Chrysler Concorde Restoration Detail

mrclean81

mrclean81

New member
I started this project a couple weeks ago, working on it in between priority jobs. Its a Chrysler Concorde that was owned by a little old lady since it was new. While that sounds good in theory, what many people dont realize is many little old ladies could give 2 craps about anything other than if it starts and drives. This car was no exception. It had been in so many accidents that every panel on the car had been painted at some point. All of the work was done by different painters, using different paints, and all of them having different painting skills. Some panels looked good, others were terrible. Some panels had nice soft clear, others was like cement. It was traded in at work with the drivers rear door and rear bumper smashed, and for some reason that part was painted with single stage, making the body work even that much more mixed up. Add years of neglect, numerous layers of overspray, and swirl marks from bumper to bumper, and this car was a grade A nightmare.
(I apologize for the poor pic quality. I took these on my phone)

2011-11-25_08-21-17_487.jpg

2011-11-25_08-21-28_991.jpg

2011-11-25_08-22-10_958.jpg

2011-11-25_08-23-08_244.jpg

2011-11-25_08-22-27_366.jpg

2011-11-25_08-22-45_756.jpg

2011-11-25_16-12-08_763.jpg

2011-11-25_16-11-52_796.jpg

2011-11-25_16-13-16_194.jpg

2011-11-25_16-13-02_665.jpg

2011-11-25_16-15-09_317.jpg
 
The first thing was an quick inspection of the motor. While the hood was up, I went ahead and knocked the engine bay out using Car Brite's Hot Stuff and a heated power washer. Everything was blown dry with an air gun and dressed with Pro Wax's Premo.

2011-11-25_15-10-00_935.jpg

2011-11-25_16-10-35_469.jpg

2011-11-25_16-14-05_178.jpg


The interior wasnt terrible, but it still had a few issues. Two of the power windows had went out on the previous owner, and the interior had been wet many times. When we got the car, there was duct tape all over the doors holding the windows up. The windows were also down when it was in the body shop, so the entire interior was covered in a layer of Bondo dust and grit.

2011-11-28_15-36-10_682.jpg

2011-11-28_15-36-18_575.jpg

2011-11-28_15-37-04_917.jpg

2011-11-28_15-37-16_521.jpg

2011-11-28_15-36-29_972.jpg

2011-11-28_15-36-45_957.jpg

2011-11-28_15-37-38_457.jpg

2011-11-28_15-37-29_671.jpg

2011-11-28_15-38-31_904.jpg

2011-11-28_15-38-46_157.jpg
 
Ill skip to the after shots of the interior, then come back to the exterior on this one.

The interior was cleaned top to bottom with Car Brite Xtra Duty, a jumbo vent brush, and compressed air, then everything dressed with Car Brite Inside Out aerosol dressing and Pro Wax's Premo dressing. The seats were cleaned using my buffer & foam method, and the carpet and shampooed using a Mytee heated extractor. While there were still a couple small places in the drivers seat that didnt come out, Im happy with the results over all.

2011-12-01_15-35-50_700.jpg

2011-12-01_15-36-11_58.jpg

2011-12-01_15-36-24_305.jpg

2011-12-01_15-37-43_579.jpg

2011-12-01_15-35-25_659.jpg
 
Now for the real work. After a good hand wash with hot water, I started wetsanding with 2000 grit. This process took several days because of having to stop to work on other stuff. I honestly lost track of my hours on this car, but it was well over 15 in wetsanding alone. Every single panel sanded out differently. Some worked out really quickly, some seemed unsandable. The car was also riddled with rock chips and RIDS. Everything that could be cleanly touched up was done so before I started sanding.

No more run
2011-11-25_16-45-10_593.jpg


Heres a good example of 2 different panels, both sanded for around the same amount of time. It was like this everywhere.
2011-11-28_16-14-12_29.jpg


2011-11-28_16-13-02_128.jpg

2011-11-28_16-15-01_724.jpg

2011-11-28_16-16-15_452.jpg

2011-11-28_16-15-44_219.jpg


After it was finally ready to compound, the car was masked off
2011-11-29_14-08-25_610.jpg


A headlight restoration was done during this period as well
2011-11-28_16-16-36_800.jpg


I didnt have time to take any pics during the machining stages, but I can tell you it was a real headache. Each panel reacted differently to everything. I went around the whole car with 3M Perfect It 2 and a wool pad on the rotary at a fairly slow speed just to cut the wetsanding marks out. I followed that up with Megs Ultimate Compound on a yellow pad on the rotary. This stuff really finished down great, and Im convinced it was the game changer for this correction. I got a shot of it in action
2011-11-30_16-21-47_639.jpg


After the UC, 3M Ultra Fine polish was used on a finishing pad on the rotary, and 1 coat of Ardex Gold Supreme sealant was applied by hand. Everything was dressed with Pro Wax's Premo, and I called it done. It was as cold as a whore's heart that day, so I didnt spend a lot of time outside taking pics. Heres the finished product

2011-12-01_15-34-19_601.jpg

2011-12-01_15-32-59_929.jpg

2011-12-01_15-33-14_320.jpg

2011-12-01_15-31-51_882.jpg

2011-12-01_15-31-35_600.jpg

2011-12-01_15-31-27_179.jpg

2011-12-01_15-31-15_455.jpg


Thanks for looking :)
 
Crazy good work. Great job and very thorough!!!! It literally looks brand new, these types of details are my favorite to read about! :yourrock:yourrock
 
Nice work, really I enjoy working on cars like this when I have the time to work slowly. Its a testament IMO to what a good detailer really is.
 
Nice job. It really turned out great and you really put a lot of work into it.

You are right about little old ladies not caring about a car and only worry about it driving. We think it should be great but in reality they may be the worst
 
Nice turn around, it looks like it was taken out into the desert with the windows rolled down and someone just started doing donuts. :lol2:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top