So I was lucky enough to be asked to have a booth at a local Mustang show. This show is put on by the Northern VA Mustang Club at one of the Ford dealerships in the area. At first I wasn't terrible excited since I thought there couldn't be that many people there, but the turnout was amazing. There ended up being well over 100 cars in the show and I'd say about 300 people at the show. Overall it was an amazing day, and I got to talk to a lot of cool people and gained some new customers. So, my thought was to bring me people by my booth I would detail a Mustang and have it in the show. After a little looking around a friend of a friend said she would be interested in getting her Mustang detailed for a discounted rate in return for hanging out at the booth for the show. The Mustang was a 2006 GT that was in good shape, but hadn't been truly detailed before. The plan was to get the paint as close to perfect as possible for the show. Here is how it went. I was under a huge time crunch so I didn't get tons of pics, but I got enough to show the work that was done. The wheels and tires were removed and detailed, but they are black and didn't really show a huge difference. The wheels were cleaned with Wolfs Decon Gel and the tires with Blackfire APC. The wheels were protected with BFWD and the tires dressed with Blackfire Tire Gel. You can see how they turned out in the final finished photos later in the write up. Next I turned my attention to the paint. It was pretty dirty and dusty since it had just been taken to a concert that was down a dirt road the weekend before. here is how it looked. To start i foamed the vehicle with a mix of Meguiars Gold Class and Blackfire APC. While the foam dwelled I agitated the emblems, body seams, and fuel filler area with a RG Detail Brush to make sure no dirt was left behind. After the the vehicle was wash with Blackfire Shampoo and a Griots MF Wash pad. It was then clayed with the Ultima Clay block and Wolfs Decon Gel was used to remove any iron deposits left behind. With the paint clean we could see it's true condition. It had a good amount of Swirls and a few rids, but nothing crazy. What I would find later is that this paint is ROCK hard so the swirls that were there were fairly deep and hard to remove. After a good bit of testing a three step approach was decided upon. First step was Scholls S03+ on a wool pad on my Dewalt 849x. This was the only thing that would get out all of the swirls and rids on this rock hard paint. The next step was Menzerna FG500 on a Cyan pad also via the Dewalt 849x. Here is how the paint looked after the second step. It was free of all the rids and swirls, but wasn't 100% clear of haze. To finish it out I used Menzerna 106fa on a green BS pad via my Meguiars G110v. This gave almost perfect correction. I would say 95%+. I know it looks like a couple swirls/rids in this picture, but it's actually tons of pitting (solvent pop) in the hood. I'm assuming it's from a bad repaint since the paint readings were much higher on the hood than the rest of the vehicle. After the correction was completed the vehicle received three coat of UPGP for protection. Each coat was allowed to cure for a full hour before the next one was applied. Here are the reflection and final pictures. Some were taken before the show, and some at the show. That about does it. The trim was dressed with Auto Finesse Revive, the glass cleaned with Auto Finesse Crystal, the wells dressed with CG Barebones, and the exhaust tips polished with Swissvax Metal Polish. This was a big job, but I am very happy with the outcome. Many people at the show we drawn to my booth just from looking at the vehicle, so it certainly was worth the effort. I can't wait to work on some Mustangs soon! Thanks for looking and I look forward to your feedback!
"This was a big job, but I am very happy with the outcome. Many people at the show we drawn to my booth just from looking at the vehicle, so it certainly was worth the effort. I can't wait to work on some Mustangs soon!" Great looking Mustang! The extra care and work shows! I recieve the best responses from shows when I do exactly what you did. Car Clubs love their cars and want and need them looking good. Great work!
claying first will remove contaminants that would otherwise get in the way of decon gel contacting the embedded particles that it is made to neutralize. It will help any of the iron cut type products to work to their full potential.
