'57 Thunderbird, Ford GT & Lexus LS430 - Mirror Detailing

MirrorDetailing

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After getting the owners Ford GT and Lexus done, we looked over this car. He was just wanting a Wash, Clay, Seal and Wax like his Ford GT got, but I was able to convince him that even as little as a 1-Step Polish would go a long ways on this car. After a little convining, I got him to let me do a test spot and when he saw the difference just a quick 1-Step Polish made, he was fine with doing the whole car. So after starting pretty late in the day, I went ahead and knocked it out.



Just did a Wash, Clay, 1-Step, Seal, Wax and the Chrome Bumpers sealed. Since this thing did not have the top on, just went with a waterless wash on it in the garage to clean it up prior to buffing.



Before, kinda hard to tell, this was a great 20 footer. Paint was slightly faded and the scratches were hard to capture.



Process on the T-Bird



Washed w/ ONR

Clayed w/ Pinn Ultra Poly Clay w/ ONR Lube

Buffed w/ SIP via Flex DA w/ Uber Orange

Small Areas w/ D300 via GG DA w/ 3" Microfiber Disc

Sealed w/ Blackfire Wet Diamond

Wiped Down w/ Hybrid V7

Waxed w/ Blackfire Midnight Sun



During.jpg


PassFrontBefore-34.jpg


PassRearBefore-32.jpg


DriverSideBEfore.jpg




Condition of the paint, so areas were better than others. Some had very light scratches were some, had a considerable amount more.



PaintBefore5-5.jpg


PaintBefore4-9.jpg


PaintBefore3-12.jpg


PaintBefore-23.jpg




After everything was done.



PaintAfter3-7.jpg


PaintAfter2-6.jpg


PaintAfter-12.jpg




Inside the garage before the owner pulled it half way up his driveway into the sun.



HoodAfterInside.jpg


FrontAfterInside.jpg


PassFrontAfterInside-1.jpg


PassSideEmblemsAfter.jpg


PassRearAfterInside-1.jpg


RearAfterInside.jpg


DriverFrontAfterInside-1.jpg


DriverFrontAfterLowInside.jpg


DriverRearAfterInside-1.jpg




Now outside into the sun, owner was beyond happy. Was amazed that a simple polish could make it look so much better. He even told me he knew it was going to come out good, but not that good.



DriverFrontOutsideAfter2.jpg


DriverFrontAfterOutside.jpg


DriverSideAfterFar.jpg


DriverRearAfterOutside.jpg


EmblemsOutsideAfter.jpg


PassRearAfterOutside.jpg


DriverFrontAfterFar.jpg




Couple sun shots outside.



RearOutsideAfter.jpg


HoodAfterOuside.jpg




While I was working on the Thunderbird, the owners business partner stopped buy in his vette to see what I think needed to be done on it. Owner will be dropping it off at my shop in the coming weeks.



Vette-1.jpg




Owner contacted me about coming to his house and getting some of his cars looked at and some work done on them. Ford GT is new with only 1000 miles on it. Owner just wanted a Wash, Clay, Sealant and Wax on the paint to get it look good. Next time, he will be wanting to get the paint polished to the standards of the Black GT I just did.
 
Lexus LS, was the owners wife's car and just wanted it wash, wax and general interior. Mainly he wanted the headlights cleaned up as they were starting to yellow.



Process:



Washed w/ CG Ctirous Wash'n'Gloss

Clayed w/ Pinn Ultra Poly Clay w/ ONR Lube

Sealed w/ Blackfire Wet Diamond

Wiped Down w/ Hybrid V7

Waxed w/ Midnight Sun



Ford GT Before:



PassFrontBefore-33.jpg


PassRearBEfore-31.jpg


DriverRearBefore-32.jpg


DriverFrontBefore-32.jpg




After washing it, claying the paint and sealing/waxing the paint. Owner has one hell of a garage that he keeps the GT in. Add in a cott and you could live in this place.



