I show a black car on the national level. I did not choose to show a black car as it is just what I bought new and have kept it over 35 years. If I had known I was going to show it the car would have been red. Some people drink away work stress, I polish! To me detailing a car is Zen like and gives me time to just put my mind in neutral and spend a productive day in the garage. It also is exercise that is good for me to help keep in shape. I find it useless on the a machine walking when I could be pushing a mower or getting something productive done. Because of this I have honed my craft to a level I can match many pro detailers in quality of work. I started out like many washing dads car but once I got my own I decided I wanted to present the best I could with what I owned. I learned over time what could and would take me to the next step up. Once I started to show I found that was my unfair advantage. I learned just waxing a car is not enough. I learned how to use product like polish that I keep in 5 levels of grit to repair and correct paint. I have enhancers that deepen and finish the polish up. Then I have my wax that seals and protects. The same on my buffing pads where they are from mild to aggressive to repair paint. I also learned to work smarter. I employ now a high quality orbital buffer that is safe to use but also takes things to a level hand just can not easily do. I also employ a blow dryer for my daily cars and no it really does work better than a leaf blower and was worth every penny. I generally do not use water on my show car. Before a show I will take each and every panel and make sure there is no marks or imperfections It could take me several days on a paint most think is ready. Does it work. I feel it does as I enjoy doing this and even last year I took a best paint award on a car with mostly original GM factory black paint. Gotten to where I cleaned off the under coating and I now polish my floor pan under the car. Yes I drove this car daily in the summer and snow in Ohio. As they say about driving a Fiero in snow. Pontiac Builds Excitement. I generally do well at the Pontiac Nationals at Norwalk Ohio. Out of 600 plus show cars I have gotten the best in show top 5 award twice. Not an easy thing with a Fiero. As for what I have learned it has helped family members as I will clean cars up for them. I also have kept my daily drivers clean to where they sell fast and at top price. I have shared much of what I learned with my car club members to where we have competed against each other enough that we have taken all our cars to the highest level. When any of us go to a national event we often all come home with awards. I built my shop to where it is a place that makes detailing easy. Lighting and tools, electric outlets from the ceiling etc. It is my man cave filled with my varied automotive collectibles but it is also a place of work. The bottom line is Detailing is my golf, my passion and challenge. My next project is to bring back a 35 year old Fiero GT that we just pulled out of 20 plus years of being buried in a garage. We just got it out and replaced the entire brake system and fuel system. It fired right up and I am pleased to say drives like a new car. Next we will go and fix the inside and out side of the car as it is not in bad shape but has 20 plus years of paint abuse in a garage. This one is read so it should clean up well. I am really looking forward to the challenge and I hope my buddy will place in a show next summer. He was so happy to be on the road again now he has time to play with the car. It was worth the smile just getting it running so next I want to get a photo of him with a trophy. So detailing is not just a job it is an adventure, challenge and life style to some of us. The win is not about the trophy it is about the accomplishment.
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