Well a really good friend that I used to work with called me the other day and wanted me to detail his son's truck. Now mind you I remember when his son wasn't even in school. Well he said he told his son he would rent him a limo for prom and his son says that he would rather have his truck detailed by me so he could drive it to prom. How's about that! A kid that would rather drive his pick up to prom than ride in a limo...you gotta love the South! Well needless to say I had no idea how rough the truck was until they drove up.:thud: The boy does love to hunt and the truck showed it. No wonder he wanted me to detail it the girl probably wouldn't get in it much less take her clothes off in it (I mean it is prom right)! Anyway I really think a lot of the kid and his Dad so I set out to make it look as good as I could on a short time frame. Well the truck had so much mud on it I didn't want to be washing my driveway more than the truck so I drove it to the local coin-op and sprayed the thing off there. Heck better to leave the mud in their bay and not mine. After a couple of rounds at the coin-op I had enough knocked off so I could bring it home and begin the detail. Here's what I did: Tires/Wheels/Wells: The wheels got Megs Wheel Brightener and a variety of brushes. I used a lug nut brush, green foam finger pocket, Black Magic wheel brush bent to 90 degrees for getting behind the spokes, HD brushes for the tires and wheel wells, Auto Zone wheel brush and EZ Detail brush. For the tires and wells they got the ol' standby Majestic Solutions Super Green Stuff at 3:1 in a gallon pressurized sprayer I got from Home Depot. The tires were first dressed with Megs Hyper Dressing @ 3:1 with a MSs tire applicator. I then dressed them with the same method with a TW tire applicator and my Tropi-Care tire dressing. The wells were dressed with my mixture of Megs ASD and MS Mr. Natural. Engine: This thing was a wreck and covered with mud. I didn't know that much mud could get under the hood! I did my usual and gave the engine a quick rinse with the CR Spotless, and sprayed it down with MS SGS. Like I said there was a lot of mud in just about every crevice there was so I agitated and agitated it and re-rinsed. I dried most of the water with a leaf blower and then sprayed the engine bay down with Megs HD @ 3:1 in a Solo 418 handheld sprayer. I cranked the engine and let it run for about 20 minutes and it didn't look brand new but sure looked better than before. Exhaust: The exhaust got Megs WB and #0000 Steel wool while washing the wheels and then later polished with Autosol and buffed off with an Obessesive Detail MF. Trim: All the black plastic trim got Stoners Trim Shine. All the chrome trim like grill and side mirrors got Fukken Wax. That stuff does make some chrome shine like crazy. Its like this amazing waterless cleaner/QD in an aerosol that works great. I just love the name too! Wash: Well after knocking most of the mud off at the coin-op I brought it home for a real wash. The thing was rinsed with the CR and the Northern Tool PW first. I then presoaked the entire truck with MS Super Green Stuff @ 3:1. After the presoak I got all the bugs with CGs Bugger and Tar Strong Wash @ 4:1 in a Solo 418 handheld pressurized sprayer and MS Bug Sponge. Next I loaded up the foam cannon with my new strip anything combo of 2 oz. of MS Super Foam and 1 oz. of MS Power Prep. Man this combo foams like crazy and cleans even better. With the state of this truck I knew I needed a powerful cleaner. Like I said in another post this combo stripped everything but the paint off! I used my CR Spotless and the 2 bucket method. In one bucket I used Tropi Care Citrus wash and the other was a rinse bucket. I used my boars hair brush on this wash. The truck was then dried with the leaf blower, and a Vroom drying MF. Clay: Well my mainstay for clay has become and always will be the Bilt Hamber and this detail was going to be no different. This is the best clay I have ever used and the only one I use now. I used the Regular Bilt Hamber Clay on this one. Glass: Glass inside and out got Sprayway Glass Cleaner. I used a MS blue huck window towel to apply and a Walmart WW to buff off. The outside of the glass was treated with MS ES. Interior: Well the interior was pretty bad. The interior was completely dusted down with a Swissvax look alike brush from