04 Saleen prepped for a show - and it won!!!

[imported_weekendwarrior]

This car belongs to "droptop216" (Mike). I detailed the car back in May - a full rotary job. Well, Mike had entered it a while back in the Carolina Regional Mustang Show that was held yesterday, in the concours competition. We detailed it last weekend for the show. There was a driver division, and a concours division. Mike entered it in the concours division, because he wanted his engine to be seen. In the driver division, engines weren`t evaluated. "Sal329" asked me a while back if he could help with a detail sometime, so he was nice enough to come over and help on this one. Mike, Sal, and I all started working on the car last Saturday at 8:00am. Between the 3 of us, we put 20 hours in the car. Mike`s car is a driver, and he doesn`t own a garage. We knew we really had to step our game up to make Mike`s car competitive against some other Mustangs that are pampered and trailered around, and don`t see near the usage Mike`s does.



Mike ended up taking home Gold for the 99-04 concours division. Way to go Mike!!! You should be proud of your car.



Sal and I detailed the engine bay with various brushes, rags, and sponges. I pulled the trunk liner out and cleaned the spare tire area - even though Mike doesn`t carry a spare for weight savings. Mike cleaned the painted surfaces inside the trunk, and under the trunk lid with Duragloss 501. He also used 501 on the painted surfaces under the hood. The wheels were pulled, and Sal detailed them using everything from Swissvax brushes, to microfiber mits, to clay, to his finger nails. They were also cleaned and sealed with Duragloss 501. While the wheels were off, Mike cleaned the suspension, wheels wells, and brakes.



On the interior, we used Meguiar`s QID for a nice natural look, and Gold Class leather conditioner on the seats, shifter and hand brake boot. The white painted ares on the door panels received Dodo Supernatural.



The paint only needed a light polishing, as Mike has taken good care of it since my May detail. Mike had never used a buffer of any kind, and Sal is only experienced with the PC. Sal decided he wanted to use a mix of Optimum Polish and M105 with the PC, and it seemed to do a nice job. The car was then waxed with Dodo Supernatural.



Meguiar`s Hyperdressing 3:1 was used on the top, engine, tires, and wheel wells.



Onto the pics...

Sal cleaning the wheels

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u307/dstrum_photos/Dogs265.jpg

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u307/dstrum_photos/Dogs266.jpg



I used a Powerball and M105 on the exhaust

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u307/dstrum_photos/Dogs272.jpg

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u307/dstrum_photos/Dogs273.jpg

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u307/dstrum_photos/Dogs275.jpg



In process shot of the suspension...Mike was about working on this

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u307/dstrum_photos/Dogs281.jpg

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u307/dstrum_photos/Dogs276.jpg



Sal polishing

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u307/dstrum_photos/Dogs282.jpg



The wheels are blinging!!!

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u307/dstrum_photos/Dogs283.jpg

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u307/dstrum_photos/Dogs284-1.jpg



After Dodo

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u307/dstrum_photos/Dogs285-1.jpg

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u307/dstrum_photos/Dogs286-1.jpg

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u307/dstrum_photos/Dogs287-1.jpg

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u307/dstrum_photos/Dogs288-1.jpg

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u307/dstrum_photos/Dogs291-1.jpg

Yeah, I was proud of the pipes - LOL

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u307/dstrum_photos/Dogs290.jpg

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u307/dstrum_photos/Dogs294-1.jpg

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u307/dstrum_photos/Dogs295-1.jpg

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u307/dstrum_photos/Dogs298-1.jpg



At the show - Mike did an excellent job wiping it down upon arrival

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u307/dstrum_photos/Dogs303-1.jpg

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u307/dstrum_photos/Dogs300-1.jpg

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u307/dstrum_photos/Dogs304-1.jpg

The inside of those wheels are clean enough to eat off of

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u307/dstrum_photos/Dogs305-1.jpg

His dyno sheet

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u307/dstrum_photos/Dogs301-1.jpg



And this made all the hard work worth it!!!

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u307/dstrum_photos/award-412.jpg

[Pats300zx]

Fantastic work. It looks like your hard work paid off....congrats on the win...:2thumbs:

[BigAl3]

congrats! teamwork = :2thumbs:

[Mopar]

Way to go guys! great work, I wish I could have helped

[imported_rydawg]

Great job and congrats on the win!

[imported_RamSus]

Awesome teamwork. Congrats on the win.

[stylin99]

I saw the car at the recent carshow, and can vouch for the super smooth job on this thing. Definitely a show winning detail job. Wish I had the patience for that kind of work. Ha!

[2JZFAN]

Great job David, Sal, and Mike! :xyxthumbs Considering this is a daily driver for Mike and the car has no garage to call home you guys did an amazing job! I really appreciate the effort that goes into a show detail but I`m glad the judges appreciated you superior job too. Keep up the great work!

[Droptop216]

Hey all,

Im the owner of the Saleen and want everyone to know that none, and I mean none of this would be possible without David and Sal putting a ton of elbow grease into prepping for the show. I owe it all to them. Thank you so much for all of your help.

The photo of the award is really for you guys :2thumbs:



Hey Stylin,

Good to see you over here! :hifive:



David will probably say different, but he is a complete perfectionist. He could have let the car leave earlier in the day with some things looking ...ok , but he continued critiquing his own work and going over areas until the paint looked like you could swim in it.



:thx

[pampos]

congrats on the win mate...Fantastic job there......

[JohnKleven]

beautiful work.





John

[Maison]

Congrats!! How did you like DoDo on white?

[roadmaster_Tx]

amazing job guys!

[backwoods_lex]

Excellent work guys. That is a nice addition to both of your resumes (and a great selling point for customers). Awesome car too.

[MarcHarris]

awesome work. attention to detail, teamwork, and taking the time to do it right.



and you should be proud of those pipes and wheels! cleaned up real nice!



also want to know how u like supernatural on white.



beautiful beast, that girl is throw a lot of torque down