First off, you do very nice work. It tells me a lot that you are trusted to work on that quality of auto, and have the results you have shown. I'm a novice at detailing, but I'm wanting to learn the proper way to remove swirls and light scratches. I have bought a variable/high speed buffer and I'm ready to go, but I do have a couple of questions if you don't mind. First off, how do you polish corners, or places that are not flat? I would guess you do those parts by hand so as not to burn the paint, but perhaps with training, you are able to hit those spots without harm? Also I have vinyl pinstripes, and I'm not sure if I should avoid those, or if it would be OK to hit those lightly with the buffer on a slower speed? Finally I use Mirror Glaze products by Meguiars, starting with the Swirl Mark Remover (#9) and work up from there. Also I use Meguiars clay bar and Meguiars NXT Tech Wax. I have always had very good results with Meguiars, so I tend to stick with them. I realize there are products out there that probably do a better job, for a higher price, but do Meguiars products do a good job for the price in your opinion? Thanks for your time, and again, you do GREAT work. I would be a nervous wreck just brushing the dust off any of those cars.

 

What does this service cost?

 

I normally know what i'm doing with detailing but i am lost on something, the black trim around the windows on my hhr seems extremely dry. I tried using back to black but that didn't work. A couple of days after the back to black its back to being dry and gray again. What kind of product would you recomend using?

 

Z-man I'm with you on this. Th, not meant as as an insult, it looks like you do good work on the higher grade cars but if you can work miracles with an HHR...

As for myself and I can't brag, with the hard water in my neigborhood I can ruin a poor car wash. Which is why I let the Pros like TH wash/detail my ride.

 

I think if your happy with the results with the effort your putting in, then you don't need to change a thing! Liquid Glass is super high in silicone, which can cause problems in the future if you need a touch up, but otherwise its a nice product.


Several exotics I work on (All Ferrari's in general) have terrible paint. You would be suprised at how poor the paint is on them. I will post pictures of regular cars I have done as well. I will fully detail my HHR to beyond show standards once the factory paint defect is repainted by Chevy.

I would assume you are a member of MOL? I started using Meg's products and they are very very good, though, in my opinion, not quite the best. You might want to consider Meguiars #21 in place of NXT Wax, as it is very similar in the high gloss appearance, but lasts atleast 3 times longer.

To answer your questions, I use a beveled Lake Country pads on my machine (are you using a Porter Cable or a rotary) which allows be to play the angles and work the the buffer close to edges. I don't do much by hand.

As far as buffing creases, I always tape the opposite edge of the paint so I don't have to worry about the edge of the pad burning through the paint, as evidenced by this photo. Here I have the lower lip of the bend taped so I can buff right to the edge of this Ferrari. This Ferrari has orginal 25 year old lacquer, which was very thin, so a lot of caution had to be used.



As far as pinstriping, its probably better safe then sorry. I would tape over the area's with a 3M painters tape.

Most quality full detailes (including buffing, polishing, waxing, interior) ect run between 250-400 in my area.

I am not allowed to discuss pricing on here because of vendor rules, but I will say I am not here looking for bussiness, I am booked about 5 weeks in advance and don't have enough time to get accept new clients anyways. But I love to help out. I personally charge 115/hr and usually put in between 3 to 12 hours per car. On certain rare exotics I am prepparing for Concours De' Elegance shows, I can have upwards of 35-50 hours.

Here is a link to a car I recently did (you can see the HHR in some of the later pictures on the thread , which I have 28 hours into so far, and will need another 10 hours before its ready to go). http://autopia.org/forum/click-brag/...3-99-pics.html

Good question! I haven't even had time to check the molding, but you might want to consider a high quality, non solvent based sealant like Zaino or Deep SWAX. Because they don't feature any solvents, they will not stain the trim and will protect it. I don't like "dressings" on trim because they tend to look oily.

 

No insult, but like I stated, the paint on several exotic makes is very poor (Ferrari/Maserati) while others have great paint (German makes and Lambo).

Here is some more regular cars I have done...

 

Your nuts man. That is a classic. You just don't see that anymore.

 

What do you think about the so-called Dry Wash products. Some folks think they are great but it scares the hell out of me. It would be handy right now as the entire north Georgia area is under a water ban. I prefer to wash my cars myself, but can't right now.

 

OK TH, You've won over a convert , too bad you're not located on the left coast!

 

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