Wiseguy's Work (NORTH FL)

[maiku]

I started my own detailing business a while back and figured I'd follow Rasky's footsteps and start a thread with some before/after pics.

I hope ya'll enjoy.


Quick Reference Vehicle Chart
Page 1) 2007 Si - NBP
Page 2) 2001 Nissan Xterra - Yellow
Page 4) 2005 Element EX - NBP
Page 5) 2002 Toyota Tundra - Beige (wash and wax)
Page 6) 2007 Si - TW (mine, basic wash)
Page 6) 1992 Civic EX - Blue (restore)
Page 7) 2006 Si - NBP (waterspots, scratches and sand, oh my!)
Page 7) 2008 Infinity G37S - Black (completely swirl free)
Page 8) 2007 Si Sedan - TW (polished and beautified)
Page 9) 1998 Chevy Blazer - Blue (full swirl removal)

[maiku]

Unfortunately it took me about 10 hours to detail this beast and it was dark by the time I finished it so I don't have any good after daytime pics. I'll get them soon though since I see him fairly often.

Sorry about the mess in the garage. It's being re-organized so there's stuff lying around everywhere. You'll notice a white front HFP lip hanging out in there too. lol.

All taped up.. I do this for all cars receiving wax.






Sample of the hood. You can see where I had the tape. Left side polished to remove swirls, right side not touched. :SHOCKED::SHOCKED:





As you can see, I center the sun on both sides so there's no argument that the swirls are gone.











and finally finished polishing, but no wax yet.

[maiku]

07 Nighthawk Black Pearl Si.. this is one of the dirtiest mofo's I've ever seen. the guy owns a car shop and there's tons of dirt and dust all in the interior






rollin' dirty





:SHOCKED::SHOCKED::SHOCKED::SHOCKED:

























By this point, you may be thinking "Isn't that a Galaxy Grey Si???"









ewwwwwwwwwwww
















ONTO THE SWIRLAGE!! I finally got it clean so you can see all the swirl marks. It turned out to have a lot more than usual because HONDA did a complimentary "wax" to the car and you could easily tell they swirled the living @$^# out of it. not to mention they got white residue on all the plastics and crevices.
This isn't even the worst part of the swirl marks. It's just what I snapped real quick in a random area.






---------------


Now she's all done! Although it's dark so that's no fun for pics. :\ Still amazing though!! A black car without swirls is amazing.

Sorry for night pics. I'll get some day pics next time I see him.



























INTERIOR












-----------------------------
April 08

I've been slammed with school so I haven't done much on the detailing as I've said. I'm waiting till the summer to really nail down some nice jobs.
In the meantime, I did manage to get my engine bay cleaned up after 13k miles. Nothing special.
Side note: I got some NST pulley's going on soon.

[I Vtec, do you?]

Looks good man. I'm curious, is this your main cash flow? I'm just curious if one could sustain themselves just starting up an out-of-the-garage detailing shop.

[maiku]

Originally Posted by I Vtec, do you?

Looks good man. I'm curious, is this your main cash flow? I'm just curious if one could sustain themselves just starting up an out-of-the-garage detailing shop.

Right now it's not, but I could easily sustain myself by doing this full time. What I'm doing now is working my main job 4 days a week and going to school, which takes a lot of time up in itself. Meanwhile I'm building reputation, clientèle, spreading word, making business cards, website, getting licensed and insured, the whole 9 yards. Mobile detailing would yield much better results IMO. You want to make sure your aiming for the proper clients though. Lots of good info on detailing forums. Read around.

[inyong1988]

what product did you use it? and whats the exact steps?
thanks!

[I Vtec, do you?]

Originally Posted by maiku

Right now it's not, but I could easily sustain myself by doing this full time. What I'm doing now is working my main job 4 days a week and going to school, which takes a lot of time up in itself. Meanwhile I'm building reputation, clientèle, spreading word, making business cards, website, getting licensed and insured, the whole 9 yards. Mobile detailing would yield much better results IMO. You want to make sure your aiming for the proper clients though. Lots of good info on detailing forums. Read around.

How much do you charge for a car like the SI? For 10 hours of work, it seems like you'd have to charge at least $500 to make it worthwhile, right?

[TOMMIELOEKO]

good luck!!!

[maiku]

Originally Posted by I Vtec, do you?

How much do you charge for a car like the SI? For 10 hours of work, it seems like you'd have to charge at least $500 to make it worthwhile, right?

Charge what you think your worth. I wish I charged him that much. Unfortunately I quoted him before looking at it, thinking he's only had it for 6mo it couldn't be too bad... boy was I wrong. Learned my lesson real quick. It wouldn't normally take 10hr, it's just that this was insanely dirty and I did a lot of stuff to it.

[maiku]

Originally Posted by inyong1988

what product did you use it? and whats the exact steps?
thanks!

Meguires Mirror Glaze mostly. There's tons of threads that tell you the proper steps. Basically, wash, clay, cleaner/polish, sealant, wax.

[I Vtec, do you?]

What do you use to clean the seats/carpets with? Mine are filthy

[ronin]

Great job.

Did you use a porter-cable?

[ThaJazz]

Just awesome. Wish I knew someone in MD who could do that for my NHBP sedan!

[inyong1988]

i still don't get it. so order to remove swirls, you gotta do polish your paint?

[I Vtec, do you?]

Yes, you have to use something with abrasives in it. It (as I believe it) takes off very, very thin layers of clear coat until the coat is level. Everything else just fills in swirls, so they will always come back. You have to use a polish with abrasives in it to get rid of them completely. A D/A polisher or a rotary will work the best, I suppose you could use your hands but some polishes require high speeds to break it down.

[maiku]

I've never been able to remove swirls by hand. I only work out isolated scratches by hand. The rest always gets done by machine.
I don't use a PC, I use a FLEX, which is a hybrid of a PC and a rotary.
For the carpet and seats I first thoroughly vacuum then use a horse hair brush to get deep down contaminants to the surface. Vacuum again and spray with meguires spot detailer. Let that sit and scrub it down w/ a MF towel.
I use an extractor now though.

[Duce2k]

Good job buddy, I could never understand why people let their cars get to that condition, but then if they didn't you and others like you would be out of business.

[kenchan]

>anjeru wa sugoi ne? ^_^v



futsuu guraidayo.

[I Vtec, do you?]

Originally Posted by maiku

I've never been able to remove swirls by hand. You mainly just add more, finer swirls if you do it by hand since it's not high enough of a speed.
I don't use a PC, I use a FLEX, which is a hybrid of a PC and a rotary.
For the carpet and seats I first thoroughly vacuum then use a horse hair brush to get deep down contaminants to the surface. Vacuum again and spray with meguires spot detailer. Let that sit and scrub it down. That's the process I use right now, but I'll be investing in an extractor soon.

Man I hate you. I already regret not spending an extra $100 and getting a flex.

[ccking85]

Looks good man. Wish you were near by, you would have a client for sure.