Discussion Forum - Northstar Chevelle Club

Sounds as if we   should have a club meeting at his shop sometime.  

I wonder how good these towels for drying and polishing are?

 http://www.amazon.com/Meguiars-Water-Magnet-Drying-Towel/dp/B0009IQZFM/ref=pd_bxgy_auto_img_y

http://www.amazon.com/Meguiars-Supreme-Shine-Microfiber-Cloths/dp/B0009IQZH0

-- Edited by jim larson on Tuesday 21st of May 2013 10:33:57 AM

-- Edited by jim larson on Tuesday 21st of May 2013 10:36:17 AM

Wow that is beautiful.  Did he give you suggestions on what type of towels to use?  Seems every time I dry my car I get more scratches on it.

Beautiful car and good info on Chad.

 

I have city water, but who knows whats in it.  I know nothing about paint, but a body shop guy told me once the amount of pearl that's in my paint plus the dark color makes them show more.  You can see what direction the car is dried by the scratches.  I'd like to have someone like Chad fix everything some time and get some better towels to keep it from happening again.

 

Was not sure if I should post this info and did not want to "show off " my car but was so impressed with Chad and his passion to do good work I thought some would like to know of him especially since he in your back yard sure do not want to offend anyone but I thought I knew alot but you wont find him using big rotary air buffer slinging compound all over like most body shops do for final finish .....I would take my car from painter and have chad do the final wet sand polish /wax he does alot of correction for customers on new paint when body shop created more problems ............. also not to suggest no other detailer does good work ( a good friend of mine does great work but must admit he not as up to speed as Chad on the latest products and does not test stuff like Chad does , reality is its not Chads full time job its almost his hobby ) He loves to talk about the best way to look after your paint ...............some way too picky for me .my cars paint not that good ........ I will still use a California duster but very lightly at outdoor shows to keep dust off ......... he wants you to use a cordless blower ........ he has a fancy hot air one !! The exotic import guys use them



Anyway ........ water spots on my car from drag strip from burn out box guy with hose got my roof wet did not realize it, car sat in trailer for a weeks before I realized it got wet ........we dont have a hard water problem up here but Chad tells me can be a real problem in your area he has a portable water filter/softener unit he uses to filter water into bucket to wash cars in his shop he has a cool meter to measure mineral content in your water bucket .......I could go on and on but he has the bases covered

Yes he can tell you where to buy good towels cheap and he can sell you the ones he uses .........no chamois !! :) I think in my pic you may see blue waffle towels he uses to absorb water etc and yellow micofibre ones with short nap on one side and long nap on other .........I bot a 10 pak of those not real expensive ...............of course he changes them alot doing a car and washes them separately ................ all this stuff he happy to explain ......... suggest you email him and see it you can drop by the garage he rents on a sat or sun when he working there were guys coming and goin when I there picking up products and getting advice

Shrinkage .......... he pointed it out I did not even know I had a problem .......must admit I thought my paint pretty decent except for water spots and fine scratches I had to really look for ......... Shrinkage is from aging in the sun ........new paint wants to shrink to flow out so sun is good at first but as paint gets old apparently it shrinks more and surface not glass smooth he likens it to cellulite on your skin .......... so he smooths that out you can see the very fine wet sand he did on my hood and tops of fenders where I had shrinkage ......... rest of car was OK


If you want I have some I phone videos of towels and showing him sanding and compounding ....the big things is how slow he works and how no mess even the sanding had hardly any dust I know what a car looks like after a wet sand and or compounding .....its a mess the way I am used to seeing it done .......he has some very high end and low cost buffers / sanders .........the one he suggest for guys like us to keep our paint free of scratches and swirls after he corrects the paint only around 100-120.00 but you need him to show how to use that is key thats why I took the video to remember some of the basic techinique

If someone from the club wants to volunteer their car for a demo, I could host it here on Sept 7th. I'm not available on the 14th.

Lost in the 60s wrote:

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OK, I just sent him an email inquiring if he was interested in a doing a demo and where with 25 or so people. Once we know if he is interested, we could talk about a specific date and location.

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 See if Sat. June 15th would work for him.  We are trying to fill that one.

I knew I should have painted my 66 Aztec Bronze. Damn that looks fantastic. Dont worry about bragging Bill. Thats a magazine quality car there and I had no idea until the close up photos your car was a canadian Malibu SS. Looks like Chad most certainly brought the detail to a whole new level.  

