My 2 Car 18x29 Detail Studio

[AndrewBigA]

Re: my 17x29 detail shop BIG "A" DETAILING queens ny

I like the stripper pole... Every shop should have one!!!

my girlfreind hates it but oh well this is MY MAN CAVE & shes never here anyways!

 

[AndrewBigA]

Re: my 17x29 detail shop BIG "A" DETAILING queens ny

moved my speakers & hung my 1z Einszett banner today. juan cut & spliced the speaker wire & added some more line. he did a clean job tucking it in behind the sheet rock from the bathroom wall. hes a great employee, hes a "YES" man. whatever i ask him to do, he does it without talking back to me lol.

i just have to paint the shelf i made purple, the same color as the wall. the budweiser sign was turned on for extra coolness lol. its not on during the day because it makes a glare on the tv.

as you can see i still havent sheet rocked the place. i have another project im in the middle of doing. me & juan are trying to build 2 combo shelf & storage cabinet units along the back wall. its hard when you dont have the tools & your working with a wall thats not 100% straight.

relying on home depot to cut the wood the same size would give the employees over there too much credit that most of the time they dont deserve. home depot ***** but were forced to go there sometimes, just ask nobody for help. that should save you a few mins of your shopping time lol.
the plan is to have my friend ned finish of the cabinets & square them out & ad doors. after that's all done & painted ill start putting money aside to sheet rock, prime & paint the ceiling & give the wall another coat of glossy white.
after that's all done i plan to add a few more 8ft light fixtures & the last thing on the list would be to tear down my half *** hand made desk & built something bigger & better. i want some peg boards to hang stuff up on & i need to get a tool cabinet. that can wait till the end of the summer, that's not really important for now.

so there you have it, the shop update as of today, Monday march 1st =)

 

[cdrewferd]

Re: my 17x29 detail shop BIG "A" DETAILING queens ny

Good looking space. Amazing work on the cars.

 

[AndrewBigA]

Re: my 17x29 detail shop BIG "A" DETAILING queens ny

Good looking space. Amazing work on the cars.

thanks man. the shop is almost finished, just a little more to go lol.
ill try to post a few car writeups in the thread just to show you the type of detailing work i do here. =0)

 

[cyclopsblown34]

Re: my 17x29 detail shop BIG "A" DETAILING queens ny

Looking good Andrew. Thanks for keeping us up to date.

 

[AndrewBigA]

Re: my 17x29 detail shop BIG "A" DETAILING queens ny

Looking good Andrew. Thanks for keeping us up to date.

your welcome & for the record. we had 20.9" of snow a few days ago & my roof didnt cave in like sume said it would due to the beams being notched out a few months ago lol. someone said with 2 feet of snow the roof would cave in. i think im good =0)

 

[AndrewBigA]

best tip from a customer?

i had a customer with a black infiniti g35 come into the shop yesterday. he randomly offered me a pair of speakers that he said was going in the garbage unless i wanted them. he bought a stereo for his store & said he didnt need the speakers lol. he opened up the trunk & there were 2 brand new sharp speakers, still in the styro foam wrapping & plastic. i couldnt say no!
ill ad them to the 2 sony speakers i have in the shop.
when i have some free time ill mount & wire them up.
surround sound in the shop =)

 

[BLK03MODULAR]

Re: my 17x29 detail shop BIG "A" DETAILING queens ny

Im a new member that has been watching the forum for months..I am thinking about starting a part time detailing shop. I have worked in a bs for 6yrs and am now 22. I have a few ?'s.. How did you start your business? Did you invest a substantial amt. into your business initially? How did you start out with clientel with no signs or media?

 

[XXX]

Re: my 17x29 detail shop BIG "A" DETAILING queens ny

I used to detail cars when I was younger, hard work but I loved seeing the final results and the happy owners. Now I make ten times the money but I have no satisfaction even though I am good at what I do. To the guy that posted above me... man just go for it!

 

[AndrewBigA]

Re: my 17x29 detail shop BIG "A" DETAILING queens ny

Im a new member that has been watching the forum for months..I am thinking about starting a part time detailing shop. I have worked in a bs for 6yrs and am now 22. I have a few ?'s.. How did you start your business? Did you invest a substantial amt. into your business initially? How did you start out with clientel with no signs or media?

click the link. it gives a better description of my background. its taken from a UK detailing forum that i showcase my work on & post up my articles for big before & after jobs.

http://detailingparadise.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1963

I used to detail cars when I was younger, hard work but I loved seeing the final results and the happy owners. Now I make ten times the money but I have no satisfaction even though I am good at what I do. To the guy that posted above me... man just go for it!

if you make 10 times the money that you made when you were detailing cars, maybe you didnt charge enough lol? some jobs that are exterior only can
cust as much as $450 just for 1 car for a clear coat correction done under halogen lighting with machine compounding & machine polishing. also, full car wetsand jobs start at $750 =).
detailing is a great cash business. its a service that keeps getting more & more expensive. there will never be a shortage of cars that need some kind of detailing lol.

here is something i started working on today. it will be finished early thursday morning.

