About 3 months ago I traded in my 1997 Ford F150 for a 2006 Dodge Ram SLT Hemi pickup. For about 5 months I had been in the market for a new truck. My 1997 F150, although in mint condition with only 91,000 miles, was starting to get up there in the years and was going to need some work. During a recent 90,000 mile service, the tech noticed that I was going to have to have my rear main seal replaced soon and I was going to need new tires.
After giving it a lot of thought, I decide that since I use this truck to tow some of my cars to shows I wanted to have something as dependable as I could. The quest for a used 2006/2007 Dodge Ram Hemi pickup began. After looking for about 5 months I was driving by a local Dodge dealership I noticed this red Hemi Ram that the dealer had just taken delivery of. The truck was in good shape but due to time constrictions I really didn?t have the time to give it a test drive and a thorough look over. I was becoming frustrated in my quest based on the fact that I wanted a low mileage, Hemi SLT or better, with the 20 inch chrome package in either silver or red.
So two days later I went to the dealership with my 1997 Ford F150 all prepped and ready for a possible trade in. Upon arrival the truck was not on the lot and my panic began to set in. Unfortunately, the truck was over at the local dealership detail shop and had just been pulled out from it?s dealer lot prep /cleaning (if you want to call it that). I feared that the damage was done but after a good looking over and negotiations with the dealership I knew that the finish was something I could correct overtime and I eventually got the truck at the price I was looking for (after substantial haggling on my part).
So for the past three months I slowly started to bring the truck back to a standard that I would accept. I also added some modifications to it to enhance the trucks look.
This included:
New tonneau cover
Brake controller
Magnaflow muffler
Dodge chrome exhaust tip
Dodge chrome gas cap lid
Shorty antenna
I decided to first tackle the interior. For approximately three days I went over the interior from head to toe. The interior was in decent shape but over time the grey seats had become grungy and there was a faint odor of smoke. I suspected that the prior owner might have been a smoker. So my transformation of the interior began.
Process was:
Extract all seats and carpets with a Bissell LGM with a pre treat of Folex
Entire interior wiped down with Megs APC 10:1
Interior dressed with various interior dressing including Poorboys Natural Look and Optimum Protectorant Plus.
Now that the interior was done I decided to move onto the 20 inch chrome wheels and tires. The process was pretty basic.
All wheels removed and treated with Sonax Wheel cleaner.
Tires cleaned with Amazing Roll Off 1:1
Suspension degressed with Megs APC 4:1
Calipers and hubs cleaned with P21S Auto Wash
Calipers prepped and painted black with Duplicolor Brake Caliper Paint
Wheels protected with Collonite 476
Tires dressed with Meguiars All Season Dressing.
Now that the wheels and tires were done I finally set a weekend aside to tackle the paint correction. Thankfully forum member Bill Hasher (billblueshoes) offered to come down and give me a hand with finishing the truck off. The temperatures were in the 90?s over the weekend so the heat was playing up with the polishes a bit.
After washing and having the truck clayed for Bill?s arrival I started taping off the truck while Bill started out with a test spot and some Menzerna Power Finish and a LC white pad. This was followed up with Menzerna PO85RD on a 3M waffle weave pad that left the finish with about 95% correction. Once we had the combo dialed in we got started. 14 man hours later we had the truck done and looking spectacular. Halfway through the detail the heat started to cause the Power Finish to start acting up with flashing rather quickly with the Flex rotary, We decided to switch over to Powerfinish with the Flex DA which kept the temps down on the panel and allowed us to finish the truck up.
Here was the process:
Wash with 2 BM and Lusso Auto Bathe
Clay with Meguiars white clay
Polish with Menzerna Power Finsh via Flex rotary/Flex DA with white pad
Polish with Menzerna PO85RD and 3M waffle weave pad and Makita rotary
Polish with CG EZ Cream Glaze with PCXP and LC black pad
LSP was Menzerna Power Lock via PCXP and LC black pad
Taillights polished with Menzerna Power Finsh
Headlights polished with Megs Plastix and white 4 inch pad via PC
Glass cleaned with Zep Glass
All trim treated with Ultima Tire and Trim Protectorant
Overall I am thrilled how the truck came out and the difference from when it was received from the dealership to now is like night and day. Even Bill commented on how the Powerlock deepened the red making it look so much different. We got some rain today and the beading on the truck is fantastic. I will rewash it and put on another coat of Powerlock.
Pictures:
Here is Bill getting started with the Powerfinish as I am finishing taping up. As you can see the truck was so big that it would fit in my garage and barely fit under my 10 X 20 tent.
Finished shots
I was not impressed, I'll probably use EFHI when I do it next in the spring. Others have expressed that the P21S gel is better, but I'll pass (my wheels are painted and clearcoated BTW)
