100,000 mile interior

Well, my wife upgraded her little sissy Nissan for a 1997 Regal GS which just turned 100,000 miles. I spent the last 4 days making it into a new car again. The interior took me about 8-10 hours. I used 9:1 APC+, #40, Lexol cleaner, Lexol conditioner, and various things on the glass. The exterior glass had sticker residue, and the interior did as well, plus the tops of the windows had black lines across them from the weatherstripping. Some Zaino Z12 took off all of that, and some cheapy Wal-Mart glass cleaner took off the tons of haze (I think Gunk Foaming Glass Cleaner or something?). I plan to do the glass again with a less streaking cleaner, but that Gunk stuff is really punchy.



I spent all of yesterday washing the car, cleaning the wheels, tires, and wheelwells, then hitting it with DACP and Meg's red and yellow pads, and I used MPPC on the lower rockers. It wasn't perfect, but it was much improved. I then topped it all with MPPP, and put some Endurance on the tires. Unfortunately it was totally dark by the time I was done, so no exterior shots. It rained last night, and the car was in the driveway so that sucks...



I didn't take any before shots of the interior, but it looked like it had seen 100,000 miles of careful neglect. No fries under the seats, but the leather was very brown and all the vinyl surfaces had dirt in the grain. It looked like you'd want to wash your hands after driving it. But not anymore.... Most of the work was done by the 9:1 APC+ and a nylon Oxo scrub brush. It did wonders on the grainy vinyl, and I also used it on the leather because Lexol wasn't cutting it. I used the APC+ on a seat, then quickly wiped it all off and then hit it with warm water and Lexol cleaner to remove any trace of the APC+. It came out fine, and some Lexol conditioner really brought back the softness the leather had been missing. I wouldn't make a habit of using APC+ on leather, but it worked well in this situation.



100,000 miles on the clock:



100k.jpg




100,000 miles on that engine (sprayed and brushed with APC+. I'd cleaned it about a year or two ago with APC+ and Engine Kote):



eng.jpg




Here's the interior (prior to cleaning the outside, so you might see some dirty panels. Also, the drivers floormat just wouldn't let go of that dirt spot in the middle. There is carpet worn away too, so I may just replace it):



intdriv.jpg




intdriv2.jpg




intrear.jpg




intpass.jpg
 
Try a light dusting of grey spray paint (primer?) over the wear on the carpets/mats I have done this myself with excellent results on black carpets/mats,but at least if you were going to replace the carpets/mats anyway you have nothing to loose.
 
Awesome work, as usual. We had a Regal (non supercharged) for driver's ed last year, nice car. I was amazed that when you used the steering wheel controls for the volume, the control on the dash moved with it. I'm entertained easily.
 
Aurora40,



Super job on the interior and engine detail! :bow :bow



Interiors can a bear but they can also be more satisfying to resurrect than exteriors!



Keep up the great work and congrats on the new ride!



Cheers,
 
OH WOW! OH WOW! OH WOW! That is AMAZING work, Aurora40. :bow :bow Are you really serious -- that's a '97?? You sure brought it back to prime-time! :bow
 
Heh, geez, thanks for all the compliments. In reality, the photos gloss over it a bit. The interior does look worlds better, but there are a few black marks on vinyl that wouldn't come off, and a few black marks on the rear seatbacks from who knows what that seem pretty permanent (haven't tried sanding the leather or anything extreme).



It helped a lot that I'd just cleaned the engine a year or so ago. So there wasn't nearly as much crud to remove. And while it is pretty clean, it isn't showcar or anything. :wavey
 
LouisanaJeeper said:
Was this a previous detailing customer's car of something?

:confused:

LOL, I thought I'd mentioned that, but I guess not. It was my dad's car. He upgraded to a 2001 Aurora 4.0... ;)



My parents, grandparents, and I think their parents, have always passed cars along. Since cars have such low value when they get to be 100k and more, but since they still have a lot of car value, they've just always done that.
 
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