I think this is good advice. I don't think I tell them exactly what they are getting for there money and don't want someone to think I charge my prices (and I will be upping them) for a wash and a coat of wax lol

My favorite line I heard on hear somewhere went something like this....."What do you get when you wax shit.... shiny shit." Lol and that's so true.

I get my Nu finish car polish at walmart and wipe it down with a dirty rag in 20 minutes. Car looks like new, yall doing it wrong. :jest::rotflmao:

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...7255a8c89c.jpg




Ok all jokes aside you guys must have the patience of a saint.

I would say I am not a patient person in general but for some reason I am with doing paint correction. But even then there are absolutely times that you just need to walk away for a bit or your work will decline and it will be seen.

Patience is certainly part of it, but determination and desire play a huge role as well.

Someone above mentioned a 75 hour job, and I totally believe that. This spring I spent 57.5 hours and 22.5 hours on my '71 and '98, respectively, doing a major refresh of all surfaces. And these are cars that were already well prepped and maintained for local show purposes; after all those hours the average person probably wouldn't even notice much difference. To get a somewhat neglected weekend driver up to this level could easily take 100 hours or more.

Paint correction is only part of the job IMO; a flawless paint finish is wasted on a car with overlooked jambs, sub-par engine bay, dirty wheel wells, mediocre lenses and trim, etc. The central portions of the undercarriage and deep levels of the engine bay can be really tough to get very nice depending on the surface (undercoating, paint, bare aluminum or other metals, etc.), and those areas are rarely worth getting to perfection unless the car is a rotisserie restoration/perfect original trailered show piece judged on a 1000 point scale at concourse/national level events, but beyond that I make sure to address every area on mine, making them as nice as possible for cars that still see limited street use, without any major disassembly. Few people would be willing to pay for the time it takes to be this comprehensive with prepping/detailing. Honestly, I'm less bothered by a little micro-marring in the paint than I am by overlooked or neglected peripherals, but I can certainly appreciate the effort and achievement of a flawless paint finish.

I need to raise my prices for paint corrections too. I usually charge between $200 to $250. For all the time and effort it takes, I think I need to be more around the $350 to $400 mark.

I agree, excellent line.
Would you mind posting a couple pics of your camaro. Sounds like you work hard on your stuff from previous post I have read and the one in this thread but I don't think I have seen any pictures.

I remember from a previous thread I got scolded by ya for a "dirty" gas lid compartment lol

Ya, the products and supplies alone that we use are expensive not to mention time put into a good job

How long do you guys usually use a polish pad for?

I usually use one for about 3 vehicles unless it is a black vehicle then I will buy a brand new one specifically for that vehicle

Yes, I remember delivering the scolding of which you speak....haha. :D I don't currently have any pictures of my fuel fill compartment, but I assure you it is spotless! :P

My camera is old and not high end, so I don’t have the sort of close-up images that would be needed to really indicate minor details. As I'm sure you know, general overview shots don't really tell the whole tale, but here is one taken in some decent lighting, the car scored 97/100 points at this event:

Attachment 601390

The paint is not currently flawless, it has some very minor blemishes/marring from the last 11 years of light cleaning (the paint hasn't been extensively corrected since 2005), just not serious enough to warrant a total correction (and the associated thinning of the factory clear coat), in my opinion, during my most recent refresh. I just used a single light compound and worked it by hand prior to sealant. I was more focused on other aspects this time around, such as lenses and other peripherals.

Even from that picture you can tell it looks absolutely amazing. Definitely something I would like to see in person for I can appreciate the hard work involved in keeping a car that clean. Nice work.
On a car like that what kind of things would they ding ya 3 points for? 97/100 is damn nice.

Thank you very much. :)

Even though this was a local-level event, the judges were pretty detailed about inspection - even of the undercarriage. As I mentioned in my first post above, I don't generally put a ton of time into the central portions of the undercarriage due to the imbalance between difficulty and reward (if it was a trailered car that was never operated under it's own power, that would be different.) Basically I'm very thorough about the wheel wells, rocker underside areas, trunk well/muffler & tailpipes/rear bumper underside, and everything relating to the front air dam/front bumper underside. But I hadn't done extensive detailing of the central area that lies inward from the frame rails, behind the steering rack, and forward of the muffler. So that central portion being less than spotless cost me two points on the undercarriage category. I also lost one point on interior, and I knew that was going to happen as soon as I saw the judge look at the driver's seat. On the cloth interior Camaros (especially the fabric used on the '97-'99 cars), the seat belt rides along the upper corner of the headrest area and leaves some wear marks. These are very minor but they happen even at extremely low mileage unless you never use the seat belt or put some kind of protective wrap around the top of the seat. Unfortunately, minor as these "scuffs" may be, they are in a very visible area and were quickly noticed during inspection. Anyway, those were the notes given to me by one judge after that event.

HotWhip were those pics taken in Austin after the F1 expo? If so, i was there and have pics of all those cars as well. That FXX was unreal!

Figured I would bump for shits and giggles.... Ya I'm still a sucker lol.
"Quick" 2 stage on a 2014 black coyote (9hrs)
Lots of swirls and previous rookie polisher did some damage to the clear.

Turned out absolutely wicked in the sun.
Charged a bit more, $200, to a buddy but he was tickled pink at the results.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...a7af686331.jpg

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...1e3801dbbb.jpg

reflection in his hood

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...b8439075ba.jpg

I start at $400 and go as high as $550... i have a very long backlog here in Ohio. I feel like the more I charge, the more people that keeps coming. I also use very expensive Adams products

Damn nice work, that black looks good.

That's what I use too. Every correction I've done has been with Adams products. Good stuff for sure, and it works extremely well.

Do you give buddy discounts?
Thanks, it looked wicked when the owner drove away
I still have not tried any Adams products. Wanna recommend a mild compound and nice final polish. I will order it up right now and give a try

That Mustang looks great. :cheers:

Was that 9 hours on just the paint or did that include other aspects as well (meaning beyond just a basic exterior cleaning)?

Thanks much.

That was paint only. I don't usually go to far into vinyls, rubber, plastic, wheel wells detailing ect. on customer cars. Mostly strictly just paint, the rest is on them.

I will fire on some high gloss tire shine for a little more WOW effect tho

Nice job on that 5.0! How often do you guys have to go over your cars with a fine polish to get rid of stray marring/swirls?

I noticed recently very light swirls appearing in certain areas, I corrected my car way back in like June. I was surprised because I don't drive the car much at all and I always use clean, plush towels on the paint. Maybe my technique is wrong sometimes when waterless washing or using detail spray?