05 G35 heavy clear coat correction

driver fender 50/50 teaser

driver fender & driver door 50/50 teaser

Felix dropped the car off last night & went to vegas this morning for business. hell be back on Thursday to pick up his car. hes going to think i repainted his entire car when im done with it lol.

glassed out!

 

[socketjockey]

Re: my 17x29 detail shop BIG "A" DETAILING queens ny

Please post your results on the G35. I killed my clear coat on my BMW 325is years ago. A buffer should not used by amateurs.

 

[AndrewBigA]

Re: my 17x29 detail shop BIG "A" DETAILING queens ny

Please post your results on the G35. I killed my clear coat on my BMW 325is years ago. A buffer should not used by amateurs.

i just finished a black bmw 330i clear coat correction yesterday. i have a 40 pic writeup that i have to put together. i can post that up after im done with it.

the G35 is still here. it has to be ready for 11am thursday morning pick up.

 

[XXX]

Re: my 17x29 detail shop BIG "A" DETAILING queens ny

Your right Andrew about the money, but that was 1980 money..... I don`t think you were even born yet! You do very nice work and your right about two things for sure, someone will always pay to have their ride decked out, and indeed...... cash is king. Loved the stripper pole story, classic.

 

[AndrewBigA]

Re: my 17x29 detail shop BIG "A" DETAILING queens ny

Your right Andrew about the money, but that was 1980 money..... I don`t think you were even born yet! You do very nice work and your right about two things for sure, someone will always pay to have their ride decked out, and indeed...... cash is king. Loved the stripper pole story, classic.

i was 1 yr old in 1980 lol!

 

[AndrewBigA]

Re: my 17x29 detail shop BIG "A" DETAILING queens ny

Felix's Black G35 heavy clear coat correction job was finished & presented to him on Thursday.
I still have lots of work to do before the week is over. Ill put together a writeup for Felix's car & post it up sometime early next week. I took about 30 total pics. 50/50 shots, befores, afters & some really nice finished pictures before he left the shop.

50/50 driver fender

every inch of the car was gone over, even the front grille

that's all for now =P

 

[AndrewBigA]

Re: my 17x29 detail shop BIG "A" DETAILING queens ny

04 Black G35 extra heavy clear coat correction

I used my Flex Rotary for this one.

3M Perfect-It 3000 Extra Cut Rubbing Compound
with yellow 6.5" & 4.0" pads

Meguiars M205 Ultra Finishing Polish
with blue 6.5' & 4.0" pads

Collinite 476S Super Double Coat Paste Wax

50/50 shots after correction

rotary machine compounding twice then rotary machine polished twice.
the swirls & scratches were really deep. i wasn't putting down the machine untill the clear was absoultely perfect with the exception of a few stone chips here & there.

there is no wax on the car yet.


1 front bumper

2 grille

3 tight curves after correction. front bumper under the headlight

4 drivers fender

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8

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11 small area above the drivers side quarter panel glass

drivers side quarter panel
12

trunk & rear bumper
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hood
17

the left side still needs a little more compound.
18

hmm...now that looks better.
19

20 perfect! just a few stone chips here & there.

final pics after Collinite 476S Super Double Coat Paste Wax
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23

24 my favorite shot

25 by bye car. on its way back home to Brooklyn (with CT plates lol)

I met up with Felix around 10:30pm Monday night. he had an early tueseday flight to vegas & was to return early Thursday morning. i put in some extra late night hours & had the car ready for pick up around 12pm noon on thursday.

yes, i do a lot of infinitis just in case anyone didn't notice =)

here is a little review Felix posted on his forum.

Car came out great, looks like a new car. I am really pleased with the work and that I got it done just in time. Now just have to maintain it and keep it looking the way it is, even though I need another car wash since it rained a few hrs later, always a fail after a nice car wash for the weather to stay nice for a few days.

Andrew can you please send me the pictures you have before and after when ever you get a chance, email is fine if it is easier for you.

