1986 Mustang GT

[InfiniteDetail]

Re: 1986 Mustang GT

I just love these kind of projects and opportunities, where you can feel free to practice, experiment and gain valuable experience. Will be great to see if you can refine the Rustoleum paint experience and use Meg's products to produce an amazing result with roller and buffer. Please document for us! Wish I could be there to lend a hand!
Good Luck

Exactly! The opportunity to test out different products and techniques without fear of causing damage makes it fun! I'm excited to see how much of an improvement we can achieve.

[InfiniteDetail]

Re: 1986 Mustang GT

Next up: Shampoo the carpets!

[Alfaromeodriver]

Re: 1986 Mustang GT

Ur gonna be busy, darn!

[Daniel Kinder]

Re: 1986 Mustang GT


Great car and project.

I just recently finished a single stage white paint that was in bad shape and the only thing that brought out a great gloss and shine was claying ofcourse and then 3 application of M105 with a W4000 wool pad on the rotary at 1500.

I too am interested in your protect, and great job on the seats look fantastic

[InfiniteDetail]

Re: 1986 Mustang GT

Great car and project.

I just recently finished a single stage white paint that was in bad shape and the only thing that brought out a great gloss and shine was claying ofcourse and then 3 application of M105 with a W4000 wool pad on the rotary at 1500.

I too am interested in your protect, and great job on the seats look fantastic

Thanks! I asked Rick at ADS what he would recommend, and he said to use D151 with a maroon solo pad...so that's what I'm going to try. I'm sure my bottle of M105 will come into play at some point as well.

We hope to have some good "after" pictures of the paint tomorrow night if all goes well.

As far as the car, I had never really paid all that much attention to the "4-eyed" foxes before this one was sitting in my garage. It's really grown on me though, and I just love the lines of the car. My wife insisted on buying it from my buddy who I was doing this job for

[InfiniteDetail]

Re: 1986 Mustang GT

Ur gonna be busy, darn!

Ha! And to make it even worse, it's my wife's project car so you know I won't get a moment's rest

[InfiniteDetail]

Re: 1986 Mustang GT

Fellow MOL'ers Bri (Marc) and AudionutMike (Mike) came over yesterday to help, and we got alot done! We started with the wheels. They were so badly cached with brake dust they had to be removed from the car to be cleaned:


This was the first time I used All Wheel Cleaner. I absolutely love it! It suds up nicely when agitated:


...and you sure can't beat the results:



Who knew these wheels were chrome? We thought they were aluminum!

Next we powerwashed the engine bay. 3 times. Marc scrubbed on it and got excellent results.

Before:


After:


Next we powerwashed the exterior. We kept getting dirt pouring out from under the moldings!



After claying, we set up some test spots. Notice that the paint is so oxidized, that any beam of light that strays onto the paint is never seen or heard from again! It was a veritable black hole!

In this picture you can barely see a reflection of 2 high power hologen lights:





The left spot was using the Flex with an Orange LC pad (can't wait to get some of the new Meg's pads!) and M105. The right spot was with the rotary and a red solo wool pad using D151.



M105 was the real star of this show - cut through the oxidation in a single pass with amazing results, leaving an LSP-ready finish using both the Flex and the Rotary.

Marc got an opportunity to learn the rotary with no risk so he buffed out his side using the rotary while Mike used Marc's Flex on the other side:




Rear quarter after clay:

Here's some 50/50 shots after M105:






Needless to say, Marc learned the rotary very quickly!

Even though M105 left a finish nice enough to apply the LSP over, we wanted to experiment a little to see what would work well to refine the finish even more. We tried M83 and M80 on a polishing pad, but they hazed the finish. After a little head scratching, we thought that wool might be the way to go. Out came the purple foamed wool pad and the new D151 Paint Reconditioning Cream - this is great stuff! It went on nicely with no dusting and finished up beautifully.

Here's some shots after 151:






After the polishing was finished, my wife came out to see her car and almost had a heart attack! She absolutely couldn't believe it was the same car. By this time we had called the game due to heat and Marc and Mike had already left. Seeing her enthusiasm re-energized me so we went out to finish the job.

I decided that even though the convertible top was beyond help and had to be replaced due to holes, we may as well try and clean it up. I used APC+ at 10:1:






We went over the painted trim with M105 by hand (this stuff is amazing!) and re-washed it to get all of the compounding dust and splatter off:



By the time we were finished it was too dark to take "after" pictures. I'll get some good shots out in the sun today and will post them up.

It was a very long and productive day and we learned a lot:

- This highly oxidized single stage paint loved M105 for oxidation removal
- The paint hated foam pads for finishing
- D151 worked beautifully as a finishing product with a wool pad on the rotary
- When working in 105+ degree heat with high humidity, you drink gallons of water and never have to use the restroom.

Seeing the look on my wife's face and her sudden enthusiasm for the project made it all worth it. Thanks a TON to Marc and Mike for helping!

More pics to come, so stay tuned!

[Marc08EX]

Re: 1986 Mustang GT

Thanks for the opportunity and teaching me how to use the rotary Jeff!!! I love working on your 86 and the results speak for themselves. I thought you'd stop when we left but I guess you're like the energizer bunny! Great job on finishing the top off!! Next stop is the 68 or painting your 86! I'll be there!

[InfiniteDetail]

Re: 1986 Mustang GT

OK, so I have to come clean here. The truth is, Spiderman actually broke into my garage and did all of the work!

[InfiniteDetail]

Re: 1986 Mustang GT

I got some decent "After" shots in the sun.

Before:



Afters:





This is an interesting shot - we didn't work on the trunk because I want to remove the luggage rack. The left side is the quarter panel which is polished:


Door trim before:


Door trim after:


Next up:
- Finish up the interior
- Repaint the black center section of the hood
- Finish extracting the carpets and rear seats

Thanks for looking

[Marc08EX]

Re: 1986 Mustang GT

Did you put wax on in Jeff?

[ricksternbarb]

Re: 1986 Mustang GT

Jeff, you are now known as magic man..........Kerris' 86 Mustang GT is a miracle. Love it, love it, love it...........Just to change the subject a bit...my silver pearl white Buick Riveria you reciently detailed still looks like it came off the show room floor. A recient trip to the dealership at Superstition Springs drew the attention of several salesmen. They were dazzled with the detailing you did. Keep up the good work mister! From now on the "Magic Man" is my detail guy.

[InfiniteDetail]

Re: 1986 Mustang GT

Thanks for the opportunity and teaching me how to use the rotary Jeff!!! I love working on your 86 and the results speak for themselves. I thought you'd stop when we left but I guess you're like the energizer bunny! Great job on finishing the top off!! Next stop is the 68 or painting your 86! I'll be there!

Marc, thanks for coming out and helping as well as sharing your experience. I really liked the Flex and like I said, will probably have to get one!

We'll do it again when it's cooler out

[InfiniteDetail]

Re: 1986 Mustang GT

Did you put wax on in Jeff?

After we washed it, I went ahead and hit it with Nxt.

[InfiniteDetail]

Re: 1986 Mustang GT

Jeff, you are now known as magic man..........Kerris' 86 Mustang GT is a miracle. Love it, love it, love it...........Just to change the subject a bit...my silver pearl white Buick Riveria you reciently detailed still looks like it came off the show room floor. A recient trip to the dealership at Superstition Springs drew the attention of several salesmen. They were dazzled with the detailing you did. Keep up the good work mister! From now on the "Magic Man" is my detail guy.

Awww shucks! Wish I could take all of the credit but Marc and Mike actually did the majority of the buffing. I was trying to get the grease stains off of my driveway