drpellypo Posted August 1, 2007 Report Share Posted August 1, 2007 You may have noticed I haven't been around for the last couple of months. Reason being, is that I've been setting up my own detailing business! Work has now started rolling in, and my feet have hardly touched the ground in the last few weeks. Thought I'd share with you a detailing report of a MKII Golf I did yesterday: This Golf was the cause of vast amounts of frustration on my part. A two day detail that could have probably been done in a day had I not obsessed about trying to get it 100%. There were rust spots, and blemishes that needed paint, and there was no way they were ever going to be rid of with just the PC. Still, owner was over the moon! To start: Pre wash was with SS and a tad of Sonus wash (I got this for free with the der wunder towels so thought I'd give it a bash.) I must say, the two mixed did a very, very good job and removed far more dirt than I've ever seen a pre-wash do. Now, I honestly don't think this car had been washed, ever. As a result, the lower part was still well and truly caked with crap, so out with the T&G (or should I say, G&T) remover. Rinsed, and on with the two bucket wash. Couple of pumps of Hyperwash in the CG grit guard buckets, and we were off. As the car was so filthy, I thought I'd give the Schmitt another run. I'm still undecided on this - but it actually did a very good job at removing the dirt, albeit quite aggressively. I think from now on the Mitt is going to be my preference for cleanish cars, and the schmitt for the nasty ones. I still wasn't entirely happy with the paintwork in parts so cracked open the Sonus Green clay, using Megs QD as a lube. Very odd make-up to the paintwork condition on this car as some panels the clay glided over, not picking up anything, but others, it took a huge amount of work to get it smooth. This was also evidenced by the following: PTG readings were done, and the difference in paint depths on the car were massive. I'm not talking different panels either - I'm talking about 60 microns on one section of the wing, and 128 an inch to the right. I was wondering if my PTG was duff, but on testing it on the calibration plates, and my Passat, it was fine. There was no evidence at all of resprays, so I can only assume someone, somewhere along the line, has done some spot correction. There was pretty much nil orange peel on this car too which was impressive considering it's age. In fact, less than my 17 month old Passat! PTG readings done, on with the PC. The owner didn't want swirl removal - more just to get rid of the yellow tint in hope that the car could be made white again. So, blue pad, and some Menz FF. Now, again, some really odd randomness and I don't know whether it was to do with the reported Menz issues, or the car, but some panels the Menz went on, and went clear in about 3 minutes, with a really small amount of passes. Some other panels required loads more passes, and almost double the time spent before the polish broke down. I had the 'balling' issues with the bonnet and roof especially but when it was working really well didn't seem to have any dependent factors. The weather was dry - sometimes cloudy - sometimes sunny. Problem with white cars is the 50/50 shots are a bit rubbish outdoors! Here's some anyway: Before: The wheels were just a touch dirty! As were the sills I've no idea what this was on the bumper. It's kinda looked like buffer marks, but not as uniform. An over enthusiastic waxer maybe? On with the 50/50's. Bonnet - although it's hard to tell what's done and what's not! Bonnet before with the brink: (the small mark you see just to the left of the light is a bit of dust on the sensor of my camera (note that it's in exactly the same place!) After: Remember the wheel? I decided, after nearly an hour on just one wheel alone, that this was the best I was going to get. Even with clay, Megs WB and P21's, the patches you see just weren't shifting. I reluctantly conceded! And the bumper? Door sills were looking a bit better after some APC: Front wing all nice and shiny now Thanks for looking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntW Posted August 1, 2007 Report Share Posted August 1, 2007 nice work there Doc. Have you kept you day job or gone detailing full time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drpellypo Posted August 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 1, 2007 Thanks Ant! I'm in the process of negotiating less hours at work. If they don't give me the hours I want though, I'll just resign and look for other part time work. I need something as a stop gap until I get busy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntW Posted August 1, 2007 Report Share Posted August 1, 2007 cool, reason I asked is because I am doing a similar thing, once the home & garden improvements are out of the way I have a few cars lined up to sort out. Mostly friends and neighbours but looking forward to it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drpellypo Posted August 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 1, 2007 i love it. i dream about foaming cars - it's truly frightening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Posted August 1, 2007 Report Share Posted August 1, 2007 good luck drpellypo, hope it goes well for you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelwind101 Posted August 1, 2007 Report Share Posted August 1, 2007 Nice one Dr!! Im not sure i would bother with Sonus Green Clay on cars like that, you cant go wrong with the Megs Mild clay its an excellent alrounder. It was a great turn around esp. the white and black bumpers, when a clean a great contrast. What LSP was applied, if any?? I was going to say if your intreasted in a one-stepper that gently polishes paint (micro abrasive), cleans and protects i can highly recommend Optimum Poly-Seal. Cuts out on a step and goes on easy and comes off easy even on warm paintwork. You have got some skills so im sure you will get plenty of jobs, i look forward to seeing more write ups!! Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drpellypo Posted August 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 1, 2007 Geoff thanks! The paint was actually pretty good in most areas, so I just continued to use the green. I did actually have a bar of Megs with me, but decided I didn't need it. I finished the car with CG EZ Glaze and a couple of coats of Jetseal 109. I find the synthetic route excellent for white cars, as you don't have to worry about the warmth that wax gives you on darker cars. I haven't tried that Optimum yet - a few of the chaps on DW have mentioned it. I'm fully stocked for products at the mo though, and if I buy more and going to be eating away at all my profit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelwind101 Posted August 1, 2007 Report Share Posted August 1, 2007 The EZ-G and Jetseal looks a great combo on white!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahaydock Posted August 3, 2007 Report Share Posted August 3, 2007 Nice work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drpellypo Posted August 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2007 [ QUOTE ] cool, reason I asked is because I am doing a similar thing, once the home & garden improvements are out of the way I have a few cars lined up to sort out. Mostly friends and neighbours but looking forward to it [/ QUOTE ] I'm really enjoying it. It's hard work, and it's expensive to start up once you factor in insurance, van etc etc, but worth it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexc Posted August 7, 2007 Report Share Posted August 7, 2007 Good luck with the new venture doc, give me a shout if you need any info etc! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelwind101 Posted August 7, 2007 Report Share Posted August 7, 2007 [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] cool, reason I asked is because I am doing a similar thing, once the home & garden improvements are out of the way I have a few cars lined up to sort out. Mostly friends and neighbours but looking forward to it [/ QUOTE ] I'm really enjoying it. It's hard work, and it's expensive to start up once you factor in insurance, van etc etc, but worth it! [/ QUOTE ] I run my own start up (an IT firm) and has been operating for 5 yrs or so now. But its a real shame that anyone wanting to set up an "honest"" job based business gets doesnt get any slack cut. I have been to numerous meeting where if your employing X amount of people or doing X, if your under a certain age etc then you can intreast free loans. I just think its a shame that goverment doesnt encourage these kind of deals for Mr make a job. I hope you get all you need b/c working for yourself is extremely rewarding!! Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drpellypo Posted August 7, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2007 Geoff - to be honest - I've saved up for the last two years to enable me to start this up without any debt, so I would have turned down interest free loans etc anyway! I agree though, you don't get any help. I went to the likes of Business Link etc etc and was told although I was young (24 at the time) because I was going to be a sole trader, not emplying anyone, they weren't interested. Thanks for the good wishes chaps! Good news actually, I managed to negotiate less hours at work, so I'm still going to get some weekends to myself! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drpellypo Posted August 7, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2007 [ QUOTE ] Good luck with the new venture doc, give me a shout if you need any info etc! [/ QUOTE ] Cheers Alex. You know as much as anyone how much this is burning a whole in my pocket..! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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