After about 15 total work hours, I'm finally finished with the brunt of the work in making this car shine. I bought it from my uncle about a month ago, and he's had it for at least 5 years. He's one of those "wash with the old T-shirt and dishsoap" type people. He did give it a coat of NuFinish every so often, so at least it had some kind of protection.
This car has been in NY, NC, AL, and FL over it's life. It currently has about 127k miles on it. I have to admit, even though my uncle wasn't the best washer, it is in excellent condition. The interior is damn near spotless (forgot pics...sorry). Has some wear on the floor mats, but it's to be expected. I'm sure the paint on the outside should be swirl galore, but the color is to my benefit.
The worst part of this car was the years worth of tar built up on the doors, especially the back door. Took about an hour or so to get rid of it all on the last attempt. I did this over multiple days so I didn't wear myself out (or sunburn) too bad.
Please ignore the multiple shades of silver. This car has been hit more times than a pro boxer. Apparently the people at my uncle's appt in NY can't drive for **** in a parking lot. The rear bumper has only been washed. The paint is only about a month old. I got rearended a week after I bought the car. Talk about bad luck.
Method used.
Day 1:
2 Bucket with Meg's Gold Class and ONR
Meg's Smooth Surface clay (about 2 hours of work, saturated the clay on one use, and I dropped my other one 5 minutes into use
)
Meg's Quik Wax (actually some nice stuff).
Day 2: (about a week later)
2 Bucket as above
10:1 APC+ to attempt at road tar (failed)
Lifter 1 Bug and Tar Remover (IIRC on brand name) and MF towel.
Day 3: (2 days after)
2 Bucket again (neighbor's must think I'm nuts)
Klasse Twins on paint.
KAIO on windows and wheels.
303 AP on tires. (I don't usually use a tire shine product b/c I live on a dirt road, but I figured I'd give this a try as I've only used *gasp* Armor All before).
About 2 weeks ago, I also cleared my headlights using 1500, then OP on a light cut pad followed by a polish pad. Sealed with KAIO on that day, then on day 3 sealed with Klasse twins.
And for the Pièce de résistance. No sun pictures though; my camera can't take them well.
Roof.
I still have some work to do. I have a few scratches to try and minimize, and the roof needs some work. But those can be done on a panel by panel basis, so I wasn't worried about getting those done until after I got the rest of the car sealed. And I love this silver metallic. No PC involved (save the headlights, but I used the drill). Previously, I wasn't able to find any swirls using the sun or halogen, so no need to polish, really. Today, I did notice about an inch in diameter swirls on the leading edge of the hood when looked in the sun (before it blinded me...), but I'm not going to worry about it. This is a highway car, it'll get them again in no time.
I think a good polishing should improve the quality of the reflections in the paint, but as stated above, it's a highway car. I commute from Ocala to Gainesville 4 days/week.
This car has been in NY, NC, AL, and FL over it's life. It currently has about 127k miles on it. I have to admit, even though my uncle wasn't the best washer, it is in excellent condition. The interior is damn near spotless (forgot pics...sorry). Has some wear on the floor mats, but it's to be expected. I'm sure the paint on the outside should be swirl galore, but the color is to my benefit.
The worst part of this car was the years worth of tar built up on the doors, especially the back door. Took about an hour or so to get rid of it all on the last attempt. I did this over multiple days so I didn't wear myself out (or sunburn) too bad.
Please ignore the multiple shades of silver. This car has been hit more times than a pro boxer. Apparently the people at my uncle's appt in NY can't drive for **** in a parking lot. The rear bumper has only been washed. The paint is only about a month old. I got rearended a week after I bought the car. Talk about bad luck.
Method used.
Day 1:
2 Bucket with Meg's Gold Class and ONR
Meg's Smooth Surface clay (about 2 hours of work, saturated the clay on one use, and I dropped my other one 5 minutes into use
)Meg's Quik Wax (actually some nice stuff).
Day 2: (about a week later)
2 Bucket as above
10:1 APC+ to attempt at road tar (failed)
Lifter 1 Bug and Tar Remover (IIRC on brand name) and MF towel.
Day 3: (2 days after)
2 Bucket again (neighbor's must think I'm nuts)
Klasse Twins on paint.
KAIO on windows and wheels.
303 AP on tires. (I don't usually use a tire shine product b/c I live on a dirt road, but I figured I'd give this a try as I've only used *gasp* Armor All before).
About 2 weeks ago, I also cleared my headlights using 1500, then OP on a light cut pad followed by a polish pad. Sealed with KAIO on that day, then on day 3 sealed with Klasse twins.
And for the Pièce de résistance. No sun pictures though; my camera can't take them well.
Roof.
I still have some work to do. I have a few scratches to try and minimize, and the roof needs some work. But those can be done on a panel by panel basis, so I wasn't worried about getting those done until after I got the rest of the car sealed. And I love this silver metallic. No PC involved (save the headlights, but I used the drill). Previously, I wasn't able to find any swirls using the sun or halogen, so no need to polish, really. Today, I did notice about an inch in diameter swirls on the leading edge of the hood when looked in the sun (before it blinded me...), but I'm not going to worry about it. This is a highway car, it'll get them again in no time.
I think a good polishing should improve the quality of the reflections in the paint, but as stated above, it's a highway car. I commute from Ocala to Gainesville 4 days/week.
