MarcHarris
New member
Written by my buddy - owner of autoLavish:
As business grows, my goal has been to keep a high level of quality with my company. As such, clients are happier with the attention to detail to their vehicles, and more people begin to call based off referrals; knowing the level of work to expect by having already seeing it in person. This job in particular is a testament to that scenario exactly, with a client of mine who owns a black 993 putting me in contact with this Porsche race car driver's PR director to prep his vehicle for a show.
Christian Maloof took the plunge and acquired his National Auto Sport Association Pro Race License in 2008 after several years of being a certified performance driving instructor for many high performance clubs to include Porsche Club of America, Ferrari Club, Lamborghini Club, Lotus Car Owners Club, CGI Driving School, and several more. To say the least: the guy is talented at what he does, and in 2007 began racing this amazing Porsche 993 RS CS. In addition to competing in the GTS3 division of National Auto Sport Association races, he also has signed with Freedom Autosport to be a co-driver in a MX-5 ST car participating in the Grand-Am KONI Challenge.
Onto the Porsche! This beautiful baby is considered a 1995 RS Clubsport clone, as none were imported to the United States. As you'll see from the pictures, it has been heavily modified, and the class it runs in is limited to just under 11 lbs per horsepower. As the owner describes it:
"It has a 3.8L race motor, full custom race gear box, stainless steel synchros, Porsche Motorsport Limited Slip diff. The suspension is relatively tame; Bilstein PSS9 custom valved for 600/800 lb springs. Custom hats, monoballs, and very big sway bars. Fully welded and gusseted 1 3/4" cage, 27 gallon fuel cell, triple accelerometer / gps data acquisition, quick release steering wheel, carbon fiber seat and 6 point belts."
With a strict deadline (the 993 was to be shown in a car show in downtown Ann Arbor the next day) and lots to do, I called my buddy Marc (MuttGrunt) from Harris Detail to lend a hand. Even still, this was a complete all-day project: we arrived at 9:30 AM and left just before 11 PM.
Upon arrival began the initial inspection and set-up of equipment
paint was.... dull looking
To begin the work that needed to be done, Stoner's Tarminator was applied to the lower portions which had a lot of rubber build-up while the impressive Porsche Motorsports 3-piece forged wheels and massive 6 piston calipers got a generous helping of P21S Wheel Cleaner Gel.
After agitating the wheel faces, calipers, barrels, and between the spokes with various brushes, the brake dust / road grime residue was flushed away using the pressure washer. This process was then repeated again to get all the accumulated grime off. The dust from race brake pads is caustic and will cause corrosion on wheels and paint if it is not removed promptly. The high temperatures these wheels and dust particles see makes them stick firmer, harder, sooner. This worsens even more if the wheels get wet after the dust is cooked on. Although we did not remove the wheels to clean the underside, our experience with race wheels is they usually look like they are covered in rust and black brake dust and is quite difficult and requires a specialist in wheel refinishing.
agitate
hose
enjoy
Following the wheels, the entire car was pressure washed carefully to help loosen and remove residue / debris from the vehicles surface. Using Meguiar's NTX wash and the foam gun, the car was set to soak. This wash has nothing special about it, its just a good deal and adequate for the first cleaning. This car had not been waxed in quite awhile, would be clayed and polished, so no chemical stripping was necessary. The 993 had to be carefully washed as the driver and passenger windows do not exist. Hopefully any spills onto the driver seat will dry off before tomorrow
This was also the time the rear-end was opened to reveal the engine bay, which was carefully cleaned. We used the tried and proven APC+ at 4:1 with various brushes and some rags to clean whatever we could reach in the engine compartment, which is not much! All electrical connections were greased, and all critical fasteners had paint marks to aid in visual pre and post race inspections. These marks needed to be maintained. Luckily, the APC did not harm the paint marks, and we were able to keep it off the dielectric grease on the connectors. The pressure washer was set on soft flow and used to get the hard stuff off. Since this engine does not have many street miles on it, it was fairly easy to clean. When being rebuilt and serviced at its specific interval (after every season), many of the parts are cleaned. Even with the intense race usage, a race car lacks the dwell time soil and grime stays on the engine in a typical street car. Further, unless the car is raced in the rain A LOT or driven in winter, a race car has much less corrosion in the engine bay than say a SUV. So after washing and drying, a spray with Meguiar's Trim Detailer on the plastics was all that was needed to make this engine bay look as impressive as it really is! The following day we were able to meet the engine builder, who complemented us on the engine detail.
The engine bay housing getting blown-dry
Still it is amazing that 3 people and 2 cameras were not able to get any pictures on the finished engine... doh!