Thanks a lot man for everything.

your welcome felix. i spent a few late nights at the shop & i came in an hour early yesterday so i could have it ready for you on time.

let me know the next time your around the queens area & ill give you a nice hand wash for free.

ill post all the pics next week after i finish with the full writeup.

^ Thanks a lot bro, I appreciate it and everything that you have done.

thanks for taking the time out to read the writeup from start to end. if you have any questions or comments about the work that was done post it up.

my back & wrists were killing me from this car!

 

[AndrewBigA]

Re: my 17x29 detail shop BIG "A" DETAILING queens ny

finally got around to posting these pics. i found a few bad gaps around the steel roll up gate. i did this a few months ago, just havent had the time to post them up. this winter the shop was pretty warm, last year we didn't even have the insulation on the ceiling lol.

i love garage journal =)

 

[AndrewBigA]

Re: my 17x29 detail shop BIG "A" DETAILING queens ny

figured id share this car i polished out yesterday since the photos were taken with a $5G Canon!

2010 Black Audi A4

this car was only 3 weeks old when it was detailed on sat 4/16/10. thanks to the dealer new car prep, they put some light swirls & light haze to the finish as well. the black paint didn't glow at all. we had to make this car look like a new car should.

i was too busy to take a few pics but my customer surprised me with his. i was polishing the passenger side quarter panel & johnny told me "do you know, hes taking pictures of the car?". i was sitting on a milk crate & i got off & looked under the car. i couldn't see his feet but i kept hearing the click, click, click sound of the camera going off. i got used to some customers hanging out & watching me work but this guy was like the detailing paparazzi. he was a cool guy though & should be back when he brings me his acura rsx track car.

i got home from the shop tonight about 10pm & i got an email that included all of the pics that were taken while his car was being polished out.
there are a few cool pics, especially the one of me polishing. its a little strange looking at a pic of me working. i guess i really do make funny faces when im in deep concentration.

Flex rotary machine with Meguiars M205 Ultra Finishing Polish
the hood & roof were polished with the rotary machine & M205 first
then i finished off those areas with the Flex orbital machine & M205

Collinite 476S Super Double Coat Paste Wax

i hope you enjoy these pics as much as i do. they were taken with a $5,000 Canon body & lense!
they are all not reflection pics but again, the customer kind of cought me by surprise. some are just cool random shots!

this is a rare action shot of me polishing with the Flex rotary. look at that concentration lol! ill quote a customer of mine from a few months ago "andrew your getting it in". i guess this is what he was talking about? =)

johnny checking the hood for streaks in the wax. making extra sure the car is looking fresh before it leaves the shop.

one last shot before she leaves around 7:30pm. it was a little dark outside but the camera took a nice shot. i guess this is what $5,000 gets you...pics like this!

hood after polishing

freddy removing the polish

if you look really good you can see the door & gold stripper pole in the handle =)

polishing the roof with the Flex orbital

and the bottom of the front bumper

 

[AndrewBigA]

Re: my 17x29 detail shop BIG "A" DETAILING queens ny

Ford F150 Clear Coat Correction

Flex Orbital & Dewalt DW849 Rotary machines

Flex is the smaller black & red machine,
the Dewalt is the larger yellow one

hood & roof = rotary to compound + rotary to polish
the rest of the truck = orbital to compound + rotary to polish

Meguiars M105 Ultra Cut Compound - Orange pads
Meguiars M205 Ultra Finishing Polish - Blue pads

Einszett 1Z Glanz Wax

Black Jack Black Again
Black Magic Tire Wet Gel

1. johnny clay barring the roof

2. taping & all prep work done. johnny gets me a fresh 6.5" orange pad & places it on the windshield for me to use for compounding.

3. 3M 3/4" lime green masking tape is still the best

all black plastic moldings & quarter panel decals & a few badges were tapped up
4. sunroof & other roof trim tapped up

5. Compounding with the Flex Orbital

for all compounding & polishing i prep each pad with usually 1 but sometimes 2 pulls of the trigger on the water bottle. 2 spritzes but never 3. 3 would make the pad too wet & cause extra splattering of the products.
before use i wash each pad in cold water then put the pad back on & spin either machine on the maximum speed level to dry out the pad.

6.

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11.
Polishing with the Dewalt DW849 Rotary

12.

13.

14. before bottom of the door

15. after bottom of the door

16. before top of the door

17. 50/50

18. after top of the door

Compounding the hood with the Dewalt DW849 Rotary
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Polishing the hood with the Dewalt DW849 Rotary
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31.hood after correction

working on the roof with the Dewalt DW849 Rotary
orange pad is for compounding. blue pad is for polishing
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some more hood shots.
before correction
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after correction
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54. clear coat inspected under 1700 total watts of halogen lighting

Black Again applied to all textured plastic moldings
55. 50/50 shot of a fender molding

56. 50/50 shot of a wiper cowel section on the passenger side of the truck

FINAL PICS OF THE COMPLETED F150
57.

