Sometimes you look back upon your decisions, and wonder why on earth you made them... It had been nearly six months since I had last detailed a car, or picked up my DA. Then one day, a series of text messages threw me back into detailing in a big way. The son of one of my neighbors contacted me about cleaning his fully-optioned black C5 ZO6 Corvette. To be honest, I wasn't interested, but his next words had me rethinking my plans: "It's tuned, and was dynoed at 398hp at the rear wheels before I changed the exhaust. I'll leave the keys out in case you want to take it for a spin. In fact, I encourage it! It's f****** fast...". How could I turn that down? There was only one catch...
IMGP8302
IMGP8275
IMGP8270
It was the most disgusting car I had ever been tasked with detailing! Read on if you have a strong stomach...
Let me just list some of the defects:
1. The car had been autocrossed, and the front splitter, right rear wing, and front wheels were trashed.
2. The car was driven almost daily, and hadn't been washed in several months.
3. The car had been stored in a garage full of cats which had taken to sleeping on the car, so it was covered in cat hair, claw scratches, and cat feces.
4. The owner was a heavy smoker, and ate/drank in the car.
5. The owner was also in the process of remodeling his house, and was using the car to pick up his building supplies.
Before/After photos of the interior were intentionally left untaken; the smell was making my eyes water too badly to focus the camera. Nevertheless, I had said that I would take on the job, so armed with a box of top-quality nitrile gloves, a respirator, and The Smith's greatest hits, I pressed on. These were the products I packed in my detailing bag...
Exterior Wash:
P21S Total Auto Wash (Neat)
P21S Wheel Cleaner Gel
P21S Bodywork Conditioning Shampoo
Exterior Decon:
Imported Mechanical Decontamination Product (Short teaser to follow. I'm waiting to disclose until I can find a better source for US-buyers.)
Paintwork Prep & Protection:
Scholl Concepts S3 XXL (Not Used*)
CarPro Reflect (Not Used*)
CarPro Eraser
CarPro Reload (2013)
Tyres & Trim:
CarPro PERL (Neat)
Exhaust:
Industrial-Grade Bar Compounds
Interior:
P21S Total Auto Wash (10:1)
Auto-Finesse Hide Cleanser
Dodo-Juice Clearly Menthol Glass Cleaner
CarPro PERL (5:1)
Chemical Guy's Green Apple Odor Eater
Microfibers & Misc:
Microfiber Madness Incredisponge
Microfiber Madness Waverider
Microfiber Madness Cloud Buster
Microfiber Madness Slogger
Sky's the Limit Blue Angora
DI All-Purpose
DI Image Deep Blue
Swissvax Detailing Brush
Swissvax Leather Brush
EZ-Detail Wheel Brush
DI Boar's Hair Tyre Brush
Metabo variable-speed Die-Grinder
Felt Polishing Bobs
Meguiar's G110V2 DA (Not Used*)
Scholl Concepts White Spider Sandwich pads (Not Used*)
Scholl Concepts Orange polishing pads (Not Used*)
Before I began detailing I had a brief conversation with the owner, and afterwards he requested a full 2-stage correction detail. Halfway through the job, he vetoed the correction I had just started on. This was a pity, as it would've been a great test bed for the latest compound from Scholl Concepts, but at least it did give me an opportunity to show how big of an improvement just a basic valet can make. After I was done, I took it for a drive, and found a nice quiet spot for the photo shoot... This is what it looked like:
IMGP8535
IMGP8522-001
IMGP8548
IMGP8493
IMGP8573
It had been years since I had done a detail without correction, and I was a little shocked myself at how well it came up after I was finished! It was obvious in direct sunlight that the paint was still in desperate need of some serious correction, but nevertheless with just mechanical decon and a decent LSP was a massive improvement compared with just a few hours before. The decon product I used is something I imported from the UK, and have been doing long-term testing on. I continue to be impressed with its results, and attest a large portion of the gloss enhancement on this car to this stage alone. No chemical decon was performed in order to test the limits of this product, but it nevertheless worked flawlessly, leaving behind no marring of its own, and pulling out an incredible amount of contamination from the paint. Afterwards, since the owner had changed his mind on correction, I simply applied two coats Reload for protection and called it a day.
IMGP8392
IMGP8400
IMGP8406
IMGP8416
The prototype stainless-steel Billy Boat exhaust on this car required two hours of work alone to remove the carbon buildup. and give it the beginnings of a mirror finish. For this, I had to pull out the big guns: three stages of industrial metal polishing bar compounds, felt polishing bobs, and my unflappable Metabo variable-speed Die-Grinder. Conventional consumer-grade metal polishes and steel wool simply weren't beginning to touch the baked on crud, and truly 'prototype' fit & finish on this thing!
IMGP8449
IMGP8455
IMGP8338
Well, that's the lot! Total time from start to finish: just over 12-hours. No interior shots, I'm afraid. I was only able to do so much with this given the initial state of it, but I did get it clean enough to drive it
...
This was the moment I was waiting for. In the first few moments of starting it up I figured out why the exhaust was a prototype: at anything above 2000 RPM the roar from the now shiny quad pipes grew to genuinely painful levels, and full throttle blasts would have to be enjoyed with earplugs. The aftermarket trackday suspension was also setup so stiffly that the damping was virtually non-existent, which combined with the steamroller tyres hoovering up every last bit of gravel from the road, the aforementioned exhaust, and the lack of sound deadening, made cruising down the road at 25mph feel like being kicked down a flight of stairs in a 55 gallon drum full of loose bolts whilst having someone blow their nose at you through a megaphone. Nevertheless, the acceleration from low-revs was truly savage, the brakes were nice and firm, the six-speed manual reassuringly hefty, and the attention you get driving around an obnoxiously loud, shiny black ZO6 Corvette is something that I will always remember.
