I met the customer of this hammered Mustang on a local car club forum here in Columbus. We've been trying to put together a schedule for me to work on it, and finally got the opportunity this weekend. He had purchased this used, and the previous owner seriously abused and neglected it. The paint had no reflection whatsoever since it was so badly covered in defects.
This was some of the absolute worst paint I've seen. Not only was it covered in major swirls, and a lot of deep scratches, but the overall feel of the paint was like sandpaper. The car was washed a total of 3 times during this detail! The claying process alone took almost an hour to complete to get the surface free from contaminants and smooth.
There were also a lot of big scratches (some upwards of 6" long) that had bad touch-up work done to them. There was so much touch up paint on them that it look like somebody had been welding on the paint.
I knew upon inspection under the halogens that I had a lot of work cut out for me that would require wetsanding and heavy compounding to get out the defects. 11 hours later, I was able to achieve about a 90% correction rate...the car was so bad that it would have required probably another 6 hours or so to get it to 95-97% correction rate.
Anyhow, on to the details:
Interior:
Vacuum
Clean all surfaces with Woolite/water mix
Stains spot cleaned with Folex
Console cleaned with Megs Quick Interior Detailer
All plastic/vinyl suraces treated with Optimum Protectant Plus
Glass cleaned with Stoner's Invisible Glass
Exterior:
Wash
Clean wheels with Megs Wheel Brightener (x2)
Wheel wells and engine cleaned with Megs APC+
Clay
Wash 2
Wetsand previous touch up and heavy defects with 2000 grit sandpaper
Compound with Megs 105 and 95 with Purple Foamed Wool
Wash 3
Finishing polish with Menzerna 106ff and white LC pads
IPA wipedown and inspect for holograms
Wax with Optimum Car Wax
Clean door shuts with Optimum No Rinse
Dress engine and wheel wells with Megs Trim Detailer
Dress tires with Sonus Tire Gel
Total time: 11 hours
Tools:
Makita 9227 rotary polisher
Blaster Sidekick blow dryer
Canon Rebel XSi with 18/55mm lense
Now on to some (dramatic) photos. Warning...some of the before photos can be quite scary and not for the faint at heart!
As you can see, the paint was in absolute horrible condition. Heavy swirls, scratches, and more.
Here is an example of some of the touch up work that was previously done. This is on the hood.
The paint was full of contaminants, and badly in need of claying to remove them. Even after a thorough wash, this is how much dirt and debris was removed...this is after doing one small panel!
After claying, the car was pulled back outside for wash #2 to remove any remnants and residue from the claying process. Now it is ready for the polishing stage.
Wetsanding in process to level previous touch-ups and heavy defects:
Rear bumper sanding:
Hood sanding:
50/50 after the compounding stage:
Hood in process. Looking much better already!
This was some of the absolute worst paint I've seen. Not only was it covered in major swirls, and a lot of deep scratches, but the overall feel of the paint was like sandpaper. The car was washed a total of 3 times during this detail! The claying process alone took almost an hour to complete to get the surface free from contaminants and smooth.
There were also a lot of big scratches (some upwards of 6" long) that had bad touch-up work done to them. There was so much touch up paint on them that it look like somebody had been welding on the paint.
I knew upon inspection under the halogens that I had a lot of work cut out for me that would require wetsanding and heavy compounding to get out the defects. 11 hours later, I was able to achieve about a 90% correction rate...the car was so bad that it would have required probably another 6 hours or so to get it to 95-97% correction rate.
Anyhow, on to the details:
Interior:
Vacuum
Clean all surfaces with Woolite/water mix
Stains spot cleaned with Folex
Console cleaned with Megs Quick Interior Detailer
All plastic/vinyl suraces treated with Optimum Protectant Plus
Glass cleaned with Stoner's Invisible Glass
Exterior:
Wash
Clean wheels with Megs Wheel Brightener (x2)
Wheel wells and engine cleaned with Megs APC+
Clay
Wash 2
Wetsand previous touch up and heavy defects with 2000 grit sandpaper
Compound with Megs 105 and 95 with Purple Foamed Wool
Wash 3
Finishing polish with Menzerna 106ff and white LC pads
IPA wipedown and inspect for holograms
Wax with Optimum Car Wax
Clean door shuts with Optimum No Rinse
Dress engine and wheel wells with Megs Trim Detailer
Dress tires with Sonus Tire Gel
Total time: 11 hours
Tools:
Makita 9227 rotary polisher
Blaster Sidekick blow dryer
Canon Rebel XSi with 18/55mm lense
Now on to some (dramatic) photos. Warning...some of the before photos can be quite scary and not for the faint at heart!
As you can see, the paint was in absolute horrible condition. Heavy swirls, scratches, and more.
Here is an example of some of the touch up work that was previously done. This is on the hood.
The paint was full of contaminants, and badly in need of claying to remove them. Even after a thorough wash, this is how much dirt and debris was removed...this is after doing one small panel!
After claying, the car was pulled back outside for wash #2 to remove any remnants and residue from the claying process. Now it is ready for the polishing stage.
Wetsanding in process to level previous touch-ups and heavy defects:
Rear bumper sanding:
Hood sanding:
50/50 after the compounding stage:
Hood in process. Looking much better already!
. With the sun low in the western sky and my driveway facing west the only way to get a good sun reflection would be to face the camera west which would cause serious over exposure issues (photog 101) or turn the car sideways. I will chose photo methods that provide the best overall quality photos, but appreciate the input nonetheless
