This was not actually performed for my mother (her car will be taken care of next month), but for my boyfriend's mother. She never cleans her car, but is always ecstatic when I work on it for her. I should note that her car, a 2004 Ford Taurus SEL, is collectively my least favorite car built. I don't like this generation of the Taurus. Period. But that's beside the point. Onto the detail! Process & Products: First off, something had to be done about all the mud. The lowers, wheel wells, and tires were treated with Zep Citrus at 3:1 dilution. The wheels got Megs Wheel Brightener at 4:1. As I live in an apartment, all of my washes are waterless. However, due to the prevalence of mud and brake dust, I had to use something more aggressive than my usual ONR--hence the Zep Citrus and WB. Once the products had been left to dwell, the wells, lower plastics, and wheels were agitated with various brushes, and the barrels were cleaned with an EZ Detail brush. However, due to the harsh nature of the WB, I had to use something to rinse the wheels and wells. I ended up using a pump sprayer, filled with a mild APC solution. Though I had to go inside and refill it after every wheel, it was worth it. After the wells were cleaned, the paint on the lowers was again treated with Zep Citrus (no LSP to worry about stripping), and then the car was washed with ONR and a Griot's microfiber mitt. It was dried with a Vroom drying towel. Door jambs were given a quick wipe down as well. The tires were dressed with 303 Aerospace Protectant, as was all plastic trim. My boyfriend's mother has a bad habit of buying used tires, so due to the age and wear on some of the tires (all four were different brands and different ages) the dressing did not go on as evenly nor look as good as I had hoped. Even though the rubber trim was in poor shape, I still treated it with Griot's rubber dressing & protectant. Finally, I sprayed and buffed off some Adam's Detail Spray to give it some extra gloss. Additionally, I noticed the scuff on the passenger rear door had returned. Last time I washed this car (about a month or so ago) there was a dent and scuff on the paint that wasn't there last time I had seen the car, so I hand polished it out. I guess she hit the side of the garage or something. I went ahead and hand polished it out again with Megs Ultimate Compound and a foam pad. This car needs a lot more attention, which I will provide this summer. I will definitely be detailing the interior, and hopefully be giving it a good polish as well. Now, onto pictures! As always, apologies for the photo quality, I only have my iPhone. Before: Aforementioned scuff and dent: As you can see, this car is in desperate need of a polish. With any luck, I will be able to convince her to have one done this summer Mud! This is why I will never live in a home with a gravel driveway, As you can see, the tires are in desperate need of replacement. Some looked worse than this. Fortunately she will be replacing all four with new tires soon. This is the pump sprayer I used to rinse off the wheel wells, wheels, and tires. It did well for being small and inexpensive. I've deviated from my usual car wash soap here...normally I use Megs Gold Class but since I only ever use it for a rinse solution in my waterless washes, I opted for something more inexpensive, and more environmentally friendly. It worked just was well as the Megs. More mud. Polish... Afters! Scuff all polished out: Tires not cooperating... Hood looks awful, appears as though someone did a shoddy repaint at some point. We will see if a paint correction can fix some of the damage. Still not happy with how the tires turned out. This car has lead a rough life, but hopefully I can continue to maintain it and keep it looking somewhat decent for as long as she has it. For my least favorite car in the world, I think it turned out pretty nice. All comments/questions/criticisms are always welcome Thanks for reading! -Clark
Nice work, have you ever consider buying those 2-3 gallon pump sprayer since you do a lot of rinseless wash?
Thanks guys I haven't, but I'm seriously considering it. I didn't know I'd be dealing with this much mud before I actually saw the car, and I already had this pump sprayer so I made due. But going inside to constantly refill was a pain, lol. After I stock up on a few vital products I'll probably head out and get me a bigger pump sprayer for sure!
