I spent Mother's Day working on my Mom's 2000 Sebring Convertible. It hadn't been shown any TLC in 8 years, so I knew that I had my work cut out for me. Unfortunately the forecast for the day was 55 degrees and rainy, so I planned on being wet and cold as well.
When I inspected the car, I found it to be pretty heavily swirled as expected, and it had some pretty intense scratches all up and down the right side of the car (see photos below). The wheels and lower parts of the paint had 8 years of buildup as well, so it required a lot of clay work. After claying the car, I wetsanded the deeper scratches to get out as much as possible. The paint was pretty oxidized...when I first looked at the halogen reflection in the hood, it was just a bright blob. Afterwards however, it was like looking through a mirror.
When all was said and done, I was able to correct about 95% of the swirls and RIDS, and about 90% of the scratches. If I had a rotary, I could have gotten a little better I'm sure.
I spent 9.5 hours on the exterior alone, and didn't have time to do the interior...I'll have to finish the job later.
Sorry about the photos...I was locked in a very dark garage because of the rain and couldn't get the best shots.
Wheels:
P21S Wheel Gel
0000 Steel Wool
Engine Compartment:
Simple Green
ONR at QD mix
Meguiars detailer
Door Jams and inner trunk lid:
ONR QD wash
Poli Seal
Exterior:
NXT wash
Zaino Clay
2000 grit wetsand
M105, Orange LC 5.5 pad, PC 6
Ultrafina, Blue LC CCS 6.5 pad, PC 6
ZPC, White LC 5.5 pad on mirrors and black trim
Topped with P21S 100% wax
Cleaned exhaust tips with 0000 steel wool.
Total time including driving, setup/teardown = 13.5 hours
Gas to fill up the van = $61.00
Meguiars 105 = $32.00
3M Ultrafina = $45.00
The look on Mom's face when she saw the finished product for Mother's Day = PRICELESS!
The neighbors thought I was crazy when I was washing the car in this:
This was AFTER washing and before clay! There were a lot of contaminants in/on the paint:
Engine before. I don't think it was cleaned in 8 years:
After:
Scratches that ran all the way down the right side:
More:
After:
The car got a lot of wetsanding:
The mirrors and black trim were in pretty bad shape:
After Z-PC: (sorry, photo is a little blurry)
Hood before. Heavy swirls and RIDS. No definition in light reflection:
After on hood. Crystal Clear!
Nice reflection of the kids playing in the rain:
Trunk lid:
The wheels after steel wool and Poli Seal: (yes, the tire was almost flat)
When I inspected the car, I found it to be pretty heavily swirled as expected, and it had some pretty intense scratches all up and down the right side of the car (see photos below). The wheels and lower parts of the paint had 8 years of buildup as well, so it required a lot of clay work. After claying the car, I wetsanded the deeper scratches to get out as much as possible. The paint was pretty oxidized...when I first looked at the halogen reflection in the hood, it was just a bright blob. Afterwards however, it was like looking through a mirror.
When all was said and done, I was able to correct about 95% of the swirls and RIDS, and about 90% of the scratches. If I had a rotary, I could have gotten a little better I'm sure.
I spent 9.5 hours on the exterior alone, and didn't have time to do the interior...I'll have to finish the job later.
Sorry about the photos...I was locked in a very dark garage because of the rain and couldn't get the best shots.
Wheels:
P21S Wheel Gel
0000 Steel Wool
Engine Compartment:
Simple Green
ONR at QD mix
Meguiars detailer
Door Jams and inner trunk lid:
ONR QD wash
Poli Seal
Exterior:
NXT wash
Zaino Clay
2000 grit wetsand
M105, Orange LC 5.5 pad, PC 6
Ultrafina, Blue LC CCS 6.5 pad, PC 6
ZPC, White LC 5.5 pad on mirrors and black trim
Topped with P21S 100% wax
Cleaned exhaust tips with 0000 steel wool.
Total time including driving, setup/teardown = 13.5 hours
Gas to fill up the van = $61.00
Meguiars 105 = $32.00
3M Ultrafina = $45.00
The look on Mom's face when she saw the finished product for Mother's Day = PRICELESS!
The neighbors thought I was crazy when I was washing the car in this:
This was AFTER washing and before clay! There were a lot of contaminants in/on the paint:
Engine before. I don't think it was cleaned in 8 years:
After:
Scratches that ran all the way down the right side:
More:
After:
The car got a lot of wetsanding:
The mirrors and black trim were in pretty bad shape:
After Z-PC: (sorry, photo is a little blurry)
Hood before. Heavy swirls and RIDS. No definition in light reflection:
After on hood. Crystal Clear!
Nice reflection of the kids playing in the rain:
Trunk lid:
The wheels after steel wool and Poli Seal: (yes, the tire was almost flat)