Black Porsche 997 refreshed by autoLavish

[MuttGrunt]

The Porsche 911 series cars are without doubt some of the most beautiful and balanced of all time. With this latest write-up, I bring you a beautiful black 997 Carrera S sitting on upgraded wheels and brakes.

I was originally contacted by this owner who jumped at the chance to own his dream car, and has since cared for it dearly. Even though the paint was in the top-tier of the population, the owner wasn't satisfied, and was contemplating using his Ultimate Detailing Machine and other goodies. With a family and full-time job however, he found it a better alternative to outsource the work. Upon the initial inspection with the client, there were very light swirls and very few Random Isolated Deep Scratches, and the paint would be the only thing to see work.

I picked the pretty lady up, brought her back to my place, and started a long day of work. It seemed with a detailer soon to perform their trade, the car gobbled up at much dirt and grime as possible....











Inside the front air dam there were dead dried-out leafs, cigarette buds, and trash that needed to be cared for before the Porsche got her bath.



Vacuumed out









Door jams in need of love





There were several areas with wax residue that needed attention as well - here are a couple









Gas cap area could use a little help as well





To begin, wheels and expensive brake components were doused with P21S wheel cleaner gel







While the wheels dwelled, hard to reach areas got hit with Meg's APC (10:1) and a Swissvax brush while the wheel wells got APC (4:1)













Return to the wheels





Griot's wax residue cleaner was used around the sun-roof then agitated with a precision brush







A thorough rinse followed by a good two bucket wash helped to clean off dirt and grime very easily







Danase mild clay was used and yielded very light contamination while exhaust tips were cleaned with P21S finish restorer + #0000 steel wool













Once rinsed and dried with waffle weave microfibers, we taped off any areas not fit to be hit by buffing pads





Taped off, we tested a section for the best pad+polish combination.

[MuttGrunt]

From this we chose Menzerna 106 on a Lake Country black pad, followed by Menzerna 85RD on a blue Lake Country finishing pad, and got to work.








We weren't willing to settle for a good finish. A "good finish" can be delivered by too many others, and the owner specifically set out for as close to perfection as possible in the time allotted. Here's a section in which you can see the additional amount of gloss and clarity in the paint that was brought out by burnishing with PO85RD + a no cut pad.




That subtle difference is what truly set off the paint's look once completed.


How's this for clarity - my favorite pic of the set in which you can see clearly the printed words on the inside of the halogen lamp housing reflecting off the paint





The bottom ledge of the car under the door entrance was the worst portion of the entire thing. Jacob worked the area with small pads until its finish matched that of the other polished portions






After the final rinse to remove any polishing dust, the car was blown dry with fresh waffle weave microfibers to clean up any remaining droplets. Next up the car needed it's initial layer of protection. Danase Wet Glaze was applied with a PC. The slickness this added truly shocked me as it was my first time trying it out. Surely it is in the top tier of slickness - right up there with Collinite, but without the difficulty to remove.





DWG set, buffed off, and left to cure, we turned our attention to the other small areas. Klasse AIO was used on all the door jams




Aquapel was applied to the windshield for high quality 6 month protection



The "Lucy Shot" of approval




With this, our allotted time was spent, and when the client was contacted about the great progress we made - he agreed to give us a few more hours to do the interior and any other small area we could finish. AWESOME. Jacob and I turned the heat up and got cookin'.






Petals cleaned with woolite (10:1), carpets vacuumed, leather cleaned, dash cleaned with 1Z Cockpit Premium, Leather got Z-10, glass cleaned with Meg's Glass Cleaner Concentrate (make sure to use pure/RO water!)




Final protection came in the form of Dodo Juice Supernatural. DWG laid down a nice coat of slickness and protection for the wax, then SN went on very thin and easy. Left behind was a beautiful deep look








Interior came around nicely, but makes me mad I never had a booster seat in a Porsche growing up

[MuttGrunt]

Final look was outstanding.















The trunk as it should look





Trash thrown out, complimentary microfiber's for the paint in a sealed bag, and the owner's battery tender now secure in a water proof bag as well




License plate that was taken off and cleaned, was finally reinstalled, but got WD-40 to all the screws, and inside the screw housing first.




