Highlight Silver Mazda BT50 - Detailed by Lawrence

[LawrenceSA]

So this vehicle was recently purchased by the owner and has been subjected to quite some abuse over the years. As you can see, it is a workhorse....

There was a lot to do and so I arranged to do the detail over 2 weekends, with some work done in the evenings after work in the week in between - all in all I spent 44 hours on it.


First up, the engine bay:


Before

-Alternator covered with cling wrap
-Spray with Cyclo APC and agitate with various brushes and mf towels
-HP rinse
-Blow dry
-Clean/Polish/Protect painted surfaces using AF Tripple by hand with a MF applicator
-Dressed with Autofinesse Dressel


After

Once that was done it was time to get really dirty.... I spent a few hours on my back cleaning the undercarriage


Before

-Spray with Cyclo APC and agitate with various brushes and mf towels
-HP rinse
-Tire cleaned with Valet Pro Billberry
-Dressed with Shield Sheen


During


Just so you know, even though Billberry smells like strawberry ice-cream, it really doesn't taste much like it :lol:

After

Then it was time to move on to the wheels and arches


Before

During


-HP rinse arches
-Clean with Cyclo APC using a Mothers Fenderwell Brush
-HP rinse

After

Before

During


-Clean tires with Valet Pro Billbery Wheel Cleaner @ 1:6 and a Mothers Tire brush.
-HP rinse
-Repeat tire cleaning
-HP rinse
-Wash wheels and brake calipers with VP Bilberry Wheel Cleaner @ 1:6, Daytona and Daytona Jnr brushes and Valet Pro Boars Hair Brushes
-HP rinse
-Dry
-Remove tar using Autoglym Intensive Tar Remover
-Spray with APC and HP Rinse
-Dry
-Remove bonded and embedded ferrous contaminants on wheels and brake calipers with Autofinesse Iron Out, Daytona (big and small) brushes and Valet Pro Boars Hair Brushes
-HP Rinse + flood rinse


The embedded dirt was so bad I had to hit each wheel at least twice, sometimes 3 times and on one wheel a 4th time. I also used the opportunity to test out an (un-named) iron remover from Crazy Detailer


Here I have sprayed the left side of the wheel with AF Iron Out and the right side with the un-named iron remover.

As you can see it seems to be a bit thicker and clings longer, but, it didn't seem to 'bleed' at all... so I rinsed, and then sprayed the whole wheel with AF Iron Out.

If you ignore the bleeding coming from the lower right wheel nut, there seems to be a pretty similar amount of bleeding across the whole wheel, leading me to conclude that although the un-named iron remover never bled, it still removed as much iron. I have fed back to them though the the bleeding is a useful visual indicator and needs to be present.


-Dry
-Polished with Meguiars Cleaner Wax
-Protected with Menzerna Powerlock
-Tires dressed with 2 coats of Optimum Tire Sheen


After

Continuing with the 'dirty' stuff the Door/Boot Jambs and Petrol Flap areas were cleaned
-HP rinse
-Clean with Cyclo APC and Valet Pro Boars Hair Brushes
-HP rinse


They were then later further cleaned up, polished and protected using Autofinesse Tripple


Before

After

Before

After

Before

During

After

 

[LawrenceSA]

After that it was time to get the car cleaned up in preparation for polishing


Some random pics of stuff on the paint

Wash
-HP rinse
-Applied Chemical Guys Maxi Suds II via Crazy Detailer V2 Foam Cannon, left to dwell
-HP rinse
-Applied Valet Pro Citrus Pre-wash via a spray bottle, left to dwell
-HP rinse
-2BM wash using lambswool wash mitts and a sample shampoo I am testing
-HP Rinse
-Flood Rinse
-Dried using ONR and WW drying towels


Decontamination
-Tar removed using Autoglym Intensive Tar Remover
-Iron removed using Autofinesse Iron Out
-Remaining contamination was clayed off using Shield Heavy Duty clay with ONR as lube.

Then I moved on to cleaning up the rear end.


This involved removing the number plate

Using these goodies

To leave me with this

Then I had to remove a LOT of over-spray

And then I tackled the dirt that had built up around the badges over the years. There was also a lot of spots of blue paint in this area.


Before

During


Process:
-Autofinesse Tripple
-Cotton buds
-MF towels

After

The headlights also needed some attention


Before

In the below pic you can also notice the terrible state of the chrome details

Process on headlights
-Menzerna PF2300 / 4" Lake Country Orange flat pad followed by Menzerna SF4000 / 4" White Lake Country flat pad


Process on chromed details
-Meguiars NXT All Metal Polish


After

Before we get into the paint correction, let't take a look at the interior....


Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Some other random 'before' shots of the interior

Process was:
-Vacuum
-Clean plastics using Shield Heavy Duty Vinly and Rubber Cleaner
-Protect plastics using Aerospace 303 protectant
-Clean fabric seats using Aerospace Spot cleaner

 

[LawrenceSA]

Paint readings were taken and there was no cause for concern, except for the roof, which had clear coat failure, rust spots and was just generally stuffed.... the owner is planning on repainting this section

Time to polish some paint


This is what it looked like to start with

There was also paint transfer and deep scratches and a nasty chip and some etching

And after a 1-step correction using Menzerna PF2300 on the Flex 3401 with Orange Lake Country pads

Before

After

Before

After

The paint was then protected using 2 coats of Optimum Optiseal


Window rubbers were in a terrible state from being left for years but cleaned up nicely, although far from perfect.


Before

After

-cleaned using Shield Heavy Duty Vinyl and Rubber Cleaner
-protected using Aerospace 303 protectant


The same process was used on the exterior plastics


Before

After

All the roll bars had been painted black and once cleaned these were treated to Autoglym SRP worked in with a MF applicator by hand and buffed off

And finally some pics of everything completed

Thanks for looking and as always, and questions or comments are welcome.


:hi:

 

[Ronkh]

Wow !!!

 

[SEEBASS]

Well done. You put life back in it. I wish that model was sold in the States.

 

[TCdetailing]

WOW is right! Nice work.

 

[LawrenceSA]

Thank you all for your kind words - much appreciated!

 

[JSFM35X]

Nice job as usual. It the optimum tire dressing a new product. I am familiar with options but not this one.

 

[Pats300zx]

What a turnaround !!!! Excellent job.

 

[mnehls86]

Looks awesome. Thanks for all the pics. I need to get better about taking more.

 

[LawrenceSA]

Nice job as usual. It the optimum tire dressing a new product. I am familiar with options but not this one.

Thanks. I am not too sure to be honest. Product availability over here in South Africa is not great as everything has to be imported and it is hellishly expensive, so our retailers only carry select items.... I have been sourcing the Optimum Tire Sheen locally for around a year now, so I doubt it is something too new.... it comes in a blue bottle and is called Optimum Tire Shine

What a turnaround !!!! Excellent job.

Thanks very much

Looks awesome. Thanks for all the pics. I need to get better about taking more.

Thanks. I must admit I still often find it difficult to stop detailing to take pics.... fortunately with this vehicle being with me over 2 weekends and the week in between I had ample opportunity to snap away....

 

[donbeezy]

wow great job. the pics were awesome, the bokeh on the emblem is like butter. oh yeah the detail itself is awesome too B)

 

[LawrenceSA]

wow great job. the pics were awesome, the bokeh on the emblem is like butter. oh yeah the detail itself is awesome too B)

Thank you very much