Long weekend = clean car!!

[Michael Stoops]

After learning a bit about how to use my dual action PC on my Miata I finally managed to find the time to spruce up my modded PT Cruiser. This little baby has the 2.4L Turbo engine common to the SRT4 and I've added the Mopar Stage 1 upgrade and a few other bits under the hood, not to mention lowering it a couple of inches and mounting some aftermarket wheels that are a great match for the car. Oh, and it runs 14.4 in the 1/4 mile with what is very minimal upgrades

The paint color is Graphite Metallic and the car will be two years old on 12/31/05.

Anyway, I did the usual wash (Gold Class), clay, and polish with #80. The engine was cleaned with Meguiar's APC as were the tires and wheel wells, then the engine, tires and trim were dressed with Hyperdressing cut 2:1 (wheel wells got ArmorAll). Finally the paint was covered in a polymer sealant.



I love this reflection shot!





And a nice little closeup to show the flake and wetness of the finish.

[imacarnut]

very nice job!

[amari]

Sparkling Job...

[Five Star]

nice and slick looking

should really minimize that turbo lag

[oc detailer]

nice sleeper, and great job cleaning it up...

[Paulvr4]

Nice Job!

So Armor All on the wheel wells huh?

[flipper]

I only wish I could have worked on the car this week end but the weather hear in chicago has been terriable. It has been cold, windy and raining for the last 5 days. Looks like you have had better weather.

Car looks great.

[gb387]

Nice work.... good looking car!

I bet its fun to drive!

[Jeff Smith]

How would you describe the paints finish before you started? i ask this as a guy I work with has a PT Cruiser he wants me to work up with him. He has quite a few scratches, Mostly due to his own wash habits. Did you find the paint was easy to work defects ouit of with the #80 and the PC? His is Gold and is a convertable.

Any tricks you figured out along the way that you could pass along? Any little cubby holes for water to hide in?

[Michael Stoops]

Thanks for the compliments guys - yes, this car is a blast because nobody expects a PT to move like this. It's an eye opener at the drag strip; I tend to get funny looks, little jokes, etc before I run, then people tend to come up and ask what the heck I did to make a PT run like that (and I know guys with big turbo kits than run high 12 second times!!!!!!)

Paul - Yep, AA in the wheel wells. Decent shine and it's cheap! Sure, you want them to look good, but c'mon......they're wheel wells!!!

Jeff - the paint was in pretty decent shape to begin with, but there were some stubborn places where perhaps #83 with a more aggressive pad would help speed things along. The paint seemed much harder than my '99 Miata, that's for sure. As for water gathering places, look in the grille slats and where the front bumper cover slips under the front fenders. On the 4 doors the lower front corner of the rear doors seems to drip water for hours, but since the one you're looking at doing is a ragtop it doesn't have back doors. Lucky you!

[Jeff Smith]

Originally posted by Mike-in-Orange
Thanks for the compliments guys - yes, this car is a blast because nobody expects a PT to move like this. It's an eye opener at the drag strip; I tend to get funny looks, little jokes, etc before I run, then people tend to come up and ask what the heck I did to make a PT run like that (and I know guys with big turbo kits than run high 12 second times!!!!!!)

Paul - Yep, AA in the wheel wells. Decent shine and it's cheap! Sure, you want them to look good, but c'mon......they're wheel wells!!!

Jeff - the paint was in pretty decent shape to begin with, but there were some stubborn places where perhaps #83 with a more aggressive pad would help speed things along. The paint seemed much harder than my '99 Miata, that's for sure. As for water gathering places, look in the grille slats and where the front bumper cover slips under the front fenders. On the 4 doors the lower front corner of the rear doors seems to drip water for hours, but since the one you're looking at doing is a ragtop it doesn't have back doors. Lucky you!

Great, Thanks for the tips. Always nice to know where the weaknesses are before I start something.

[bewshay]

that is really clean!
im starting to like these cars because they look like modern day hot rods and theres so much to show off from them ( ofcourse from a detailing point of view, chrome, body shape, interior)