we had a 91 twin turbo, auto, targa top zed traded in at work. its a 4 seater and sapphire blue and i got the job of making it look beautiful again. now this thing has been treated pretty badly, the hatch had to be resprayed because of crows feet but they didn't do the roof so i have have a feeling it'll be heading back to the paint shop to do it after im finished. this detailing job is huge and will take me at least 3 days so i thought i'd put this up to show everyone just how involved proper detailing really is. ok here is the patient wheels are terrible. i'll have to take them off to clean them up inside and out with straight acid. the inside is trashed, dusty as hell with a big rip in the drivers seat side bolster so off to the trimmers with that one. seats out. sometimes i take the carpet out to gurney it with red hot water and chemicals but i decided to leave this one in simply because it'll take me long enough already. car is washed, engine degreased, wheel arches and undeneath cleaned, door jambs cleaned, de-tarred and de-bugged and chamiosed. the masking tape on all the rubbers and plastics is for when im buffing. it stops the compound getting worked into the plastics and staining them plus it makes it easier to wash after buffing. that was the first days work today i went over the paint with a clay bar to get it really smooth then started finding things to respray. windscreen cowls, balance tube and engine cover. wiper arms. before cleaning and painting after buff time. i had to rub back the bonnet with 2000 wet and dry. i'll buff the whole car 3 or 4 times, starting with a coarse compound and working down to fine polish. the photos are with my phone so you can't see much detail. one little bit buffed. so after all the sanding and painting today i buffed the whole car once and i'll buff it a couple of more times tomorrow , paint under the wheel arches and hopefully start on the interior. epic epic journey.
haha my zed is pretty clean but i wouldn't mind taking mine to someone to get a detail like that! how do you get the engine bay so clean? are there any chemicals you use that can damage hoses and the like?
+1. Love your work. edit: yeah! How the hell did you do that to a dirty bay? I'm trying to get rid of the filthy queensland dirt!
Nice work, what chemical/soap do you use with the 2000 wet and dry ? would you get a better fiish with 3000 or would that just be a waste of time ? Cheers
we use a chemical called Trucksteam, its an alkaline based chemical. we used to mix it 50/50 with water but these days i just use it straight. just put it in a hand pump spray bottle and drench everything then gurney it off with red hot water. it doesn't damage hoses but does ruin polished alloy or anodised finishes so you have to cover them up first. i also use the same stuff on wheels, tyres, underguards, on bugs and for cleaning the interior. have to be very carefull on the interior though.
i just use a tiny ammount of car wash in a spray bottle of water. 3000 would give a better finish but this paint is pretty bad and it needed to be cut back a fair bit.
Calling for tech article..... I'm sure many members would agree that this work (done by a professional) would be great to have written up in the tech section. Would you consider writing up a "how to" and posting it in the tech section?? It would be nice to get more details / explanations on many of the items you just mentioned (products, application, hints on cutting material and how to use etc). Cant wait to see the finished product
i could do that although a lot of the products we use can only be bought through a wholesaler. the buffing compounds and pads can be bought at normal shops though. we also have a huge gurney worth 10 grand so that makes life easier.
this morning i had a couple of other jobs to do before the zed but i finally finished buffing it. it aint easy bending over for this long buffing a low car. including clay bar and sanding it took 5hrs. first buff with a coarse cutting compound, second with a swirl remover and third with polish. i'll get some pics of the pads and compounds used. pics aren't that great it was so dark inside today. i put the windscreen cowls and wiperarms back on then took the wheels off to clean them with acid and paint the inner guards and calipers. before painting after painting hopefully i can do all the interior and finish it off on monday.
Beautiful! It is indeed a great colour Love what you've done in the wheel arches! How much would something like this cost?