Finally...






With the vehicle now complete, the sky opened up and rain poured down. Great...





After almost 10 hours with two working, we were finished and even Lucy was beat





The owner shrugged off the rain, knowing things would easily clean off the now polished and waxed surface, and headed off.





Just remember that true gloss can't be hidden by rain nor low light conditions

[ohiostate]

Very nice....

[David Fermani]

Originally Posted by MuttGrunt

W T F ? ? ?

Looks like you're doing jiu-jitsu with the car and you're winning!!

You rock man - Keep up the good work.

Where did you learn your skills? What's your detailing background?

[bufferbarry]

very nice write up! And yes the car did look OUTSTANDING. <~~~ You can tell your military lmao You should stand tall after that detail soldier!

[dheath]

car looks amazing, good job!

just out of curiosity, what towel is in this picture, and was this the same towel you gave to the owner in the trunk?

[TSC17]

Very nice work indeed Marc! Thanks for sharing...

[AZ Ferrari Man]

Wonderful job! I love the lines of the 997 and you made them outstanding. You need to get Lucy a bigger crate, she looks snug in their! lol

[gmblack3a]

Great writeup and excellent work!

[Pats300zx]

Awesome job. I would have cried a little when the owner drove it in the rain in front of me lol....

[MuttGrunt]

Originally Posted by ohiostate

Very nice....

I appreciate it! O-H-!

Originally Posted by David Fermani

W T F ? ? ?
Looks like you're doing jiu-jitsu with the car and you're winning!!
You rock man - Keep up the good work.
Where did you learn your skills? What's your detailing background?

that's Jacob working the underside of the door in this case (the white GT500 I worked on was a solo job so I had to do that then )
Thank you for the compliments, and I'm surprised you don't know the answer to your question: GUYS LIKE YOU!
Research research research. Less and less on products and more and more on technique, then analyzing what people did, why they did it, and why it should or should not work. Systematically planning out products/purchases, etc.

I actually got into detailing because of my personal car. I got back from Iraq, got promoted to PFC and bought a Honda S2000 with 4,5xx miles on it. By the time I was getting back from Afghanistan as a Sergeant, I wanted to take the best care of my car as possibly and make it look as good as possible. Lots of research and money spent later.... car looks great and now I'm doing something I enjoy: transforming other people's cars to the best of my ability. Hooked up with a buddy who I met through an s2000 owner's group that's just as into detailing as me - and now autoLavish is off to a great start!

Originally Posted by bufferbarry

very nice write up! And yes the car did look OUTSTANDING. <~~~ You can tell your military lmao You should stand tall after that detail soldier!

Thanx Barry and it was good chatting with you for awhile last night! don't forget to send me your address!

Originally Posted by dheath

car looks amazing, good job!
just out of curiosity, what towel is in this picture, and was this the same towel you gave to the owner in the trunk?

thank you for the kind words!
The ones in the pic with the wax are Danase Phat Towels, and so far are the nicest I've ever used. Unfortunately, I'm not ballin' enough to give them out though and rather gave the owner a pair of Eurow Shag towels (which are also VERY good - especially for the price).

Originally Posted by TSC17

Very nice work indeed Marc! Thanks for sharing...

thank you Todd! I look forward to seeing what you have coming up next!

Originally Posted by AZ Ferrari Man

Wonderful job! I love the lines of the 997 and you made them outstanding. You need to get Lucy a bigger crate, she looks snug in their! lol

lol appreciate it AZ- and I agree the 997 is a beauty vehicle. Lucy's crate is plenty big (she's only 45 lbs), but she likes to sleep in it sideways rather than long-ways...crazy dog

Originally Posted by gmblack3a

Great writeup and excellent work!

thanx GM! I hope to put out work that looks somewhat near the quality of yours is

Originally Posted by Pats300zx

Awesome job. I would have cried a little when the owner drove it in the rain in front of me lol....

thanx.... and it was pretty tough to see him ride off like that. No worries: giving a discounted wash & wax soon to allow the owner to truly appreciate it, and to get full-sun pics