P71 Crown Vic, Shelby Mustang, 944, Accord

[Scottwax]

2005 Ford Crown Victoria P71 (aka Police Interceptor). An Austin customer of mine picked up this Wyoming detective's/K-9 car at an auction in Chicago (go figure!) and stopped here in the Dallas area on his way back to Austin. He is selling his current business and taking a job with the government to inspect businesses like he had. He doesn't get a car and he doesn't want to put miles on his '05 Carrera. Plus he wanted something more official looking.



Other than cleaning the wheels and fenderwells, this is how it looked when he showed up.

Washed with ONR and clayed with Opti-Clay:

This wasn't a full correction, no point anyway due to chips in the hood, scuffs, etc. At best it is a decent 5 footer so I went with Meguiars D151 Paint Correction Creme using my G110 and a yellow Meguiars polishing pad. As you can see in this shot, the front door has much better clarity than the passenger door (you can also see missing paint on the side molding, just another reason there was no point going nuts on this car).

After polishing, I sealed the paint with Clearkote's Carnauba Moose.

After I detailed the car, he headed back to Austin, got the windows tinted and order a new push bar for the front. He said the drive down from Chicago was fun, he can get in the left lane, haul you-know-what and cars move out of his way.

 

[Scottwax]

2007 Shelby Mustang GT500. The owner lives next door to a regular customer of mine. Detailed his Jeep a couple years ago and he lost my number so he went next door, got my information and called me out to take care of his new toy.



He pointed out a few light scratches, completely overlooking the cobwebbing, saying he wanted me to remove or minimize the scratches as best as I could. When I mentioned the spider swirls, he just shrugged and said they don't bother him. He said the scratches bothered him a lot more.



I used Optimum Polish II via G110 using a yellow Meguiars polishing pad. Removed a lot of the scratches, the rest were a lot harder to see. Knocked the spider swirls down quite a bit too, but obviously didn't completely remove them. Sealed the paint with Carnabua Moose.



Really weird black paint, reminded me of my old 626. More of a bright black than a really deep, dark black. And no, it isn't metallic black. :nixweiss



My customer was quite pleased and he did notice how reducing the spider swirls improved the look of the car. He said maybe next time he will have me spend the extra time to remove them.

 

[Scottwax]

1987 Porsche 944. I've been taking care of this car for around 5 years of so. Unfortunately, the single stage Guard's Red paint was getting really thin, so thin that when I polished it last summer I told him I didn't think I could safely polish it again. Fast forward 6 months and his mother backs into the Porsche and takes out the passenger side. The owner calls me up and asks for the name of the body shop I had recommended to him last time I detailed the car.



He takes the car in to get it repaired and decides to have the whole car repainted. Had the shallow dents in the hood removed, the bashed in passenger side repaired, some of the trim replaced, etc. $7000 later for the body work and paint (his mom's insurance covered about half that), the car was done. He called me out to wash and inspect the car for him.



These shots under the halogens should make it very obvious why I recommend this particular shop. The owner says he didn't see any holograms in the sun and I couldn't find any holograms or spider swirls under the halogens.

The owner didn't pay for the extra clear and wetsanding that would be required to get a completely orange peel free show quality paint job, but the car has very little orange peel, definitely superior to any new car I have done lately. I could certainly tell the car was properly taken apart for the repaint, no evidence of taping off any of the trim, lights, etc. Door jambs looked topnotch too.



After washing the car, I went over the rubber trim (like the rear spoiler) with Armor All and the paint got a light application of Optimum Car Wax. Since OCW will still allow the paint to outgas and cure, I felt that was the best way to protect the paint before it can be waxed with a traditional wax or sealant.

The car is not stock and does need tires like this in the back!

 

[Scottwax]

2009 Honda Accord, owned by my riding buddy (road bikes). Just bought it for his wife and wanted some protection on it. Since I still have some of my Opti-Coat sample left that I got for free and he is a friend, I didn't charge extra for applying it.



I washed the car with ONR and my friend was amazed at how quickly I washed the car and how dry his driveway was. He said he was going to have to order some. Other than the trunk lid and back bumper, the paint didn't need much claying. I then polished it out wtih Optimum Polish II via G110 and a yellow Meguiars polishing pad. Honestly, other than a weird spot on the hood that someone took a rotary to, the paint was swirl free. Oddly enough, the other 8th gen white Accord I have detailed has similar buffing marks in the hood (except a few more) but was also otherwise 100% swirl free. Nuts, eh?



I then applied the coating and while checking for any streaks on the hood, I noticed that small weird spot on the hood. Just flat missed it when polishing. Since by now the sun was lower in the sky, I could actually look at the paint without going nearly blind. Anyway, I polished out that small section and when I first put the buffer to the paint, I could feel a heavy resistance as the buffer cut through the coating.



My sample is about 5-6 months old and this time it wasn't going on as easily as the first couple times I used it so when it is available, I will probably only order it one syringe at a time. My sample is in a spray bottle and the sprayer long ago clogged so I have to open the bottle and put a little bit on the applicator for each panel, which exposes the remaining product to air and moisture. Whether or not it only affects application and not actual durability remains to be seen. Still wasn't that hard to apply (had to light buff each section wth an MF about 60 seconds after application to keep it streak free) but using it out of the syringe like I did on my Optimum distributor's van was noticably easier and required no extra buffing.

