***TST's Official "Boring" Thread, Part Deux***

[Elliott18t]

Originally Posted by piku

Detailed the m3 this weekend. Took about 16 hours I'd say and I really only did the buffing. Nothing with the wheels, interior or much else. The results are nothing short of spectacular but I have new respect for oakes. That **** is exhausting.

Looks great.

remind me to steal you one day to do this to my car :P. also so we can have a BBQ or something.

[piku]

The biggest problem is that I only used rotary buffers growing up... The kind where if you stop for even a second you've ruined the paint. I wasn't even close to prepared for how slow a DA is. You'd have to be borderline retarded to harm a good hard clear coat with a DA. I also realize now that we were the "bad" kind of detailers. Our work would have left holograms for sure, we didn't go fine enough on polishes and pads. We aggressively compounded and hid everything else with a very good sealant. That's what you get from Manheim auto auction though when we had to burn through 8 cars a day to turn a profit and 15 normally scheduled. We also used ardex wheel acid that would smoke the paint right off a painted wheel. We also would pressure wash the INTERIOR of a car. This is why I don't generally trust things I learned as a teenager ;)

I also underestimated how badly scratched the m3 was so I got pads and compounds that weren't aggressive enough. That car has some sick hard clear coat. Had to make it work and it took some time. But this is 3 stage so there shouldn't be any halos or anything. We'll see. Granted that this is also the first time the car has seen a buffer in 225,000 miles, the scratches weren't that bad.

Next weekend I try out the rv. I heard removing oxidation from fiberglass is a humongous waste of time because it will just oxidize again within a year. Your best bet is just a yearly wax with a marine wax. For the rv at least I have a very aggressive pad.

Anyway, 16 hours of being annoyed isn't much of a bbq. At least the garage was air conditioned but the lights went a long way to cancel that out.

[Got Insulin?]

My program at school has officially ****ed me. Again. I wish there was a way around college to get into my profession.

Piku, I used to help my neighbor was his 30' Winnie when I was younger. Hit it with the buffer to clear up that oxidation and then slather on that marine wax. It really works wonders, especially when you take really long trips in between washes.

[Elliott18t]

Originally Posted by Got Insulin?

My program at school has officially ****ed me. Again. I wish there was a way around college to get into my profession.

Piku, I used to help my neighbor was his 30' Winnie when I was younger. Hit it with the buffer to clear up that oxidation and then slather on that marine wax. It really works wonders, especially when you take really long trips in between washes.

I can't believe im still working at school either.. oh well. Soon enough.

[Got Insulin?]

Originally Posted by Elliott18t

I can't believe im still working at school either.. oh well. Soon enough.

One class is holding me back, and now, because I am no longer a full time student and have finished all of the other classes in my program, I have to wait until next summer to take it. One class is literally holding up my entire life. And after that, I have a year's apprenticeship (read: indentured servitude) before I can ever really make any sort of living.

Ah, well; it could be worse, right? We could have no direction at all. Or work in dead end jobs. No pun intended by the "dead" end part.

What do you have left, dude?

[jpalamar]

Originally Posted by Got Insulin?

One class is holding me back, and now, because I am no longer a full time student and have finished all of the other classes in my program, I have to wait until next summer to take it. One class is literally holding up my entire life. And after that, I have a year's apprenticeship (read: indentured servitude) before I can ever really make any sort of living.

Ah, well; it could be worse, right? We could have no direction at all. Or work in dead end jobs. No pun intended by the "dead" end part.

What do you have left, dude?

This is becomming more and more common actually. Since money is tight, even those college inflation is multiple times higher then the actual economy, somehow they are broke?!!!? Therefore, only offering certain classes during certain semesters. So many people are screwed because of it anymore... or the 1 class they need is full and they gotta wait a year. Its retarded.

I'm assuming this isn't a class that you can do a work study on or anything like that?

[Oakes]

16 hours is nothing

[jpalamar]

Originally Posted by Oakes

16 hours is nothing

I don't think I've spent 16 hours in my whole life detailing any of my cars combined...

[Got Insulin?]

Originally Posted by jpalamar

I'm assuming this isn't a class that you can do a work study on or anything like that?

It's sort of a hybrid class that is part work study part in-class.

[Oakes]

Originally Posted by jpalamar

I don't think I've spent 16 hours in my whole life detailing any of my cars combined...

Well...we know..it shows lol. <3

[sleeper15]

Originally Posted by Got Insulin?

One class is holding me back, and now, because I am no longer a full time student and have finished all of the other classes in my program, I have to wait until next summer to take it. One class is literally holding up my entire life. And after that, I have a year's apprenticeship (read: indentured servitude) before I can ever really make any sort of living.

Ah, well; it could be worse, right? We could have no direction at all. Or work in dead end jobs. No pun intended by the "dead" end part.

What do you have left, dude?

I don't think college is worth it now in days. Like my job, I went through college to get it. But, I could of gotten hired with just my military background. And even with my college degree, I'm not making anymore then the next person who doesn't have one.

My sister has a ba in commercial graphics design, and can't get a job anywhere cause either they want someone with work experience, or is already employed else where in the same field. Its a stupid catch 22.

And also, where else can you goto, pay for 4 years of training for $60,000+, pay back with interest, and not be sure you will get a job in the field you want? Sounds like a scam to me.

[piku]

Originally Posted by Got Insulin?

My program at school has officially ****ed me. Again. I wish there was a way around college to get into my profession.

Piku, I used to help my neighbor was his 30' Winnie when I was younger. Hit it with the buffer to clear up that oxidation and then slather on that marine wax. It really works wonders, especially when you take really long trips in between washes.

Hmm that means I have the right idea. Cool, thanks

[Got Insulin?]

Unfortunately (for me at this point, not in general), Funeral Directing law at the national level requires a minimum of an Associate's, on top of graduation from a recognized Mortuary School with a minimal certification before you can even take the National level Boards. In other words, I don't really have a choice in the matter other than making the choice to continue on the track I'm on now. As the saying goes, you've got to pay to play.

[piku]

Originally Posted by Oakes

16 hours is nothing

Surely the law of diminishing returns applies here...

[Oakes]

In some cases, but trust me the pricing is by no means similar to what it used to be and if its going to take any longer than originally estimated its always a case of calling the customer and either adjusting the estimate or capping it. I dont have many issues with it

[piku]

You just make the returns go higher ;) Anyway, I have no intention of doing it for a living. I just like to know how to do pretty much anything and everything.

[Oakes]

Well, as you saw with your car lol. A well maintained example...I get everything from showroom to junk condition so its always tough to determine whats going to take what. A lot of times I give an initial estimate and tell them the car needs to be prepped and examined afterwords and see if there needs to be adjustments made. Some people only want to spend x amount which is understandable but I make sure they know theyre only getting x amount. Its a lot of work, especially when you dont know what the car has been through.

I can have a car back in 2 days or a week all depends

[Oakes]

I will say though, as much work as it is, I wouldnt trade it for anything at this point.....especially when I get to walk into my shop like this more often than not




and yes theyre getting epoxied lol

[russiankid]

All I did this weekend was drink, which started Friday night...ugh.

[piku]

The exotics are best way to go, easier to get the best results, easier to look at, can spend more time without a stingy owner cutting you off. They're also probably tougher on your insurance if you mess up :-P