2002 Dodge Dakota -- My Efforts to Polish a Turd

[path1976]

Note: The all important photos will be in my next post. All the pics are on my cell phone, and I hate trying to do long write ups with my phone keyboard!

So I inherited an `02 Dakota Club Cab 4WD from my folks with 180K+ miles on it. My wife drives it, and really doesn`t take much care of it, and neither did my parents. She`s scuffed it against parking barriers, it`s been used to haul gravel, basically rode hard and put away wet. Like I said, my wife uses it the most for multiple 20+ mile one way trips to therapy for my son or monthly visits to children`s hospital for him. Now that it`s been given to us, I kind of want to get rid of it for something that gets better gas mileage for the wife.

Taxes came in last week, so I decided to fill up my detailing cabinet. Not everything I ordered came in, but I did get my GG6 and pads, a liter of Iron X, I also ordered some WG Deep Gloss Paint Sealant and a Synthetic clay wash mitt. From my local parts store where I work, I picked up some Megs 105 and 205 and some Ultimate Polish.

Products used:

Decontamination: Iron X
Car wash: BightMax CleanMax
Compound: Megs 105
Sealant: WG DG Paint Sealant
Touch-Ups: Megs Instant Detailer

Hardware: Clay Wash Mitt
Various Microfibers
GG6 With GG Orange Cutting Pad
Guzzler Drying Towel

I used a one bucket method, since I waiting for a full car wash kit that I ordered as well as a wheel and tire cleaning kit. I started out with decontaminating the paint, I`ve read conflicting reports on rinsing the vehicle first and then decon, or decon first to avoid diluting the Iron X. With a car this soiled and neglected, I probably should have rinsed first, but live and learn.

After decontamination, I thoroughly rinsed the truck, then washed with the microfiber side of the clay mitt and rinsed again (I made sure to rub the clay mitt across glass last night to dull it down) I then went over the whole truck with the wash water and clay side of the mitt until the paint was smooth, Of course, it started raining when I was almost finished with the clay step, so I finished up and rinsed one more time, and high tailed it in side for a break while I waited for the rain to pass.

After the rain passed, I broke out the GG6 and Megs 105. For full disclosure, this is my first attempt at using a DA or doing a full detail of a car. I`ve watched plenty of YouTube vids and read a ton here on the forums, but that`s no substitute for experience. I have to say, I probably was a little over ambitious going for a seriously neglected, mid size pick up for my first detailing project, but I`ve always been a big fan of trials by fire. I definitely need more practice with my technique, and more research on best practices. I had a lot of trouble removing the compound, and had to resort to a quick spray of instant detailer to ease the task, as well as a few incidents with excessive dusting. A couple of times I got a bit of slinging, so I need to look into over application since I believe that can cause both the slinging and difficulty in removing.

After polishing for a couple of hours with the 105, I was pretty much beat. The clarity of the paint was very nice, and so I decided to bypass the 205. I`m sure I would have gotten a lot better depth of shine and reflectivity with a run of the 205 but I was running out of steam and was really happy with the results I got with the 105. My next project will definitely use the 205 to see how it does.

With everything buffed out, I did a quick run with the instant detailer, to make sure I got rid of any dust and polish residue. Then went ahead and applied the WG sealant on the entire truck. After all that I went ahead and tidied up the wheels and tires, and cleaned up the door jambs, and applied a little black magic gel to the trip to bring the depth back to it.

I have a shop vac en route for delivery tomorrow, so I may be able to tackle the interior tomorrow if the weather holds (I can`t take paying a $1.75 at the car wash to vacuum the vehicles any more).

Pictures to follow in the next post.

 

[path1976]

On to the pictures.

Before:

And a couple of older ones showing the scuffs:

And after:

And a before and after of one of the scuffs:

Lessons learned from this? I need a bunch more pads, and this is way more labor intensive then I thought. Much props to everyone who does this for a living!

The process is such a joy though, watching the transformation from an old neglected car to something presentable is like magic! I`ve got about four cars lined up to detail from friends and family, so I`m going to get a fair amount of practice this spring and summer, and may make a bit of money on the side to boot!

Hope you all enjoyed my tale and experience!

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

 

[Ronkh]

Looking a lot better !

 

[GearHead_1]

MUCH improved.

 

[atgonzales]

Very nice

 

[PA DETAILER]

Much improved! Your place looks kind of private. Close neighbors? I like private.

