In past posts we have talked about the granddaughter’s 924S Automatic that she is rebuilding to be “her car” when she turns sixteen. Well, update time – the ten-year-old grandson has shown quite the talent for detailing cars as we teach him what he needs to know. He is turning it into his own little business. Obviously, we are quite proud.
One day when they were in the shop, I showed them the magic of clay on old car finishes. He immediately said, “I want to do that!” So we put him to work on “Sparky,” our white 924S. He did a pretty good job for a first time! He listens, takes instruction well, and isn’t afraid to ask questions to try to understand everything better. So he hit YouTube for instructional videos, looked up websites on chemicals and waxes and clays and such, and has tried to learn as much as he can about the topic.
Since then he has done four more cars for us, taking four to five hours to wash, dry, carefully clay the surface and then wax the exterior. He is learning about the various chemicals that are used, the different kinds and degrees of clay, proper application of waxes, and more of the finer points of making our old Porsches look great. Here are some examples…
This was definitely NOT a show car when he started…hadn’t seen wax in many years.
1984 944 Rescue. Not perfect, but it runs, drives, turns and stops, everything works as designed and now it looks great!
This color does not do particularly well in the Florida sun, but it came back nicely.
It does our collective hearts good to see this next generation becoming gear heads, especially Porsche gear heads, and extra special to make them front-engine water-cooled Porsche gear heads. By mid-summer, we are hoping that Grandson #1 will be working his own business doing this kind of work on our Porsches – or whatever else is out there.
He will slowly advance to interior detailing – he has done one so far with good results. He seems to have a good eye for the finer points of detail that are important in this endeavor. We will help where we can, and we wish him the very best.
Another note here…the grandkids are all home schooled, and have always been home schooled. We were quite amazed at the speed and effectiveness of his research on this topic, doing his best to teach himself the craft as best that he could. He is not relying on us to teach him everything; quite the opposite, he is teaching himself, then asking questions when needed. Is this due to his home schooling experiences? Maybe, maybe not. But we are impressed nonetheless.
Live in the Central Florida area and want to take advantage of this young businessman’s growth? Contact us and we will set up an appointment at our shop in DeLand.
