Ford F450 Utility Truck

mrclean81

mrclean81

New member
During the winter months, I spend my days at a commercial truck dealership doing very in depth and difficult details and restorative type work. This particular truck came in in average condition for a utility truck, and went through our normal process to bring it to sellable condition. Perfection isn't possible with these trucks, but they do have to look as good as possible for what they are. Here are some quick cell phone pics of the "before" condition. I apologize for the low quality pics in the beginning of this write up..I wasn't planning on documenting this truck until I was half way through it. That being said, here we go.
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The first thing I done was pull it into one of the body shops and start prepping the bed for paint. A few small dents were repaired, but all in all the bed was in good shape. We don't use automotive paint for these beds because its not durable enough. We use Valspar Tractor and Implement paint instead because not only is it much more durable, but it also contains rust inhibitors. The tops of the boxes and inside of the bed, and rear bumpers are rolled with a bed liner roller to further increase durability, while the sides are sprayed with a HVLP paint gun. I don't usually do this part of the restoration, but I did on this particular one.



 
Once the bed was finished, the truck was brought to the detail shop to be finished up. At this point, it had received a new windshield, some new front end and 4x4 parts, a thorough service, and a couple sensors. The first thing I done once it was in the shop was gut the interior. Seats, carpet, and all of the lower plastic panels were removed. The drivers seat was sent out to the upholstery shop while I done what I could with the other seats and carpet. I knew from the get-go that these seats were never going to be 100%. They were soaked in grease and oil, and were covered in deep scuffs that were irreversible without having them reupholstered. In fact, the seats and carpet was so bad that extraction, rotary scrubbing, and every other "light" method just wasn't going to cut it. I took everything outside and used the 250 degree hot water power washer on them. I don't condone or suggest this for anyone, but it was the only way for this particular project.










Even after 250 degrees and 3000 psi, the seats just didn't come clean enough to suit me. After everything dried, I used the Mytee HP100 and went back over everything. Still even after that, the scuffs in the seats and a little browning was still visable, but I had to move on because there wasn't much that could be done about it.

Moving on to the rest of the interior, a combo of the Tornador full of strong APC along with a few different brushes was used on the entire interior with the exception of the headliner. Car Brite Xtra Duty was used for that.








Once the interior was finished up for the time being, I moved on to the engine. This dealership does NOT like highly detailed engine compartments. They want them clean and free of oil or anything that might turn away a customer, but they want the engines to look untouched. This is achieved with degreaser and a hot water power wash only.






Once the engine was finished, a headlight restoration was performed and the grill and bumper was polished out with M100 on the rotary.




The next step was to take care of the paint. After a good wash, everything was taped up and wetsanded with 2000 grit. There was a lot of touch up work to do as well, and those spots were sanded again once the touch up paint had dried.






M100 and Buff n Shine mf cutting pads were used on the DeWalt rotary to cut the sanding scratches out. That was followed up with M205 and a white Buff n Shine foam pad, also on the rotary. This was my first time using M100, and I have to say its a beast. Great cutting power and the finish was amazing.



Once the correction was finished, it was time to put everything back together and call this one done. This is the point to where the boss comes in and wants the window tint removed :[

 
Once the bed was finished, the truck was brought to the detail shop to be finished up. At this point, it had received a new windshield, some new front end and 4x4 parts, a thorough service, and a couple sensors. The first thing I done once it was in the shop was gut the interior. Seats, carpet, and all of the lower plastic panels were removed. The drivers seat was sent out to the upholstery shop while I done what I could with the other seats and carpet. I knew from the get-go that these seats were never going to be 100%. They were soaked in grease and oil, and were covered in deep scuffs that were irreversible without having them reupholstered. In fact, the seats and carpet was so bad that extraction, rotary scrubbing, and every other "light" method just wasn't going to cut it. I took everything outside and used the 250 degree hot water power washer on them. I don't condone or suggest this for anyone, but it was the only way for this particular project.










Even after 250 degrees and 3000 psi, the seats just didn't come clean enough to suit me. After everything dried, I used the Mytee HP100 and went back over everything. Still even after that, the scuff in the seats and a little browning was still visable, but I had to move on because there wasn't much that could be done about it.

Moving on to the rest of the interior, a combo of the Tornador full of strong APC along with a few different brushes was used for the entire things with the exception of the headliner. Car Brite Xtra Duty was used for that.








Once the interior was finished up for the time being, I moved on to the engine. This dealership does NOT like highly detailed engine compartments. They want clean and free of oil or anything that might turn away a customer, but they want the engines to look untouched. This is achieved with degreaser and a hot water power wash only.






Once the engine was finished, a headlight restoration was performed and the grill and bumper was polished out with M100 on the rotary.




The next step was to take care of the paint. After a good wash, everything was taped up and wetsanded with 2000 grit. There was a lot of touch up work to do as well, and those spots were sanded again once the touch up paint had dried.






M100 and Buff n Shine mf cutting pads were used on the DeWalt rotary to cutting the sanding scratches out. This was my first time using M100, and I have to say its a beast. Great cutting power and the finish was amazing.



Once the correction was finished, it was time to put everything back together and call this one done. This is the point to where the boss comes in and wants the window tint removed :[

 
Once that was done, I was able to get everything back together inside, give it a coat of Car Brite Paint Sealant, polish the wheels with some M100 and a 3 inch pad on the rotary, and call it done. Heres some afters.














I wish the seats had come out better, but there is only so much one can do without using dyes, and I don't dye seats no matter how bad they are. Other than that, Im pretty happy with how this one turned out.
Thanks for looking :)

Nathan Flannell
Flannells Pro Detail
618-203-9763
 
That turned out amazing! It was totally trashed before you got ahold of it, but it looks excellent now!
 
Nathan -

Thank you for the awesome before and after pics !

The actual work you did is unbelieveable and just perfect !!!

That Truck is ready to go out and do another 100k miles easy - you made it that good !

You are the MAN in Southern Illinois !

DanF
 
Awesome work. I'm pleasantly surprised that someone made the investment into bringing a work truck like this back into such excellent condition.
 
Thank you all for the great comments and compliments. Its greatly appreciated :yourrock


360glitch said:
Awesome work. I'm pleasantly surprised that someone made the investment into bringing a work truck like this back into such excellent condition.
Click to expand...

That's all this place deals in, and every single truck or van that comes in goes through the same process. They are one of the biggest commercial truck dealers in the country, and for good reason. They really do put a ton of money and time into these vehicles before they are cleared to go on the front line. At any given time, there is 300 + vehicles on their lot.
 
Heavy Duty work for a Heavy Duty truck. I wouldn't have thought it could be made to look that nice. You are a man of many talents.
 
Excellent job! I am always amazed at the power of steam, even if you didn't get the interior how you wanted, the turn around was great. I have a Mytee on my list to hopefully pick up in 2014.
 
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