Well I had my very first Porsche to do and I was excited. It was a 1990 944 convertible. Not a lot of these around so I was jacked to do it. I was actually suppose to do it a few months ago but 3 days before I was to do it the clutch had to be replaced so the trip was cancelled. The owner lives about 2 hours away but is orginally from this area. Where she lives has been under major major water restrictions so the car had not been washed in probably 8 months. Only carwashes that proved they recycled their water were allowed to operate in her area. This was up for the full monty with paint correction. Now it is a daily driver that was garaged only sporadically and not washed a great deal. It has 116K on the clock. It had several rock chips and some attempts at repairing some chips (it wasn't great). I knew I couldn't make it perfect as I don't think my skill level with the rotary is to the point that I can achieve perfection just yet. Her career has taken off lately and she recently moved into a high end apartment complex with a parking garage so she wanted it as good as I thought I could get it. I would say it ended up probably 85-90% corrected and I was very pleased. Oh and this was my first time using Dodo Juice Supernatural too and all I can say about that is WOW! Well enough about the history and here is what I did: Tires/Wheels: Man these wheels were filthy as you can imagine since it had been so long since it had been washed and this is a daily driver. To make matters worse the design is probably the toughest I have faced yet. The wheels got Majestic Solutions Wheel Brite first. The back of the barrels were cleaned with my Griots wheel stick. This thing works great and has held up very nicely after about 12 uses so far. I used the Swissvax wheel brush on the face and a Black Magic wheel brush bent at a 90 degree angle to get behind the many spokes. After a good rinse I then went back with CGs Blue Citrus Wheel cleaner and a black shmitt. The tires got MS Super Green Stuff @2:1 and the wells got CGs Grime Reaper @ 4:1. Tires and wells were scrubbed with a black shmitt as well. The wells were dressed with CGs Bare Bones. And the tires were dressed first with MS Super Dress All as a base with a tire applicator from the Dollar Tree as it is small and perfect for lower profile tires. Then the tires were dressed with Optimum's new Tire Gel. This was applied with another Dollar Tree tire applicator. This stuff is awesome and I love the look it gave. I was assured by Asphalt Rocket that it didn't sling so I was willing to give it a whirl. Asphalt was right the look was killer and I drove the car and absolutely no sling. This product is a real winner and I am not a big fan of tire gels, but this gets :thumb:. If you have been debating about this I say get it! The tailpipe got MS Wheel Brite and the bumper trim got my Black Wow/CGs Trim Gel combo. Engine: Got the old faithful, rinse, spray with MS SGS, agitate, rinse, dry with leaf blower, dressed with Stoners Trim Shine. Convertible Top: I precleaned it with 303 Convertible top cleaner and scrubbed it in with an RV brush from Walmart. It was rinsed and then washed with the rest of the car with CGs Citrus Wash Clear. Then it was protected with 303 Protectant. The dark blue color of the top was really vibrant again. Wash: Wash: I used my CR Spotless System and this was the 10th car with it and my TDS meter is still reading 000 ppms. I have done 4 of the cars including this one with the entire detail being done with the CR and not just the final rinse. I can't believe I waited so long to get this system. I wouldn't be without it now as it is truely a rinse and walk away. I let this one air dry as well during which time I cleaned up and got all my stuff rearranged in the garage for paint correction/polishing. Not one single water spot when the car was dried. I used my foam cannon with a strong solution of CGs Wash and Clear. I love this soaps cleaning ability and I know there is no trace of a past LSP left when I'm done. I used a rinse bucket with a grit gaurd and a Grout Sponge for the wash. Bugs got MS Bug Off and a Pinnacle Safe Scrub. The car was left to air dry and only a handful of water drops were wiped dry with a CGs Miracle Dryer MF. Clay: Clayed with the good stuff and DP 4n1 clay lube via a handheld pressurized sprayer like you get at Lowes. I like this method because it puts plenty of lube on the paint and sure beats the traditional sprayer. Glass: Glass inside and out got CGs Glass Cleaner applied with a CGs El Gordo MF and dried off with a Walmart WW. The windshield was then treated with a layer of DG AW and buffed off with a WW. Interior: The interior got a good vacuum as it was severly needed. The vacuum alone was a huge improvement. The interior was light cream color and there were several stains in the flooring. I used CGs Lightning Fast Stain Extractor and agitated with an interior brush then extracted with my Sanitaire Extractor. This thing did an incredible job on that very light interior. The floor mats got the same treatment. The leather especially the back seats were in rather rough shape. I used my steamer that I got from Tuesday Morning and that really helped. After a steam clean I used Pinnacle leather cleaner and my Megs interior brush and wiped down with a white MF. After that the leather was conditioned with Wolfgang Leather Conditioner. All plastic and vinyl was wiped down with CGs Total Interior Cleaner. The door panels were steam cleaned first and then wiped down. Then a wipe down of all plastic and vinyl was done with the new Optimum Interior Protectant and a TW MF mitt. This stuff is great! It is like an AIO for the interior as it cleans really well and protects with a nice matte finish. To me it ranks right up there with Cockpit Premium. Paint Correction: Paint readings with my DFT Combo paint gauge gave me readings of 175 microns to about 248 microns throughout the entire car. I used my Metabo with 3M backing plate and a Lo Pro orange pad. I used Menzerna IP for the first round to try and remove the swirling. This combo worked well and I used a couple of drops of Optimum Polish with it on the pad to keep it from dusting. I then followed that up with the Metabo and a black LC CCS finishing pad and 3M Ultrafina. I really love the Ultrafina and have had tremendous results working with it. All were buffed off with a Cobra Jr. MF. Now I didn't get 100% (it seems like getting around 90% correction isn't as hard as getting that last 10%) correction and after talking with Asphalt Rocket he told me I really need to start working with wool and M105. I have the M105 now I just need the wool pads. Like I said