2000 Trans am - project resurrection

[white gecko]

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...

[white gecko]

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....

[imported_sal329]

Looking great

[AcuraYYZ]

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]

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

[white gecko]

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]

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.

[white gecko]

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.

[white gecko]

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...

[white gecko]

[white gecko]

Here are the final pics for ya:

[Lumadar]

Awesome turn around.



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

[backwoods_lex]

Wow, nice work there . When I read that you were going to use metal polish and #0000 steel wool on those wheels, I cringed because I thought they were painted and cleared. There was so much dust on the wheels that I didn`t realize that they were chrome...



Jobs like these are my favorite kind of before and afters. Amazing work.

[white gecko]

Awesome turn around.



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

At the time, the most aggressive stuff I had was 83 and the burgundy pad, and that left a fair amount of micromarring with the PC.



Now I`m in love with my Makita rotary with Menz SIP and the orange pad, followed by the Menz Nano :2thumbs:



I do have some 105, but I`ve only used it a couple times.

[white gecko]

thanks guys!