 

[Accumulator]

ScottWax- Heh heh, you might've known the P71 would catch my eye (I do like that 944 too.). '05 was a good year, hope he has fun with it. A k9 unit huh? No K9 cage in the back though :think: How was the interior?



I dunno about replacing the push-bar....sounds a bit wannabe to me but hey, to each their own. Interesting that a black car has a chrome spotlight too.

 

[Barry Theal]

hey scott nice work man its good to see your staying busy. boy that 944 shined! excellant!

 

[Scottwax]

ScottWax- Heh heh, you might've known the P71 would catch my eye (I do like that 944 too.). '05 was a good year, hope he has fun with it. A k9 unit huh? No K9 cage in the back though :think: How was the interior?



I dunno about replacing the push-bar....sounds a bit wannabe to me but hey, to each their own. Interesting that a black car has a chrome spotlight too.

The interior was actually pretty good. Other than some dog hair on the back tray, you'd never know a dog had been in the car. Carpeted interior too. He is replacing the push bar because there are already holes in the bumper.



Barry-thanks! Trying to stay busy in between rain drops. Been a really frustrationg last 3 weeks or so dealing with the nearly constant threat of thunderstorms.

 

[TSC17]

Nice work Scott. The paint shop did a good job on the Porsche as well...don't see that too often.

 

[longdx]

Nice job as always Scott. I really like the 944, they were fun cars to drive and were the benchmark for handling for many years. As a former Law Enforcement Officer, I cringe when someone buys a used police car (most cars either idle for hours or go balls out during a shift) but I understand your customer's reasoning.

 

[MarcHarris]

WOW awesome as always scott. the 'stang looks like liquid, and that 944 turbo (aka 951) looks like it's glowing. i need to save these pics to show people the difference in a 2k vs 7k paint job.

thanx for sharing!

 

[Setec Astronomy]

After I detailed the car, he headed back to Austin, got the windows tinted and order a new push bar for the front.

What the heck does he need a pushbar for? To make it look more "official"?

 

[Scottwax]

What the heck does he need a pushbar for? To make it look more "official"?

To cover up the holes in the bumper from the pushbar that used to be there.

 

[jmkiang]

Nice work. Question on the Shelby... did you tape over the vinyl? My friend just bought a Mustang GT and his paint could use some correction...

 

[Accumulator]

As a former Law Enforcement Officer, I cringe when someone buys a used police car (most cars either idle for hours or go balls out during a shift) but I understand your customer's reasoning.

OTOH, I've had a few (mainly Caprices) that were not only in incredibly nice shape cosmetically, but also had a lot of life left in their mechanicals. It can be tricky to find a good one though; I've looked at a scad of P71s over the last few years and not *one* was nice enough for me.



As a former LEO, I wonder what you'll think of what I've posted below:

...[he's replacing the push bar]..To cover up the holes in the bumper from the pushbar that used to be there.

Heh heh, Setec Astronomy and I sure are giving him a hard time about that...but [shoot] he could probably replace the bumper cover for not much more than the push bar'll cost. Or he could have the holes filled/covered and on a black car nobody'd notice.



I'd bet my left [whatever] that he's getting the push bar because he likes the look



OK OK, it's his car and we oughta let it be, sheesh, what's it to us But if/when he gets pulled over by a *real* LEO, he's probably gonna take some flak for having a car that looks so still-in-service. Even if it's nothing more than not getting off with just a warning, I can tell ya that most LEOs prefer that civilian-owned P71s not look like they're still in service.

 

[Thomas Dekany]

Hey Scott, all the vehicles look excellent. Look at that white Accord. :bow

 

[Scottwax]

I'd bet my left [whatever] that he's getting the push bar because he likes the look

Probably look decent on a black car. :nixweiss



Thomas-thanks!

 

[Accumulator]

Probably look decent on a black car...

Yeah, sure a lot better than it'd look on a white car

 

[jmkiang]

Nice work. Question on the Shelby... did you tape over the vinyl? My friend just bought a Mustang GT and his paint could use some correction...

Any comments?

 

[Scottwax]

Any comments?

No, I used the G110 so I didn't take the edges of the stripes. Whenever I do another Challenger with the hood stripes, you best believe I will take the edges and keep the pad off the stripes after reading the nightmare a fellow autopian experienced with those stripes. Never heard any problems with the ones on the Mustangs though.

 

[jmkiang]

No, I used the G110 so I didn't tape the edges of the stripes. Whenever I do another Challenger with the hood stripes, you best believe I will tape the edges and keep the pad off the stripes after reading the nightmare a fellow autopian experienced with those stripes. Never heard any problems with the ones on the Mustangs though.

Thanks. Did you mean "tape"? What does "take the edges" mean?



If the stripes are showing signs of hazing, can they be polished out? I believe one of the corners a stripe is starting to peel