Following a good washing, the paint was clayed using Meguiar's aggressive clay, with Chemical Guy's Luber and Meguiar's Last touch being used as clay lubricant. Aggressive clay was necessary due to the amount of tire marks and buildup on the many contours of the 993 body. The rear fenders being so pronounced receive the grunt of whatever the front tires dish out during the race. Here is an example: before clay
after clay
The PorschePurist.com sticker had bubbles and had to be replaced. With claying completed, The car was re-washed lightly, then dried with an "absorber", a few waffle weave microfiber towels, and the dedicated leaf-blower.
Prior to paint correction, we set out to work on the interior. Usually you'd think a vehicle with a gutted interior would be easy... It turns out that a car with no windows gets a significant amount of dirt / dust in it, and nearly everything needed APC 10:1 with agitation then a good thorough wipe-down. Some areas got APC+ at 4:1! Further, roll cages and fixed back seats means reaching around into the rear quarters and requires a contortionist on the team. Here are some interior before, during, and afters. Notice the black trim not looking quite so black, the red painted portions looking quite dusty/dirty, and how much of a difference an hour of work with three guys makes: even in a race-car.
The remaining black on the floors is residue from the gutting process and could not be removed.
Allow me to pause here and talk a little about this Recaro seat, which was a royal pain in the butt to clean as the short nap grabbed and held every dirt fiber, hair, piece of lint, etc. It was vacuumed, brushed, vacuumed, taken apart, brushed, vacuumed, then finally vacuumed again. Still it did not come out as I expected. Leather is so much easier to work with!
With the interior now taken care of, and a nice Subway lunch completed, it was time for the paint to be exfoliated, polished and protected. Despite the roof's thin single stage paint, the majority of the body was healthy in terms of paint thickness readings.(other than the plentiful war-wounds from track time, and the repainted driver's door which was t-h-i-c-k). On the other hand.... the body was very sick (think black-death plague style) as far as defects.
There was no time to hesitate with a strict deadline approaching. I helped prep the subject for immediate operation by taping up every sticker and all the door moldings.
Test Panel time.... Here we are doing the roof, which was single stage:
before:
after one pass with Ultimate Compound:
after M105 as softly as possible due to the paint's thinness:
single stage coloring my pads, oh noes!! These pads will be just fine after a wash with DP Pad Restore. When you do a clear coated finish the same thing happens, only you cant see "clear" colored paint. Always wash your pads!
The amount of M105 may see heavy, but I wanted to keep the product from drying up too fast. I needed cut, but I needed to cut slowly rather than much. M105 flashes very fast, so you either use the KB method (water spray) or use more product. In this case, using more product resulted in a slower cut and less mess (remember no windows!!).
As business grows, my goal has been to keep a high level of quality with my company. As such, clients are happier with the attention to detail to their vehicles, and more people begin to call based off referrals; knowing the level of work to expect by having already seeing it in person. This job in particular is a testament to that scenario exactly, with a client of mine who owns a black 993 putting me in contact with this Porsche race car driver's PR director to prep his vehicle for a show.
Christian Maloof took the plunge and acquired his National Auto Sport Association Pro Race License in 2008 after several years of being a certified performance driving instructor for many high performance clubs to include Porsche Club of America, Ferrari Club, Lamborghini Club, Lotus Car Owners Club, CGI Driving School, and several more. To say the least: the guy is talented at what he does, and in 2007 began racing this amazing Porsche 993 RS CS. In addition to competing in the GTS3 division of National Auto Sport Association races, he also has signed with Freedom Autosport to be a co-driver in a MX-5 ST car participating in the Grand-Am KONI Challenge.
Onto the Porsche! This beautiful baby is considered a 1995 RS Clubsport clone, as none were imported to the United States. As you'll see from the pictures, it has been heavily modified, and the class it runs in is limited to just under 11 lbs per horsepower. As the owner describes it:
"It has a 3.8L race motor, full custom race gear box, stainless steel synchros, Porsche Motorsport Limited Slip diff. The suspension is relatively tame; Bilstein PSS9 custom valved for 600/800 lb springs. Custom hats, monoballs, and very big sway bars. Fully welded and gusseted 1 3/4" cage, 27 gallon fuel cell, triple accelerometer / gps data acquisition, quick release steering wheel, carbon fiber seat and 6 point belts."
With a strict deadline (the 993 was to be shown in a car show in downtown Ann Arbor the next day) and lots to do, I called my buddy Marc (MuttGrunt) from Harris Detail to lend a hand. Even still, this was a complete all-day project: we arrived at 9:30 AM and left just before 11 PM.
Upon arrival began the initial inspection and set-up of equipment
paint was.... dull looking
To begin the work that needed to be done, Stoner's Tarminator was applied to the lower portions which had a lot of rubber build-up while the impressive Porsche Motorsports 3-piece forged wheels and massive 6 piston calipers got a generous helping of P21S Wheel Cleaner Gel.
