing businesses and attended this class to take their knowledge and skills to a higher level.





    This is Anil, he's from Trinidad and Tobago
    Anil owns his own detailing company. He flew here from Trinidad and Tobago, which is 1,700 miles from Stuart, Florida (one way), to take his skills and knowledge to a higher level. Tom is a retired College Professor and loves to detail cars for both fun and profit.





    This is Tom aka TMQ on the AGO forum

    Tom was our hearing impaired student for which we brought in professional signers so he understand the information being taught and take his knowledge and skills to a higher level.





    Below in the front is Will working on the driver's side passenger door

    Will works here at Autogeek in Customer Service and attended this class to get caught up on all the latest tools, pads and products being introduced to the market.





    This is Roger! aka Roger that on the AGO forum!

    I became good friends with Roger while he attended this class. Roger owns and runs a towing company and body shop and wanted to learn more about all the different tools, pads and compounds on the market for the buffing side of the painting industry. Roger also owns a couple of cool cars in his collection and of course wanted to know how to truly create a show car finish on his own rolling works of art.

    You'll see Roger on Competition Ready for the Custom Car Builder's Challenge that we shot at Detail Fest.






    Here's CJ taking care of business on the lower portion of the Hudson driver's door.

    You'll also see CJ on Competition Ready for the Custom Car Builder's Challenge that we shot at Detail Fest.







  2. #2
    Mike Phillips
    Guest

    Re: The most hands-on FLEX 3401 Detailing Classes available only at Autogeek

    Continued....


    Paint Polishing

    While we used different approaches to remove the defects in the correction step, we'll use the same tools, pads and products for the polishing step on both vehicles.

    Process

    • Flex 3401 - Gear driven orbital polisher
    • Lake Country Hybrid Black Foam Finishing pads
    • Wolfgang Finishing Glaze (this is actually not a glaze but a fine cut polish)



    Rick Goldstein the President and Founder of RaggTopp


    I always have a special VIP guest at my classes to be the expert on their tools, pads or products. For this class we had two convertibles, (a 1967 Chevelle and a 1941 Buick) with canvas tops and two muscle cars with vinyl hard tops, (a 1967 Cutlass and a 1968 Charger), and Rick Goldstein was incredible as he shared his secrets of the trade when it comes to cleaning and protecting canvas and vinyl tops.

    Besides being the President of RaggTopp Rick is also a "Car Guy" as Barry Meguiar would say and he's also a detailing enthusiast that's never afraid to jump in and get-r-done!


    Rick Goldstein using the FLEX 3401 to machine polish the hood of the 1996 Corvette with the original factory paint.





    Here's Anil tackling the passenger side...





    Here's Tom tackling the back of the Corvette... Tom was a real go-getter!






    Upfront on the passenger side fender is Roger an across from him is Steve.

    Steve is a Graphic Designer by trade and he attended this class to bring up his own knowledge and skill level for working on his own cars.








    CJ polishing the roof of the Hudson to perfection...

    In every class there's always a few people that really stand out and CJ is one them in the class. He was here to learn! And whenever I asked for a volunteer it was either CJ, Roger or David who would jump for the opportunity.








    Here's Anthony on the passenger side and Robert standing on a collapsed Werner Work Platform to wipe off polish after CJ did the machine polishing.

    If you LOOK closely on the floor under the Werner Work Platform you'll see the RUBBER FLOOR MATS out of my truck under the platform. This is my secret I show guys to keep the Werner Work Platform from sliding or slipping out from under them when working on the RaceDeck tile floor in Autogeek's Show Car Garage.

    The collapsed Werner Work Platform is also the simple technique I share in the class, (one of many), to give you 5" to 6" inches of lift to reach taller hoods.





    Here's David machine polishing the lower sections of the driver's side doors...





    Here's Anthony machine polishing the trunk lid which is HUGE!






  3. #3
    Mike Phillips
    Guest
    Continued....


    How to use Gyeon Q2 Mohs Ceramic Paint Coating

    At or Competition Ready Detailing Classes you learn everything. This includes how to use,

    • Traditional carnauba car waxes
    • Synthetic paint sealants
    • Ceramic Paint Coatings



    For these two cars I chose to teach the class how to chemically strip the paint to remove the polishing oils and then how to apply the Gyeon Q2 Mohs Ceramic Paint Coating. Applying the Gyeon Q2 Mohs Ceramic Paint Coating is super easy, even on the HUGE BLACK HUDSON. The key is in how to carefully strip the paint so as not to re-instill any marring after polishing it to perfection.


    Ceramic Paint Coating Application Techniques
    After chemically stripping the paint, (no pictures), next I share the technique for applying a ceramic paint coating. Ceramic paint coatings seal and protect the paint like a traditional car wax or synthetic paint sealant but also create amazing gloss, so much that I coined the term glassy to describe the gloss created by a quality ceramic paint coating. They also last much longer than traditional LSP's plus make washing, wiping and drying faster.


    Demonstrating how to apply the Gyeon Q2 Mohs Ceramic Paint Coating
    (Behind me you can see Chris, one of the signers signing for Tom)








    Then it's time to turn the class loose on the cars...

    Here's Rick Goldstein doling out the coating using the included eye dropper with the Gyeon Q2 Mohs Ceramic Paint Coating








    Here's Travis coating the front of the Corvette...





    Here's Tom coating the back of the Hudson...