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sun shot on the fender
61.

sun shot on the hood
62.

63.roof

64.hood

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thanks to all of you that made it from start to end of this post.

the weather is nice & we are having a blast here at Big "A" Detailing.

now, how many of you were wondering how i got the truck down the driveway & into the shop. i told yall, everything fits here LOL!

-Andrew

proud owner of Big "A" Detailing, slave to the shop & loving every minute of it!

 

[jktruck150]

Re: my 17x29 detail shop BIG "A" DETAILING queens ny

Have to admit man, you do good work.

 

[AndrewBigA]

Re: my 17x29 detail shop BIG "A" DETAILING queens ny

Have to admit man, you do good work.

well whats wrong with admitting it? lol thanks!

 

[SnyperBob]

Re: my 17x29 detail shop BIG "A" DETAILING queens ny

Wow, the posts showing your results with polishing are amazing. Nice job man!

 

[michakaveli]

Re: my 17x29 detail shop BIG "A" DETAILING queens ny

Lookin' good Brahhh....

 

[AndrewBigA]

Re: my 17x29 detail shop BIG "A" DETAILING queens ny

Wow, the posts showing your results with polishing are amazing. Nice job man!

Lookin' good Brahhh....

thanks guys. i figured since i take the time to put these writeups together for the 12+ car forums that my shop sponsors, i might as well post them up here on GJ as well. i asked for a separate detail show off section but that didnt happen. if theres anyone on here that has a question about detailing you can just ask me in my shop thread & ill be happy to assist you.

 

[Bull]

Re: my 17x29 detail shop BIG "A" DETAILING queens ny

thanks guys. i figured since i take the time to put these writeups together for the 12+ car forums that my shop sponsors, i might as well post them up here on GJ as well. i asked for a separate detail show off section but that didnt happen. if theres anyone on here that has a question about detailing you can just ask me in my shop thread & ill be happy to assist you.

Did you see my reply to your recent bump of that thread? I do not have the power to create a new section, but I did offer a suggestion to you that I would be happy to help with.

 

[AndrewBigA]

Re: my 17x29 detail shop BIG "A" DETAILING queens ny

Did you see my reply to your recent bump of that thread? I do not have the power to create a new section, but I did offer a suggestion to you that I would be happy to help with.

no i didnt see your reply. ill go check now. thanks.

 

[michakaveli]

Re: my 17x29 detail shop BIG "A" DETAILING queens ny

thanks guys. i figured since i take the time to put these writeups together for the 12+ car forums that my shop sponsors, i might as well post them up here on GJ as well. i asked for a separate detail show off section but that didnt happen. if theres anyone on here that has a question about detailing you can just ask me in my shop thread & ill be happy to assist you.

What other detailing forums do you frequent and post?

 

[AndrewBigA]

Re: my 17x29 detail shop BIG "A" DETAILING queens ny

What other detailing forums do you frequent and post?

google Big "A" Detailing & there will be about 4-5 pages of threads from the many forums that i sponsor lol.

if you want the list i can give you the list lol its a long list though

 

[Chuckleins]

Re: my 17x29 detail shop BIG "A" DETAILING queens ny

Dumb question for you - why the tape down the middle of the hood? I understand doing half, then the other half but was wondering what the tape did for you?

 

[AndrewBigA]

Re: my 17x29 detail shop BIG "A" DETAILING queens ny

Dumb question for you - why the tape down the middle of the hood? I understand doing half, then the other half but was wondering what the tape did for you?

its for 50/50 shots to see more clearly the before & after of the half of the hood that was worked on. when you remove the tape it makes a perfect line dividing the "before" from the "after". the trick is to capture both a little before area & a little after area in the same pic. hope that made sense to you. i try my best to explain things but im no english major lol!

 

[michakaveli]

Re: my 17x29 detail shop BIG "A" DETAILING queens ny

In addition to what BigAndrew said, it provides a perfect before and after comparison, it helps to illustrate the method and/or process you are using is as effective as you need it to be.

 

[larryv]

Re: my 17x29 detail shop BIG "A" DETAILING queens ny

Cool looking cars and shop. Great Job!

 

[AndrewBigA]

Re: my 17x29 detail shop BIG "A" DETAILING queens ny

Cool looking cars and shop. Great Job!

thanks larry.

