Sexy Black Cat with #80/VM/EX-P

S

stilez

New member
1997 Jaguar XK-8 Convertible in a Charcoal Black Metallic with Black Interior.



When I arrived, no doubt you could tell this thing was neglected. It was dirty all over, swirled pretty badly, the rims were gashed and covered in brake dust and the interior was just plain dirty.



I begun with the interior using Water Woolite (6:1) to clean the seats, dash, and trim. I then used my OxyClean mixture (2 scoops:2 gals water) for the carpets after pretreating them with Simple Green. I then dressed the dash and trim with 303 AeroSpace and conditioned the leather with Lexol.



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On to the exterior, like I said VERY SWIRLED. The hood and trunk lid needed 3 separate passes. My final process was:



-QEW

-Wolfgang Clay w/QEW Spray Lube (1 capful:32oz water)

-WW Dry

-#80 Speed Glaze via Rotary and Meguiar's Polishing Pad @1500rpm (numerous passes in some areas)

-VM via Rotary and LC Polishing Pad @1000 rpm (very light pressure)

-EX-P by hand



-Simple Green to de-grease wheels

-VM to polish wheels

-AA on tires and wheel wells





Here is a good shot of what the swirls were looking like. You can see some cob-web effect and on the trunk lid some spots where the owner used rubbing compound to probably fix a scratch. BAD NEWS!



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After 2 separate passes with #80 and then VM/EX-P

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In the end, everything turned out quite nicely. He was happy, but not thrilled. He's not much of a car enthusiast even though his taste is there. You can tell he doesn't care much for the vehicle by the way he keeps it. I was very happy with the results though :)
 
Wow, I can't believe how much deeper and wetter the paint looks!



Great work as usual. If you don't mind me asking, how long did it take you to learn to use a rotary so well?



:up :up
 
Thanks for the compliments!



MattZ28: Running plenty of rotary searches, watching the Meg's videos, and talking to a few long time users has allowed me to really progress. I just take it at my own pace and stick with Meguiar's philosophy of using the least abrasive product to do the job.



tdekany: I guess I did...They're probably just as dirty as the original pic by now, but I spent soo much time on the paint I guess it was a minor overlook.



Scott: Yeh, very sad to see, but on another note. This thing is a piece of junk. To me, the build quality on it is NO better than a Cadillac or Acura. Not that they are crap, but for a $75,000 drop top, I want top notch everything.
 
Okay, by "not thrilled" do you mean that the owner just couldn't care either way or do you mean that he wanted it to look better??



I think that was a pretty dope transformation (esp. the scratching near the driver-side C-pillar).
 
Nice job! :up That hood shot looks incredible!



My uncle has a 97 XJ6 that's pretty badly oxidized. Jag's paint just doesn't seem to hold up well but looks like it cleans up nicely!
 
Great job GSR, car came out really good looking. That does suck when the owner doesn't care to much for the car. Also sucks that he thinks it was ok, I guess some people will never be completely satsified. On another note what do you currently have on your car, it looks really shiney??
 
Thanks everyone!



thinksnow: He was like happy, like "Looks great", with a smile, but nothing more. *I* thought I made a nice transformation out of it especially the scratching and swirling. I mean he wants me to do his wife's Expedition but I guess in the end, he isn't as obsessed as me (us) :)



tkr128: I haven't been able to track this car before I did it even though this guy shares spaces with his business with my dad's, but I will be tracking it the best I can from here on out.



JohnnyDaJackal: Thanks :). He actually had a deep scratch on the fender which I caught with my fingernail. I buffed it out pretty well and blended the paint througout, even though the indentation was there. He told me he has a "light abrasive" rubbing compound he'd use when he got home to get it out. As much as that annoyed me, I still got paid. On my car, I have Wolfgang x 3.



tdekany: Amen.
 
Could you go into a bit more detail about your methods for cleaning carpets and carpeting? It's the one area I haven't had much success in, for lack of knowledge. Particularly the interior carpeting, not the removables.
 
Sean,



NICE WORK!!!:xyxthumbs :wavey :xyxthumbs



REALLY nice on rotary work! Cuts time in half if you really get more experience. A PC works well for touch-up work, but for really bad stuff like that, break out the rotary!



Damn, looks nice with EX-P!



Deanski
 
Quote: Scott: Yeh, very sad to see, but on another note. This thing is a piece of junk. To me, the build quality on it is NO better than a Cadillac or Acura. Not that they are crap, but for a $75,000 drop top, I want top notch everything



~One man’s opinion / observations ~



Great job and a marked improvement, sad to see Jags (and any other marquee neglected like that)



As much as I wouldn’t say Jags have become a ‘piece of junk’ under the US Ford banner, the quality is not what they used to be (I drive a XK8 and have an E-Type at home (London) absolutely no comparison as to quality)



~Hope this helps~



Experience unshared; is knowledge wasted…/ Jon

justadumbarchitect * so I question everything *
 
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