32 man-hours spent detailing my ride: 50 pics + write-up

Mutt Grunt said:
^ ahhh the Rick & Ryan 1-series job. Photos go a long way and the more skilled a detailer is in photography, the more they're able to capture and convey. Of course this only helps when you have the skills those gentlemen have in the first place.

One of the guys thats a motivation for me is Todd Cooperider of Columbus, OH. He was even named top detailer in the mid-west by one auto magazine. Well not only is the guy good, but he's an outstanding photographer.
http://www.autopia.org/forum/pro-de...m6-esoteric-auto-detail-very-long-thread.html

and even crazier... I still visit this thread every now and then. Amazing work that shows just how far detailing can go:

http://www.autopia.org/forum/pro-de...avillino-complete-177-pictures-1-wk-show.html

enjoy ;)
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Just looked at those two links. Those guys really spent a lot of time. What do you think they charged? I would go that far getting paid for it, but to do something like that on my own car, something I drive once a week, or my daily driver, no....wouldn't do it to that extent. They must be getting paid excellent money. The Ferrari guy has Race Deck flooring in his garage. Garage floor alone cost him over $2,000. He must be getting high-end cars all the time.

BTW...when these guys do the engine bays on these high end cars, they don't take a hose to them do they??? A lot of vehicles like the Northstar caddy's and Aurora's have the starter under the intake and if that valley gets water in them it fries the starter. And even like 4.6L and 5.4L modular motors, Taurus DOHC motors etc....if water gets in the spark plug holes it shorts a coil out and they run like shit. What process do they do to BMW's, Lambo's Ferrari's etc...??
 
SVT32VDOHC said:
Just looked at those two links. Those guys really spent a lot of time. What do you think they charged? I would go that far getting paid for it, but to do something like that on my own car, something I drive once a week, or my daily driver, no....wouldn't do it to that extent. They must be getting paid excellent money. The Ferrari guy has Race Deck flooring in his garage. Garage floor alone cost him over $2,000. He must be getting high-end cars all the time.

BTW...when these guys do the engine bays on these high end cars, they don't take a hose to them do they??? A lot of vehicles like the Northstar caddy's and Aurora's have the starter under the intake and if that valley gets water in them it fries the starter. And even like 4.6L and 5.4L modular motors, Taurus DOHC motors etc....if water gets in the spark plug holes it shorts a coil out and they run like shit. What process do they do to BMW's, Lambo's Ferrari's etc...??
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When, I was doing Lambo's, Bentley's, and other cars like that. I would use a pressure washer on the engine. Before I started it again, Id go through with compressed air and make sure it was dry.
 
well i can tell you that guys who have established names in high end detailing usually work alone to the tune of $60/hr + with some charging around $100/hr. Lots of money - especially when they have minimum time requirements (some have a minimum of $400-500 to touch a car).
Now take into account that Ferrari had over 5 days of work put into it.... YEA. Big pockets.

And for higher end vehicles, things are always done by hand. Even though good detailers have insurance, it's not something you want to use or be known for ("hey - there goes those guys from autoLavish that ruined that Carrera GT! It's ok though because the guy got money back!")

When a person decides to go to a quality detailer, they're not paying for supplies - they're paying for knowledge, experience, and attention to detail. That being said... a lot of guys do charge extra for some things like a coat of a high end wax (Zymol Vintage, Dodo Juice Supernatural, Pinnacle Souveran, Swissvax Divine/Best of Show/Crystal Rock/Concorso/Mystery are popular ones)

Lastly - the Ferrari is a straight garage queen / show car and was being prepped for a big show in FL. I believe it took third due to some missing original parts or something though - no doubt it was one of, if not the best, looking car there.
 
Mutt Grunt said:
well i can tell you that guys who have established names in high end detailing usually work alone to the tune of $60/hr + with some charging around $100/hr. Lots of money - especially when they have minimum time requirements (some have a minimum of $400-500 to touch a car).
Now take into account that Ferrari had over 5 days of work put into it.... YEA. Big pockets.

And for higher end vehicles, things are always done by hand. Even though good detailers have insurance, it's not something you want to use or be known for ("hey - there goes those guys from autoLavish that ruined that Carrera GT! It's ok though because the guy got money back!")

When a person decides to go to a quality detailer, they're not paying for supplies - they're paying for knowledge, experience, and attention to detail. That being said... a lot of guys do charge extra for some things like a coat of a high end wax (Zymol Vintage, Dodo Juice Supernatural, Pinnacle Souveran, Swissvax Divine/Best of Show/Crystal Rock/Concorso/Mystery are popular ones)

Lastly - the Ferrari is a straight garage queen / show car and was being prepped for a big show in FL. I believe it took third due to some missing original parts or something though - no doubt it was one of, if not the best, looking car there.
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I figured it would be near $100 per hour, or like 500-1,000 per car. Insurance is a good idea...300,000+ cars you better have some. :lol: So they don't take a rotary or DA buffer to those at all eh?

The red Ferrari....I was shocked to see him using 3M Extra Cut with a rotary as he said that it was lacquer paint. You could see all his pads had turned red from the paint coming up.

My Dad always told me how soft lacquer was and how careful you had to be when rubbing that type of paint. I've used 3M Extra cut on some cars and thought it just left way too many swirls, hazing and scratches for me to take out. I liked the 3M Perfect It II much better. I've only rubbed bc/cc and Dupont Ful-Thane Urethane paint (single stage) I usually just hit fresh paint with the Perfect-It II, then some sort of swirl remover like Meguiars Swirl Remover or 3M Swirl and Scratch Remover for dark colored cars. That always did the trick for me with fresh paint. Old paint...that's a different story. Whatever it takes. :lol:
 
Insurance, just as in any legit business type involving autos, is a must.
We're insured to over 1 million dollars ourselves. Can't have it any other way.

Rotaries and DAs are pretty much all that is used. There are many different good ones, and with a recently found technique, the PC 7424 / Meg's G110 / etc have been making big come-backs thanx to Meguiar's M105/M205. Another awesome tool if the Flex DA - we recently got one of those and is basically a DA on steroids.

The Ferrari had single stage paint, and when you polish out single stage - you're pads turn colors. I worked on a '89 Porsche 944 Turbo (951) and may pads were turned black. When you buff clear paint, the same thing happens, but you just don't notice because it's clear :)
Of course you have the odd case like my red S2000 as well - a pigmented clear-coat which turned our pads pinkish due to the slight red tint in the clear.

Whatever works is the name of the game. How aggressive are you/the owner willing to go, how perfect do you want the paint, is wetsanding needed, etc all affect things. Not to mention paint thickness measurements to insure all can be done safely.

The 3M extra cut you speak of is likely a compound/harsh polish and will not finish down "LSP Ready" and needs to be finished with another product to take the haze out. That's the difference in a one-step (one polish) two step (heavy polishing + burnishing/jeweling) or multi-step (compound/wet-sant + heavy polishing + burnishing/jeweling).
 
that's is truly awesome

you could conduct a symphony orchestra with the reflection on that car


hell of a job!!!
 
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