Thanks guys truly not about my car ( yes it has won awards and ina mag or two back when it was fresh in 2006 ) but so impressed by this young guy just wish he were alot closer I got other stuff I wish he could work on ........I only had him work on my paint did not do the package thing , dont want to speak for him if he can look your car over he will quote a price for paint correction and my experience is he will do more than he quoted as he finds more issues ........especially if he like s your car :) .... his garage is only a two car deal not sure if it would hold 25 guys but maybe outside I think he prefers to do a training session as he calls it at his place not elsewhere ............. he likes Jimmy Johns #1 hold the tomatoes easy on mayo ....... he has a pretty busy schedule so may have to plan out for a meeting ......... towels when I get a moment I will take a pic of the ones I got from him ....knowing him he gets them direct from the mfg that repackages for a name brand l ........... I have never seen anything like them ........but I live in Canada so they may be there .......... they are about 16 x 16 and bright yellow with black hem and very thick nap on one side and short nap on other .............he did not have any extra blue ones for water absorb they were bigger and waffle ........... he likes the Costco yellow ones best for money but not for any finish work he says they pretty good but not for good paint I was not even using ones that g0od !!!

You cant fool him he asked if I ever used a water blade I said no not that dumb ............ he found long scratches in roof and trunk with 'hook" in end yep I used a water blade once maybe twice in 7 yrs when a downpour hit at Chevellabration ..........I could not see them and car has been cut and buffed since that ...........but they still there and he called me on it :)

I would luv to see what he could do with a survivor paint car .......

I owe him a rip in a real stik old school car which with rain did not happen he had a customers new black Camaro zr1 600+ hp he was impressed with that I told him mine would scare him way more :) . ......... so maybe if you cant get a meeting soon we can get him to CarCraft ........... when he was younger he built a 80's Monte carlo wit custom paint his dad did and he buffed won a carcraft award dont think he has been to CC since


Air cleaner on my car .......... yes that is a GM over the counter part ( never factory installed) for early BB chevelles and Impalas "cowl plenum air cleaner " designed by Smokey Yunnick for Nascar ........ early 67/68 non cowl hood Z28 had a smaller version factory installed ...........had one of those too sold it in a bout 2005 for 1300.00

and intended to be used on heater delete cars ............ yes a guy in NC repos them last I heard $ 2200.00 very very nice quality ............. mine is the real deal had it along time, the repo is better quality than original to be correct it should not have the engine size decal on it .............

spoke with Chad he says no problem to contact him re products / prices towels etc he does buy alot from a online supplier called Detailed Image


here is the towels he gave me


Here are the yellow towels I gave you.
http://www.microfibertech.com/16x24-Plush-Terry-360gsm-Microfiber-Towel--Yellow-pack-of-10_p_120.html

The blue drying ones I use are from Detailed Image
http://www.detailedimage.com/DI-Microfiber-M13/Waffle-Weave-Drying-Towel-P100/36-x-24-S1/

These ones are good too and from the same place as the yellow ones.
http://www.microfibertech.com/25-x-36-Korean-Waffle-Weave-Drying-Towel--Blue-1-pack_p_253.html

Making links clickable(Some browsers dont make the links clickable).-Chris R.

-- Edited by Chris R on Wednesday 22nd of May 2013 08:27:30 AM

-- Edited by Chris R on Wednesday 22nd of May 2013 08:31:21 AM

SShink wrote:

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Lost in the 60s wrote:

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OK, I just sent him an email inquiring if he was interested in a doing a demo and where with 25 or so people. Once we know if he is interested, we could talk about a specific date and location.

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 See if Sat. June 15th would work for him.  We are trying to fill that one.

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 As Bill stated in his first post, Chad is booked out on weekends until the middle of August. June won't work.

I got a reply to call him and discuss what we want to see/learn. He is willing to come here, or anywhere else in reason, as his shop is too small and crowded to accomodate 25 people.

We should get the interested parties to come up with ideas on what they want a demo about and then call to set up a date. Right now it looks like I could have it here Aug 31, Sept 7 or 21. Beyond that we are into Oct. 

Chris R wrote:

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Bill. What does he think about the "Absorber"? Thats what I use and I really like it.

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 I use that one too and I like it ............  forgot about Absorber, thanks for reminding me     when he was giving me hell about the water blade he also said  no chamois ......... "use a waffle towel to soak up water"  or a blower  ..............  I will ask cause he was out of waffle towels so did not buy any ........... going to pick some of those waffle towels  from him when back for CC  in meantime need to use something if it rains on car  .................. 

 

Cant imagine the flak I would get from my buddies if I pulled out a blower to dry car :)  leave that for the snooty import or corvette guys ..........here is a link that talks about the blower with heat I have a corvette neighbor that has one .........works great though

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/car-care-discussion/2132077-cordless-18v-leaf-blower-for-drying-2.html

 

 

-- Edited by CDNSS on Thursday 23rd of May 2013 01:26:18 AM

Chris R wrote:

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I would think he would want to be there to promote the business.

