I have lurked and read quite a bit here in the last few weeks. There is a lot of very good information here.



Back in the day, like the ‘40s, I remember a neighbor [Paul] that detailed his car on a very regular schedule. He didn’t use much soap and when he did it was mild and he used very little. He claimed it ruined the finish and the wax.



The wax was of course Simonize a very hard paste wax that took forever to do. People using this wax usually, as my neighbor did, kept a large shaker of, what I believe was cream of tartar. Every surface was highly polished.



My neighbor had a large collection of towels, washcloths, chamois, and brushes for various parts of the process. The body and the glass were never washed with what was used for the wheels. Paul told me to never use a circular motion, “that caused spider webs”, he would say. Always use a straight, forward to back motion when doing anything to the finish.



He used at least 4 buckets; never used a nozzle on the hose. He said you must sheet the water, not blast it. The windows not only were washed and polished; they were waxed as well.



Well, the neighbor drove that dark green 1946 Oldsmobile for about ten or twelve years. It always looked as if it had just come out of the show room. Paul always told me that if you take good care of your car, it would take good care of you.



I still exercise his philosophy, but with a twist. I have learned here the new products that make detailing more fun, less work, and get excellent results. I hope my British Racing Green Cooper S lasts as long as Paul’s ’46 Oldsmobile.



The word detailing was never used, as I recall, but there sure was a lot of detailing going on back then.

...just a new twist...

 

Welcome aboard, Frank! Great observation!

 

People back then took care of their posessions... they knew what it was like to 'do without'. There seems to be a different mindset when things became more disposable... when 'good' bread came from the store instead of your oven... when your flowers come from home depot instead of seeds.

Things seem to come too easily so it's too easy to destroy them... snapping antennas off of cars, vandals with spraypaint and eggs...

Suddenly I feel old.

What makes us different? What makes me keep my grass cut and my flowerbeds weeded? What makes me paint my house when my neighbors paint is peeling away?

Suddenly, I feel really old...

Oh well. One more month and I'll be 35... go figure!

 

Simonize, hey I think I got some of that somewhere. Or maybe its Blue Coral?

 

A can of Simonize.

 

Ok on a serious note. I see changes and I am only 27. I am in the military. When I first came in NCO's were more respected, and even feared. Now, the new troops seem to think the deserve everything handed to them and think they dont have to do any labor. I am not saying all but there are quite a few that get huffy when you tell them to clean something up or if they have to work longer than 9 hours. I have had a good career and have only had to work 12 hour shifts for about 4 years in total. Now at the 8 hour mark the troops start eye-balling their watches and looking at me like I am going to let them out early. Don't get me wrong if we are sitting and doing nothing (not very often) I will try and get them out the door early, but when you start cleaning up your tools an hour before shift change, you need to think about what you are getting paid for. And to top it off a few years ago they started to give this kids money just for signing up. And bye kids I mean the people that I out rank. One of the people I supervise came in two months after me, but has not grown up enough to progress in rank. I was at one time two ranks above him. I joined for a job outside of the small town I lived in. They seem to think that because the got a signing bonus that they are special. Sorry to rant on your thread but that is my 2/100 of a dollar on the good ol' days.

 

oh yea BLUE CORRAL with the sealer .....i waxed my porsches with blue corral a days worth of work.......tough stuff .....

 

I do not mind your rant - you are telling the truth and I apreciate that. My hat is of to you 1) for the great job you do, and 2) putting up with who you have to work with. Back in the day my Platoon Sgt. would have laughed his a** off watching us do extra duty [while kickin' our butts] for 16 more hours for moaning and groaning. The more moan/groan - the longer the extra duty. The sargent told us he was married and if he had to come back on post after he went home we would have he** to pay. As a platoon, we only ever tried that one time and it was not a pretty picture.

I can still feel his boot up my a** and hear his swagger stick ring in my ears while he hit me up side the head.

So you have my permission to go kick some a** and take some names.

Keep up the good work.