Holy Cow I have too much spare time

[Jeff Smith]

Originally posted by Murr1525
I feel you pain.. working in a lab part of the time leads to lots of time sitting and waiting.

hehe, I have timed myself. It takes me 1 hour and 6-10 minutes every night to do everything I have to do. My job responsibilities then become; Stay awake, breathe, and be within earshot of the phone.

I work in a security shack with big booming exterior lights mounted on the aircraft Hgr shining on my truck which is parked roughly 7' feet in front of my desk, just outside a large picture window. If you were to look in my trunk you would think I am a mobile detailer because I keep so much stuff in there to keep me busy at night. It's rough man, really rough.

[Shiny Lil Detlr]

Originally posted by Jeff Smith
My vehicle now seems to be one of the local attention getters. I quite often get "Hey. I saw you the other day at the redlight" from total strangers.

Actually, I think it's more likely due to the fact that you've got a Ridgeline... and it's customized. Honestly, I've only ever seen ONE ridgeline on the road 'in-person,' and it was/is bone stock.

Lucky for me the owner lives around the corner from me, and may be getting it detailed by me in the spring

[Jeff Smith]

Originally posted by Shiny Lil Detlr
Actually, I think it's more likely due to the fact that you've got a Ridgeline... and it's customized. Honestly, I've only ever seen ONE ridgeline on the road 'in-person,' and it was/is bone stock.

Lucky for me the owner lives around the corner from me, and may be getting it detailed by me in the spring

I guess it's about 50/50. Quite often the first comment is something like"That's one clean truck, what is it?" I have seen about 8 Ridgelines around here. I think mine is the only one with some of the add-ons and wheels.

Working on the ridgeline is great. One tip though. The paint is very soft. I actually have a spot on each side on top of the rear plastic bumper, where it meets the metal, that the first time I waxed and was removing the wax by hand, I drapped the towel "over" the end of my thimb to get into the crack. I took a swipe of paint off of each side about 1.5-2" long. Other than that it is pretty cut and dry. The mirrors collect water very bad and drip for what seems like hours unless I use the Leaf blower and hit those first. Also there are 2 channels on the roof that are water collection points as well. If you don't get those dried well the water will sit and as soon as they go down the raod it will run all over the back window.

Other than that I can't think of anything vehicle specific to point out for you to know other than the fact that the Composit bed scratches very easily. You could almost take your fingernail and scratch it and a bold white mark will appear. I used up about 1/2 can of Exterior Trim Detailer in there and was able to make a large part of them go away. That's one of my future concerns is to work on those scratches. Before you start the job, post something about it and if I have figured out what to do with these I'll fill you in.

[Shiny Lil Detlr]

Sounds great, Jeff.... good to know about the paint and bedliner issues; inevitably I would've found out the hard way

I'll post about it in the spring if the guy brings it to me.

[Jeff Smith]

Originally posted by Shiny Lil Detlr
Sounds great, Jeff.... good to know about the paint and bedliner issues; inevitably I would've found out the hard way

I'll post about it in the spring if the guy brings it to me.

Oh BTW, another thing I just thought of. I have instilled a few scratches in mine. I "suspect" mostly as a result of QDing very often. Almost daily there for a while. I'd always use the duster and clean everything. Also always used the Quick Detail Pads, Sometimes even 2. Usually the vehicle was very clean. But I have a few large trees in the yard and I suspect some debris flew out or I picked something up out of a crack of crevice. Anyway, I have several light, approx 2' long scratches I am pretty sure I did through QDing. I usually QD in long, straight passes, hence my suspicion. So be watchful. I think this would be reduced "somewhat" with a harder paint. Just FYI

[rusty bumper]

Originally posted by Jeff Smith
hehe, I have timed myself. It takes me 1 hour and 6-10 minutes every night to do everything I have to do. My job responsibilities then become; Stay awake, breathe, and be within earshot of the phone.

.....It's rough man, really rough.

Good thing you have the forum to keep you company. .....And to learn about the products.

I guess you could call it "on the job training", so to speak.

[Jeff Smith]

Originally posted by Rusty Bumper
Good thing you have the forum to keep you company. .....And to learn about the products.

I guess you could call it "on the job training", so to speak.

Yep, I participate here and I am also a hard core scanning enthusiast. So I participate in several other Scanning Related forums and own/moderate 2 of those. I am into into Monitoring the Military Aircraft frequencies pretty bad. Living not far from WASH DC let's me listen to the combat air patrols there as well as all the US Naval Flight Test where I work. Lots of good stuff to listen to around here. I have about 20 radios and all of them are computer controlled. I find it very interesting. But, I have noticed over the years that that hobby seems to go on the back burner during the warmer months. I love getting into stuff outdoors when I can.

I guess Old Man Winter is slowly working his way in. 5:41 AM EST here. I just woke up (night off) and looked outside. First "FROST" of the year. Glad all my polishing and major LSP basecoat is applied.