Micheals. My buddy krshultz hooked me up with one and I really like it. It was vacuumed with the Shop Vac several times. Then everything was cleaned with Majestic Solutions Leather and Plastic Cleaner diluted at 1:1 with about an ounce of MSs Lemon deodorizer put in with it. After cleaning everything the vinyl and plastic was protected with CGs Silk Shine with a MF mitt. The carpeted floor mats were cleaned with MS Extraction + and a damp white MF. The rubber floor mats were cleaned with MSs Super Green Stuff. I cleaned the door jambs with a mixture of MS SGS and CGs Total Green Clean in a pressurized sprayer while washing. I used a Swissvax brush and rinsed with the pressure washer. Paint: Well I went with my favorite paint cleaner first, DG 501. I decided to use my Cyclo with a couple of white LC CCS 4" pads. I removed it with the Yellow and black MFs from Justing at Obssessive Details. LSP: I went with an ol' faithful and used DG 105. I applied it via a Stage 3 applicator from CGs. It was buffed off with a CGs 530 xl MF. After about an hour I did a wipedown with DG Aquawax just to really make it pop! Here are the before and afters:
trucks are such a pain in the arse, beautiful turnaround. I'm sure the owner was floored by the night and day difference!
I'm astonished, that truck looked pretty bad. Great work there JL! It should be clean enough now for the kids to have fun, haha. However, you may need to detail it again a week after.
JL, you've been busy lately. Looks great. I'm pretty sure that was the worst engine bay I've ever seen. My F250 was cleaner, and it's a diesel!! I'm with you - how did that much dirt possibly get in there? Seems impossible.
One word, offroading. (is that one word?) My friend and I were messing around out in the woods and he did a burnout in a puddle, sand and mud were EVERYWHERE! I turned the A/C on a month later, got hit in the face with sand. There was sand between the engine bay and the fender that I could only get to with a hose and by opening the door. Sand! Sand I tell you! But I'm back from rehab after washing it and I'm doing fine. :crasy:
Hey JL...You did a most awesome job on this truck...It looks great but the engine bay you deserve a medal for. Best one I've seen this year...:thumb:
JL...great ...great ..great job......it looks like new now...your work is A+ ..the mud will just slide off the finish now..... I just got a new jug of 501..and it seems like it works better than the stuff I got last year...it seems like they improved it..but not sure..the cleaning it way better now....same color and stink...lol..but the cleaning is like real crazy now...I ordered right from DG ... again SUPER job...... Al
JL....what a difference in that truck!! That is one smart kid :thumb:. The only thing you may have forgotten is to scotchguard the seats!!:yikes: He may need those off-road springs too...
Oh he was quite excited. His Dad kept saying "I've never seen it look this good". I told him if I did it again I refuse to clean the backseats LOL! Thanks Sal! You would not believe how much mud was caked on those things. Thank goodness for Super Green Stuff and a PW! The process isn't as fun as the end result but yeah getting a hammered one lets you really see what you can do. Thanks, but easy I kind of resemble that remark, LOL! Yeah I've been really busy and this one was on a tight schedule. The engine bay was so bad that when I opened the hood I was like :yikes:, and I'm usually prepared for anything I might see. Thanks bro! Thanks Buddy. I didn't have intentions of taking pics of this one for a post until they pulled in the driveway and I said I gotta get pics of this! Thanks! Thanks Al means a lot from you. I'm glad you said that about the 501. I had been buying it in the 16 oz bottles from my local CarQuest but went through it so much that I bought this gallon from DG and I'm like you it seems to clean even better and the shine is incredible it leaves behind. Didn't think this product could be improved but damn if it doesn't seem to be! Thanks Rich! Man I didn't think of the Scotchgaurd, LOL! It was really nice that night so he may have just worked out of the bed of the truck to keep the interior nice and pristine!!!
Fantastic turnaround JL, looks great! Good to see some "old school" products being used, DG 105 is fantastic and how can you beat AW??? Very very nice work!