DriverFrontAfterInside.jpg


DriverFrontAfterCoolShot.jpg


DriverRearAfterInside.jpg


DriverRearAfterInsideLow.jpg


DriverSideReflection-1.jpg


PassFrontAfterInside.jpg


PassRearAfterInside.jpg


FordGTReflection.jpg


DriverSideReflection-1.jpg




After the owner backed it out and swapped places with his vette.



OutsideAfter-1.jpg


Driving1.jpg


Driving2.jpg


Driving3.jpg




Now the Lexus. Just a simple wash/wax and general interior. Like I said above, main concern was the headlights.



Process:

Washed w/ CG Citrous Wash'n'Gloss

Sealed w/ Hybrid V7

Headlights w/ D300/M105 via GG DA w/ 3" Microfiber Cutting Disc

2nd Step w/ M205 via GG DA w/ Cyan Hydro Spot Pad



PassFrontBefore-32.jpg


PassRearBefore-30.jpg


DriverRearBefore-31.jpg


DriverFrontBefore-31.jpg




After washing, waxing and the interior. Knocked out the headlights...



Before.



HEadlightsBefore-1.jpg




After.



HeadlightsBothAfter.jpg




Then overall afters...



PassFrontAfter-37.jpg


PassRearAfter-36.jpg


DriverRearAfter-32.jpg


DriverFrontAfter-37.jpg
 
Work is excellent. Love the garage floor and how neatly it is kept. The pictures are very sharp. What camera is it if you don't mind me asking?
 
mikenap said:
That's quite a stable he's got there. Great looking cars and great work, Mike!



Thanks Mike.



tdekany said:
Work is excellent. Love the garage floor and how neatly it is kept. The pictures are very sharp. What camera is it if you don't mind me asking?



Yeah, his Garage for the GT was amazing. Not to overly done, but done enough that it was perfect. Dont know about the sharpness, using the same D50 I have been using for all my threads for the last year. Though I think it was more the lighting in the Garage. Outside they look like normal pictures but the lighting in the garage does make them look kind of sharp.
 
I agree, the pics are great. I like the variety of cars. I bet that made for a satisfying day of work!
 
Great lookin stuff Mike. Really diggin the GT, goes to show you the proper steps even without correction can make for some blingage(though it kills me not to correct).



That T-bird is a reallllly cool vehicle to get to work on. Thanks for sharing the prep.
 
Here is a comment the owner left in a thread about me on the forum he found me from...



Thanks to the lead from GTFUN, Mike came to the house. I just had clay bar, seal and wax on the GT as the paint was in pretty good shape however I did get the one step correction on the Bird and it looks unbelievable. I can only image what the 2 step would look like. I will have the full 2 step done on the GT later this year. Mike is an outstanding detailer with a strong work ethic.

Details or contact information: Michael Cunningham / Mirror Detailing: PH 770-354-7010.



Brad B. said:
I agree, the pics are great. I like the variety of cars. I bet that made for a satisfying day of work!



It was. Guy was a pretty cool guy with a simple collection. Hopefully I will get to do his Prowler or Vette that have next to no miles on them. Suprisingly it only took me about 9 STRAIGHT hours to do all this. I was amazed how much I did in that short of time.



autoaesthetica said:
Great lookin stuff Mike. Really diggin the GT, goes to show you the proper steps even without correction can make for some blingage(though it kills me not to correct).



That T-bird is a reallllly cool vehicle to get to work on. Thanks for sharing the prep.



Yep. I tried to convince him when I first got there that his GT would look great even with as little as a 1-Step, as it has not been done since it came from the dealership. So it has minor scratches and holograms in some areas. After getting done with his T-Bird and what you can see from his comment above, he is not a believer in the difference polishing can make.
 
Great work on beautiful cars! I am guessing you mean he is a 'now' a believer :). You made him with all the great stuff you pulled.
 
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