I was excited to do this car when I heard about it. After all, this is Chrysler's new hope for small cars..well the updated version anyway. I was disappointed in its condition as you will see in the Before pics. Paint scratches that are best described as gouges and some parts where the paint is broken. Obviously unrepairable issues there. So, this was going to be a case of make it look good, but not perfect. I was originally planning to do a one step of power finish and a green pad but that plan was a joke. This paint was oxidized and needed some serious muscle to burn through it. The paint readings were in like the 400 range...no problem there, LOL. THE PROCESS: TIRES/WHEELS/WELLS: The Tires are 12 inchers. Probably get golf carts with bigger ones, LOL. The wheels are solid with no barrels so cleaning them was easy. The tires were scrubbed with a stiff brush and Zep purple. The wheels were cleaned with an RG brush and Zep Citrus. The wells got Zep Citrus too. ENGINE/BUMPERS: The engine was up next. We're talking 1975 technology here: distributor, cap, points, condensor, etc...all pieces that do not like water on them. I was very careful to sparingly spray Zep purple to loosen the grime on the painted surfaces and the orange parts that were visible. I rinsed gently then immediately got my 200 mph leaf blower and got any standing water out of there. The engine cover was also cleaned with purple and a brush. The bumpers were in rough shape: Once again, I used JL's tip (I always give credit where credit is due) about using the WB on the chrome. Although this time I used a 50/50 mixture of Carbrite wheel cleaner in a foaming spray bottle. I protected the paint and sprayed it on and let it dwell before pw it off. Check it out only after this step...they still needed some serious love with steel wool but still, quite impressive! NO WATER HERE! Take a look at all these exposed wires and connectors...makes Lucas look downright sophisticated!! WASH: The car was power washed and then sprayed down with Eshine's Kleenol to remove any LSP. It was allowed to dwell a few minutes but not long enough that it would dry on the surface. While that was dwelling I paid attention to cleaning the badges. The car was pw'd off and then washed with the 2bm and dried with ww. The car was not going to get clayed. With the oxidation this bad I thought that it'd be a waste of time. After washing: At this point the car was brought in and sat for several days while I battled my throat infection and bronchitis. PAINT CORRECTION: Even though I wasn't going to get it perfect, I still wanted to get it as nice as I reasonably could. As I mentioned, I assumed PF and a green pad would do..not a chance! I kept upping the ante and ended up with a Megs burgandy wool pad and Menz Power Gloss. This removed the heavy oxidation. I had to wash out the pad after every little section. I followed that up with a LCC flat white pad and power finish (I was determined to use it, LOL). That got a really nice glow to the finish. I then applied DG 601 by hand and when dry applied DG 501 right into it. When that combo was removed I was quite impressed. It really glowed. I followed that up with a coat of Collinite 845. Some of the heavy marks in the driver's door were able to be eliminated...I honestly didn't expect that to happen. After the car was done, it was sprayed down with AW to remove any wax debris left over. CHROME: I was curious to try Megs 105 with some steel wool to see how it would do on the chrome compared to Autosol. It basically did the same job. Much cheaper to buy than Autosol though. That was followed up with Collinite Metal wax. WHEELS/TIRES: Tires were dressed with the Forever black dye. The wheels were cleaned and sealed with DG 501. Convertible Top: This was sealed with 303 Fabric Guard. INTERIOR: First the glass was grimy so I cleaned it with DG 501...it did an amazing job...is there anything that stuff won't do? It was followed up by Zep glass. The painted interior surfaces were cleaned with DG 501. The black strip at the bottom of the dash was dressed with DG flat black dressing. The carpeting was vacuumed thoroughly and any stains were dealt with with DG foaming carpet cleaner. The seats were cleaned with the (no-longer-produced ) AG pad and 303 cleaner. They were treated with 303 Aerospace after. (Same for all the interior plastic and vinyl pieces). Exterior black trim was also dressed with DG flat black dressing. [U][SIZE=3]The Boot:[/SIZE][/U][SIZE=2] Since water was not an option here, safe areas were sprayed with ONR and cleaned with a mf. The gas tank was cleaned with ONR and then treated with DG flat black when it was dry. The tire was dressed too. The rubber mat was treated with Aerospace. Well, let's check out its initial condition: [B][U][SIZE=3]BEFORES: [/SIZE][/U][/B][SIZE=3][SIZE=2][IMG]http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t12/rhowitt/Live2Detail/DSC_0273.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t12/rhowitt/Live2Detail/DSC_0278.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t12/rhowitt/Live2Detail/DSC_0279.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t12/rhowitt/Live2Detail/DSC_0285.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t12/rhowitt/Live2Detail/DSC_0286.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t12/rhowitt/Live2Detail/DSC_0287.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t12/rhowitt/Live2Detail/DSC_0288.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t12/rhowitt/Live2Detail/DSC_0289.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t12/rhowitt/Live2Detail/DSC_0290.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t12/rhowitt/Live2Detail/DSC_0291.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t12/rhowitt/Live2Detail/DSC_0292.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t12/rhowitt/Live2Detail/DSC_0296.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t12/rhowitt/Live2Detail/DSC_0297.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t12/rhowitt/Live2Detail/DSC_0303.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t12/rhowitt/Live2Detail/DSC_0306.jpg[/IMG] [/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE]AFTERS: [SIZE=2][SIZE=3][SIZE=2][SIZE=4][SIZE=2][SIZE=3][B]THESE SINS WERE NOT GOING AWAY: [/B][SIZE=2][IMG]http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t12/rhowitt/Live2Detail/DSC_0437.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t12/rhowitt/Live2Detail/DSC_0439.jpg[/IMG] [B][SIZE=3]OK...Just a couple more: [/SIZE][/B][SIZE=3][SIZE=2][IMG]http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t12/rhowitt/Live2Detail/DSC_0438.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t12/rhowitt/Live2Detail/DSC_0445.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t12/rhowitt/Live2Detail/DSC_0446.jpg[/IMG] [B]Thanks for looking! Comments and criticisms always welcomed.[/B][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE]
wow! it was hard to even understand how dull it was before! I take it you used your rotary for the whole process? can you elaborate on JL's tip for chrome? write me a couple sentences with no acronyms. I'd love to hear what turned those bumpers around!
Thanks Jason. It was cool to work on something so unique. Thanks Luis...it took 9.5 hours total. (I guess I forgot to mention that). Thank you sir. Thanks very much! Yes, you'll see on my jobs I only use a rotary for correction. (I have yet to try the new soft clear where I'll probably use my DA for that). JL's tip..no problem. And, IDIW/OA's (I'll do it without Acronym's, LOL). For nasty chrome, spray down a strong wheel cleaner (Megs Wheel Brightener works very well as did my Carbrite Wheel Cleaner) and then let the cleaner dwell on the chrome for about 2 minutes. Power wash off. That's it...kind of a quick last step while doing the car that really cuts down the time. It's very helpful for exhaust tips. As you can see from the pic, I try to protect the surrounding paint from it b/c of the dwell time. This cuts down A LOT of time polishing chrome. It will either eliminate the 0000 steel wool stage or at least minimize it. Let me know how it works for you. As far as finishing the chrome in this case, I used 0000 steel wool with Autosol (You're Canadian, you can get it at Home Hardware or many other places) and then finished them with Collinite's Metal Wax.
