Getting Minivan ready for trip across the country

[paudashlake]

I have a 1994 POntiac Transport, as you can see in my profile pic. It is an overall beautiful van, however, it needs to be cleaned up very well. It is almost 16, so it has scratches, bug etchings, tar, swirls, ect. I need to do it this weekend, but the weather is not going to cooperate with me. I guess the pan is to wash it in the rain, pull it into the garage, dry it, then do the polishing routine. I am going to be doing this all by hand so I need some tips and cautions on how to use ultimate compound, scratchx, plastx, paint cleaner. I want the paint to be as beautiful as it has ever been before. Help and advice would be much appreciated. By the way, I have not been on here in a few months so hello again!

thank you

[Megafast13]

Re: Getting Minivan ready for trip across the country

Besides the paint condition, I would be more concerned with the engine performance and reliability. Check tires, change oil, filters, spark plugs, wiring, etc. Especially on a car that old!

I don't know how bad the defects are on your paint, but if you haven't done correction on it before than you will most likely need Ultimate Compound

Wash
Clay
Ultimate Compound
SwirlX
NXT 2.0 (Or Wax of your choice)

As long as you use a proper applicator and make the pressure with your fingers equal across it you should be fine when applying it. The main issue I see with new people on here is they let the product dry on the paint or they do not work it in long enough. Depending on the hardness of your paint, Ultimate Compound can possibly cause holograms. That is why it's important to follow up with a lesser aggressive product, such as SwirlX.

PlastX is a great way to make your headlights and taillights pop again. A nice claying of the windows and that humongous windshield followed by some RainX or Ultimate Quik Wax/Detailer would also be great, especially for the road trip.

[Tuck91]

Re: Getting Minivan ready for trip across the country

Try some Body Solvent on the tar, let it dwell for about twenty to thirty minutes and then follow up with a soapy water agitation with a bug sponge. You may need to let the Body Solvent dwell even longer than that or try using clay to get it off.

Rubbing a van out by hand with UC and SwirlX is going to take more than a couple of hours. Not sure how hard the paint is so you will just have to do some test spots see what works.

If I were you I would not even worry about the swirl marks. I would just go after some of the bigger scratches with UC and use a cleaner like M06 since your working by hand.

[paudashlake]

Re: Getting Minivan ready for trip across the country

well im not new here and I have seen a lot of other threads with info on how to do it correctly. I am crossing my fingers that it can make it. haha well thank you for your input

[paudashlake]

Re: Getting Minivan ready for trip across the country

@tuck91 i have alllllll weekend so I am going to get a good workout here. I will do what I can to get the major and minor issues. thanks for the response.

[paudashlake]

Re: Getting Minivan ready for trip across the country

now one final question: What is the best way to clean the carpets? My technique is to spray on and scrub with a carpet brush. Then **** it up with the lgm. Is there a better way or is this good?

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Getting Minivan ready for trip across the country

Do you have a powerful wet/dry shop vac? I like using mine for the extraction process. Works very well. Cuts the carpet drying time considerably.