OK it seems that just about every car I do has some sort of story line to it, or maybe I just love to write, LOL. This one is no exception although it has a few story lines to it. First off one of my neighbors bought this older Explorer Limited and I had noticed it in his driveway a few times. He came to my house one day while I was detailing and said "I hear you are the guy for making cars look great". I told him I didn't know about that but I try. He told me about the Explorer and how he got a good deal on it and it was going to be for his daughters 16th birthday and was a complete surprise for her. He told me it looked kind of bad but he got such a good deal on it he couldn't pass it up. He said he didn't expect miracles but to do what I could. I told him I thought he would be really surprised. We set it up for 2 days before her birthday and I would just hide it in my garage until the party. Well thats the first part of the story. The second part involves a new member here on DB. "Sami" had joined not long ago and was from Va. I'm in NC and about 3 hours away from him. Well Sami is getting into the detailing business and through pms and phone conversations asked if he might come to one of my details and see how I do it. I told him sure and told him about the upcoming Explorer and he said he would be there. Boy am I glad he came! See Sami had never used a machine to polish before and I was going to introduce him to that. Also Sami is a carpet guru. I mean to tell you the man knows how to clean a carpet and boy did I need him on this detail. See I didn't know how bad the interior was on this Explorer and as most know I'm not the best interior detailer compared to a lot of you guys. Well thanks to Sami I found out that I struggle because I had bad technique and was using my chemicals and extractor all wrong. Man the miracles this man worked were unbelievable and the pictures really tell the story better than me. Anyway Sami is a great guy and we worked really well together and I had a blast. It was smokin' hot that day 100 degrees as a matter of fact but Sami and I persevered. Anyway here is what we did: Tires/Wheels/Wells: The tires got MS Super Green Stuff from a handheld pressurized sprayer and a black Shmitt. The wheels got Megs Wheel Brightener with an EZ Detail and a Black Magic (bent at 90 degrees) brush. I used a foam finger pocket on the wheel faces. The wheel wells got CGs Grime Reaper diluted at 2:1 in a Solo 418 Sprayer and a black Shmitt. The tires were dressed first with a base coat of Megs Hyper Dressing @ 1:1 and then got a coat of Optimum Tire Shine. Both were applied to a CGs Tire Applicator and applied to the tire. The wells were dressed with CGs Bare Bones. Engine: I have been trying to get my Megs Hyper Dressing to work on engines but wasn't having much success so I pm'd sheerspeed and asked how he did it. He instructed me to after I cleaned the engine to spray it down with Megs HD and close the hood and crank the engine and let it run for about 15 mins. Well I rinsed the engine, sprayed it with MS SGS, agitated, rinsed, sprayed a healthy coat of Megs HD @ 3:1 and cranked the engine and let it run for about 15 mins. It worked great I'm happy to say. Wash: Well I broke out the foam cannon for this and Sami was quite impressed with the amount of foam this thing could generate. First though the bugs got CGs Bug and Tar Strong Wash @3:1 in a 418 sprayer and a MS bug sponge. The CGs strong wash is by far the best cleaner for bugs, road grime, and tar that I have seen. After hooking up to the CR Spotless system the car got a quick rinse. I pre-treated the lower panels and running boards with MS SGS. I then foamed the car with my foam cannon and 2 oz of CGs Citrus Wash Clear and 1 oz of CGs Strong Wash. There would be no trace of anything left behind when the wash was done. I put some Megs Gold Class in a rinse bucket with a grit guard and Sami and I proceeded to wash with Lowes Grout Sponges. After the wash the car was rinsed and ready for claying. Clay: I used Riccardo Clay with DP 4n1 Clay lube in a 418 Sprayer. Then re-rinsed with the CR spotless. And while we let mother nature dry the car (no worries about water spots) we moved on to the floor mats. Interior: Before I start telling you how great Sami is at carpets let me tell you what I did on the interior because it pales in comparison to what he accomplished. I cleaned everything with CGs greenClean total interior cleaner and water mixed in a bucket. I used a MF to wipe everything down and the the door jambs got the same solution with a Swissvax wheel brush and MF. After cleaning I protected all plastic with CGs Silk Shine. Now the floor mats were in rough shape and the owner told me later that he had just planned to throw them away. I didn't know that so we set out to try and clean them. You can see from the pics that the mats were rough. Well Sami began by giving me a class on how to clean them the right way. I was doing things all wrong and Sami showed me that