Recent content by Mach1USMC

As a few others have said - at least finish your bachelors degree before you get out. As far as the which direction longterm that's only something you and your wife can decide. IMO if you have a solid marriage and the kids are in a good place in their lives stay in and get that retirement...

While you CAN make more $ during a private sale there are a lot of factors I take into consideration - time frame: if the car is paid off and I'm asking under $5k no biggy. But for higher priced vehicles it seems the lowballers, tirekickers, and sketchy people come out of the wood work. "Will...

One thing I do since I don't have an ozone machine is steam clean. The heat kills the bacteria and germs that are causing the odors in the first place. I just did the interior of an Escalade yesterday and it took about 60 minutes to do the carpet and headliner. if you put a light solvent one a...

This - just be extremely careful using it on a headliner as it's far more sensitive than carpet.

Get a sample of V34 if you are going to stick with CG.... CG products aren't bad, however, I'd at least get Megs M205 especially with your GG DA.

I hear you on as little steps as possible. Using an aggressive pad with an AIO is something I often do for clients who don't want to pay extra for compounding. However when you have severely abused paint and especially if the paint is hard (like in many Vettes for example) the only real way is...

The long throws getting hung up on odd shape panels and edges is exactly why I went back to Flex. lol - OP the PC or Griots Garage DA is perfect for the weekend enthusiast. If you are going to actually get into detailing professionally those 2 won't do much for you - except for interiors. I...

- not all clay bars are the same. They vary depending on your needs. Additionally the more aggressive the clay the more likely it will "mar" your paint. So keep that n mind when you clay. As far as dish soap goes. IF it were the only option to completely remove wax from your vehicle so you can...

One panel at a time from start to finish is how I have to do mine since I'm usually doing customers cars during the day. So you can do your car one panel at a time - but that's doing the wash, clay, polish/compound, wax/seal. You may be able to do more than one panel as well if time permits...

Great advice Hoamskilet - OP, as far as tools are concerned you don't need to go high dollar. Although as a pro I'm a fan of Flex and they are my "go to" tools for buffing, polishing etc... Whatever you do, use a DA polisher, polishing by hand is extremely time consuming and you won't get near...

Been detailing for a long time (20+ years) - professionally for about 4 years. I'm so tired of car washers calling themselves detailers- note: there is nothing wrong with being a car washer. But if that's all you do then don't call yourself a detailer!! Case in point- I got called for an...

I'm doing a wash/polish/wax + wheels, tires, trim/chrome. And full interior on the tractor part of a Semi. Any advice on how to do it quickly? This is the biggest detail I've ever tackled.

I'm trying to figure out where I am vs where I need to be with my processes. I recently started subcontracting for a company in Tampa- I'm in Jax. They are saying a full detail, which includes: wash, clay, polish, wax/seal, wheels, tires, barrels, trim and glass, inside and out, carpet...

So my 3401 died after 2.5 years and over 120 details..... I had a Rupes 15E and it died after probably 30 details. I have a PE-14 rotary for my heavy duty jobs but I'd like to have a good DA for my regular jobs. Is the Rupes 21 worth the extra $20? Right now the 3401 is $299 @ AG (which is a...

I have a newb question to end all newb questions. I just picked up an 06 325i as a DD. How do I tell if it's an E46 or E90? I Googled and YT'd it and still have no conclusive answers.