After agitating the wheel faces, calipers, barrels, and between the spokes with various brushes, the brake dust / road grime residue was flushed away using the pressure washer. This process was then repeated again to get all the accumulated grime off. The dust from race brake pads is caustic and will cause corrosion on wheels and paint if it is not removed promptly. The high temperatures these wheels and dust particles see makes them stick firmer, harder, sooner. This worsens even more if the wheels get wet after the dust is cooked on. Although we did not remove the wheels to clean the underside, our experience with race wheels is they usually look like they are covered in rust and black brake dust and is quite difficult and requires a specialist in wheel refinishing.
agitate
hose
enjoy
Following the wheels, the entire car was pressure washed carefully to help loosen and remove residue / debris from the vehicles surface. Using Meguiar's NTX wash and the foam gun, the car was set to soak. This wash has nothing special about it, its just a good deal and adequate for the first cleaning. This car had not been waxed in quite awhile, would be clayed and polished, so no chemical stripping was necessary. The 993 had to be carefully washed as the driver and passenger windows do not exist. Hopefully any spills onto the driver seat will dry off before tomorrow
This was also the time the rear-end was opened to reveal the engine bay, which was carefully cleaned. We used the tried and proven APC+ at 4:1 with various brushes and some rags to clean whatever we could reach in the engine compartment, which is not much! All electrical connections were greased, and all critical fasteners had paint marks to aid in visual pre and post race inspections. These marks needed to be maintained. Luckily, the APC did not harm the paint marks, and we were able to keep it off the dielectric grease on the connectors. The pressure washer was set on soft flow and used to get the hard stuff off. Since this engine does not have many street miles on it, it was fairly easy to clean. When being rebuilt and serviced at its specific interval (after every season), many of the parts are cleaned. Even with the intense race usage, a race car lacks the dwell time soil and grime stays on the engine in a typical street car. Further, unless the car is raced in the rain A LOT or driven in winter, a race car has much less corrosion in the engine bay than say a SUV. So after washing and drying, a spray with Meguiar's Trim Detailer on the plastics was all that was needed to make this engine bay look as impressive as it really is! The following day we were able to meet the engine builder, who complemented us on the engine detail. The engine bay housing getting blown-dry
Still it is amazing that 3 people and 2 cameras were not able to get any pictures on the finished engine... doh!
Following a good washing, the paint was clayed using Meguiar's aggressive clay, with Chemical Guy's Luber and Meguiar's Last touch being used as clay lubricant. Aggressive clay was necessary due to the amount of tire marks and buildup on the many contours of the 993 body. The rear fenders being so pronounced receive the grunt of whatever the front tires dish out during the race. Here is an example: before clay
after clay
The PorschePurist.com sticker had bubbles and had to be replaced. With claying completed, The car was re-washed lightly, then dried with an "absorber", a few waffle weave microfiber towels, and the dedicated leaf-blower.
Prior to paint correction, we set out to work on the interior. Usually you'd think a vehicle with a gutted interior would be easy... It turns out that a car with no windows gets a significant amount of dirt / dust in it, and nearly everything needed APC 10:1 with agitation then a good thorough wipe-down. Some areas got APC+ at 4:1! Further, roll cages and fixed back seats means reaching around into the rear quarters and requires a contortionist on the team. Here are some interior before, during, and afters. Notice the black trim not looking quite so black, the red painted portions looking quite dusty/dirty, and how much of a difference an hour of work with three guys makes: even in a race-car.
The remaining black on the floors is residue from the gutting process and could not be removed.
Allow me to pause here and talk a little about this Recaro seat, which was a royal pain in the butt to clean as the short nap grabbed and held every dirt fiber, hair, piece of lint, etc. It was vacuumed, brushed, vacuumed, taken apart, brushed, vacuumed, then finally vacuumed again. Still it did not come out as I expected. Leather is so much easier to work with!
With the interior now taken care of, and a nice Subway lunch completed, it was time for the paint to be exfoliated, polished and protected. Despite the roof's thin single stage paint, the majority of the body was healthy in terms of paint thickness readings.(other than the plentiful war-wounds from track time, and the repainted driver's door which was t-h-i-c-k). On the other hand.... the body was very sick (think black-death plague style) as far as defects.
There was no time to hesitate with a strict deadline approaching. I helped prep the subject for immediate operation by taping up every sticker and all the door moldings.
Test Panel time.... Here we are doing the roof, which was single stage:
before:
after one pass with Ultimate Compound:
after M105 as softly as possible due to the paint's thinness:
single stage coloring my pads, oh noes!! These pads will be just fine after a wash with DP Pad Restore. When you do a clear coated finish the same thing happens, only you cant see "clear" colored paint. Always wash your pads!
The amount of M105 may see heavy, but I wanted to keep the product from drying up too fast. I needed cut, but I needed to cut slowly rather than much. M105 flashes very fast, so you either use the KB method (water spray) or use more product. In this case, using more product resulted in a slower cut and less mess (remember no windows!!).
