Sometimes we need one to bring us back to reality. Like most on here, I started off with daily drivers, though I have been spoiled as of late. The owner of this truck is one of my favorite clients, so I was more than happy to see if I still had the
endurance/stamina for a big ol' truck that had never been detailed.
The good: The majority of the paint came out flawless and very deep
The bad: The was some pretty severe water etchings that did not budge after 4 pass of twisted wool on the rotary. Given how soft I have experience Ford truck paint to be, I didnt' want to push my luck any further, though I will say that there was a 90-95 percent elimination of the water etchings over the surface of the truck.
The ugly: The front bumper has been hammered by insects, and the paint was actually flaking off in areas of the front. Of course this beyond my control, though the truck does look good enough that the owner is going to have the front resprayed. I may wetsand some of the few areas that remain with etchings to go for that 100 percent look.
Exterior:
Wash with
Meguiars Hyperdressing, two bucket method
Clean rims with P21s Wheel Gel, left to dwell for 45 minutes
Clean tires/wheel wells with Meguirs APC 10:1
Clay with Zaino Z18 clay bar, using
Meguiars Last Touch as lube
Polished with...
-
Menzerna PG on a Shlegal Twisted Wool pad- 2000 rpms for 1 pass (2-4 on passes
stubborn areas) @ 1800 rpm
- Menzerna S.I.P. on a LC White
CCS pad (7 1/2 inch beveled) @ 1200-800 rpm
LSP's
- Zaino
AIO over glass/trim/rim with PC @ 5 on a LC Blue CCS pad (6 inch)
- Zaino CS
Tires dressed with Meguiars Hyperdressing 3:1 (along with wheel wells)
Interior:
Vaccum
Carpets/Floor mats shampooed by hand using Meguiars APC 7:1
Trim, vinyl wiped using Meguiars APC 10:1
Seats cleaned/conditioned using Zaino Z9 on the PC @ 5 with a brush, Z10 by hand
Plastic, vinyl, trim dressed with 303
Stoner's IG on interior glass/mirrors/ect
Engine:
Degreased with Meguiars
Super Degreaser
Dressed with Meguiars Hyperdressing 4:1 and 3:1
Pictures/Story
A couple befores of the engine, it was dirty but not overly greasing (if that makes sense)
70,000 miles of stains and dirty on the floor mats (you can see I was working outside, and the sun was coming over the house, which effected my exposure on some of the photos)
70,000 miles of grim in the seats
I washed the outside of the car first, while I still had shadow to work with, then moved to the interior for a little while. I started by vacumming, followed by scrubbing the carpets and floor mats with APC...
Half of the hood was still covered in the house's shawdow, so I took a break from the interior and masked off the hood to try a test section (the sun was moving fast, so I could polish the cool surface in the shadow).
Pretty rough to begin with...
50/50, that looks much better
Looks like Powergloss/Twisted wool would to the cutting and Menzerna SIP/white pad would restore full clarity and gloss, I was pretty happy with the results so far
The sun was now breaking and since I was enjoying my break from the interior, I decided to finish up the entire drivers side before it became to hot. Much to my dismay, I discovered a lot of water staining and etching, but did my best with in reason to cut it out. A common question on this board is "how do I know if my polish is broken down" so I snapped a couple photos of S.I.P. fully worked in. You can see how it is "clear" but still visible on the surface.
By the time the I was finished with the driver side the sun was completely overhead, so I snapped off another half and half of the hood. I had to close the shutter to avoid washout, but you can see that the photo did come out a little dark. Eitheways, I was impressed by how much darker and richered the polished paint looked compared to the unpolished side, not to mention the lack of the swirl marks.
Since I was enjoying the polishing, and have found that Menzerna works well in direct sunlight, I finished off the hood and front fender as well.
Since the Menzerna was working well in the sun, I finished polishing the rest of the Expedition then went to work on the leather seats. They had 70,000 miles of grim and dirt and required a lot of work to rehab.
At first I started with Z9 and brushed it by hand, but this made little to no improvement. I grabbed the PC and a 4 inch bristle brush and went to work. Here is a 50/50 before and after shot, which required about 3 passes with Z9 to fully lift the grim out of the leather.
A couple more shots from different angles
I spent 45 minutes on the front seats, then as I was moving to the back, the heavens opened and we got pounded by tropical force rain
I washed the car with Z7 to remove the polishing oils and dust from the menzerna, gave it a quick rinse and let the pounding rain to the rest.
After the rain let up, I quickly dried the car with a leaf blower and gave it a Z6 wipedown to avoid any spotting. Then I finished up the engine before jumping back into the interior.
I finshed up the interior, dressed it, and spend another 30 mintues detailing the jambs, which like the rest of the car, had a lot of grim and flith.
You can see how nice the jambs came out, along with the interior.
The end in site, I PC'd AIO on the full exterior (minus the body), topped with CS (I have heard that Zaino reforumlated CS recently, I am not sure. I can tell you that the wetness and gloss I picked up from my newest bottle where leaps and bounds above anything I have used before and really added a whole new level of gloss and wetness to the paint. I personally have never been more blown away, but I will let you be the judge).
The afters...
You can see some of the missing chunks of paint in the front bumper from years of bug guts (I think I forgot to mention how long it took me to clean the front bumper when I washed the car). Anyways, the gloss and wetness from one coat of CS was stunning.
bet you busted your a$$ on it, but the work you done is awesome, the interior and exterior was a 100% turnaround. So clear seal is much more better looking than before? maybe sal is trying to stay one step of everyone.
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