98 Dodge Ram makeover

6

6SpeedBowtie

New member
I finally had the chance to detail Dad's 98 Dodge Ram.



Dad loves to keep his cars very clean, and does his best to make sure they are always looking good. It was my dad that taught me to take pride in having a clean car. It was on Autopia that I learned new tricks to take that to the next step.



When I told Dad I was going to detail his truck over the weekend, I don't think he had any idea how my ability has progressed.



The truck is a 98 and is used like a truck -- it hauls a lot of equipment and materials and has seen some light off-road action on a regular basis. It moderate swirls and some very light oxidation/hazing.



My process was:



1. Wash and dry

2. Megs#83 DACP with yellow CMA cutting pad

3. Megs NXT with white CMA polishing pad

4. Megs #16 applied by hand



- Eagle One Tire wet on the Tires

- Mother's Chrome polish to clean up the step bar

- Mother's back-to-black on the black trim and molding.



I'll attach additional pictures indirectly.



Pic#1



Here's a before after pic.
 

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Pic #2. Another before and after. I have polished everything but the back half of the driver's door.
 

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Pic#3 Here's the finished product.



Dad couldn't believe the difference. I think he was quite surprised at how good I've gotten. I'm quite sure he thought I was just going to slap a coat of wax on it. It was a lot of fun to get hear his comments at how dramatically different it looked.



He loves his "new" truck.



Makes me feel good.
 

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Nice work and nice picture-taking! Detailing a loved one's car is an awesome gift if you ask me. PLUS you get the added experience for the work done on those of the "not so-loved ones"

EDIT:I'm sure the pics don't do your work justice as the resultion is a bit funky. Looks like you took care of EVERYTHING. After he taught you the well-keeping of a car all these years, his reaction alone must have been worth your efforts.
 
Here's the last picture. I like this shot a lot.



I think it looks pretty good.



I was pretty pleased how well this turned out. Hope this is autopia worthy.
 

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I'm no pro, but from experience- on your next job, follow up the DACP with whatever you got around that is a few notches milder. It'll kick up the gloss and clarity of reflections alot. Your finish looks about as good as it gets, but I thought that as well when I did mine, but following up with that finer polish proved me wrong.
 
Thanks for the tip.



Anything particular that you'd recommend?



EDIT: I had to drastically reduce the images to get them below the 640x640 file limit. Not sure, but I'm sure that's what you mean by crazy resolution. I'll have to see if I can clean up that first shot a little.
 
Dacp is pretty strong- about as strong as recommended before switching to rotary. So you have alot of options. You could try #80 Speed Glaze(two steps below DACP on the Meg's scale of abrassiveness) or everyone's other favorite- Vanilla Moose, which leaves an even wetter, glossier finish than #80. Stick to what you may have around even if it is OTC.
 
Ignore me. The resolution is enough to admire your work. I've had luck sizing down in steps as opposed to a drastic drop in reso, but it all depends on the program
 
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