About the Detail Guru, Gordon Watts

It almost ended before it ever got started. My detailing career, that is.

One of my very first paying jobs was a late 70's Buick land yacht  that was covered in road tar. The tar was so bad... even the roof of the car was coated in it!   The owner of the car had already checked with a local detailer, as well as the dealership they had purchased the car from. Their analysis? "Nothing can be done to fix this. Contact your insurance company."

A mutual friend (who knew just how particular I was about the appearance of my own car) gave the customer my contact information. After a phone call, we agreed on a price of $30. I figured since the few cars I had done for others, I had charged $25... so surely charging an extra $5 should cover any added time that might be required. BIG MISTAKE.

Upon viewing the car for the first time the following Saturday, I was overwhelmed. To this day, I've neverencountered a car with so much tar!  As impossible as the job appeared, I was determined to complete the task: No way was I going to admit defeat!

I started work bright & early the next morning. My first stop was the 25 cent do-it-yourself car wash. I was hoping to blast the tar loose using a high-pressure stream of water (wishful thinking and desperation steered the attempt). No such luck.  My next stop was NAPA Auto Parts to see what they might have to offer. The man behind the counter pointed me towards a product called Bug-n-Tar Remover. As strong as this stuff was, it wasbarely cutting the tar remnants.

I ended up going though four or five cans of Bug-n-Tar Remover, along with a roll or two of quarters (grudgingly spent at that do-it-yourself car wash). It took twelve hours of hard labor to complete the job. When everything was said and done, my net take was approximately fifty cents per hour! 

It's been over 30 years since that fateful day. Since that time, I have detailed thousands of vehicles, and have performed just about every aspect of cleaning that you can imagine. I've detailed vehicles that were affected by smoke, fire, or flood; I've removed industrial-grade paint overspray; I've worked on vehicles for insurance companies, and on high-end luxury cars for automobile dealerships and private car collectors.  I have detailed all other sorts of vehicles, as well.

As a life long Memphian, I receive much joy in volunteering my spare time to organizations based in the city that I love. I am actively involved with the following organizations:

Binghampton Christian Academy, Impact Food Ministry, Memphis Union Mission & Allenbrooke Nursing Home's Furry Friends Program.

Thanks for visiting my site. Your consideration in hiring me is very much appreciated. 

Should you have any detailing-related questions, please contact me... today.

Gordon Watts
(901) 458-6869
gordon@detail-guru.com