    CJ coating the Corvette...





    Here's Roger coating the Hudson...





    Here's Daniel and Rex working on the Hudson...








  4. #4
    Mike Phillips
    Guest

    Re: The most hands-on FLEX 3401 Detailing Classes available only at Autogeek

    Continued....

    The Beauty shots...


    Here are the results...


    The 1996 Corvette

    Remember this is the original paint on this 1996 Corvette. As I type this documentation for this class this car is now 21 years old.











    Here's the 1950 Hudson...

    When is the last time you worked on a Hudson? When it the last time you seen a Hudson in a detailing class for the students to train on?














    And here's the class of February 2017





    GREAT JOB EVERYONE!






    Move em out!

    Time to kick these two cars out of the garage and move in the next two cars. Here at our class we go through 16 cars in three days.

    There's no time for sitting around while someone blathers on endlessly. This isn't no seminar, these are HANDS-ON Training Classes Mike Phillips style.








  5. #5
    Mike Phillips
    Guest

    Re: The most hands-on FLEX 3401 Detailing Classes available only at Autogeek





    Next Competition Ready Class is May 5th, 6th and 7th 2017



    Click here to sign-up or for more information



    The focus of our classes is always - Hands-on training.






    People learn by doing... not sitting in a chair listing to someone blather on for hours... -Mike Phillips






    The next class for 2017 is May 5th, 6th and 7th



    How to sign up for a class

    To sign-up over the phone, call Andre to reserve your seat before the class you want to attend sells out.

    1-800-869-3011 x244


    You can also sign-up online

    Click here to sign-up for the February Competition Ready 3-Day Detailing Class


    Price for 3-day class: $1,795.00


    Note: Our classes always sell out so once you clear your schedule, get signed up before it's too late. At this time we hold these classes three times a year.



    At Competition Ready Classes you learn both production detailing and show car detailing. You learn wet sanding and so much more. We always have cool cars for the class to learn on.



    You will learn to take cars that look like this....





    And make them look like this.....





    The Competition Ready 3-Day Detailing Class takes place on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday.







    OPTIONAL - IDA Skills Validation Testing

    If you want to become an IDA Skills Validated Detailer, we give the Skills Validation practical test on Monday following the three day class. You have to have already taken and passed the online Certified Detailer tests.

    More information about the Skills Validation Testing here,


    IDA SV Certification Testing at Autogeek






  6. #6
    Super Member TMQ's Avatar
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    Germantown, Md
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    Re: The most hands-on FLEX 3401 Detailing Classes available only at Autogeek

    Soooo worth it!

    It's fun...
    Fast paced...
    Knowledge gained...
    Confidence booster...
    Great teacher...
    Great classmates...

    One big advise if you take the class. Take notes! Better yet---Photos of car/polisher/product used. After couple of weeks you will start to forget and/or get mixed up
    which tool/product used on which cars since class was sooo fast over course of 3 days!!! Big take away for me is---confidence!
    You will also become more sensitive to the little things on cars that I've never noticed before which affects the overall look on cars.

    Did I mention---it's fun and a true learning experience!

    I'll go back in a heart beat. It is a beautiful place to be.

    Tom

  7. #7
    Mike Phillips
    Guest

    Re: The most hands-on FLEX 3401 Detailing Classes available only at Autogeek

    Received this via e-mail from Rick Goldstein...


    Quote Originally Posted by Rick Goldstein

    Outstanding class!

    Great pictures, fanatic class mates and a once-in-a-life time training by Mike Phillips himself.

    Thank you so much!

    Rick Goldstein
    wolfsteins.com

    RAGGTOPP Convertible Care products have been tested and endorsed by The HAARTZ Corporation, original equipment manufacturer of convertible topping for virtually every American and European convertible automobile manufactured throughout the world.
    Haartz Corporation



    Thanks Rick!

    It was a pleasure having you in the class!



  8. #8
    Mike Phillips
    Guest

    Re: The most hands-on FLEX 3401 Detailing Classes available only at Autogeek

    Quote Originally Posted by TMQ View Post

    Soooo worth it!

    It's fun...
    Fast paced...
    Knowledge gained...
    Confidence booster...
    Great teacher...
    Great classmates...

    One big advise if you take the class. Take notes! Better yet---Photos of car/polisher/product used. After couple of weeks you will start to forget and/or get mixed up which tool/product used on which cars since class was sooo fast over course of 3 days!!!

    Good tip Tom.

    Each student get the class workbook which does contain a TON of information but in my own experience the most important notes are the notes I take when I want to remember something important.



    Quote Originally Posted by TMQ View Post

    Big take away for me is---confidence!

    Tom

    That is key Tom.

    After any student takes our three day class, they will have dramatically increased confidence in all aspects of car detailing.

    That is one of the primary goals of the class. I can't make anyone an expert in three days but I can increase their confidence level via lots of hands on time behind the tools, pads and products and sharing head knowledge from my brain to yours.




  9. #9
    Super Member Guyb's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    Kansas
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    367
    Post Thanks / Like

    Re: The most hands-on FLEX 3401 Detailing Classes available only at Autogeek

    Looking forward to the May class!

  10. #10
    Super Member LEDetailing's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Wisconsin
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    Re: The most hands-on FLEX 3401 Detailing Classes available only at Autogeek

    That Hudson looks incredible. What a save on the Corvette.

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