TWO THUMBS UP !!--Meguiar's NXT Tech Institute

[Superior Shine]

Today I attended Meguiar’s NXT Tech Institute. The class was held at the Vintage Museum in Oxnard which has a very impressive collection of classic and muscle cars as well as vintage motorcycles.

[Superior Shine]

There were many rare and very low mile vehicles there!!

There was also quite a collection of stuffed wild game. I asked Mike Phillips if he would take a picture of me riding a lion, he said NO! BUMMER!

[Superior Shine]

An area toward the rear of the building was set up to hold the class. Tables were arranged in a “U” shape with a screen in the center. The tables were draped in black with the Meguiars logo on them.
They had an assortment of hood and trunk panels as well as painted cookie sheets (yes I said COOKIE SHEETS) to practice sanding and polishing on. Actually the idea of painting the back of cookie sheets is pretty clever but somebody’s wife is going to be MAD!




Our fast paced instruction started with a slide show of basic instruction on types of detailing, surface evaluation and polishing procedures among other things.

[Superior Shine]

Then we were shown how to machine color sand with the Mirka system by Jesse Castio. His instruction was very thorough but very easy to understand. After a demonstration on how to properly use the equipment we were able to practice using it ourselves.

[Superior Shine]

We were separated into two groups. One group went to the the machine sanding area and the other went to the hand sanding area.

The students were encouraged to “go for it” and go for it we did!


Here is Mike Phillips and Kevin Brown at the hand sanding station. You better sand correctly or Kevin Brown will make you do it over and over again. Practice makes perfect and if you do it the way these guys show you , you got it made!

[Superior Shine]

The cue for us to switch stations came by the way of club music booming from Mike Pennington's Meguiars show suburban (Mike the show off – --OK I will admit, it I’M JEALOUS).

After lunch we got instruction on the proper use of the rotary then we were turned loose on the various practice panels we sanded earlier.

Again we were split into teams and one team was shown how to polish using foam pads and the other learned how to with wool pads.


Here Kevin Brown instructs a student on the finer points of polishing difficult to polish areas. Notice the blue tape over the moldings to protect them from the buff pad.



Here Mike Phillips makes sure a student know how to work the buffer. I bet Mike recites Meguiars buffing procedures in his sleep!!

[Superior Shine]

Look at Kevin. If you think poor buffing technique is getting by him your wrong!

[Superior Shine]

Here Mike Pennington is demonstrating how NOT TO use the rotary with a foam pad.

See the smoke?? This brought the panel temperature from 88 degrees to over 289 degrees in about 5 seconds. Here you can see the damage to the panel and the pad.

[Superior Shine]

That was followed by some more instruction on proper dual action use with plenty of hands on time.




Then we had the chance to watch video of ourselves "polishing". Here Jason Rose chews some of us out for not wearing eye protection and for some letting the cord from the buffer touch the panel. The cord touching can possibly scratch the finish.

[Superior Shine]

At the end of the class we were given our kits (G100 or the Mirka) and we had the opportunity to purchase Meguiar's products.

[Superior Shine]

Overall the class was very well thought out. It flowed very smoothly. We were given allot of information but it was well explained and then perfectly demonstrated. We had top of the line equipment to “play with”. The eight hour class passed very quickly! It was the first class operation that I have come to expect from Meguiar's. My hat is off to the instructors.


On a personal note, I can polish with the D.A and rotary easier than I can breath so I didn’t take a whole lot from that portion of the class but I did find the Mirka system very interesting.

I basically wanted to know what I don’t know and after a more than 14 year relationship with Meguiar's, I have things pretty well covered now.

If your polishing skills are less than perfect sign up for the next NXT CLASS. You will be glad you did.

[Lynn Matthews]

Great write-up Joe, and even more impressive that you stayed up to do it after the long day and drive home.

It sounds like the event was a lot of fun and informative too! I wish I could have been there...

Lynn Phillips

[David]

Thank you to everyone at the NXT training day, i learned a lot and had an enjoyable day.

I am not a professional detailer, so i have a large learning curve to get through. The training today reduced that learning curve and added to my confidence. I look forward to more training in the future to sharpen my skills.

Thanks again

[2000]

I have a couple of questions
whats the yellow object a couple of the guys where holding when doing the rotery? is it to teach a special technique?

the last photo.....why can't we have a isle like that in our wal mart or meijer?

[Marc08EX]

Wow!! Seems like a really thorough class with lots of hands-on demonstration opportunities! I'm pretty sure everyone had fun and also learned at the same time! I would like to know how to use a rotary.. Maybe next time I guess! HAhaha!