Lincoln Continental Keeper's Makeover - autoLavish rejuvenates vehicle 8 years!

[MuttGrunt]

While we were working on the Black 997 we posted last week, a neighbor in the sub, while walking her dog, passed by. Literally amazed by the Porsche (what she said), she stopped to watch. I walked out to our truck to grab something, and stopped to talk to her. She asked what we were doing...

So after delivering the Porsche, we drove down the street for an estimate. The client needed a full interior deep clean and a nice wash & wax. We set the date for Monday morning.

Upon arrival on a beautiful day:













Interior befores:









Notice the shine on the leather. This is accumulated oils and soils clogging the leather's pores. Just like the paint, the smoother the surface the more gloss it has. Leather should sheen, but not gloss.











The carpets would need extraction:







Dash will need dusting before cleaning. If you wipe with just water on a MF towel before wiping with cleaner, the towel works better, and less grime gets entrapped in the vinyl texturing. It only take a few minutes more. For a dirty dash, we rinse with water after wiping/brushing with cleaner. Then finish off with protectant or 1Z Cockpit (I love this stuff!!) depending on desired finish and protection needs.







We started by dry-vacuuming the seats and carpet:





Tools for first round of leather cleaning:



working in the Woolite blend with a leather brush:



after one wipe to remove the brushed up slurry:





But the seats already look MUCH better. The gloss is nearly all gone. The leather brush really helps to open up the leather's pores and wrinkles.



We then applied Leatherique Penetrating Oil, and proceeded to work on the exterior, giving the oil time to do its magic. This stuff really works, on the right type of leather. I find I have to apply fairly heavy to get good "wetness". If you apply too little, you can get blotching soon after finishing up. Opposed to many products, a little more here goes a long way.

[MuttGrunt]

The engine had never been washed as far as we could tell:







We foamed the engine to get the light stuff of first:



Then proceeded with Megs Super Degreaser at 4:1 dilution, rinsed with the pressure washer, and dressed with Megs Hyper Dressing at 2:1. The plastic surfaces were wiped off to even out the dressing:







The client wanted a good waxing for the finish, not correction at this time since it would go over her budget. We decided to use Klasse AIO applied by the PC, to see if we could get any "bonus" correction. After claying with Meg's Clay, we used a white pad (Next time we may try an orange pad), and got slight correction. The AIO was applied very fast, barely working it in due to time running out. Still, the correction was pretty good! I must say, in person the difference is quite dramatic!











After the exterior and engine were completed, we returned to the interior. The Leatherique Penetrating Oil had dried and surfaced:





...but more cleaning was in the seat's future. Marc has some very cool brushes for the PC, in various stiffness and bristle lengths. We chose the best one for the leather (short, medium stiffness), and applied Woolite and Lexol Leather Cleaner to the seats, and let the PC do the scrubbing. This worked amazingly well! We ordered another set of brushes for the second PC in our arsenal.









Scrubbed side:



Un-scrubbed side:



After final wiping with Lexol Conditioner:

[MuttGrunt]

Dash after final wipe with Megs Interior Detailer (no 1Z on hand this time ):













The trunk was vacuumed, and the spare was wiped (both sides) and cleaned.





Jambs were cleaned with #34 and/or ONR at QD dilution:





The owner uses reusable grocery bags, and had a few in the trunk among other things. We folded everything up, and put it into bags to help organize.



And here are the final shots. Total time was about 6 hours with Marc and I running full speed. The owner was quick to put it back in the garage as it was clouding over quickly:











The client wanted to freshen up her vehicle since she wanted to keep it. After the rejuvenation she saw it had strong potential, and is considering going after some multi-step correction in the near future. When we did the estimate we warned her that this detailing stuff can be habit forming. We told her so!

Thanks for reading. We hope you enjoy!

Jacob and Marc,

autoLavish

[dheath]

I have to say, every time I see your posts I am amazed at the amount of detail you guys go through to make every car look brand new.

[wagonproject]

Very nice work!

What kind of extractor do you use?

[bufferbarry]

Very nice and informative write up. I really like the attention to detail on this one guys. Its not always about a fully correction. What it boils down to is customer sastifaction. As they are the best advertisement. you guys are doing some nice work. keep it up! by the way marc i like the bracelets!

[MuttGrunt]

Originally Posted by dheath

I have to say, every time I see your posts I am amazed at the amount of detail you guys go through to make every car look brand new.

thank you, and that's always our goal!

Originally Posted by wagonproject

Very nice work!
What kind of extractor do you use?

Thanks! The floor mats were cleaned with folex/apc/soap and water and then hit with the shop vac, followed by letting them finish drying in the sun

Originally Posted by bufferbarry

Very nice and informative write up. I really like the attention to detail on this one guys. Its not always about a fully correction. What it boils down to is customer sastifaction. As they are the best advertisement. you guys are doing some nice work. keep it up! by the way marc i like the bracelets!

Thanx barry! and send me your address so i can send you this stuff I set aside!
I agree it's not always about the 95%+ correction rate, and in this case the leather/interior was the clients (and therefor our) main focus.

and thanx - but i'd much rather give them up and have Combs and Perrott back

Honor the fallen: Army Staff Sgt. Casey D. Combs

Honor the fallen: Army Sgt. Dustin J. Perrott

[H.E.D]

what a turn around. Amazing work . Looks brand new.

[Mark77]

Another great job.. I didn't think the leather would come out that well, guess leather that has gone that bad is impossible to get perfect.. Everything else looks brand new..

[MuttGrunt]

thanx guys!