Alpha Romeo 164 - Envious Detailing

Envious Eric

New member
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If you want to talk about a long awaited detail appointment, this one was about 5 months in the making from first contact! The owners’ of this car and and my schedule simply didn’t mesh very well. Every time I had time, he didn’t, then he did and I didn’t, and the fact the car was in the shop for a couple of things and got stuck there waiting for the parts to pass through customs...this detail was planned for well in advance (sight unseen obviously as he was 1.25 hours away from me)



I ended up splitting this car up into 2 days, and spent the night at a friends house to save on a hotel fee for the client. So with a 10 work day on day one, and a 8 hour day day two, I was finally calling this one suitable! Was it perfect, no, but with the damage in the paint, and the fact the rear end received a poor color match repaint, there was no need to shoot for perfection on this particular car. Believe me, I want to chase all the defects as it was the first Alpha Romeo I had done, and the paint being rather plush/easy to work on, it just didn’t make sense to do. Besides, this car will sit outside for the next few months until it finds a home in the garage! I talked options over with the owner and he understood and agreed that it was best not to blow through all the clear chasing all the defects.



Here is what I started with after a 2.5 hour drive there (yes, traffic through LA forced me into double time to get there, so typical if you leave the Huntington Beach area after 6am), let me tell you, the pics are not pretty!



Crusty dirt on paint

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Burned trim

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Dirty motor compartment

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Toasted tailpipe

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Dirty trunk jambs

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And Neglected Paint over the years

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Some shots of the Leatherique twins used – the before and after were night and day, and lots of dirt ended up on the wipedown towel after step one

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Here are the afters. Sun was behind thick clouds as the rain was rolling in, so I pulled it out for a few but had to pull it back in asap. Took a few LED shots to provide some before and afters, but I really wish I had better lighting rather than in an underground parking structure because the results were night and day. Cant win them all I guess!!!



(car was in minor fender bender, this is missing paint, not a buffer burn)

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Apparently the owner had been unsatisfied with the past two detailers, but now he understands the difference between 18 hours and 3 hours! The process is worlds apart and produce a HUGE difference!
 
nope it was cleared all around.



finished down really well, wanted to stop at D300, but 203 refined it a bit more, and then 85rd put the icing on the cake! Might have been able to skip the 203 step and gone with 106, but I wanted a deeper gloss from the paint, so I went with the process mentioned.
 
Thanks guys. To be honest, this paint was pretty nice to work on. I think that it would rival porsche paint being that it is softer, yet doesnt scratch too easily when wiped down at the end
 
Eric nice work,

And I’m glad to hear the paint was ok to work with for you, the one I did a few weeks ago was a total PITA different body shop paints all over every panel and it just didn’t want to finish out at all.



What did you use for the LSP?



Cheers Daniel
 
Fantastic job. Glad to see that a few of these are still on the road. Quality control put a damper on a car with advanced styling and a wonderful engine.
 
pushtiulk said:
Great job! Congrats! How much time did you let Rejuvinator Oil to sit on the leather?



I let it sit on the leather for about 12 hours overnight. It made a HUGE difference in the look, cleanliness and the feel!



Woody Wax said:
Eric nice work,

And I’m glad to hear the paint was ok to work with for you, the one I did a few weeks ago was a total PITA different body shop paints all over every panel and it just didn’t want to finish out at all.



What did you use for the LSP?



Cheers Daniel



LSP was BFWD
 
Great turnaround pictures. I miss my old 164's but you have obviously helped this one in a big way. Just one very small comment, it is an Alfa not Alpha
 
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