Well it’s been a wile but I received an e-mail saying that a fire truck was waiting for me, time to play :cheerl: 2008 Fire Truck Here is what I was up against: The interior wasn’t too bad, like always the driver side is always the worst side :shrug: nothing I can’t take care off: Well like always I have my work cut out for me, so I started off with the interior. First things first, the interior was given a good vacuum: Next, the interior is given a wipe down. Wipe down was done with the help of Meg’s APC diluted 10:1 and the help of a yellow micro fiber towel: Now the door jams needed some attention: First I sprayed some P21S Total Auto Wash on the door jams then agitated with a Swissvax brush: This process is done to all door jams. Now it was time to dress the interior, for this Meg’s #40 is used: Well this takes care of the interior, now it was time to move on to the rest of the vehicle. Next up were the wheel wells, first a healthy coat of P21S Total Auto Wash is applied to the wheel well: The rims received a healthy coat of P21S Gel: The tires were also given a coat of ARO. Now it was time to agitate the wheel wells, for this a long handle brush is used: P21S Gel is agitated with a Swissvax brush: The tires were also scrubbed with a Meg’s tire brush: This process is carried out to all wheel wells, rims and tires. It’s now time for the rest of the vehicle, the CR System is connected and ready to go: The two bucket method is used along with the Black ShMITT and the soap of choice well not soap but I decided to use P21S Total Auto Wash due to the shape the fire truck is in: The truck is large so the washing process took several hours but after a few hours of washing and rinsing and more washing and rinsing the entire truck had been washed. With the help of the air compressor I removed as much water as possible and then what ever water remained I removed with the help of my waffle weaved micro fiber towels. This truck like the others is to be sealed and the sealant of choice is Duragloss: First DG#601 is applied followed up with DG#105: Wile DG#105 is left to bond I took care of the large exhaust tip. For this I used my favorite Metal polish, Autosol with steel wool 0000: Here is how the exhaust tip finished off: The side view mirrors required some attention as well, so Black WOW was applied. Windows were take care of with Stoners Invisible Glass with a glass micro fiber towel. Now it was time to buff off the DG and here are the end results: Now this is how the rims, tires and wheel wells should look :woo: There now I can see my reflection, much better. I didn’t take too many pictures of the interior, the lighting was really throwing me off and most of the interior pictures turned out a bit blurry due to poor lighting :shrug: Well that concludes another fire truck, hope you enjoy.
Great work as always Nica! I too have gotten to where I use the DG 601/105 combo a lot! Truck looks great now and man I like that logo on the back of the truck.
Looks great Carlos!! On that flooring, our ambulances use to have that. I found that 409 would work good. It wouldnt leave it slick either.
Reminds me of when I was cleaning semi's around this time last year. Never again, I told myself. Looks good, you gotta have big cojones and a lot of patience to take on a job like that. :worship2:
Wow amazing work Carlos. Question, I have been looking into some Autosol and I'm wondering how it is applied to the exhaust tips?
Thank you JLs, I've tried several sealants on the fire trucks but DG is the one I'll be sticking with for a wile. I applied a coat on the owners personal vehicle once and he loved it, he loved how easy it was to remove bugs, dirt and well anything that gets stuck on the surface of the vehicle. So ever since that, that's all I use. I have to admit DG is very easy to use and I too enjoy the 601/105 combo :thumb: Thank you Ben, this fire truck took me 8hrs. I was a bit tired when I was done, the washing process took the longest, just because of it's size, but slow and steady wins the race :thumb: Thank you Denzil, yes these fire trucks are big but all you have to do is take your time and take it one section at a time :thumb: Glad you enjoyed it Cooter, so 409 huh...thank you I'll order some and give it a go :thumb: wait your referring to DG#409 right? Just checking :whistle: Thank you Gary, glad you enjoyed it :thumb: Yea I remember seeing some of the semi pictures :thumb: thank you for the compliment but you said it buddy, it takes a lot of patience :thumb: Well how I use Autosol is really easy. In this case I applied Autosol directly on the steel wool and then agitated the exhaust tip, when I was satisfied with the end result I removed with a micro fiber towel. Like I said quite easy. Thank you doc, yes I was a bit tired after this one. Just takes time to finish these trucks but the end results are always rewarding :thumb: Yes, I did use a bit of Autosol on the bumper. I applied Autosol on to the micro fiber and massaged the front bumper but they was to remove all those bugs :thumb:
Nice work, as always, Carlos! I like the Duragloss 601/105 combo - It's hard to beat on both durability and looks great as well; a real sleeper, for sure. Nice to see you using it! Pete
Formula 409 huh, oh okay, well I can't say i've ever heard of it but I'll keep it in mind. Thank you for letting me know eace: Thank you for the feed back, very much appreicated. Thank you yukonon22, yes lots of work but the end results are very rewarding, the bigger they are the better they look :thumb: Thank you HAN eace: The DG combo is wicked and well worth having on these huge trucks :thumb: There is always bigger, I've detailed an air plane with sneek and that has been the toughest detail I have ever done, I'm looking forward on round II with the same air plane..oh it wasn't a big commercial air plane it was just a single engine two passenger air plane but these fire trucks are nothing compared to the air plane :thud: Thank's Phils, these bad boys aren't as tough as they look. They just take a bit of time that's all, so far I've only done a full paint correction to one of these fire trucks and that took me three days so I don't mind the wash and seal, but I welcome the paint correction any time :cheerl: