Uber Auto Conditioning
New member
Every now and then between client cars I actually have some free time to work on my own vehicles. I'm sure anyone who details for money either part time or full time can understand that at the end of a long detailing session on someone else's car, the last thing you want to do is wash your own.
I bought this car about three years ago as a total loss with the intention of eventually using it to build a Factory Five GTM. It was vandalized and someone had set it on fire by cutting the top and using road flares on the interior. I was a long way off from building a GTM financially but couldn't pass up the deal so I bought the car and made it driveable. Here is a thread documenting that process:
My 10K C5 Vette... Back From The Dead "PICS" - Corvette Forum
I never really liked the red color so last spring I decided to wrap it in matte black vinyl. If you have any questions about doing that I have a detailed write up/ tutorial that goes over wrapping the whole car panel by panel. Here:
Vinyl Wrapping DIY Tutorial... (Lengthy and Major PICS!!!) - Corvette Forum
So here is a quick recap of what I did with this car after pulling it out of winter storage in the spring. The vinyl is super low maintenance so it is really easy to work with and get looking good.
Dusty wheel
Fender guards doing their job
Splatter on lower rocker molding
Water spots, dirt, and dust
Tail lamps are dust magnets on these cars
Rubbing marks from racing (or running into a bench)
Haven't cleaned the engine compartment since I got the car... it was time
The alternator was covered and the engine bay was foamed with CGCW/OPC to start the breakdown of years of grime. Once the foam was allowed to sit it was rinsed and then using OPC and various brushes I cleaned all the components and rinsed once more. Here is the foam dwelling
I then dried everything using filtered and heated air from the Master Blaster and dressed all plastic and rubber with 303 Aerospace Dressing. The signatures are from the Corvette racing team (06 I believe) that the previous owner had done.
Next the wheels were cleaned with P21S wheel gel and OPC on the tires, various brushes were used for aggitation.
The convertible top was cleaned using Raggtop which is a two part system, one product cleans, the other product protects. Here I am with the cleaning portion. A tuff shine brush was used for agitation (a dedicated CLEAN brush that I use on upholstery, not my tire brush)
The rest of the wash process was carried out with a foaming to start things off, a two bucket wash, and a Master Blaster dry.
The Master Blaster is great at getting out water from hard to reach places such as behind mirrors.
The interior wasn't too bad, just the typical dust, leaves, and other crap from driving with the top down.
After:
The top was allowed to dry overnight and the next day I used a lint roller to remove any dust and other debris that may have settled on it. A vacuum works well too but I think the lint roller is faster and better.
The protective spray for the top is messy so I like to mask areas off that could get overspray on them.
Product and application
The exterior is really easy to keep looking great. After dressing the engine and applying the top treatment there is a little bit of overspray or smudges around various parts of the car.
The entire car gets a quick IPA wipedown and that removes any oils that might have been on the vinyl and returns it to a nice, consistent, matte sheen. From there the wheels and tires were finished off using 303 as a dressing and Dodo Juice Red Mist to give the gloss black wheels some good shine. After the IPA wipe I then followed up with ONR reduced to quick detailer and went over all vinyl to finish it off.
Finished Pics
A few sun shots from another day to give you an idea of what the vinyl finish really looks like in good lighting.
Thanks for taking the time to view this thread and stay tuned for more quality detailing.
Mark Seidenstricker
Uber Auto Conditioning
Minneapolis, MN
763-772-6283
UP NEXT...