And as far as the on the job training. My boss, who works normal people's hours, keeps hinting around that he wants to bring his car to work and take mine home so I can work on his car at night while at work. I told him it's a possibility and all I would charge him for was a little for product. But I also told him the deal was he needed to buy off on my taking his car, as well as my truck, inside the aircraft Hangar to work on. He is a tad skiddish on that. I can see it now. "Hey, Mr. maintenanace Crew Chief!. Pull your aircraft outside for the night, Jeff needs to glaze & apply an LSP"

[BriLam]

A little off topic, but I've loved the Ridgeline since Honda first announced it as the SUT months back.

My girlfriend test drove one (she only wants white -- I can't blame her) and it really does ride like a dream. A lot of innovation and small details as Honda is known to include in all their vehicles. I wouldn't mind staying in the Honda family, either. I currently own a 97 Honda Accord LX and am looking at a 2006 Acura TSX with navigation.

I just saw a black Ridgleine two days ago at an event I was working that was quite clean and had nothing but a nice set of black rims with a polished lip. They pretty much made the truck.

Back to your regularly scheduled detailing talk.

[Murr1525]

TSX seems like a good value.. quite a nice car.

[BriLam]

I've looked at a lot of cars. This will be my first new car out of college and I want most options but am not looking to break the bank. The TSX is easily one of if not the most affordable of these types of cars. Plus, it comes with a decently-powered 4 banger that will save in terms of gas.

I've also looked at the Altima (also pretty well-priced) and a Maxima as well as a BMW 3 series, Infiniti G35, Lexus IS, and a few others. The latter 3 are MUCH more expensive and come with many options, as opposed to the TSX having these options standard. The ONLY option on a TSX is the navigation system and for $29,xxx, you can't beat that.

Also, I will consider the Accord by default, since I currently own one. However, I don't like the latest design change and the sportiness of it seems to be lacking. Lastly, I want to test drive a Dodge Charger since they look pretty badass, but I don't know if I want to go American. I like my Japanese cars.

[Shiny Lil Detlr]

Originally posted by Jeff Smith
Yep, I participate here and I am also a hard core scanning enthusiast. So I participate in several other Scanning Related forums and own/moderate 2 of those. I am into into Monitoring the Military Aircraft frequencies pretty bad. Living not far from WASH DC let's me listen to the combat air patrols there as well as all the US Naval Flight Test where I work. Lots of good stuff to listen to around here. I have about 20 radios and all of them are computer controlled. I find it very interesting. But, I have noticed over the years that that hobby seems to go on the back burner during the warmer months. I love getting into stuff outdoors when I can.

I guess Old Man Winter is slowly working his way in. 5:41 AM EST here. I just woke up (night off) and looked outside. First "FROST" of the year. Glad all my polishing and major LSP basecoat is applied.

And as far as the on the job training. My boss, who works normal people's hours, keeps hinting around that he wants to bring his car to work and take mine home so I can work on his car at night while at work. I told him it's a possibility and all I would charge him for was a little for product. But I also told him the deal was he needed to buy off on my taking his car, as well as my truck, inside the aircraft Hangar to work on. He is a tad skiddish on that. I can see it now. "Hey, Mr. maintenanace Crew Chief!. Pull your aircraft outside for the night, Jeff needs to glaze & apply an LSP"

I dunno.... personally I wouldn't let him take your truck anywhere. I never let my vehicle out of my sight while someone else has the keys to it.... and even then the only other people who ever do get their hands on the keys are (1) my mom, and (2) the mechanics at the repair place that I have been going to for YEARS.

It's rare that I let anyone else near my vehicle without my supervision, even the people I mentioned. They won't be careful with it unless I'm standing right over them nagging about it.

[BriLam]

I agree with the above post. I am trusting with people I am familiar with, but get anal because I doubt the car will be "up to my specs" when I get it back. But personally, I think I'm a little too anal anyway.

I detailed my sister's TL (which was a detail and a half between the exploded can of soda on the headliner, smoke in the car, dirty carpets.) I gave her my car and took hers for the night. I knew she smoked and prayed she wouldn't do it in my car, figuring she would not do so since I am cleaning her own car for the same reason.

Of course she smoked in it. The ash was everywhere. Arg.

[Shiny Lil Detlr]

Originally posted by BriLam
Of course she smoked in it. The ash was everywhere. Arg.

Yep, some people are just inconsiderate and destructive to other people's property. I think I would've killed her on the spot if that had been me.

I actually stopped the car and made someone get out and walk once because they lit up inside without my permission (which I never would've given). Granted, my truck was smoked in by the previous owner (and I have a burn hole on the drivers' seat to prove it), but I've got it cleaned back up so it's like new again.

[Jeff Smith]

Hehe, I hear ya on trusting someone to drive your ride. I knew he would not be able to pull the strings to get me the Ok to be able to detail at night in the Hangar. The only way he is going to trade off with me is if he gets me the official Ok to detail in the Hangar.

Trust me. The odds of his having enough guts to go to the Marine Colonel and ask for permission for me to bring my truck and his car into a US GOV/Military flight test aircraft Hanger are slim to none. But if he really wants me to do his ride, and he wants to trade. He'll need to make that happen. Then and only then will I go for this.