Makeover tips and advice for a beginner wanted!

[Syco Stang]

Re: Makeover tips and advice for a beginner wanted!

What would you guys recommend to clean up bare aluminum in the engine bay? I'll be getting the car in a week and a half and just wanted to make sure I had all the right product to get it all clean. If you look at all the bare aluminum in the engine bay pic above, you will notice it's all discoloured and there are plenty of spots of oxidization. What would you recommend to clean this up and keep it looking fresh? I'll be picking up everything I need shortly, so I just wanted to make sure I had as complete a list as possible. Thanks again folks!
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[Syco Stang]

Re: Makeover tips and advice for a beginner wanted!

Thanks guys, and you do make a good point Kerrinjeff. For the money, it's worth a try. I'm going to round up all the supplies I need, can the Meguiars stuff be bought online through this website or somewhere else? I'm going to grab all the stuff Derrick recommended, anything else I will need or should get?
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[InfiniteDetail]

Re: Makeover tips and advice for a beginner wanted!

Your welcome and about the PlastX i would highly recommend you try it out. It easier than you think. If you have a DA use that with a foam pad or even doing it by hand is fast and easy in most cases. You cant go wrong with it and its only about $6 at any Walmart compared to buying new head lights. If you are applying by hand start with either a foam applicator or a microfiber rag and if you need a little more bite use a terry cloth then finalize with the foam pad.

Very good points, especially if you are looking to resell the car. I did 2 applications of PlastX by hand with a terry cloth towel. Total time required was 15 minutes and the results were spactacular!

Smoked headlights are definitely a love-it-or-hate-it thing, so if you are going to resell the car it might make more financial sense to just clean up the existing headlights.

[Derrick]

Re: Makeover tips and advice for a beginner wanted!

DerrickG32069, that's JUST the info I was looking for!

Your welcome and about the PlastX i would highly recommend you try it out. It easier than you think. If you have a DA use that with a foam pad or even doing it by hand is fast and easy in most cases. You cant go wrong with it and its only about $6 at any Walmart compared to buying new head lights. If you are applying by hand start with either a foam applicator or a microfiber rag and if you need a little more bite use a terry cloth then finalize with the foam pad.

[Syco Stang]

Re: Makeover tips and advice for a beginner wanted!

DerrickG32069, that's JUST the info I was looking for! I really appreciate everyones input here!!
Kerrinjeff, I think I'm just going to invest in some smoked headlights for the car. I've installed them on a couple other rides and they really go well on white. I don't want to take a chance to clean up the stock 19 year old headlights and not have them turn out as nice as I expect. Can't go wrong with new ones! Thanks anyways though, I really appreciate the info!!
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[InfiniteDetail]

Re: Makeover tips and advice for a beginner wanted!

A little PlastX on those headlights will make them look new. It did wonders for my '88 Mustang

[Derrick]

Re: Makeover tips and advice for a beginner wanted!

Hi well Murr covered it all pretty good and for that engine bay yes you are going to have to spend some precious time with it but it can be done. Invest a some Super Degreaser, Hyper dressing, HotRims Aluminum polish, NXT all metal polish, and a good quality paint brush like the ones used to paint a home. This will be used for the cleaning since the bristles are not harsh in any way and will not harm the paint and it is small enough to reach in those hard to get areas for cleaning. A more aggressive brush for light scrubbing with super degreaserto get off the bad areas. A cheap leaf blower or air compressor ( not necessary but recommended ) to blow off all the water and dry the engine bay faster, i found this leaf blower for $25 at Walmart and has been doing a great job for the exterior and engine bays. I will post a pic with everything i uses to make an engine bay really pop. The only thing i use that is not in the pic is the TurtleWax ICE liquid polish for the paint surfaces in the engine bay. Mainly because it is easy and can be applied to almost anything i can really get to all the paint surfaces without worrying about hitting and rubber and getting white residue everywhere.
Ignore everything in the background, just the stuff i put up front.

[Murr1525]

Re: Makeover tips and advice for a beginner wanted!

Well, lots of ground to cover, lets see...

1. Here are some links for the paint care, that explain the full process. Understanding them will get you in good shape for that:

Meguiar's 5-Step Paint Care Cycle
Step 1 Wash
Step 2 Clean
Step 3 Polish
Step 4 Protect
Step 5 Maintain

Suggested Products for Taking Care of a New Car

What it Means to Remove a Scratch

How To Remove Swirls By Hand

How to remove a defect by hand with ScratchX

Rotary vs. PC vs. Regular Orbital Buffer

Recommended Products - G100a Dual Action Polisher

Using the G-100 to remove swirls with the Professional Line

1986 Ford Bronco II - Extreme Makeover

Each one, teach one... Ferrari Fiorano 355 F1 Spider

2. As far as the plastic, you will want something like All-Purpose Cleaner, or All-Purpose Cleaner+ to wipe everything down, and then some kind of dressing for after. Maybe #40 or Hyper Dressing.

The cloth would be a bit more interesting, I am sure some sort of an extractor would be best, like a Little Green Machine at least, if not a more professional model since it sounds like you do this a lot. You could use some of Meguiar's cleaners with it, like APC, or Quick Out.

3. In the Marine Line, there are some cleaners and protect ants that people have used on convertible tops.

4. Engines are not my specialty, hopefully someone can chime in.

[Syco Stang]

Hey guys, I've always wanted to learn how to detail properly though I have always been an avid detailer. I'm very picky when I have a nice car to maintain, or one to fix up for resale.
The latter brought me here, hopefully I can learn some things to apply to my own vehicles in the future! I am in the process of picking up a rust free 1989 Ford Mustang LX convertible. The car is now in New Jersey, though it's been a Cali car all it's life up until a year ago. The interior looks horrible, under the hood shows it's age, the exterior looks good minus some dings and dents and the convertible top looks good enough. My goal is to clean up the car as much as possible to fetch as much as possible for resale. I will post up some pictures as well.

1) The exterior is Dove Grey, and looks white in the pictures. I am sure that it has some fading in the clearcoat considering it is a California vehicle. The black trim and beltline mouldings will probably all be scuffed and repainted satin black rather than trying to shine them up. In my experience, this is the best route for an even look all around. I need advice on what to use to make the exterior look its best.

2) The interior apparently looks worse than it is in the pictures. Either way, I will definitely be replacing either the drivers seat or both front seats. I will be cleaning the carpet, seats and all the plastic as best I can and need help in this regard. What to use, and how?

3) The convertible top might get a coat of paint/dye depending on its shape. I'm not too worried about cleaning it because it is black but am curious what to use for dressing.

4) The engine bay is my biggest concern. It looks ugly, and will need some serious attention to make it look nice. The issue here is that Ford decided to paint the upper intake manifold while leaving all the other aluminum surfaces bare! So, I know that certain materials and cleaning products will work great on rubber/plastic/painted areas but will make the bare aluminum spotty or white. Can can I do here? I will be scrubbing, and doing everything I can to make the engine bay look it's best. What products and products can you recommend and are there any tips on how to do this best?

I appreciate any and all help you can provide, and here are some pics for good measure so that you know what I'm dealing with. I look forward to reading your responses!!!
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