JUNE Xtreme Detail: Father's Day Minivan!

[White95Max]

This is my dad's minivan, a '94 Plymouth Grand Voyager. I've been disgusted with it since I started detailing, but never had the products/experience/courage to tackle it. Now that I have more experience, a rotary and tons of supplies, I decided that since my parents went on vacation, it would be a perfect time to detail the van and surprise my dad when he gets home.

*Links are provided to my Gallery pics if the PhotoBucket pics will not show up for you*

Process was:

Wash
SSR3 via rotary and yellow pad on speed 2
SSR2.5 via rotary and green pad on speed 2
SSR2.5 via PC and green pad on speed 6
Clearkote Red Moose Machine Glaze
Wolfgang Deep Gloss Sealant
Nattys

AIO/VM on glass (explained below)
AIO/WG on wheel covers
WG gel on tires
303 Wiper Treatment on wipers
303 Aerospace Protectant on plastic trim/mirrors
Einzett Chromepflege on chrome
Mothers Plastic Polish on headlights/taillights


Here's what it looked like when I went out to start:







Doesn't look too bad right?

After a wash, here's what's uncovered:









Lots more pics coming...

EDITED: I had 2 reports of the pictures not showing, so I am in the process of moving my Photobucket pics to the Autopia gallery.

[White95Max]

Not much to look at here...




More coming...

[White95Max]

Before I started to tackle the horrible swirls, I decided to clean up the engine bay:

Process:

Ran engine for about 30 seconds
Sprayed a very fine mist of water from the hose onto the engine bay
Sprayed 303 Aerospace Cleaner diluted 3:1
Allowed to sit for ~5 minutes
Rinse with a fine mist of water
Sprayed again with Meg's APC/water mix 3:1
Scrub with a sponge
Rinse with a fine mist of water
Spot rinse with a spray bottle
Wipe stubborn areas with a WalMart MF
Dry with another WM MF
Dress with NXT Tech Protectant

Before:





Yeah I didn't trust the hood prop to hold up the heavy hood. It made this cracking sound when I let the hood down on it!


EWWW greasy! That MF promptly received a spot in the garbage can.



Normally I do engines entirely by hand (no hose, no spray bottles), but I knew that there was just too much grease and dirt in there to do it all by hand.

After:



Products Used for engine bay cleaning:



MORE coming...

*EDITED after transferring pics from photobucket to the Autopia gallery.*

[White95Max]

During swirl removal...




And after many hours of polishing...










Yep still a few more pics...

[White95Max]

Other problem areas included a couple scratches on the passenger side quarter panel, and hard water spots on the glass. My dad has washed the van many times, but never dried it




After:





Water spots:

I used AIO with an orange pad on a Pinnacle Polishin Pal to remove the spots. It took some scrubbing, but came out well. Since I prefer VM on glass rather than AIO, I applied VM after I got the spots out with AIO.

You can see the water spots here, particularly to the right of the sun:



After:








*EDITED after transferring pics from PhotoBucket to the Autopia gallery*

[White95Max]

So here's what it looks like now...










Products used:





*EDITED after transferring pics from PhotoBucket to the Autopia gallery*

[rockstar_style]

Great job, Paul! You documented the process really well. How did your dad react?

[Idz21]

wow that an excellent job Paul. I'm verrrry impressed. So many products used! That's the downfall of our obsession I guess

The car looks brand new, and the engine bay looks squeeky clean. A+


I wish I had a basement where I could put up all my towels and such.

[SpoiledMan]

Looks like you spooked the dog or he doesn't remember that "mirror" being there.

[a.k.a. Patrick]

Nice work Skaw!!

[J.J.]

Those were definitely super swirls if I've ever seen some. Nice job removing them. What did you think of the rotary?

JJ

[andrewcbho]

Very nice! That van looked like it had some deep swirls! did you get a chance to polish the bumpers as well?