[Charlie Stylianos]

Kind of technical, kind of gratuitous, but mostly Holy Cow!!

I thought the paint on Brown Car was decent, but not anything to gawk at with swirl marks, oxidation, a few scratches, dings etc.

Last year at Hershey I stopped by the Car Care Specialties table and picked up their recommended combo of P21S paint cleaner and Blitz wax, but haven’t had the time to go through the process of a good paint detail until yesterday.

Vu was gracious enough to lend a helping hand and show me the detailing ropes.

We met at 9:00am and started with a thorough wash with Dawn and warm water to remove all dirt and any wax followed by a quick squeegee and towel dry.

Next came the grueling task of using a clay bar on each panel to remove any imbedded contaminants. Made sure to keep the paint and bar moist with Griots Speed Shine. The paint felt smooth as glass once completed.

The next step was the application of the P21S paint cleaner with a Porter Cable random orbital buffer and removal the excess with a soft flannel cloth. We tested the P21S on the front fender and all swirls and oxidation were gone, leaving a highly reflective, deep shine. We didn't feel we needed to use the 3M Hand Glaze (as recommended by Car Care ) as the P21S and the Porter Cable took care of most of the superficial scratches.

An application of Blitz Wax with the PC buffer (again removing the excess with a flannel cloth), a quick dressing of the rubber trim, and we were done at 2:00 PM.

It's a lot of work, but definitely worth it. Don't know how the concours guys do this.

BTW: The interior looks just as good....Thanks Vu!!


Applying the P21S with the buffer:



Completed look:


Interesting reflection shot:



And a nice rear view:

[Trak Ratt]

to much like work. Lets see how the guys do next week w/Linda's Carrera, it's only $$.

[Marc A]

that's amazing . . . . nothing short of amazing . . . any takers to detail an old black Targa . . . . . .

[cmartin]

Good work! I've been using the hand glaze/blitz combo for a while and am very satisfied myself. I give you credit though, after about 30 minutes I get tired of cleaning the car and want to drive it.

[rs911t]

Stunning!

[Parenn911]

Holy Crap, you gotta be kidding me, that paint looks flawless!!

[OldTee]

Not all are so lucky. I saw a red 87Traga today with a new whale tail just painted and installed by a local Gaithersburg Porsche shop with runs, overspray, orange peel and a generally $hitty job. Looked like something done by a amature. His luck, he hasn't paid for it yet.

[Charlie Stylianos]

I give you credit though, after about 30 minutes I get tired of cleaning the car and want to drive it.

Chris,

Trust me, I would have been satisfied with a good washing and some quick spray wax (my usual process), but was curious what a good, thorough detail can produce.

I'd can honestly say the time and effort paid off and was assured by my trusty mentor that my efforts/results can be preserved with a regular washing and a quick spray wax....uh, I hope I heard him right.

Now to get it full of rubber on the 13th

[87turbolook911]

The car will definitely keeps its shine if you make sure you don't let it get too dirty in between washings. Keeping the interior clean also takes years of a cars age.

I typically do a complete detail of my cars once (maybe twice for the daily drivers) a year. The remainder of the time a quick bath and spray wax every week or two and the cars just stay shimmering.

any takers to detail an old black Targa

Bring it on.......no magic to it...just good ole hard work.

[estrellajon]

Wow Charlie, that looks great and I'm sure the picture is not even close to in person. I can't wait to see it. Acutually, a polished brown paint looks spectacular.

I hope you can make it to the big concours this year at Avenel. As PCA concours chair, there was a lot of convincing to get the country club to host it and I guess its my job to spread the word.