Well on tap was a 1980 Jeep Renegade. Man this brought back memories as my best friend in high school had one and man did we have fun with that thing. Anyway this belongs to one of my co-workers' father. I had detailed his truck this past winter and he said then he wanted the Jeep detailed. He had just finished having it painted so I suggested we wait until Summer when he would be riding around in it a lot more. Well he brought it by and here's what I did: Tires/Wheels/Wells: The wheels were in rough shape with a lot of surface rust. I used AG Custom Wheel Cleaner because I wasn't sure how Megs Wheel Brightener would play with the rust. Wheels cleaned up pretty good and I tried to remove some of the rust with a wire brush and polish and although I was making some headway it was taking forever and he told me when he dropped it off not to spend much time on them so I stopped. I cleaned them with an old bug sponge. Later on I went back and applied Autosol to them and let them sit for about 30 minutes and buffed them off with a MF. Vast improvement but the rust was still there. I suggested he take them off and have someone sand blast them and powder coat them black. I think that would look really good on this Jeep. He's trying to find someone to powder coat them now! For the tires and wells they got the ol' standby Majestic Solutions Super Green Stuff at 3:1 in a Gilmour 1.5 gallon pressurized sprayer. They were scrubbed with a Carrand Tire brush and a MS Long handle brush. The tires were first dressed with MS Perfect 10 on a MS tire applicator. This is like a cross between a tire gel and CGs VRP. This left a great look on the tires and it's a water based emulsion so I really like it. To get a little more gloss I followed the Perfect 10 up with Megs Hyper Dressing @ 3:1 with a MSs tire applicator. I then dressed them with the same method with a TW tire applicator and my Tropi-Care (Showroom FX) tire dressing. This was a little glossier and should be even more durable than my usual combo. The wells were dressed with MS Super Blue. The spare tire on the back was cleaned the same way but was only dressed with Megs Hyper Dressing. I coated the entire tire with it and let it bake on in the sun. The trim around the wheel wells got CGs Trim Gel. Engine: The engine was not the best looking engine bay nor did it look the most salvageable. I was a little concerned with it being an older car and getting stuff wet underneath but also thought "Hell this is a Jeep that was intended for mud slinging so it's bound to get wet in there". Needless to say I was right about the mud as I found a good amount of dried up mud under there. I did my usual of giving the engine a quick rinse with the CR Spotless, and sprayed it down with MS SGS. I agitated it and re-rinsed. I dried most of the water with a leaf blower and then sprayed the engine bay down with Megs HD @ 3:1 in a Solo 418 handheld sprayer. I cranked the engine and let it run for about 20 minutes and it looked better than it did. Exhaust: The exhaust got Megs WB and #0000 Steel wool while washing the wheels and then later sealed it with Blackfire Wet Diamond All Metal Sealant. I love this stuff and it makes cleaning exhaust tips and wheels an absolute breeze after it's applied. Bikini Top: The top was pretty nasty but after a rinse I applied a good soaking of MS SGS and scrubbed it in with a stiff bristle brush like I use on tires. Re-rinsed and after it was dry I applied a healthy coat of 303 Protectant. Wash: For the bugs I used the CGs Strong Wash and a Majestic Solutions Bug Brick. Wasn't sure if I could use the foam cannon on this one but again it's designed (even the interior) to get wet so I loaded up for a good cleaning wash and went with my favorite LSP stripping formula and loaded up the foam cannon with 2 oz. of MS Super Foam and 1 oz. of MS Power Prep. Man this combo foams like crazy and cleans even better. I used my CR Spotless for the entire detail and the 2 bucket method. In one bucket I used 2 oz of Superfoam and the other was a rinse bucket, both with grit guards. I used my Chenille MF wash mitt on this wash. I then dried the car with the good ol' NC sun (one of the many advantages of using the CR system) and a Tropi Care WW. Clay: Used my favorite Bilt Hamber Soft Clay on this with water from the CR Spotless as lube. Not hardly any contamination on this as it hasn't been driven much at all since the paint job. Glass: The inside glass was cleaned Autoglym Fast Glass with a MS Blue Huck glass MF and buffed dry with a Walmart WW. The outside glass was treated/cleaned with Jeffs Werkstat Prime Acrylic and buffed off with a MF. Interior: Well the interior wasn't included in this detail as there wasn't much need but I did vacuum out the debris inside with my shop vac and wiped down the seats with MS Leather and Plastic Cleaner. I treated the seats with 303 since I know they will be seeing the sun a lot this summer. The dash was coated with Menzerna Power Lock. Paint: As I said earlier in another show and shine thread, I'm really liking my Jeffs Werkstat stuff. I had used Prime Acrylic as a paint cleaner on an Eclipse and had such success with it I decided to use it again. I applied via the Flex 3401 and a black Scholl Concepts finishing pad. The paint looked great after this and again the JWs stuff really impressed me. I do love DG 501 as a paint cleaner but man the JW Prime Acrylic is gaining on it fast. It was buffed off with a CGs 530 xl MF. LSP: I have been liking the Menzerna Power Lock sealant that I got from Ken at Autowerkes Exclusive so I decided to go with that. The Power Lock is eerily similar to the old DP Surface Shield sealant that AG sold. Same smell, color and ease of use. I really like the results of Power Lock and it didn't disappoint on this orange either. I applied it with a CGs Stage 3 applicator and buffed off with a Super Fly MF from Obssessive Detail (by far my favorite MF). Before he came and picked it up I did a final wipedown with Optimum Opti Seal. This stuff is so easy to use I can't believe it took me this long to own some. When he pulled up he said "Man it can get shinier!" Here are the before and afters: Random reflection shots:
Sweeeeet. Nice work bud. Bet that thing was a challenge with the open top and no doors and all. Superfoam is some strong stuff isn't it?
Thanks much appreciated. Just had to be careful with the PW and where I sprayed it. Superfoam was designed for tunnel washes to begin with I think so yeah it works well at stripping LSP for me.
Thanks! Much appreciated Roger. Admit it Ken you see me burning through products and you know I'll be ordering from you again! LOL! Thanks for the compliments. Thanks Piet! It really was a fun detail. My first Jeep and it didn't disappoint me. Thanks David! Thanks Billy.