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 It can take years for a vendor spot to open up for a new one and they are expensive. If he's booking out 2 1/2 months already, he doesn't need CC exposure.

http://www.calcarcover.com/product.aspx?id=2215

 

http://www.griotsgarage.com/product/micro+fiber+drying+towel.do?sortby=ourPicks&from=Search

 

 

 

 

Sorry for bringing back an old thread guys, but I was just doing a Google search for a picture of my car at the Car Craft show and this thread was he first hit that came up. Thanks for the kind words Bill! :)

 

Mods, if my post is against the rules in anyway I apologize. My intent is only to answer some of the questions and touch on a few things Bill mentioned. I'm not always the best at explaining things in person, especially when multitasking, and I may not have explained some things the best when Bill was at my place.

 

Paint Shrink

My understanding of "paint shrink", or "Fall Back" is that it's a result of the solvents out-gassing over time as the paint continues to cure. Things like sun and heat can accelerate this, but it can still happen over time even if the vehicle is stored. Bills car had very minor shrink but the below are some examples from past cars I've worked on.

'68 Firebird Hood prior to wet sanding. Notice the texture and sanding lines?

 

Here is after sanding and polishing. Note that the camera has a hard time focusing on the paint surface once it's polished and this may have been focusing a bit on the reflection. Regardless, you can see the difference it makes.

 

 

Another from a '66 Vette. Notice the tight distorted texture?

 

Here is after sanding and polishing.

 

And here is a recent job on an old E30 M3 that really shows the difference.

 

 

Damp Sanding vs. Wet Sanding

This is basically the same thing, but it comes down to the sanding media you are using. Typical wet sanding involves a block, paper, and lots of water (with a touch of soap) to flush away the abraded paint material. On Bills car I was using a Mirka DA sander with Meguiar's sanding discs. These are designed to be used with a small amount of water and no soap. Too much water and they will tend to hydroplane. The term "damp sanding" was a term I first saw used by Mike Phillips (Autogeek) to describe the small amount of water used vs. traditional wet sanding.

 

Water Spots

The filtration system I use is a CR Spotless system. It uses Ion exchange resin to remove all minerals from the water. TDS (total dissolved solids) will be zero after going through these filters. It's a great way to eliminate getting water spots when washing.

 

Water Bladed and Dusters

I'm simply not a fan! ;)

With the water blade it's not if it will scratch, it's when. 99% of the time it's probably fine, but all it takes is that one dust particle to trash your paint job. Simply not worth the risk.

The California or similar dusters can and will most likely scratch your paint. Some paints are more sensitive than others. My suggestion to bill was to either use a waterless or Rinse-less wash.

Waterless washes

These are pretty similar to a quick detail spray, which most of you are likely familiar with. Essentially you are misting the product on the paint and then carefully wiping it off using 2 micro-fiber towels. These products are design to safely remove light dust and dirt from the paint. The product I gave Bill was Ultima Waterless Wash Plus. A readily available waterless wash product you can find in most stores would be the Meguiar's Ultimate Wash & Wax Anywhere. If you've ever been to SEMA before, this is the product the Ford/Meguiar's team uses to keep there massive display of cars looking good throughout the show. ;)

Rinseless washes

These involve adding a small amount of product to 3-4 gallons of water. The product is designed to encapsulate dirt particles and lubricate the surface. With these products you still go through the motions of washing the car, but it's not like using soap as there is no "rinsing" involved. The most popular product is Optimum No Rinse (ONR). There is tons of info and videos online about this product and how to use it. These would be a better option if you were caught driving in the rain, where the car would be to dirty for a waterless wash.

Blowers

My suggestions to Bill on using the cordless blower were for when the car has accumulated a lot of dust. The idea being that the more dust you get off the paint prior to using a waterless wash the less chance of marring it. I do have a powerful (8hp) blower that I use to dry cars after a traditional wash. It's also great at getting water out of all the nooks & crannies. By using this blower you minimize the risk of marring by drying with towels (Anytime you physically touch the paint you risk marring).

Towels vs. chamois/absorber

This kind of goes along the lines of the water blade. With a natural chamois or synthetic absorber there is nowhere for a dirt particle to go. They should be safe for use but if dust/dirt gets trapped between it and the paint you are likely to do more damage to the paint than with a towel. MF towel have a nap to them and they will tend to pull the dirt away from the surface and have more of a cushion should dust/dirt get trapped between it an the paint.

High end waxes

While I do have a couple waxes in the $200 range, they are no where near the price of some (Zymol/Swissvax). I do feel my $200 waxes are very nice, but they can also be fussy having such a high carnauba content and I feel the look of some cheaper waxes are just as good. That and most people simply cannot discern the difference between waxes based on look alone, regardless of the price. The wax we used on Bills car (P21S) has a very good look and is a breeze to use. It actually retails for around $35-40 (I get it for less).

 

I didn't actually win an award when I had my Monte Carlo down at the CC Summer Cruise, but it did end up being pictured in Car Craft Dec '98 issue, which again is how I stumbled up this thread (searched my name and car craft). ;)

 

 

Hope this answers everyone questions and goes into more detail on a few things Bill mentioned.

 

Thanks,

Rasky