2004 Buick Park Avenue Detail

Dellinger

Dellinger

New member
Well, I had a nice write up but certain characters on the keyboard can't be used in the 'title' of a post so you will be subjected to the minimal because I am grumpy and refuse to devote any more time to creating a write up than the bare minimum because I already spent 1.5 hrs. and those were wasted on 'certain characters on my keyboard.'

For contemplation- what would you think of my person, depending on the following possible titles of a post?

"2004 Buick Park Avenue Ultra Exterior and Interior Detail'
vs.
"2004 Buick, Park Avenue- Ultra, Exterior & Interior Detail'

Reading the 'upper' version seems to imply I some kind of proud, egotistical butcher. The 'lower' version reflects the true nature and description of what happened. I'm off my soapbox.


2004 Buick Park Avenue Ultra
Interior + Exterior Detail.

Exterior: 2-step process + coating. Interior: Steam + hot water extraction. All areas cleaned.
And don't be fooled, the beige-metallic, on its own, hid a bunch of deep scratches. Similar to a silver metallic, it's a friendly color to detail. Maybe 80% of the defects were dealt with. This was a Valentine's day surprise for a wife of a customer.

The value of the car did not warrant what took place, nor did I recommend it. The customer demanded it and that's what I gave him. A further explanation was possible in my original post but, alas, that was a syntax error.

Guess I broke the cycle of exotics being posted. Oh well.


On to it...

As arrived:





























Decon...





Spot Sanding...







Polishing...













Results...





























 
I was looking for the after on the wheels, have to go back. GREAT JOB! The after has different wheels or did they really polish out I'm confused :-)
 
ALL- Thank you for the kind words.



Ccrew said:
I was looking for the after on the wheels, have to go back. GREAT JOB! The after has different wheels or did they really polish out I'm confused :-)
Click to expand...

Same wheels.

Process...

Acid- Brush/ Rinse
Acid- Towel/ Rinse
Acid- 0000 Steel Wool/ Rinse
High pH APC- neutralize with towel/ Rinse
Car Pro Iron X- towel/ Rinse
Polish w/ D151 and Meg's foam drill tool (forget name)
 
Great job! I'm sure the client was blown away. I'm curious, is it just the light or is the driver side rear quarter panel a slightly different color?
 
Awesome work, trashed vehicles are the most rewarding to work on ( as long as the customer pays for it of course ) . I bet the clients were amazed by the results.

What was your process for that grill? that thing looked BEAT!
 
BSkip333 said:
Great job! I'm sure the client was blown away. I'm curious, is it just the light or is the driver side rear quarter panel a slightly different color?
Click to expand...

Thank you.

If you are referring to the shots by the fueling door where I sanded, it is probably just the settings on my camera altering how the color appears. Either way, you are correct. The panel had been repainted. There were 50- 100 micron difference in total film build vs. the adjacent panels. That panel responded differently to my combos... that one being 'sticky' and soft.

Migue said:
Awesome work, trashed vehicles are the most rewarding to work on ( as long as the customer pays for it of course ) . I bet the clients were amazed by the results.

What was your process for that grill? that thing looked BEAT!
Click to expand...

Thank you.

Yes the customer paid and paid well, however, the final result was quite the value for him as I will explain- His wife was in an accident with their previous Park Avenue during the summer of 2015 and it was totaled. After her recovery in months since; they were shopping for a new car. Customer, being the penny wise gentleman that he was, really did not want to take on a new or large car payment (even though he could well afford it as he owns quite a few business' and properties.) So, he was very proactive in finding another Park Avenue before the wife found a 'new' car that rode and drove as her previous Buick. Therefore he found a 'step up' in this Ultra model (all bells & whistles that were available, supercharged 3.8 V6) with only 130K on the clock and purchased it at very reasonable price... I believe less than $2k. He then spent $2.5k on repairing some mechanical items and suspension work. And then he spent some money with me. Thus, his cost associated with the vehicle in its present condition is very reasonable.

Husband was 'tickled pink' with the results. Wife... unsure. I think she really wanted a new vehicle but seemed to be pleased... or acted the part. It is really awkward when you only have the 'buy in' of one party after the initial consultation and then at pick up, both parties are there. There are 1,000 different ways the conversation can go... 50% of them being potentially 'bad'. As in, wife looking at husband- "You spent WHAT on this?"... "You didn't tell me about this?"... "You know I don't care about the outside!" etc...

Process on grille-
Meg's Wheels Brightener/ brush & small wheel woolie chucked in drill- rinse
Meg's Wheel Brightener/ towel- rinse
Meg's APC/ to neutralize, brush- rinse
Polished with M105- both hand and Meg's foam drill tool.
 
Dellinger said:
Thank you.

If you are referring to the shots by the fueling door where I sanded, it is probably just the settings on my camera altering how the color appears. Either way, you are correct. The panel had been repainted. There were 50- 100 micron difference in total film build vs. the adjacent panels. That panel responded differently to my combos... that one being 'sticky' and soft.



Thank you.

Yes the customer paid and paid well, however, the final result was quite the value for him as I will explain- His wife was in an accident with their previous Park Avenue during the summer of 2015 and it was totaled. After her recovery in months since; they were shopping for a new car. Customer, being the penny wise gentleman that he was, really did not want to take on a new or large car payment (even though he could well afford it as he owns quite a few business' and properties.) So, he was very proactive in finding another Park Avenue before the wife found a 'new' car that rode and drove as her previous Buick. Therefore he found a 'step up' in this Ultra model (all bells & whistles that were available, supercharged 3.8 V6) with only 130K on the clock and purchased it at very reasonable price... I believe less than $2k. He then spent $2.5k on repairing some mechanical items and suspension work. And then he spent some money with me. Thus, his cost associated with the vehicle in its present condition is very reasonable.

