2001 Ford Excursion

[Nappers]

Hey gang,

I detailed a Ford Excursion today. Ran out of sunlight but got the wax on and doing the piddly stuff tommorow. 3 wheels left, finish interior, wax lower half of body (plastic trim). My wife is going to help me tommorow. Then we are off to a 49er game!!!

My process was as follows:
Wash-Coin op, scrubbed delicate
Clay-Meg's Clay kit and QD
Meg's #80 with 8006 pad
Meg's ColorX with 8006 pad
ScratchX by hand
#26 by hand.

I had a heck of a time with the PC . I had the same results when I did our cars.....It did not rotate at all if there was any pressure on it. I contributed it to operator error..... It was very frustrating as I know I could do better. I ended up using ScratchX by hand and got better results than I did with the PC and 80/8006 pads. I had the pad perfectly centered and it only rotated with very little or no pressure on it and only on flat surfaces. I tried my rotary and it rained 80 on me and luckily the panels are so flat, very little splatter on the rig itself. I thought of mailing my PC to Meg's and see if it's just me or the PC. After doing ScratchX by hand on the passenger side (with better results than the drivers side) I than applied #26 by hand on the whole truck. I then touched up the drivers side with ScratchX by hand. While the wax dried, I tackled a wheel, front bumper chrome, used Gold Class trim Detailer on all the black trim and #40 on the rubber seals and dash and doors. I only have the lower rockers to do and finish the wheels and the front doors panels (need some scrubbing then dressing) It was a mostly frustrating day with the PC, It may just be me but I know that I had less than the recommended pressures that Mike put up and it would stop. Lucky I have experience with ScratchX.

Hopefully you enjoy it. It was a hard day and my back hurts.

I didn't take too many pictures but did a few.

Before doesn't look too bad, washed it at a coin op:


Swirls:


More Swirls:


Nasty bug shield:


Ugh: This was clean, I think this clay bar is SHOT. It got way worst:


This is a kinda blury picture, but did the bug shield, half on right done, left nasty. Used Rotary and 8006 with PlastX:


Wheel before, note I already sprayed some 40 in the wheel well.


Wheel after using Meguiars Hot Rims Mag/Aluminum polish, This stuff is the bomb:


Interior before:


Interior after:


After, not too bad, needs some more TLC.




I like this shot, it was dark, and I was shivering.....


It was fun and a lot of work on these behemoths. I thought our Yukon was a chore....Sheesh.

L8R

Aaron

[RZ Autodetailing]

Re: 2001 Ford Excursion

Nappers your doing a fine job on that monster considering your doing it mostly by hand. It sounds to me like your p/c is not operating correctly , because you should be able to apply moderate pressure without it bogging down the way your explaining.

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: 2001 Ford Excursion

Napper good work on that monster. I would agree the G100 does not sound like its working properly. Good luck. Hope you can get it repaired.

[yalerd]

Re: 2001 Ford Excursion

Very nice work man
Like how the Excursion ended up

[roushstage2]

Re: 2001 Ford Excursion

That is a lot of surface area to cover by hand! Good job!

[Nappers]

Re: 2001 Ford Excursion

I took these shots the next day. I just now put them up as we went to a 49er game and left Friday and back late Sunday. They won!!! Woo Hoo. Course my wife likes the Bengals (as a second team to her Packers. pbpbpbpbpbp) Cool part was that we had our Yreka High School Dance Team as one of the dozen or so teams from No. California and one of my Step Son's best friend from Kindergarten was there to perform. Can't believe she was this little twirp not too long ago and now we see her on the field at half time. She took this photo of us. It was cool to run into her. She was surprised.


The owner of this beast, Karol (a close friend of ours) enjoyed the finished product. Her daughter (who goes to school with our daughter) I was told, said that I put a new interior in it, not cleaned it. Felt good that they enjoyed it. I take pride in what I do and it's good to hear that they liked it.

This is the front, there was a lot of bugs stuck in the front end. I used GC bug and tar remover. I used the product as directed and the bugs washed off quite easily. I used Hot Rims Mag/Aluminum polish on the bumper and GC Trim Detailer on the lower part.


This shot is quite nice. Our friend marveled how shiny it looked when she came out of the store and saw it in the parking lot. I may turn her and her husband into car crazy nuts......He has a 200?....(not sure on year) Thunderbird that would be fun to detail out. He sure loves the car. It's baby blue and looks nice. He keeps it nice.


This shot is the wheel, front drivers side. I originally used Meguiars Hot Rims Mag and Aluminum polish, as it turned black. Then on the another wheel, it didn't turn black. I figured the wheels were just dirty. I used Meg's Quik Wheel Detailer to clean, then Meguiars Color X to clean/wax the wheels as I believe they are clear coated and used the Mag/Aluminum polish on the center caps which were chrome.


Back drivers side wheel. All wheels got a coat of Color X on them. The wheel wells got a healthy coat of #40. I used Hot Shine Aerosol on the tires. The aerosol can has 3 settings for spray and I like it. I usually use Hot Shine spray on a microfiber applicator and spread it on. The can makes it much easier.


This is the rear shot, the bumpers and black trim got treated with Hot Rims Mag/Aluminum polish and Gold Class Trim Detailer on the trim. The polish really works well on chrome.


As I said, the front end had bugs galore stuck in it. I used GC Bug and Tar remover and by following directions, the bugs came off quite easily. I used GC trim detailer on the lower part. I used a rotary with 8006 and PlastX on the bug shield. I used the Mag/Aluminum Polish on all of the chrome and it worked quite well. I used cut up terry cloths as the foam applicator wasn't "cutting" it and wiped with a dedicated MF towel.


The following interior shots, I used Quik Out Carpet Cleaner on spots of the rug and the center floor mat. The Quik Out Carpet Cleaner worked as directed, quite well I might add. I have a spot remover with upholstery attachment and used it to remove the Quik Out. The upholstery attachment has a sprayer too and I just used water and Quik out after sitting the recommended time and the floor mat and spots on the rug were good as new.

Front: Cleaned with the Meg's Heavy Duty Carpet/Upholstery cleaner (now discontinued) diluted in half (I have 2 bottles left) and treated with #40 and final wiped with a dedicated MF towel.


Center seat: Same, vacuumed, cleaned center floor mat with Quik Out and extracted. Used a rubber hair remover to "sweep" the whole interior, that took a while. They have several dogs and a family of 5 with long blonde hair. LOL. Well....Except Karol's Husband Darrin and their Son Chase. They have shorter hair. LOL.


Back, this was d-i-r-t-y. Dogs, kids, kids toys etc etc. I "combed" it and vacuumed it and cleaned and treated with #40. I told her that a proper extracting of the whole interior cloth and carpet will be done this summer. She said okay. I treated the trim with GC trim detailer and treated all of the weatherstripping with #40, I love that stuff.



We got some weather and I offered when it clears up to wash and do a wipe down with UQD. They are good friends of ours and know I am going to start to do this as a possible second income for myself and paid what I was asking. I hope to have more business with them (and that Thunderbird, Darrin???) They have an SLK Kompressor they offered for me to detail when it clears up. Can't wait.

In the meantime. I am going to send my G100 back to Meguiars as I called them and explained my situation and how I applied product, speeds and which pads. They said send it back. Hopefully it's not me, but the machine.

L8R

Aaron

[Sydster]

Re: 2001 Ford Excursion

Great work there Aaron! Keep it up! I really like the last picture from the first batch where you said you were shivering. Hope to see more of your work soon.

Take Care!

Syd