Presidential Detailed: CONTAMINATED GT and an 08' Shelby GT500

prsdntial_dtail

New member
Ill start with the Mustang GT. This car is meticulously cared for, but unfortunately while sitting in a shop it somehow received a heavy dosing of contamination. I was called out to perform a test on a small portion, and was able to remove the contamination with a bit of work and sealed the deal for the job. While I knew I would be able to get the car back in shape, I also knew that it was going to be A LOT of work! Ill begin with the pictures and comment from there. ;)

Here is a section of the trunk before any work was performed.
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Doesnt look bad? Well lets reverse the image..how about now? :oops:
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Here is another look..
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Once again, reversed..
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To fully removed the heavy contamination, I used a heavy dosing of Meguairs APC+ with their "Aggressive" Clay Bar from the Professional Line. While this did pretty much ruin my entire clay bar, it was working better than anything else I tried.

The damage done to my clay bars. They were literally disintegrating in my hand as I used them with the APC and I barely made it around the entire car.
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The next pictures are after the heavy clay bar work which took SEVERAL hours. I spent most of the first half of the day simply claying the car to remove all the contaminants.
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The paint was also pretty heavily swirled as you can see in these shots.
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I then removed the license plate to further remove the hidden contaminants.
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The vinyl letters seemed to have shrunk over the years, leaving a black residue which the dirt was sticking to.
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Each letter was cleaned around the edges to remove the residue/dirt.
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The car was then washed once again to further remove any loose contaminants. Its WHITE again!
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After seeing the car without its wing, we both loved how the car looked and now the owner is searching for a wingless trunk to switch out. ;)
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The owner and I agreed on a 2-step polishing process since it was removing a majority of the defects and the work was mostly focused on solely removing the contamination. Luckily, the Ford paint was fairly workable and white. I was able to get near full correction after a pass with M105/PFW followed with M205/Orange via DA.

Before.
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50/50.
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After.
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I performed the same process around the entire car, although it was hard to capture on camera and I was short on time. I then moved onto the wheels which need a light polish to brighten them up a little.
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After a quick hand polish with Adams Metal Polish #2.
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Now the long awaited afters! I sealed the car with two coats of Blackfire Paint Sealant and pulled the car out in the sun for the final results!

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You can really see the gloss from the Blackfire here, even on white. ;)
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I later got a call from Bobby at SR Performance wanting a quick 1-step exterior job performed. I was on a tough time table but was able to finish this car in 5 hours total from start to finish, and the results even stunned me!

I started by snapping a couple shots before I began working. The car was actually quite dirty.
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There were a couple areas where someone had gotten wax on the trim.
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The wheels were quite foggy as well..
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I started with an ONR wash. Here is half the bumper before touching it.
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After an ONR wash.
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The car had its fair share of defects, which the owner may have removed the next time. We were on a tight schedule for this detail so we opted for the 1-step.
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I taped off a section of the hood to determine how hard the clear was.
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I ended up using SIP on an Orange LC pad using a G110 DA polisher for a little longer work time. The results.
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We were running out of time and unfortunately it began to downpour right as I was finishing up. The owner tried to wait it out but had no choice but to leave, luckily it was no longer raining but the roads were still wet.
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This is FL for you, rain one second, pure sunlight the next but to my surprise I couldnt find any defects!
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The money shot. :D
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Looks really good. What size PFW do you use? And how do you go about deciding between the PFW or the orange pad?
 
Yes - there are guys using the PFW on a DA.

Great job el presidente as usual. The GT looks bad a$$ now. How could that be driven in the condition that it was in. UGH

Thanks! I have heard of people using the PFW on a DA, but I have a rotary so if I need that much correction Id rather use that. Id still like to give it a shot though to just try it out.
 
Nice work. I think I would have opted to buff the contamination off in that case. Hours of rubbing with a clay bar doesn't sound like much fun.
 
Awesome job. I remember when SR first opened. I was there for their grand opening.
Not really liking the choice in wheels on the GT500.
 
Awesome job. I remember when SR first opened. I was there for their grand opening.
Not really liking the choice in wheels on the GT500.

Wow, that was probably what 5 years ago or somewhere around there? Bobby is a real good guy, they are not going anywhere for a long time! Great shop!
 
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