If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
and after (the shade had come around to that side so the picture didnt come out as clear but trust me it looked good!)
This is your dash when you leave your windows cracked in Arizona during monsoon season where we get huge dust stroms every week down in the valley
this is your dash after Windows and Wheels has finished with it
from the passenger side...
and after...
As the on going theme of crazy and unusual things we found went on...we came across the cup holders...which became known as 'The Sticky Pit of Doom'...
What you see is simply change in the bottom of some cup holders...pretty normal right? But in reality, it is actually an anti theft mechanism! If you dare to reach in and try to take this change you will be stuck there forever!
We almost had to take a mini screw driver to PRY these coins out of the bottom of the holders...thats how much soda had splashed in there and dried....
we ended up having to remove the plastic cup holder inserts and let them soak in a bucket of hot soapy water almost the whole detail...heres how they turned out
Here is the control pannel area before...it had tons of dust and some sort of film on the wood area..
and heres how it turned out
And finally the driver side door pannel which always takes a nice beating...
pretty....
Well thats it everyone...about 8 man (and woman) hours between the 2 of us (picture taking time included) and a lot of elbow grease later...it turned out pretty nice. The owner said he was scared to even put anything in the cup holders now lol...and thought now that it looked like this that his girlfriend was going to want to drive it instead of letting him sell it.
The products we used on the dash/door pannels etc was Megs #39 to clean it (after wiping all the heavy dirt off first) by scrubbing with a medium bristle brush and then dressed it with Megs #40 (again thanks Jenn!). This was our first time using these products and we give them both 2 big thumbs up . We had tried using apc+ diluted about 10:1 for bad interiors before...and thou it does work in a pinch...if you dont scrub the whole area evenly and wipe it off evenly, you end up with certain areas that wernt scrubbed as well looking darker/dirtier than the rest. With #39 my sis sprayed some on the brush she was using that was already a little wet...and just did a good scrub on the area she was working on...and it cleaned real well real fast. (even on THIS SUV)
As you can see from the after pics...#40 has a nice gloss to it but not too overpowering.
For the carpets we used...OXYCLEAN! Yes...we love this stuff. We put a scoop of it in a 5 gallon bucket...filled it about 1/2 way with VERY hot water...then used a stiff bristle brush to quickly spread the water around the area we were doing...hit it with the PC real quick with the brush attachment and started suckin up all the good stuff it loosened up. Im no 'as seen on TV' product fan....but this stuff really does work...not too expensive...available at wal-mart/home depot/lowes etc and a little goes a long way.
The cleaner and condition we used on the leather was posted above, but incase you missed it we used DP Interior Cleaner and Pinnacle Leather Conditioner...the conditioner was applied with a foam applicator which i like MUCH better than a MF or terry towel/applicator...it allows a little bit of product to work a large area....after letting it sit we wiped clean with a MF towel and that was that!
We hope you guys enjoyed the write up and the pictures. It was a pretty rough job for an interior but it was well worth it and i hope to get many more (hopefully not THAT bad) in the future. Questions and comments are welcome and encouraged!
Whats up everyone. My sister and I got to do the interior of a Dodge Durango a couple weekends ago...let me give you a brief history on this little gem.
First off it was bought from someone who apparently owned a kids daycare and all of the kids played in little league (tons of sunflower seeds)....they also each got their own box of crayons/cereal and soda! (are you getting the idea?)
Secondly...the guy who bought it had to drop a new engine (amoung other things) in and planned to resell it. The parts that he had to pull however...were placed inside the SUV so that they didnt get lost...oh yeah...this was a fun detail.
Soooo with out any further delay...lets get to what you want to see...the pictures!
Lets start out with a bang...remember i said that the parts were inside the SUV? I wasnt kidding....
yes...thats the drive shaft lol
a few more goodies layin around in there....
even a little somethin up front...
We did have one advantage in this detail...the guy left the back and middle seats unbolted so we could just pull the whole row of seats out...which made it quite roomy back there (being that im 6'3 i appreciate the extra space!)
heres how the back looked after the seats were pulled...
I should note that the owner actually DID vacuum the inside before he turned it over to us...he said he spent about $10 at the self serve car wash...but still all that ^^^ was left
Heres what it looked like when were put our touch on it...one of the coolest pics of the detail if i say so myself
We dont have a $700 steamer...or a $1500 extractor...but we've got passion. The PC with the brush attachment can REALLY help especially in big areas like this...we just pre-soaked it and went over it with the PC...you wouldnt believe how much debris actually came up when the PC went over it...even after vacuuming! The extractor we used was one of your typical Hoover Steamer's you find at HD or Lowes with the upholstry attachment...and this is what we got...not bad huh?
Heres another before pic of the very back...notice the nice purple coloring the kids left us
andddddd the after...
One of the worst areas on any car is the drivers side floor...this was no exception
and heres how it looked after we were thru
Here is the floor area behind the drivers seat where it seems some sort of scientific experiment had gone wrong on the floor mat...my best guess would be gum/jolly rancher/lifesaver and a little marshmellow for good taste....but then again it may not even be of this world...the lab results havent come back in yet
It took some VERY hot water and a good amount of soak time with plenty of elbow grease and even the assistance of a flat head screwdriver (hey...this was some nasty stuff)...but heres how it came out
and YES that is the same mat i didnt just switch them! Notice the little brown drippings on both...i tried quite a few things but that was NOT coming all the way out...but considering the 'it' was gone from the corner, i dont think you can complain.
What do you get when you take an SUV thats been thru all this...along with the fact we're in dusty Arizona in the middle of monsoon season? ....this....
behold the water that was extracted!
As i said the seats were left unbolted...so we pulled them out and did some serious cleaning on them....first a simple vac and wipedown with soapy water...then it was lightly sprayed with DP Interior Cleaner (we had no leather clean so we improvised)...and then used a medium bristle brush to scrub it (the DP sample and the brush both sent to my by Jenn who posts on here quite often..thanks!)....after that we applied Pinnacle Leather Conditioner...can you tell which side has been done?
Heres a series of pictures showing the full process of the cleaning/conditioning described above
First the scrubbing (i loved how the DP had LOTS of suds even from using a little bit...be warned, thou the smell is pretty nice, it is EXTREMELY strong especially in closed quarters!)
heres how it looked after all that was wiped clean and dry
and now probably the second coolest picture of the detail...the 50/50 shot of the seat
and finally heres how it looked when it was completely finished
Heres what the middle row seats looked like before we did anything to them
and after a little TLC...
Here is a close up before shot of the same seat...kinda looked like tape had been stuck to it for a while...in Arizona....where the inside of a car reaches about 140 degrees in about an hour when left outside...
and a close up after picture
Im not sure how many pictures i can put up in a single post so I will post this and continue the write up below!
Leave a comment: