Alright boys, I've been fully detailing a car almost every day for the past few weeks. I've been working really hard, and today really tested my abilities. A newer member of our local club recently bought a MY 2000 Berlina Black S2k. It has around 105,000 miles and the last owner worked in a real industrial area and there was white overspray powder all over the car. When he dropped it off to me this morning at 8:45, I had no idea what I was in for...

I tried to sound confident and all, giving him a sense of security because it's my reputation on the line and so far everyone that has had me do their car has been absolutely thrilled. I didn't want to let this owner down but I was a bit scared, I admit. I really thought I was out of my league here.

Here's what the car looked like when I got it. The paint literally felt like fine grit sandpaper. It felt bumpy, coarse, and very dull. The overspray really was caked on there, and I was beginning to think that it was not repairable and he'd have to get a full paintjob.

Very dull


Ugh, check out those white spots. That is caked on layers of white paint overspray.


I washed the car twice with a high conentration of dish soap and it still looked like this:




I started claybarring. Check out the difference! However, I used half of a Mother's claybar just on his hood alone which is good for two entire regular cars.


Another in-process claying. Claying took me 4.5 hours!!! I had to hit Autozone and buy two full claybar kits just so I could finish the car. This would normally last me for 6 cars! (One kit per 3 cars or so). This was included in the final price of course



Four and a half hours later, this is what it looked claybarred.


I washed it again to get any remaining dust/lube spray left over.


And NOW here's the fun part! This is after I Porter Cabled the car. I used an orange cutting pad with 3M medium swirl remover and a light polishing pad with PoorBoy's SSR1 polish. Check that reflection out! It's like a totally different car!


A full shot of the car pre-waxing:


I went over the entire car with Zymol cleaner wax...






This shot is after adding Meguiar's carnauba wax...


I love Stoner's Invisible Glass...




Wow.




This is a 6 year old car with 105k miles...


All done!


So I think I'm getting the hang of this detailing thing. Sometimes I even surprise myself. BTW the owner was literally shocked. He couldn't believe that it was the same car.

 

Well done. I have a berlina too and planning to have it detailed soon. That will be my model car.

 

Verrrry nice!

I still can't believe it took 4.5 hours for the claybarring alone

 

great job and great post!

hope you charged appropriately!
woulda liked to have seen the look on the owners face when he saw the results

 

Good stuff man!!! So how long did the entire job end up taking? Also if you could, PM me the price that you charged if you dont mind. Im trying to get a good idea of what others are charging for this type of process. Thanks alot, keep up the good work!

--Mark

 

nice job man....

 

Good job, looks like new again.

 

Great Job Justin. Your best work yet. I will keep you in mind.

 

Looks great, I hope the owner appreciated all your hard work.

 

that's hot!!!!!!!!!!!!! do me do me do me!