2000 Trans am - project resurrection

gofast908z · 02-06-09, 04:17

I thought I'd share this job with you guys, one of the most extensive ones I've done. Also was the inspiration for me to get a rotary! Wayyy too many passes with the PC.

The car is a 2000 TA owned by my uncle and he was about to sell it. He has washed it before (he said about twice a year), but I don't think he EVER cleaned the brake dust off the wheels. They are the toughest baked on brake dust i've ever come across. Had to bust out the #0000 steel wool and Mothers Chrome Polish to even make a dent in it.

Here is where i'm starting from: EEK!

The horrible wheels:

AFTER cleaning them!

After an hour of polishing: (still need to get the stuff in the corners)

Removed some oxidation with a little ScratchX just for kicks. (will re-buff later)

....more pics to come...

gofast908z · 02-06-09, 04:38

Altogether, the wheels took 8 hours.

Oh, and this stuff that looks like loose dirt, is not actually. So no, i didn't toss some dirt on it to make it look worse LOL. Its some kind of pollen or something that is bonded to the surface. Gonna take a lot of work to remove it.

Took 2 washes to get all the grime off, yuck. I used some Z-12 (Zaino Clear Glass Polish) on all the windows. And used Z-14 (Zaino Plastic Magic Cleaner & Polish) on the 3rd brake light. Here are some pics

T-top 1/2 done with Z-12. (the white dots are just dust from the towel)

After the Z-14 on the 3rd brake light

The glass after the Z-12 was finished

more to come....

sal329 · 02-06-09, 06:35

Looking great

AcuraYYZ · 02-06-09, 06:39

It's amazing how someone can own a car with chrome wheels and let them get so bad they're not even recognizable. Even a non-autopian would know to clean them somehow.

sstg · 02-06-09, 07:11

Thank you for rescuing that car,shame to let it get that bad.

gofast908z · 02-06-09, 07:41

some more pics......

*note: I was fairly new with the PC when I did this. LOVE my rotary now*

I clayed the car and buffed a section on the right front fender. Here is what I used
2 passes with Meguiares #83 with the burgundy Megs cutting pad
1 pass with Megs #83 with a Lake Country Orange med. cut pad
2 passes with Megs #80 with the yellow Megs polishing pad
Then finished with Megs Final Touch Detailing Spray.

Here are the before and afters:

After (btw, those lines on the left are reflections, not scratches)

Here are the horror pics of the inside.

*warning, small children should leave the room. graphic images*

lol

....more to come.....

mblgjr · 02-06-09, 08:03

Goodness! I really don't see how people can "not care" how their car looks like...at least rinse it off or something once a month...geez.

gofast908z · 02-06-09, 10:24

underside of the hood:

dirty engine bay:

Flip up lights rarely get cleaned:

Plastic trim is looking pretty gray:

After a little polishing with the buffer:

Polished, cleaned, and reassembled :

Before and afters for the floormats:

BEFORE:

Here are the floormats finished.

gofast908z · 02-06-09, 10:28

Here is a pic of washing the car down after the polishing (pre-zaino)

Look at how well the water is beading!!! I love that!

Here is a breakdown of the time put into the car up to this point. Some interior work is still incomplete though.

-8 hours on all 4 wheels
-3 hours to wash twice preceeding claying
-6 hours to clay
-2 hours to rewash and dry
-1 1/2 hours to tape the car off
-15+ hours of buffing
-2 hours spend on floormats
-1 hour on inside of windows
-2 hours polishing outside of windows
-2 hours cleaning front leather / dash / console
-2 hours rewashing car after buffing then drying
-2 hours applying 2 coats of zaino (i was exhausted lol)
-1/2 hour detail spray
-15 min tires
-then lots of pics

After polishing and Zaino. Interior pics to come...

gofast908z · 02-06-09, 10:31

gofast908z · 02-06-09, 10:32

Here are the final pics for ya:

Lumadar · 02-06-09, 10:37

Awesome turn around.

You should consider some M105 and M205- my guess is it would have cut your polishing time roughly in half.