I have this experience to thank for kick-starting me back into detailing, and for giving me countless horror stories to shock family and friends with. Would I take on another car like this again? Probably not... I'm still recovering...
IMGP8480
- Steampunk
IMGP8302 IMGP8275IMGP8270 It was the most disgusting car I had ever been tasked with detailing! Read on if you have a strong stomach...
Let me just list some of the defects:
1. The car had been autocrossed, and the front splitter, right rear wing, and front wheels were trashed.
2. The car was driven almost daily, and hadn't been washed in several months.
3. The car had been stored in a garage full of cats which had taken to sleeping on the car, so it was covered in cat hair, claw scratches, and cat feces.
4. The owner was a heavy smoker, and ate/drank in the car.
5. The owner was also in the process of remodeling his house, and was using the car to pick up his building supplies.
Before/After photos of the interior were intentionally left untaken; the smell was making my eyes water too badly to focus the camera. Nevertheless, I had said that I would take on the job, so armed with a box of top-quality nitrile gloves, a respirator, and The Smith's greatest hits, I pressed on. These were the products I packed in my detailing bag...
Exterior Wash:
P21S Total Auto Wash (Neat)
P21S Wheel Cleaner Gel
P21S Bodywork Conditioning Shampoo
Exterior Decon:
Imported Mechanical Decontamination Product (Short teaser to follow. I'm waiting to disclose until I can find a better source for US-buyers.)
Paintwork Prep & Protection:
Scholl Concepts S3 XXL (Not Used*)
CarPro Reflect (Not Used*)
CarPro Eraser
CarPro Reload (2013)
Tyres & Trim:
CarPro PERL (Neat)
Exhaust:
Industrial-Grade Bar Compounds
Interior:
P21S Total Auto Wash (10:1)
Auto-Finesse Hide Cleanser
Dodo-Juice Clearly Menthol Glass Cleaner
CarPro PERL (5:1)
Chemical Guy's Green Apple Odor Eater
Microfibers & Misc:
Microfiber Madness Incredisponge
Microfiber Madness Waverider
Microfiber Madness Cloud Buster
Microfiber Madness Slogger
Sky's the Limit Blue Angora
DI All-Purpose
DI Image Deep Blue
Swissvax Detailing Brush
Swissvax Leather Brush
EZ-Detail Wheel Brush
DI Boar's Hair Tyre Brush
Metabo variable-speed Die-Grinder
Felt Polishing Bobs
Meguiar's G110V2 DA (Not Used*)
Scholl Concepts White Spider Sandwich pads (Not Used*)
Scholl Concepts Orange polishing pads (Not Used*)
Before I began detailing I had a brief conversation with the owner, and afterwards he requested a full 2-stage correction detail. Halfway through the job, he vetoed the correction I had just started on. This was a pity, as it would've been a great test bed for the latest compound from Scholl Concepts, but at least it did give me an opportunity to show how big of an improvement just a basic valet can make. After I was done, I took it for a drive, and found a nice quiet spot for the photo shoot... This is what it looked like:
IMGP8535 IMGP8522-001 IMGP8548 IMGP8493 IMGP8573 It had been years since I had done a detail without correction, and I was a little shocked myself at how well it came up after I was finished! It was obvious in direct sunlight that the paint was still in desperate need of some serious correction, but nevertheless with just mechanical decon and a decent LSP was a massive improvement compared with just a few hours before. The decon product I used is something I imported from the UK, and have been doing long-term testing on. I continue to be impressed with its results, and attest a large portion of the gloss enhancement on this car to this stage alone. No chemical decon was performed in order to test the limits of this product, but it nevertheless worked flawlessly, leaving behind no marring of its own, and pulling out an incredible amount of contamination from the paint. Afterwards, since the owner had changed his mind on correction, I simply applied two coats Reload for protection and called it a day.
IMGP8392 IMGP8400 IMGP8406 IMGP8416The prototype stainless-steel Billy Boat exhaust on this car required two hours of work alone to remove the carbon buildup. and give it the beginnings of a mirror finish. For this, I had to pull out the big guns: three stages of industrial metal polishing bar compounds, felt polishing bobs, and my unflappable Metabo variable-speed Die-Grinder. Conventional consumer-grade metal polishes and steel wool simply weren't beginning to touch the baked on crud, and truly 'prototype' fit & finish on this thing!
IMGP8449 IMGP8455IMGP8338 Well, that's the lot! Total time from start to finish: just over 12-hours. No interior shots, I'm afraid. I was only able to do so much with this given the initial state of it, but I did get it clean enough to drive it
... This was the moment I was waiting for. In the first few moments of starting it up I figured out why the exhaust was a prototype: at anything above 2000 RPM the roar from the now shiny quad pipes grew to genuinely painful levels, and full throttle blasts would have to be enjoyed with earplugs. The aftermarket trackday suspension was also setup so stiffly that the damping was virtually non-existent, which combined with the steamroller tyres hoovering up every last bit of gravel from the road, the aforementioned exhaust, and the lack of sound deadening, made cruising down the road at 25mph feel like being kicked down a flight of stairs in a 55 gallon drum full of loose bolts whilst having someone blow their nose at you through a megaphone. Nevertheless, the acceleration from low-revs was truly savage, the brakes were nice and firm, the six-speed manual reassuringly hefty, and the attention you get driving around an obnoxiously loud, shiny black ZO6 Corvette is something that I will always remember.
I have this experience to thank for kick-starting me back into detailing, and for giving me countless horror stories to shock family and friends with. Would I take on another car like this again? Probably not... I'm still recovering...
IMGP8480 - Steampunk
Last edited:
