Italian Resurrection - Rare 1985 Lamborghini Jalpa 3 Day Detail

[Joe Metlow]

From 1981-1988 only 410 Lamborghini Jalpas were produced. This is a rare car with tons of character.


This car might be familiar to some, If you have ever seen Rocky IV, Sylvester Stallone had a black one in the movie, there is actually a scene of him waxing/cleaning it! (And Yes it is a swirled out mess)




One of the things that stands out to Jalpa owners/enthusiasts is in the movie Stallone has a Black Jalpa and a Red Countach (seen in the photo above) , But is seen waxing and driving the Jalpa over the Countach!


Here is a clip from Rocky IV of Sylvester Stallone driving the Jalpa while the song "No Easy Way Out" By Robert Tepper plays.







Now that we know how cool of a car the Lamborghini Jalpa is, let`s see what were up against.


Before Condition


The owner told me the car was re-painted in modern times, So Of course I expected to see holograms, sanding marks, and swirls.


I was not disappointed, This car was bad, REALLY bad.









































Washing/Decon


It was pouring rain outside, So I did a rinseless wash inside the shop.


Of course my Rinseless wash of choice is McKee`s 37 N914, This is the ideal rinseless wash to use before you start any paint correction process, It has excellent cleansing power and you are not going to be adding anything to interfere with your polishing stages.




A few pumps of N914 in my bucket.









After I washed the Jalpa, I started the claying process. The car was heavily contaminated.



I cleaned the Wheels/Tires inside the shop using N914 and Tire & Rubber Rejuvenator.



Agitating the dirt to suspend it into N914`s foam to gently wipe it away.


(If you are cleaning wheels/tires inside a shop, I use some shop towels at the bottom to catch all the dirt.)






Paint Correction


This paint was on the softer side of the spectrum, I was getting good results with Fast Polish and a cutting pad, However in the areas that were more damaged more passes were required to get the finish we were trying to achieve.


After multiple tests, I found it was necessary to pair Fast Compound and a Lake Country HDO Microfiber Cutting pad.
It was leveling all the severe scratches and sanding marks.








The paint was responding well to this combo, I was leveling all the defects. You can see the slight haze/micro marring. But this was going to be a breeze to clean up in the second step.





Before





After



Opposite Side.




Before





After



It was time for the second step to refine the surface, For this step we used Fast Polish + Orange Lake Country HDO Foam Polishing Pad.



Flawless finish.








Waxing/Protecting


With the polishing stages all done, I needed to remove any dust/debris before we applied wax to our flawless finish.


I wiped the entire car down with N914 @ Waterless Wash Ratio.


Using N914 before you apply any waxes/sealants/coating is IDEAL due to the fact that it is not going to interfere with your process. N914 features no polymers/gloss enhancers/waxes/sealants.



To protect our flawless finish, We are going to apply a coat of the all new McKee`s 37 Trademark Poli-Coat.



Dabbing the face of the pad across the section I am going to work.



Spreads out nice and thin.









After waiting about 15 mins for the Poli-Coat to haze, I effortlessly buffed off to a high gloss slick finish.



Wipes off with no effort.





After Shots


Time to reflect on our hours of hard work.



















The money shot!



I worked on this car for 3 days straight, the result was well worth it, and my client loves his Jalpa even more than before!


I think the song that was played in Rocky "Theres no easy way out" is very appropriate song for detailing, Because when you are chasing perfection there is indeed "No easy way out!"


- Joe Metlow / Next Level Auto Detail




Product List:
N914
Tire & Rubber Rejuvenator
Gloss Tire Gel
Fast Compound
Fast Polish
Trademark Poli-Coat
Lake Country HDO Microfiber Cutting Pad
Lake Country HDO Foam Polishing Pad
Flex XFE-7-15

[tom p.]

Joe, wonderful job! I haven`t seen one of those cars for a long time. Looks great !!!

[Accumulator]

Joe Metlow- Noting that !Gee, of COURSE it turned out great..you`re good at this stuff! ....

Thanks for sharing this one. That`s one of the the very few mid-engined Lambos that I like the looks of and there aren`t that many of `em around to admire.

[Ronkh]

Beautifully done

[dschribs]

Awesome work. Awesome car.

[Justins00ss]

Sick! Great job man. That`s one for the portfolio!

[ShakingHorizons]

Great looking car!

What light are you using to show the defects?

[LEDetailng]

That is such a cool car. As a kid going up on the 80`s I only really remember seeing Countach posters/photos. The Jalpa has some great design to it as well. The rear is all Lamborghini and looks like an exotic, and front styling looks very subtle. I love it!

Great work and write up as usual.

[Pats300zx]

Amazing work Joe. Exactly how red should look

[Lonnie]

Joe:
First off, "Thanks" for posting pictures of this particular detail. I am impressed with three things:
1) The Lambo and your workmanship;
2) The other exotic and classic muscle cars in the background;
3) The large and extremely clean shop/garage you are working in.

One question I have is the Flex polishing machine you used in this detail is the newer XFE-7-15 long throw DA that compares to and competes with the Griot`s Garage BOSS and Rupes MarkII Bigfoot. Have you used either of these other polishing DAs and, if so, what do you like about the Flex XFE-7-15 DA over these other polishing machines?
Or if you have not used the others, what made you decide to buy the Flex over them? (If it was given to you by a generous detailing supplier to try out, you are fortunate. BUT then again, you are posting this detail which is just good PR and advertising on their part.)

[RaydiantDetail]

great work Joe! Car looks even better now!

[gianlu]

Wow, now the Jalpa shines .

[House of Wax]

She looks flawless. Well done sir

[RTexasF]

The car, the work done, the write up, and the shop are all beyond reproach. Every noob that washes & waxes his car thinking he "detailed" it needs to see this thread.