My first professional detail... to be continued

Great work Pete!

 

I haven't talked to him yet. I was setting up for a trade show this weekend, and just happened to have an hour to spare, so I shot over there, backed the truck out, and took some photos. They were taken at about 1 pm so the lighting isn't the greatest, but you get the idea.

Thanks! It sure took a lot of perseverance to bust through into the rotary game!

 

Yeah that sure does look good...nice work :thumb

 

Superb!!!

 

Thanks guys! I hope it's a while before I have to work on that much paint.

 

sweeeeeeeet!

 

Great work! liking the reflection shots. I was just wondering how long did it take you and how much did you charge? If you dont mind me asking?

 

I should've kept better track of the time, but I only got 3 hours here, 4 hours there, etc. And in a total of about 20 hours, I also helped hook up his amp/subs.

The thing about the price. I severely undercharged. He's family, and I really needed practice with the rotary. So this vehicle was perfect, as there was a LOT of surface area so I could get acquainted with the Makita, and he had messed up the paint already, so I couldn't make it any worse!

I only charged him $200 USD

He said he is going to pay me more, but he gave me 200 when I started, with no expectations. Now he just wants to park it and stare at it! I told him I don't want to come back and clean drool marks off the paint

His boss is also the owner of a car club (more along the vintage muscle car line of cars), and is pleased with my work. And since there really aren't any others around here like me, he wants a bunch of business cards, and some before and after pics to sell my services at their club house. I'm hoping it all works out!

 

So, great thing happened a couple days ago. Sunday afternoon I get to see the truck after he's driven it about 10 miles down a dirt road. Covered in a fine layer of dust, he says he needs to wash it, and SWIPES HIS FINGERS ACROSS THE PERFECTED PAINT to show me just how much dust is on there. I got the rage-induced tunnel vision, and almost yelled at him for wrecking what I spent hours perfecting. But it's his truck, and he can do with it what he wants after I'm done with it.

I let him know that I do maintenance packages that include 2 washes per month, and keep up with the LSP. HE's thinking about it.

 

Ok, I was just laughing my ass off in my office chair at this comment, because this is exactly how I feel when I see someone 'wipe away' dirt on my car for any reason (don't ask why this happened).

"Rage induced tunnel vision" ...perfect description of how I feel when someone does this, just perfect...I use the zen technique of "they didn't know any better...1...2...3...they didn't know any better...4...5..6.." It's what gets me through the day.

Good luck on the new business that might come in. Remember, cars getting dirty and people swiping there hands across them, taking them to car washes, is what keeps you in business.

IB