When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
So the Oregon S2ki group's detail day went off better than expected. I'm going to intersperse photos in between some description and discussion about things that went right and "wrong".
Nothing really went badly so I use the term lightly. The only caveat is that many of the members were new to detailing, so we focused mostly on paint conditioning and proper prep. This, combined with teaching many of the members the steps they've never done, did not leave much time for the fine detailing bits (wheel wells, tires, door jams, masking off trim, etc). We had 13 cars show up, and 10 of them got detailed. One came for a wash and wheel cleaning, and the two others that showed werent ready to detail their own, but did help detail others.
I am sure we will be doing it again now that they got a taste of what their cars can look like, so we will work on the finer points now that they know how to do the major stuff a bit better. I want to put a big shout out to Phil who was willing to send us a few samplers for Black Now and Lusso, along with some carwash soap for us to try out. He also made sure to get our items shipped out in time to show up the day before. Now that a few members are familiar with the PC, they have been talking about ordering a few goodies.
Basically, everyone got to learn a few tips and tricks, some wanted to practice their technique and get some pointers, while others dove right into a whole new realm of "washing their car". The morning was a little hectic while we figured out a process that worked. We also had my car as well as two other cars up on jack stands for some exhaust swapping before we settled in for the cleaning.
Thanks to our member, Amy (mysilvers2k) with her lawn and garage/shop, we were able to get a good process going with cars being washed all over the place in the grass. Once they were washed, we moved them into the shop for polish/wax.
During my transport of items up to the event, my quick-release coupler got cracked somehow. That made for some unfortunate trouble getting the foam gun to work well and still be able to use the nozzle for rinsing. The foam gun was still pretty heavily used anyway and made for some great suds (for a FG) with the soaps that Phil passed on to us.
After the wash, the Claybar came out. Some members had never used clay before and were very intrigued and pleased with the smooth finish they ended up with. I think I recall Amy saying this was her new favorite step:
After the Wash and Clay, Cars were moved into the Shop (and eventually the garage as well) where lessons on how to polish using the Porter Cable were quick to get people hooked on shiny paint. Because of time constraints, we stuck to a single pass of polish and then moved on to a single coat of wax.
While getting cars set up for the PC under cover, we had a few of the gang start on their interiors. I was busy helping with the polishing, but the g/f got a few pics:
The whole group got into a mode where we had a 4 person snake around a car. 1) PC working in some Menzerna IP (and occasionaly some PowerGloss Compound for a few really bad spots) 2) A person following with a MF towel buffing the residue. 3) Another coming behind with the Lusso Oro 4) Another MF behind that buffing it off. After the full pass, another quick pass with a fresh towel was made to ensure the wax was completely buffed out.
We started with 2 cars in the shop at a time with two PCs on one car at a time. It eventually evolved into one PC per car in the shop, and one in the garage for 3 stations working at once. Polishing pics first:
Naturally, there was time for a delicous (and abundant) lunch!
Back to work! A few members were interested in getting their engine bays nice and clean:
A few nice wax photos:
When it's all done, after a long day, the end result blew some people away. Not too bad for a single pass of each step. A few of the cars could use some more focus, but I am very pleased with how the group performed and took to it so quickly. They were very excited to see their cars glow.
All things being said, we had a great time, and it was a very successful day. The weather worked out to be a nice moderately warm and overcast day. We had set up the tent to be safe, but did not need it since there was no sun. I personally have to say that our Spa Yellow (s2000cabrio) had the greatest transformation. It came out just POPPING bright.
A few people posted how it's tiring, leaves you sore, but a shiny car was worth it (for some) . Even for all my experience detailing, I woke up the next day with a stiff back, headache and had trouble moving. Man, I felt OLD. But I still go back and look at these pics and say "Yeah, that was great"
man, iwish i had enough of a s2000 commmuity up here to do something like that. Well I would even settle for enough of a community iunto detailing their cars up here. The only person I can ever get to have a detailing day with me is my buddy with his supra. Then usually we end up taking the offroad rigs out afterwards so we dont really even end up enjoying the clean car for a while anyways. Oh well, maybe in 2 years when I move out of Alaska I will move someplace where i will be able to find more than just one person to detail with me. Looks like an awesome time man.
Fantastic pictures and writeup. Looks like it was very successful for all the cars. I think lots of badges will be issued out because of this event. Wanabe will be busy sending out badges today.
I just want to say that it was a fantastic day. There's nothing better than 13 beautiful shiny S's sitting together, except for maybe 14.
Although by the end of the day my arms, wrist and shoulders were sore. My legs and back were stiff, it was worth every bit of pain.
My car have never looked so beautiful, even when it was brand new. I can't wait until our Stonehenge Drive on the 24th, to see all our shiny cars together. As for the rest of the drivers that will show up for the drive and didn't show up for detail day...they are going to be so jealous, and wish that they had taken the time to come out.
And as for Aaron, I applaud him for all that he did for us. Aaron was a wealth of knowledge and he was so willing to teach us the tricks and was very generous in sharing his supplies. A big "THANK YOU" goes out to you Aaron for all that you did. In such a short time you have definitely shown that you deserve the "CO" position that we voted you in. I hope that we make this an annual event, I'm sure that it will only get bigger with 15 cars showing up at the first one.
i have received the request for the first "mass-badging", and am workin on identifying all of the requests... will post up again in a few minutes once i get the badging in process. (jay2000, you were right!!)
the first "mass badging" of wackos, as a result of this thread and pms, has been completed!!
on behalf of all of us wackos, i want to welcome our new wacko brothers and sisters:
.... (mysilvers2k)
.... (ncsu-tc)
....(mouthzippers)
.... (djmike)
....(Backspin23)
....(s2000cabrio)
.... (LoudMusic & Nariel)
....(Bz2005s2k) (Already badged, but gets an honorable mention)
....(BB_S2k)
....(S2k_RN)
....(Tual06s2k)
.... (S20004ME_PDX)
.... (Hue)
mass badgings are very difficult- several browser windows open at once, staff running all over the place making way too much noise in celebration, and partying like crazy... so it is very possible that something in the badgin process didnt make it completely. if anyone got a partial badge, no badge or too many badges, please pm me (quality control in mass badgings is not easy)!!!
Oregon Detail Day
. Even for all my experience detailing, I woke up the next day with a stiff back, headache and had trouble moving. Man, I felt OLD. But I still go back and look at these pics and say "Yeah, that was great" 
