Spent the day with an AGO forum member....

**C. Charles Hahn** · 06-09-2011, 08:32 PM

So I was contacted recently by a new forum member in Battle Creek, MI who wanted to learn how to take care of his own cars and to see if detailing was something he might want to do. Turns out he's already applied to detail for a used car dealership in his local area.

Well today, Nathan ("thewraith1971") came up to Lansing with his '02 Camaro Z28 and I proceeded to put him to work. Here are a few action shots from the day (sorry, none of me working... I was busy shooting pictures, supervising, and dealing with other tasks on the car once Nathan was comfortable with the process being used).

First up was the interior, wiping down the dash and hard surfaces:

Followed by demonstrating some mad skills with the Shop Vac. Notice that he uses two hands in order to keep from dragging the hose against the vehicle.

:

We then moved on to the steamer, using it to blast crud out of seams and crevices (in this case he had steamed the dash as well already, but didn't wipe it down before moving on to the seat. I advised him otherwise for the drivers' side):

Once the interior was all cleaned and protected, the next task on the list was a through wash of the outside:

After which the car was moved into the shop and the buffing demonstration began.

I started Nathan off with the old-style Porter Cable DA and a 5" Meguiar's MF Cutting pad with D300. The rationale for this being that because the machine is less powerful (making it far easier to stop the pad from rotating) it forces the operator to focus on using perfect technique.

Because he was a natural and got the technique down quickly (and the fact that we needed more power to remove more of the RIDS on the car's roof) he quickly graduated to the G110v2, which was armed with another 5" MF cutting pad -- this time working M105 into the finish:

By this point we were running out of time, and Nathan was looking for tips to get into the detailing game on a tight budget. He already has a rotary polisher (Vector) but really wants to work with a DA. I decided to next introduce him to one of the best kept secrets of the DA world: the Dynabrade.

This particular Dynabrade adapter, known as the "Cut & Polish" is switchable between both a rotary and orbital mode. With the orbital mode featuring a massive 3/4" stroke length, this machine is truly a defect removal monster. The best part? It only costs $60 if you find the right source.

I have my Dynabrade set up on a Harbor Freight rotary polisher which I purchased specifically for this use, and attached to it is a Meguiar's W68DA backing plate (designed especially for SoftBuff 2.0 foam pads). This setup is every bit as smooth to buff with as either of my other DA polishers, especially with the rotary spinning at full tilt. Here it is in use:

Finally, here are a few pics of the car as it left. Not all of the paint was finished out, but Nathan will be finishing it himself in the near future.

Thanks for looking!

**Rei86** · 06-09-2011, 08:38 PM

god I want a steamer...and a BIGGER COOLED garage to work in

**Dr Oldz** · 06-09-2011, 08:40 PM

Very cool! That is awesome that you took your time to introduce and share with someone your detailing skills and knowledge. No better lesson than hands-on! Mad props Charlie!

**MDetail** · 06-09-2011, 08:40 PM

Always great to pass your knowledge along for others to have. Looks like it was a fun day.

**thewraith1971** · 06-09-2011, 08:40 PM

thanks for all the help today Charlie your knowledge of detailing was amazing....plus your attention to detail is simply unmatched....I hope to be sending you some business very soon with all the car guys from the car shows and local meets here

**bevans** · 06-09-2011, 08:41 PM

That was very nice of you to help him out.

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**93fox** · 06-09-2011, 08:41 PM

That is really generous of you Charlie. To take your time to teach someone else a few tips. Very generous!

**Deep Gloss Auto Salon** · 06-09-2011, 08:44 PM

What a very great thing to do Charlie!!

**James K** · 06-09-2011, 08:46 PM

That's cool. I love helping folks out.

**C. Charles Hahn** · 06-09-2011, 08:48 PM

Originally Posted by thewraith1971

thanks for all the help today Charlie your knowledge of detailing was amazing....plus your attention to detail is simply unmatched....I hope to be sending you some business very soon with all the car guys from the car shows and local meets here

Thanks Nathan, always glad to help!

Also, before I forget, you have a PM.