Husband was 'tickled pink' with the results. Wife... unsure. I think she really wanted a new vehicle but seemed to be pleased... or acted the part. It is really awkward when you only have the 'buy in' of one party after the initial consultation and then at pick up, both parties are there. There are 1,000 different ways the conversation can go... 50% of them being potentially 'bad'. As in, wife looking at husband- "You spent WHAT on this?"... "You didn't tell me about this?"... "You know I don't care about the outside!" etc...

Process on grille-
Meg's Wheels Brightener/ brush & small wheel woolie chucked in drill- rinse
Meg's Wheel Brightener/ towel- rinse
Meg's APC/ to neutralize, brush- rinse
Polished with M105- both hand and Meg's foam drill tool.
Click to expand...

Right on, thanks for the info and yeah even if what was spent on the vehicle exceeds the value, it still beats having a monthly payment and a newer vehicle that could potentially cost a lot more to repair. Value is not always about money, many things are involved in that and IMO this gentleman made a good decision that could save him many headaches.
 
Dellinger said:
Guess I broke the cycle of exotics being posted. Oh well.
Click to expand...

I'd rather see a job like this than an Exotic any day! Great job.

Now if it just didn't have those stick-on portholes and wankerish wheels...
 
OK, so I am going to ask the questions that I am sure are on every body's mind:
1) What make and model do you have a for a steamer and likewise the extractor?
3) What did you use as a compound and polish and type/make of machine for the exterior?
2) Did you use a dedicated leather cleaner (as shown in the 50/50 shot of the center console armrest)
OR is this solely how clean it comes using just steam and wiping it of with an absorbent towel/microfiber?
4) When you say Drill and Meg's foam (Mother's foam cone?), I assume you are using a cordless drill and not a Dremel-like tool.
5) Can you give us a "ballpark" estimate of hours you have in this job?
The cleaning and shine of chrome (they where chrome?!) wheels are insane. When you say "acid", I assume you mean Megs D140 Wheel Brightener.
 
Accumulator said:
I'd rather see a job like this than an Exotic any day! Great job.

Now if it just didn't have those stick-on portholes and wankerish wheels...
Click to expand...

Thank You, Accumulator. Yes, Buick just had to have the portholes.

Lonnie said:
OK, so I am going to ask the questions that I am sure are on every body's mind:
1) What make and model do you have a for a steamer and likewise the extractor?
3) What did you use as a compound and polish and type/make of machine for the exterior?
2) Did you use a dedicated leather cleaner (as shown in the 50/50 shot of the center console armrest)
OR is this solely how clean it comes using just steam and wiping it of with an absorbent towel/microfiber?
4) When you say Drill and Meg's foam (Mother's foam cone?), I assume you are using a cordless drill and not a Dremel-like tool.
5) Can you give us a "ballpark" estimate of hours you have in this job?
The cleaning and shine of chrome (they where chrome?!) wheels are insane. When you say "acid", I assume you mean Megs D140 Wheel Brightener.
Click to expand...

Lonnie, I actually had all those things laid out but as alluded to above, my first TWO times trying the post failed because I used characters other than letters in the title. So I got tired of typing stuff out.

1.) Ended up using M105 on a LC low-profile, yellow heavy cutting pad with a Rupes 21. Test spotted M101, M100, & IAT 1500. First time in a long while that M105 came out 'the winner' but it was so radically better I couldn't believe my eyes. Guess I will keep 105 on the roster for now.

Followed up with Opt. Hyper Polish on blue B&S pad, Rupes 15.

2.) Cleaned leather with HD Total 10:1 with a long-handled but generic horse hair upholstery brush. Sprayed chemical on brush, massaged in, followed with steam, wiped with MF towel.

4.) Yes, cordless drill

5.) Ball park was 20 hrs. It would have been 2hrs. less had the tar/ sap all over the car not have been 10 years old. Had to wipe pretty much every panel with a general purpose body solvent (after clay) to get everything off prior to Iron X.

No, I mean acid, like- Nanoskin Heavy Duty Acid, exact name.


EDIT: I forgot about the steamer/ extractor... Mytee Firebird, steamer Mytee 8070/ extractor. (Don't purchase either one, take it from me.)
 
Dellinger said:
... Yes, Buick just had to have the portholes..
Click to expand...

And I can even like 'em on Roadmasters!

... Ended up using M105 on a LC low-profile, yellow heavy cutting pad with a Rupes 21. Test spotted M101, M100, & IAT 1500. First time in a long while that M105 came out 'the winner' but it was so radically better I couldn't believe my eyes...
Click to expand...

Could you expand on this? What made the M105 a better choice than, say...the M101? Here I sold off most of my M105 after discovering M101!
 
All I can say is- it cut, at the very least, 30% better than M101 & M100. That's a pretty bold statement and I can only attribute this 'happening' to pure synergy with the paint system. It was so crazy, I soaked the panel down with IPA twice and called a friend who is nationally and world known in finishing paint and a Meguiar's expert for his take... which was- 'Yes, it happens from time to time with M105. And I don't know why or get it either.' M100 & M101 contain more abrasives in their respective formulations than M105 and that is evident on the back of the containers if you view their make up, near the bottom of the rear labels.

Again, I was shocked because I reached for 105 just 'for the sake of it'... and it came out golden. After testing 100 & 101, I thought, how hard is this paint?!' Lucky me, reaching for 105... almost pure luck.

So, Accumulator, if I were you, I would't worry about sending 105 the way of the buffalo. M101 seems to be better suited in most scenarios that require compounding.
 
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