New Kicks and a Detail for my GF`s Snaab 9-3

[stilez]

My girlfriend and I went up to visit her parents in VT this past weekend for 3 days. We put almost 1000 miles on her car and it was pretty dirty. While she was at work Tuesday and I had a day off, I figured I`d surprise her with a nice detail...



I vacuumed out her interior real well and proceeded to shampoo all the carpets and door upholstery with my Oxy Mix pre-treated with Simple Green. It took 95% of the stains out, leaving only a couple light soils in the driver`s mat. I then hit everything else with a Woolite:Water (1:6) mixture to clean. I then treated any plastic, vinyl, or rubber with 303 Aerospace and conditioned the leather with Lexol. 10 minutes passed as I set up my buffer and then I wiped down all the treated areas as well as the windows. After putting the top up...oh yeah, it`s a piece of cake to work with the top and windows down



Top goes up, and spray goes on... NXT wash and WW Dry (Clayed 1 month ago). I then proceeded to polish via rotary and Meg`s polishing pad @ 1500rpm with #80 Speed Glaze. The Saab clearcoat is `quite` hard, definately harder than normal. Following that, I used VM via rotary and LC polishing pad @1000 rpm using light pressure. Finally, Poorboy`s EX-P as the final sealant.



My thoughts on the VM/EX-P on red were so-so. In partial sun or shade, it looks extremely reflective and vibrantly red, but in direct beating sun, it seems to drown out a bit. Wolfgang is the only sealant that I`ve used that has been able to beat the sun on red.





Well here are a few pics on Tuesday...

















So, we got a nice deal on 2004 Saab 9-3 Aero wheels and got them about 2 weeks ago. Upon arrival, I had to polish out some scuffs with SFP, then I Klasse`d (AIO/SG) them and they had 2 weeks to cure . Well, we finally picked a tire and ordered it Monday and they came in at 9am this morning. Hancook Ventus HR2 in 225/45/17 on a 17x7" rim. I love the tread pattern and have heard very good things from users. While she was working today, I surprised her and got them mounted/balanced and as I began to put them on, of course she pulls home from work early :sosad . So here are a couple pics from today. I used 4 Star`s Gloss Enhancer (QD) with a MF on everything and AA on the tires. Tomorrow I will be topping it with CMW as per her request

[stilez]

Enjoy!

[stilez]

Couple of notes...



The front, passenger side was hit by my gf. She made a much to quick manuever out of the driveway and clipped my basketball hoop :shocked . I clayed and buffed most of the white paint away from the hoop, but the light is cracked and the bumper is pretty mangled. She`s looking into getting a Saab Aero Kit for it.



I am going to need to re-dye the moldings if she doesn`t have them painted. Some are pretty discolored in areas.



I got her the nice little Saab Valve Caps . As far as the lugs, I am going to try to get touch up paint to match the rims and repaint the lugs.



Oh yeah, sorry for photobucket...They re-sized some of my pics

[Thomas Dekany]

I heard good things about hankook tires as well, but at heart I am a TOYO T1S guy. Anyway, I paid $20 more each for some toyos so I didn`t get to try them.

[mnbv]

I have a good question for you. What towels (MF or otherwise, what brand etc) do you use for each of your processes (interior, exterior etc)?

[stilez]

tdekany: She has only driven around the block since and all she said was..."They don`t shake anymore" . Her old rims were gashed bad and tires were on their last legs. This was a must needed investment.





mnbv: For towels I use:



Interior - WalMart MF

Drying - Pakshak or PAC WW

Polishing - Pakshak Blue MF`s

Glaze or Prep-Wax Removal - Viper MF`s

Final Wax/Sealant Removal - Pakshak Ultra Fine (Yellow) MF



I usually use MF applicators with all sealants and preps for them, but for EX-P and NXT I use foam applicators.