Gross Volvo!!

Mikeyc

Mikeyc

TheDetailingHandBook.com
Well, this 2001 Volvo S40 belongs to my girlfriend. She's been away for a couple of weeks. So, I thought it would be a nice "welcome home" surprise to detail her car for her. Well wouldn't you know the surprise was on me! The car was even more disgusting than I realized.

Before . . .

img09769ha.jpg

one of these sweet scrapes on each corner of the car ;)
img09775xk.jpg

Yuck!
img09786ef.jpg

img09803qr.jpg

Got tar?
img09813ag.jpg

How about some brake dust?
img09827kq.jpg

Want dirty, stained floor matts?
img09849tg.jpg

Lots of dirt in the foot wells!
img09855qo.jpg

img09869fc.jpg


OK! So there was good amount of oxidation and a TON of bonded contaminants on this car. Some areas where paint was missing and a couple areas where I could see what looked like the beginnings of clear coat failure. There was also deep, deep cob webbing which is a little surprising since the car maybe sees a car wash once a year if that.

A few more comments . . . after claying the car changed from chaulky to white. Also, the cob webbing was so deep that I just aimed to restore some gloss and not to make the paint perfect. Also, I managed to delaminate my yellow LC light cutting pad during the detail :( Just an excuse to get Edge pads I guess. I also replaced all the wiper blades and replaced a missing center cap on one of the wheels. :)

Wash Zymol Clear
Wheels cleaned with Megs Wheel Brightener 3:1
Tires & wheel wells cleaned with Megs Safe D-Greaser
Tar removed with Megs Body Solvent
Car was clayed using rinseless wash as lube
Polished with Menzerna IP on white LC polishing pad
Sealed with Menzerna FMJ
Waxed with DP Max Wax (really kicked the shine up a notch or two)
Megs Endurance High Gloss on tires
PB's Trim Restorer on rubber/plastic trim
Polished glass with DP Pro Glass Restorer
Rain-X on windows
Oxy-Clean and Folex used to clean floor matts
PB's Natural Look on all interior rubber/vinyl
Flitz Metal polish on exhaust tip

Probably 100 other steps I'm forgetting. This car was nasty!!

After . . .

floor matts now clean!
img09872xf.jpg

Ooooh! Shiney engine!!
img09882xv.jpg

Love the vacuum tracks in the carpet!!
img10014cb.jpg

Not too much sun, but the paint looked real wet.
img09976xj.jpg

img09982kn.jpg

img09990mk.jpg

img10009ia.jpg

img10065at.jpg

img10073gz.jpg


Just claying made a huge difference, but the color of the paint changed again when I polished the paint. This picture I took during the polishing stage. Can you tell which side of the roof has not been polished?
img09964gy.jpg


BTW, I say the odds of here even noticing the difference are 50-50.
 
Amazing transformation. Also amazing how bad vehicles can get. I joke around with my customers that apologize that their car is so dirty. I tell them I'm going to take "dirty" on a tour one day and show them what dirty really is.
 
great job on the volvo. As i know the how hard it is to keep a white car clean. My mom's volvo 240 wagon is white.:D
 
HUGE Difference!! The car looks amazing now!! I really love the look of the tires btw.

Greg
 
Nice transformation, The before shots of the wheels alone would have
turned me away. Nice friend,great job :bigups
 
Jared is right...It does look like a different car.

Let's hope that she does say, "Oh, you should not have gone to all that trouble." Then you know it is going to go right back to what it was.
 
GregCavi said:
HUGE Difference!! The car looks amazing now!! I really love the look of the tires btw.
Click to expand...
Thanks! I love Meguiar's Endurance High Gloss. It's cheap, shiney, and lasts forever. It looks especially great on relatively flat side walls. It's a SERIOUS PITA to put on very textured side walls though.

JaredPointer said:
Mikey -
How would she not notice that??? It looks like a different car. :)
Click to expand...
We'll see if she notices. I'm picking her up at the airport in an hour. Personally, I just find people who let their car get that dirty don't really notice when it's dirty and don't really notice when it's clean.

cwcad said:
Let's hope that she does say, "Oh, you should not have gone to all that trouble." Then you know it is going to go right back to what it was.
Click to expand...
I guarantee you she says that. She wants to buy a new car BAD. I figured I would detail it anyway because 1) while she still has it it will look better and 2) when she goes to trade it it will look better and get her a couple extra $$$.

tumbler said:
did you wetsand the scrape ?

how did the scrape in the front bumper turn out any close ups ?
Click to expand...
Nope, I didn't do any wet sanding. I haven't tried that yet and I haven't bought sanding paper to this point. Basically, I removed any paint transfer with clay and polished the area. I don't have any closeups, but I did take two full car shots from the driver's side, front corner perspective. If you compare those two shots you can see there was a good deal of improvement.
 
Well, we just got back from the airport and not only does she love the job I did, but she can't stop thanking me. She was very impressed and definitely noticed the difference.
 
Mike: Kudos!


Well done, on a disgusting vehicle. I find Volvos are ALWAYS a wreck. I have yet to do one even in moderately crappy shape.
 
Looks sooo much better.

My gf is in exactly the same position and her car was in about the same shape. She wants a new one, but she really couldn't have cared and didn't really notice the difference in all that I did.

Glad your work was appreciated.
 
ZaneO said:
Did you have to do any aggitation with the Wheel Brightener?
Click to expand...
Actually, I think I just sprayed it off with my power washer. It's a VERY effective cleaner.

Wheel Brightener + power washer = clean wheels :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top