2002 Trans Am paint restoration

The Enforcer

New member
I've had a friend's car at the house since earlier in the week, and put about 13-14 hours into detailing it the best I could. I did a 2-step polish and acheived probably an 85% correction on it. The deeper scratches and swirls are still there, just less noticeable. Here's the process...



-degreased and washed with Dawn detergent to strip the wax

-all-purpose cleaner (APC) diluted 5:1 for the wheel wells

-APC diluted 10:1 for wheels, inner wheels, and lower parts of the car that had a lot of grime.

-clayed with an agressive Clay Magic bar to remove and fallout, and overspray that was on random parts of the car

-wiped down with IPA (rubbing alcohol mixed 50/50 with water) to make sure every bit of wax or silcone was off the car and the paint was as bare as possible for compounding.

-i used an Edge double-sided pad for all the polishing. wool on one side, white foam on the other

-compounded with M105 using wool......also picked up a new Makita buffer, this thing rocks.

-followed M105 with M205 and finishing pad

-same polishing process for taillights and center section

-IPA wipedowns were done between each step of polishing to make sure the oils from the previous polish were not left behind.

-all exterior plastics and rubber cleaned and protect for F303 Aerospace Protectant

-tires dressed in Blue Satin

-wheel lips polished with Mothers Mag polish, along with the corsa tips

-wax and protected with Mothers #26



Before pics



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There was a bad stain on the right decal here from when the dusted for fingerprints when it was stolen. Jay wanted it off, no problem for 105/205

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Easy on me, I have only been detailing for exactl a year now, and this is car #15 or so. EVERY car I have done, I have used this Edge buffing pad. As you can see, the results arent 100%, but are still OK....I only charged $160 for this. Now, I'm going to look into buying the 3m double sided pads equivalent to the eDGE SYSTEM that 3M bought out....when the price comes down. But I absolutley LOVE this adapter and the double sided pads, they are great!
 
I think you did an excellent job on this beautiful car, do you have any full car pics? or any pics of the engine or interior? I just got done detailing my 98' trans am from the same condition maybe worst, its a hard task! Great Work and Continue the Good Work
 
Well for only doing this for a year (I'm in the same boat), you did one hell of a good job! It may not be perfect but it's a whole lot better then the before shots!



Keep up the great work!
 
DetailnByDustn said:
I think you did an excellent job on this beautiful car, do you have any full car pics? or any pics of the engine or interior? I just got done detailing my 98' trans am from the same condition maybe worst, its a hard task! Great Work and Continue the Good Work



Thank you! I didnt take any full car shots, but these are from back in April that the owner took.



Blackbird/Mecham - Club Hi Octane



The car is full bolt ons right now....and soon to be a 383/nitrous car. I see you're from Mars Hill....I used to go up there twice a year to place baseball against Mars Hill, I played for USC-Upstate and grduated last year.



Underdawg736GTC said:
Well for only doing this for a year (I'm in the same boat), you did one hell of a good job! It may not be perfect but it's a whole lot better then the before shots!



Keep up the great work!



Appreciate it....I can usually achieve about a 95% correction, but with the time frame I had, and the money he was willing to pay, this is all I got. Still....for $165, you won't find that anywhere else!



SonicBlue05GT said:
wow, nice clean up... are those wheels chrome? I've only seen polished ones.



Appreciate it! The wheels are all chrome, except for the lips on the rear wheels. Not sure why they were left polished, but thats how it is!
 
i polished it the same way.......just used the lowest speed on my makita and feathered the trigger when using the wool pad. when i stepped up to the foam polishing pad, i went at it like normal.
 
The Enforcer said:
Thanks man! Nothing like the NBM T/A you restored on here recently, but I'm striving for that!



You're welcome. Next time, after M105, give Menz SIP a try, it tends to work better on Fbodies than M205.



Very good job though. Those wheels can be a pain and they look great too.
 
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