 

[AndrewBigA]

Re: my 17x29 detail shop BIG "A" DETAILING queens ny

a little update from the shop:

we took down the fence last week. were running out of space but i have no plans of leaving here any time soon. i have my eyes on something else, the garage next door lol.

so for now i rented half of the yard next door from the greeks, nick & nick the ****. i made a great deal in my favor after. the greeks tried to rent me theyre entire driveway for $250 a month. i told them hell no i just want a little more space back here & i wont even use your driveway to pull cars out & in. for $100 a month all i have to do is buy a ramp to make up for the almost 8" that the ground is lower on the other side of the yard.
i think i got the better deal, its not like i wont be using theyre driveway anyway lol.

soo i needed a place to park my 82 VW rabbit that i just got started after 2 years off the road. as soon as i get around to putting the insurance, registering & plating, it will be my daily driver to work for the rest of the spring & all of the summer, maybe until i buy a new car. 1 car space from the tenants that rent the garage next door. this is just a small piece of what i hope to be taking from them when theyre lease is up lol.

now i have some extra room to clean up the yard & get a nice sized brand new storage shed. im thinking about putting a fully enclosed carport in between the building & my garage as well. i smell a nice new bbq grill as well with flower pots here & there. i want to use the yard for some photoshoots of finished cars.

ive always wanted a 3 or 4 car garage, i just might get it really soon =)

look whose hiding on the other side! he he he...

juan hates when i take pics of him working so i do it out of spite lol

its true that mexicans make the best employees.
juan is a "jes man", anything i ask him to do he says yes. juan is the man!

im going to have to figure out what to do about the lower ground height.
once the VEEDUB is back on the road ill park it on the street during the day.
ill gain another outside space for a car which means that ill be able to work on 4 outside & 2 inside for 6 total cars back here. i dont park customers cars on the street so this is a great move for me.

and now i can say good morning & good night to my red little **** box that i love so much.
ive missed driving you, i really did.

bye bye

 

[AndrewBigA]

Re: my 17x29 detail shop BIG "A" DETAILING queens ny

got a new air compressor this week.
my friend is going to try to fix the old one so i can have a back up just in case the new one brakes down.
it came with a 12 month warranty from sears. i told the saleseman ill be back in 11 months =).

out with the old

in with the new

today i picked up a sweet fan from home depot. just my luck its painted orange & black. it needs some purple so maybe ill take out the krylon & do it up. a little purple, black & white could make this fan look a bit cooler!

its not air conditioning but this will deffinitly cool down the shop this summer. it feels good working in front of this. what a nice cool breeze i am enjoying as i polish out this black Evo lol.

we also hired johnnys son for part time help on the weekend & after school whenever we need him.
hes in training now & just does some little things around the shop. johnny is teaching him the proper amount of wax to use on the applicator pad.

this is not really his son, its my friend alans little brother lol.

i cant believe we just finished the first week in june!

 

[illmatyk]

Re: my 17x29 detail shop BIG "A" DETAILING queens ny

Nice work and awesome shop!!
Just a quick question tho, on the table you made out of the G35 rim, what did you use in the center to bring it off the ground a bit? also, what size glass did yo use for the top?

 

[AndrewBigA]

Re: my 17x29 detail shop BIG "A" DETAILING queens ny

Nice work and awesome shop!!
Just a quick question tho, on the table you made out of the G35 rim, what did you use in the center to bring it off the ground a bit? also, what size glass did yo use for the top?

i used a flower pot to keep the rim off the ground. i used to toss my spare change in there. im pretty sure that was a 17" rim & a piece of 18" plexi glass.
i dont have the rim/table in the shop anymore.

thanks.

 

[illmatyk]

Re: my 17x29 detail shop BIG "A" DETAILING queens ny

i used a flower pot to keep the rim off the ground. i used to toss my spare change in there. im pretty sure that was a 17" rim & a piece of 18" plexi glass.
i dont have the rim/table in the shop anymore.

thanks.

Cool, thanks. I've been wanting to make one but wasn't sure what to use to bring the rim up off the ground.

 

[AndrewBigA]

Re: my 17x29 detail shop BIG "A" DETAILING queens ny

Cool, thanks. I've been wanting to make one but wasn't sure what to use to bring the rim up off the ground.

the flower pot works well.

 

[Hemin8r]

Re: my 17x29 detail shop BIG "A" DETAILING queens ny

Looking good. I just purchased a home not too long ago with an attached garage that I plan to do some detailing out of as well, as soon as I have time to fix it up to my liking. It always makes it so much more enjoyable to do your job with an organized garage/shop.