Today saw me travel to a very cold Cradley Heath to restore a bit of life into the paint on this very rare, Fiesta Super Sport 1300.
The car itself is in superb condition, but has been re-painted quite recently and was covered in holograms and swirl marks. It's being exhibited at the Classic Car Show at the NEC this weekend, so I had (only) 8 hours to do what I could with her, in preparation for the show... no pressure then, given how unforgiving the NEC's lights are!! :doublesho
I arrived at 8am or so, and took a few pics of the car before I began...
DSC00792 by
RussZS, on Flickr
What an engine bay... :D
Rubber looking a bit weathered:
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RussZS, on Flickr
Generally very clean:
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RussZS, on Flickr
Mint interior:
DSC00795 by
RussZS, on Flickr
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RussZS, on Flickr
It was VERY cold, so not many pics of the wash process. I started with Smart Wheels on the tyres and wheels:
DSC00800 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Washed with Optimum Car Shampoo:
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RussZS, on Flickr
Dried, then rolled inside:
DSC00802 by
RussZS, on Flickr
There was no presence of tar or bonded contamination, as it hasn't been used much since the respray. IronX did very little too.
I then assessed the paint thickness - I knew it had seen paint, so was expecting readings to be high, but there was quite a range from:
DSC00843 by
RussZS, on Flickr
to...
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RussZS, on Flickr
Now, time to see how swirly it is....
DSC00805 by
RussZS, on Flickr
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RussZS, on Flickr
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RussZS, on Flickr
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RussZS, on Flickr
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RussZS, on Flickr
Wow...
I had a play with about 8 combinations before realising that I wouldn't be able to correct this to an acceptable level without a 2 stage polish. At this stage, I agreed with the customer, that I would concentrate my limited time on the bonnet and roof, then upper panels on the car, then would return in a few weeks to sort the lower panels. We took this decision given that it was going to the NEC.
I finally settled on Scholl for cutting and Megs for finishing:
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RussZS, on Flickr
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RussZS, on Flickr
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RussZS, on Flickr
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RussZS, on Flickr
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RussZS, on Flickr
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RussZS, on Flickr
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RussZS, on Flickr
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RussZS, on Flickr
A quick pic after polishing...
DSC00840 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Random green tape shot :)
DSC00841 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Some deeper scratches were left - these will be dealt with next time:
DSC00847 by
RussZS, on Flickr
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RussZS, on Flickr
Spirit was applied and left for a few minutes before removing:
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RussZS, on Flickr
Revive used on rubber and some plastics:
DSC00857 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Also:
- Optimum Metal Polish on the exhausts
- Mint Rims on wheels
- Crystal on glass
- CG NLTG on tyres
I'm a little disappointed with the 'afters' as the lighting was poor, it was dark outside and I had no tripod...
DSC00858 by
RussZS, on Flickr
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RussZS, on Flickr
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RussZS, on Flickr
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RussZS, on Flickr
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RussZS, on Flickr
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RussZS, on Flickr
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RussZS, on Flickr
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RussZS, on Flickr
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RussZS, on Flickr
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RussZS, on Flickr
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RussZS, on Flickr
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RussZS, on Flickr
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RussZS, on Flickr
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RussZS, on Flickr
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RussZS, on Flickr
I was happy with the results, but would have loved to have spent 2-3 days on it to get it as near perfect as possible, but time constraints dictated otherwise. I spent a lot of time ensuring the bonnet and roof were in decent condition.
It was a superb car and a real pleasure to work on.
Thanks for reading.
DSC00891 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Russ.