Hello class For this job, I used the normal supplies, but I had a full 7 days to do this car, so I took my time. The car had been sitting in a yard for a year, got stolen, recovered, fixed and sat for another year until just a few months ago. As dirty as the outside was, the inside was 10x worse. when it was stolen, some homeless guy lived in it till the cops found it, some 1500 miles from where it was stolen. All of this happened while the owner was stationed here at fort drum, and the car was at home, somewhere in Indiana. They found the car in NYC!

Anyway, It was a mess. But, the guy was leaving town for a week, so he left me his car, and he said the insurance company was paying, so the rate was $25 an hour, + supplies (his idea). I took off all 4 wheels, washed clayed and polished them. While they were off I painted the brake calipers VHT Red and restored the undercarriage to factory black with a pressure washer and some flat black paint/rustproofer.

Before:




^crap caked on the paint from sitting in grass/being driven like a bat out of hell.


^brake dust galore...


^hazy headlights from the sun w/out protection




^holy bugs batman, relax, it was mostly from the trip here from Indiana after the repairs.



Interior:







More on the way...

^guy told me i could keep whatever change i find...Whoo-Hoo!! Tips!!

Underhood Before's:




^inline 6...quite the grocery getter...







Headlights before:



With 1000, 1500, 2000 grit wetsanding and meguiars ultimate compound, then Meguiars Plastix...well...you will see the results later.

Brakes/undercarriage Before:



after:

Wheels before:



Agitated and cleaned with p21s wheel cleaner



After and reinstalled:





During the wax application: Meguiars 26.



After Shots:

And the headlights are better:



Unfortunately no afters of the engine or interior, i forgot...again. im usually so tired that i cant remember to take the pix of that stuff! FInal Price came to $1,650. $1500 for labor and $150 for supplies.

Supplies used:

Wash:

-Meguiars Deep Cyrstal Shampoo
-P21S Paintwork Cleaner

Clay:

-Clay Magic Clay system
-Hot, soapy (dawn) water for lube.

Polish:
-Optimum Polish II

Glaze:
-Megs #7 Show Car Mirror Glaze

Sealant:
-Jetseal 109

Wax:
-Megs #26


Interior:

-OxyClean Laundry Stain remover (carpet)
-Megs Dash/Trim Foam Conditioner
-Wet/dry vac.
-Megs Supreme Shine Vinyl/trim/dash dressing
-Aerospace 303 protectant

Very nice, I wish I had your skill... or you lived near me so I could take it to you. My RX is covered in swirl marks that I'd love to get off but I don't know the first thing to do.

Another great job Armyof1. Make sure you tell the guy to buy the missing lugnuts also! Why would you spend all that money on tires like those and not have the all lugnuts on it? Some people! LOL!!

wow car looks brand spanking new..

He Isnt Missing them, They are all there. VW's have weird lugs. They have Lug "Bolts" instead of Lug "Nuts"

Click to view attachment

Yeah, but this pic looks like it's missing a lug, no? or maybe you just hadn't put it back on yet when this pic was taken?

Nope its there, just kind of hard to see.

Hey Josh. What materials did you use for the fading headlights? I'm starting to have a small sign of headlight fading on my 4Runner and want to start removing it ASAP before it gets worse.

800, 1200, 1500, 2000, 3000 grit wetsand paper, meguiars Ultimate compound and then the same polish/glaze/wax/sealant used on the body.

If you wax your headlights every time you wax your car, it wont happen, minimum is 3x a year.

Really? Ok. I'll try waxing it first. The hazing isnt too bad at the moment so maybe a little wax can rub it out

once it has started it will not stop. you need to remove the hazing or it will spread, much like rust. remove it first, then just keep it waxed, and it will never return.

I wax EVERYTHING on the car that is painted or clear. the only thing i dont wax is the black plastic trim, everything else (mirrors, glass, lights, etc) gets it.