earlier though the owner and myself were very pleased with the results. Here are some pics but I also realized I have to upgrade my lighting in my garage as one of my halogens crapped out on me for the after pics. However the brinkman got some decent shots: As you can see I couldn't get that one deep scratch out. She said it had been keyed one time in DC but I got the rest out so she was pleased. After the correction was done I decided to go at it with DG 501 to make sure the paint was clean and just give the paint that extra umph. This is one of the products that I just couldn't be without. I will always make sure I have plenty of this as I use it on just about every detail. I applied with the Flex at speed 3 with a 6" White Sonus Pad. It was buffed off with a CGs black and yellow MF. Now it was time for protection. Protection: I used my favorite sealant for topping with a nuba GGs Jetseal 109. I applied with a 4" blue LC CCS pad via the Polishing Pal. It was buffed off using a CGs edgeless MF. LSP: Now it was time to put on Dodo Supernatural. I got this from Ben at Rubbish Boys about a month ago and have been dying to use it. I really liked the wax and it was super easy to use. Now previously my favorite wax was Rubbish Boys Original Edition. After using Supernatural I would only barely give it the nod over Rubbish Boys OE. And I mean barely. It was much easier to work with and the look was tad bit better. Now that is really not a fair comparison to each as I have only used RBs OE on darker colors which it is easier to make a dramatic WOW factor. I have a chance on Thurs. to use Supernatural on a black car so I'll be able to make a much better apples to apples comparison then. I put Supernatural on like I do all nubas these days. I used a 4" red LC CCS applicator via the polishing pal. I pre-heated the pad with a hair dryer as it seems to give the effect of warming nuba by hand when applying it bare handed. I also love that the supernatural container is wider and gives easy access to a 4" pad. That was a major plus! It went on very easy and came off just as easy. I applied it to the entire car and then went back and buffed it off with a CGs edgeless MF. After about an hour I went back and wiped it down with a Cookie Monster and Clearkote QuickShine QD. Well thats my entry and here are the pics: Before and afters: Some random and reflection shots:
AMAZING! That is a rare little Porsche you were working on Wolf, was this one the Turbo? These fetch top $$$!!! GREAT WORK all aroun as usual! And look at those wheels and tires, CHOICE!
Nice turn around Wolf :cheerl: :cheerl: That is a very interesting style of Porche, looks good, what year is it? Thank you for sharing with us and best of luck to you in the competition :thumb:
Very nice Wolfpacker! Just cleaning the wheels makes it look a ton better. All around great work. One question: On the passenger side was it a repaint? Either the door or the rear panel? Could you tell by your paint gauge? The door looks a lighter shade that the rest of the side. Still a great job. I am extremely on the fence about a CR spotless.
Thanks Piet! I always think about you when I take before and afters of the wheels. This one wasn't a Turbo...wish it was as the owner told me to take it out for a drive when I was done. That was fun! Thanks Nica, it is a 1990. As Piet said these are rare. I think Porsche only made the 944 convertible for like 1988 or 89 to 1991. And then there were only a limited number brought to the US. You don't see many of these around. The owner and I have a deal that if she ever gets rid of it I have first right of refusal! :applause2: You aren't the first to mention the possible repaint. I sent some pics to another member before posting and he said the same thing. Its not a repaint but on the bottom of the doors there is a coating of some sort that looks like orange peel almost. Its a rubbery type of coating. Not sure if thats what is making it look different or not, but paint gauge readings were very consistent and the owner is only the 2nd owner and it hasn't been repainted. Oh and you would not regret a CR system, I know I don't.
Thanks bud and thanks for the help. I really like the industrial setting for taking pics of cars. Thats my work by the way. Hey pirex thanks for the hope of a win! I was really hyped to use Supernatural after seeing your detail with it. Thanks man!:headbang: That makes sense but it was my first encounter with it, wasn't sure at first if I could put the buffer on it.
Awesome work JL! One of my friends/co-workers has one. 944S2 Cabriolet...they've got a 3.0L DOHC 4 CYL in them.
WOW.... :druling: Wolfpacker!!! Heck of a job! Impressive my friend!!!! Looks outstanding. I love your right ups! Thanks for taking the time! Glad you found a steamer!!!
Amazing work buddy, you turned that car around. You did a great job on the interior, I really think that it is time for me to step up to a real carpet extractor rather than the LGM. Would you recommend your unit or should I look into another brand like mytee. Again great work on the car and supernatural looks great!!!!!
Pat coming from someone of your ability I thank you. With the work you do if you like it I know I did ok! Thanks Dust I was debating between the two myself but have been waiting for this one for so long I decided on it. Thanks bro. Yep you are dead on for the engine. I have fallen in love with this car and have started a search for one ... just don't tell my wife.:headbang: Thanks Tonya, glad you enjoy the write ups. I think I get too wordy but I like to do product reviews in there too. I had some help getting the Steamer since the closest Tuesday mornins is like 45 minutes away. It really does a nice job for me. Corey I appreciate the props! I debated a long time about getting the extractor but the LGM just takes so long. After talking to MotorCity about it at length I saw this one which was just like his and I jumped on it. I got it off ebay brand new for $220. I like that its not huge and can be manuvered around really easily. I don't think you could go wrong with the Sanitaire.
Nice turnaround wolf! Looks good as always. One question off the subject, do you use the pressure washer in line with the CR spotless system?
Wolf, do you use the spotless wash system during the whole process or only during rinsing, mine is coming this week and could use all the tips I can get!!!
Finally the full write up and not just teaser pics.... As always your work and write ups are top notch.... Seems like that color is similar to silver/white in the respect that it would be hard to get it to *bling* - looks like you overcame that obstacle!! Hope you win man!