 

[path1976]

Actually, that`s my parents place. They have easier access to power and a hose bib, I need multiple extension cords to get to power, and I need to fix my hose bib. Plus they have a paved drive whereas mine is gravel. Me, my folks and my brother and sister-in-law all live on the same street so it makes things easy. We are pretty isolated from the neighbors here, which is definitely a nice thing, but still have close access to shopping and the like, so it`s really the best of both worlds. Our road dead ends so we`re the only one`s who come up here!

 

[Nizmo]

That truck cleaned up well! What part of PA are you from? If it`s anything like here in Fulton County, you need a 4wd around the house!

 

[nickclark08]

Truck looks a million times better. Great work!

 

[Mr. Slick]

Very nice!

But it is that a yellow microfiber in the GRAVEL???

 

[65chevy]

great job

 

[path1976]

That truck cleaned up well! What part of PA are you from? If it`s anything like here in Fulton County, you need a 4wd around the house!

Monongahela, about 20 miles S-SW of Pittsburgh. And yep, a 4WD is a must around (Except this year), we also own an `02 Excursion although that`s mostly our summer tow vehicle for camping. My commuter is a `16 Fiesta, and the traction control on that has done well for what little snow we`ve gotten this winter. We`re hoping to sell the truck and get a small SUV (Think Escape, RAV4, CRV style) or a Subie wagon to replace it, far more efficient for getting my wife and one kid to PGH or Bridgeville, and still safe in the snow.

Truck looks a million times better. Great work!

Thanks! I just put it up on CL, and I`ll probably take it to work on Monday and see if I can convince a co worker to take it off my hands, If nothing else it`ll show them what I can do detailing wise, so they know what they`ll get if they want me to do their cars.

Very nice!

But it is that a yellow microfiber in the GRAVEL???

Good Catch, It was a bit breezy, and when i turned around there it was, Any microfibers that hit the gravel go to the wife to wipe up counters and snotty kids :lol: that`s why I buy the Kirkland Microfibers for general use, if they hit the ground, I`m not out much! I save the good ones for LSP and quick detailers, I may be a newb, but I`m not that bad!

great job

Thanks!

 

[briarpatch]

Awesome job. You definitely will not regret the GG6. I`ve had mine a little over a year and love it.

 

[path1976]

Got a little bit done on the interior. I`ll have to look in my phone for some of the before shots, it was a little chilly out so I didn`t snap any before I started. Suffice to say, it was used to haul a developmentally disabled, hyperactive 4 year old to Pittsburgh and Bridgeville 2-3 times a week, needless to say the interior was a couple of steps beyond disgusting. The only interior I`ve done that was worse was when I worked at a used car dealership and had a minivan come in on trade that clearly hadn`t been touched since new. :help:

I had previously purchased an interior kit from Adam`s and I`ve been pretty happy with the results from them (I hope mentioning a competitor isn`t taboo), so I went at it with that kit and some Sonax GP cleaner to get the worst of the grime off. I still need to vacuum it, but my shop-vac hasn`t made it in from Amazon yet, so that will have to wait till later. I had to soak the wheel with sonax and let it sit to get the sticky goo off of it (Seriously, what is that stuff, oils and residue from everyone`s nasty hands?).

In other news, I took advantage of the coating sale from here and picked up the Pinnacle Black Label Diamond Coating Elite kit, I have a co-worker who interested in a coating after I polish out the swirls on his Outlander, so I figure I can get him to chip in half on it and that will still let me get a couple more applications. One for the Fiesta, and maybe one on either the Caliber or the Forester that my SIL owns.

Again, Pics will be in the next post.

 

[path1976]

On to the pics.

Before:

Sooo nasty

But now, the after shots:

Not bad for almost 193K Miles.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

 

[path1976]

Took the truck into work today, a co-worker has been toying with the idea of buying it, and I was hoping to sway him to buy it. Unfortunately, he still isn`t ready to buy, but now I have 2 co-workers and my boss wanting me to do their cars, so this might help to bring in a little side money. I`m kind of surprised, really. They never saw the truck before as it`s the first time I`ve brought it in, and frankly, the more I look at it, the more I realize I really should have followed with the 205. Don`t get me wrong, it looks great, and overall better then any of my co-workers vehicles (All but two are less then 5 years old), but I know the depth of the paint could have been improved with the finer cut polish. Still, I`m glad for the recognition for my early attempts at thorough detailing, as all said it didn`t look at all like a 190K vehicle.

 

[JustJesus]

Pretty good, path. Truck looks much better without that scuffing!