with good chemicals and the right technique you can really work miracles. Sami had some spot treatment that I cannont for the life of me remember the name of. I'll look when I get home and post what it was. He got a lot of the nasty spots with this and a white MF telling me to always work from the outside of the stain inward. Next he pre-treated the carpets and mats with Prochem Traffic clean in a spray bottle and hot water. He then added a rinse to the water in the extractor (I had to use hot water because my extractor doesn't have heater) by Bridgepoint Systems. He showed me how I was using my extractor wrong and then proceeded to clean the carpets like no tomorrow. The pics show you just how great of a job he did. Glass: The outside got DG 501 while polishing and the inside got CGs Glass Cleaner with a Glass MF and dried with a WW MF. Trim: The trim on the running boards got Stoners Trim Shine. The plastic on the back bumper as you can see in the before pic was faded beyond belief. It almost looked white. I pulled out the big guns and my trusty combo of Black Wow and CGs Trim Gel on a MF applicator and the transformation was amazing. From white back to an olive green color. Paint: Well Sami got to do some machine polishing as I gave him my Harbor Freight rotary set it at its lowest speed with a gray 3M finishing pad and some DG 501. I showed him how to work it and he took to it like a duck to water. I used the Metabo with the same pad and polish set up and we proceeded to bring the shine back to the car. Sami was really impressed with the shine when we buffed off the 501 with a the new CGs 530 XL MFs. He was really impressed with the 530 XLs too. Next before protection I did a wipedown with a DG 921 FC&S and a 530 XL. This really makes a super slick surface for the sealant. Protection: Well I got to try out my new CGs Vertua-Bond 400 bonding agent today as well. I applied it with the 4" LC CCS blue pad on a polishing pal. After application we put on a coat of CGs Jetseal each using a 4" LC CCS blue pad on a polishing pal. After about 30 minutes we buffed it off with the 530 XLs and Sami really got to see a shine then. Well it had been a long day and was getting into the afternoon and Sami had a long trip back home so he started back. All that was left to do was the LSP so he wasn't going to miss much. Sami was a tremendous help and I learned a great deal from him and made a great friend as well. The owner came up just before Sami left and said you guys really are miracle workers. He wanted some of my business cards so I went inside to get some and Sami said he called someone and said "You won't believe it but it looks like a 2008 Explorer now". LSP: I decided to go with CGs 5050 since I was on a CGs roll. I apply all waxes now like I do Rubbish Boys OE and use my hair dryer method. I scraped some wax into the center of the container and then take a hair dryer and heat up a 4" red LC CCS pad. After heating the pad I rub it in the wax that was scraped up and it just melts into the pad. I applied it and let it sit for a little while and pulled it off with a CGs Edgeless MF. The owner was happy and on Thursday the girl was ecstatic! That made my day! Here are the pics: Before and Afters: Random Favorite shot:
You boys got down on this one... inside, out and under the hood... what a difference!!! Tight Made that girls b-day better exponentially!!!
JL..Great job there. Sami was fortunate to have you to teach him the ropes (and vice-versa for the carpet..funny how we can all compliment each other's abilities). The transformation in all areas is exquisite. What a cool kicker with it being a birthday present. Congrats:applause2::applause2:
Very nice job JL! The car looks fantastic, what a turnaround. I bet she was pleased to get the car now!
Thanks bro I know I will be heading up your way very soon for some more detailing lessons! Thanks Jason it turned out really well and yes her birthday was a huge success. Only thing is I don't know why I cleaned the outside glass because the next morning her friends had written birthday wishes all over the glass. Thanks richy means a lot coming from you and yes its amazing how much Sami helped me when he was coming down here for me to help him. Great day all the way around. Thanks bro and yes she was very very happy. Her dad told me when he picked it up "There is no way she is not going to be excited when she sees this". Thanks Denzil! Thanks pirex and yes she drove the thing around all the way up to the time for her party to start! Showing it off I guess. Oh and this one is good but just wait til you see what I have in store for my next show and shine!
Thanks Ben! Yeah it really helps to have someone live and in color to help out and bounce ideas and such off of. The girl was very happy and I was really pleased with how it came out. I will be so glad when that dumpster is gone too:waiting:. Thanks mate! Appreciate the compliment yukonon22:headbang:. Thanks Carn I think you've seen this one before:thumb:.
