1993 Taurus SHO from hell! M105, M80, DG105

[Autogeek]

Did this car for a local forum member, and WOW it was terrible. I really didn't think I would be able to do much with it, but it came out really nice.



This was my first time using Meguiars 105 - it has a bit of a learning curve to it, but once I got that down, I almost felt like I was cheating. It broke down almost instantly, removed most defects in 1 quick pass, and finished up super nice, especially for such a strong compound. What also surprised me was how effective this compound was with the Flex, as it is designed for rotary + wool only.



Process was as follows:



-Wash with P21S

-Clay with Wolfgang Elastic Poly Clay (went straight in the garbage afterwards!)

-Poorboy's Spray & Rinse on wheels and tires

-Poorboy's Bold 'N Bright on tires



-Meguiar's M105 Compound - Flex XC3401 w/yellow 6.5" LC cutting pads

-Meguiar's M80 Speed Glaze - Flex XC3401 w/green 6.5" LC polishing/finishing pads

-Duragloss 105 Total Performance Polish - Flex XC3401 w/blue 6.5" LC finishing pad



The car is a 1993, and the driver's side was repainted at one point. Initially, the driver's side looked better since it was newer and less oxidized/swirled, but after the job was done, the 16 year old paint on the passenger side looked better IMO.



After using M105, I switched to a green pad on used M80 Speed Glaze. 1 pass of each was used, but I did 2 passes on the roof since it was pretty bad.



Overall, I got 95% of the swirls out (a few remained on the roof), but I was very satisfied in how the car came out, as was the owner.



Here is what the car looked like when I received it:

This was a test pass on the driver's side door:

I then rested my halogens on the cowl/windshield, and got to work on the hood.





BEFORE:

50/50:

After:

 

[Autogeek]

This is what my pad looked like after just the hood, and half the fender.

Fender BEFORE:

AFTER:

50/50:

The taillights weren't too bad, but I gave 105 and 80 a shot and there was a noticeable improvement.



Before/after:

After working my way around the car, I got to the rear and decided to remove the spoiler. I figured there would be some form of nastiness growing under there, and I was right.

Trunk polishing 50/50:

More before/after, on the passenger side door:

A few "after" shots - I washed the car after compounding since it was SO dusty, there was really no way around it. Here are a few pics after I dried it off - NO LSP.

 

[Autogeek]

I then pulled the car back in, applied Duragloss 105, went over all the little cracks and crevices (that M105 dries like a rock - very effective product but a pain to remove, especially in removing excess residue from cracks etc)



Here is what the car looked like when it was all said and done (well, almost - the spoiler wasn't put back on yet. This was also polished and sealed on a special "bed" I made for it.

(this pic was slightly out of focus):

The end.

 

[Evenflow]

Wow very impressive bringing back that old paint! flake shots are awesome! That stuff under the spoiler looks nasty..



More pics of the stang behind it??

 

[Autogeek]

None right now. That car has been sitting for awhile and we just got it running 2 or 3 weeks ago, so a detail will come very soon.

 

[Jim C]

Engine shot of that SHO?

 

[Autogeek]

No engine pics Sorry!

 

[simracer]

Aww, man. A well detailed SHO engine bay is the best. Great looking engine this side of a maserati or ferrari. All those intake runners going hither and yon. I always got lots of double takes when I opened the hood at the gas station or autocrosses.



Now I'd really be impressed if the interior of this SHO was worth a hoot now. Ford was infamous for the leather that these cars were saddled with. Cracked about as often as some of the buttons on the earlier Gen 1 SHO A/C units.



Fortunatley for me, the 3 SHOs that I had were all Gen 1s with the split cloth/leather seats. A lot easier to care for in my opinion. Just had to watch the wear on the side bolsters getting into an out of the car. The Gen 1 hip bolsters were a lot more aggressive than the hip bolsters on the Gen 2 seats.



Great job whipping that 16 year old clearcoat into shape! Not easy with the tendency of the Ford clearcoat to chip and crack.



Now hopefully the owner can maintain it properly from here on out!

 

[Autogeek]

Hope so! That's why I chose Duragloss - durability and protection...didn't want that oxidation coming back anytime soon.



BTW, the interior was surprisingly clean. It had the split cloth/leather seats.

 

[Holden_C04]

Great work and writeup, Matt. :goodjob

 

[danponjican]

Good work!

 

[simracer]

Hope so! That's why I chose Duragloss - durability and protection...didn't want that oxidation coming back anytime soon.



BTW, the interior was surprisingly clean. It had the split cloth/leather seats.

Great! Yeah, I preferred the Gen 1 cloth leather to the Gen 2 cloth leather. The houndstooth like pattern sat better with me, but the Gen 2 cloth wasn't objectionable. However, what did gripe me was the fact that the Gen 2 headrests (with the split cloth \ leather seats) where cloth whereas the Gen 1 headrests (with the split cloth \ leather seats) were leather. I just sort of find that cloth headrests tend to muss up my hear moreso than leather headrests. Don't know if that was just Ford cheapign out, pushing everyone to upgrade to leather or what.



So, as a Gen 2 '93, this one a 5 speed or an auto? Is it the original owner or second, third or even fourth?



Sorry if I'm waxing poetic. I used to be involved heavily in the old SHOtimes e-mail distribution list, president of our local SHO club chapter and our chapter hosted one of the national SHO conventions back in 2001.

 

[memnuts]

The car came out great. That particular color SHO is exactly what I want. I have been looking for one of those cars for years but every one I have come across is a basketcase at best.

 

[Autogeek]

Great! Yeah, I preferred the Gen 1 cloth leather to the Gen 2 cloth leather. The houndstooth like pattern sat better with me, but the Gen 2 cloth wasn't objectionable. However, what did gripe me was the fact that the Gen 2 headrests (with the split cloth \ leather seats) where cloth whereas the Gen 1 headrests (with the split cloth \ leather seats) were leather. I just sort of find that cloth headrests tend to muss up my hear moreso than leather headrests. Don't know if that was just Ford cheapign out, pushing everyone to upgrade to leather or what.



So, as a Gen 2 '93, this one a 5 speed or an auto? Is it the original owner or second, third or even fourth?



Sorry if I'm waxing poetic. I used to be involved heavily in the old SHOtimes e-mail distribution list, president of our local SHO club chapter and our chapter hosted one of the national SHO conventions back in 2001.

It's a 5-speed, and I'm really not sure which owner he is. He recently picked up the car in TN....the seller told him it's perfect with a little scratch here and there, so he was pretty shocked when he arrived to pick up the car. Another reason I'm glad it turned out the way it did. :woohoo:

 

[99blackSE]

Great work bringing her back! Did you get any problems with the paint and such giving you chips? We have a '94 Olds beater that I was playing around with and it was giving me chips out of the paint where the clear coat was failing.

 

[Autogeek]

Nope, it held together pretty well. The front bumper was pretty trashed and covered with road rash, but that cleaned up a decent amount as well.

 

[mixxer]

nice matt !

 

[Quality Leather]

Good job! It kind of looks like my old SHO. I had a 95 manual in green.

 

[Slik560]

Wow..from average to outstanding!!

 

[randy98mtu]

I need to figure out how to do that to my dad's car. Same story, a 93 with only 70k and the previous owner said it was in great shape. I've got a PC and Menzerna IP and FP. So far I can't touch the oxidation and water marks this car has. I want it to look like what you've got there. Amazing job!



Will I be able to fix this with my IP and FP?

Comparison next to my WRX.