07 black Porsche 997 Carrera S make-over

Marc@AutoLavish

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Sorry we haven't posted one of these in awhile, things have been hectic with personal and professional things. We have a special mega post coming within the next week or two, but for now, we bring you this:

This 2007 997 Carrera S is a car that's enjoyed to the fullest. Outside of having over 40,000 miles on it from being driven year around, the car has seen many track days. The owner truly enjoys this baby.

For the owner's recent birthday, his wife gave us a call and decided to have us clean this beauty up. After arrival, we unpacked and got started with the scheduled two-step job + interior.

While equipment was being set-up, I took paint readings to check for any irregularities or low spots.

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With everything set to go, it was apparent even before the initial wash that the car was quite dirty and in need of a little love.

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While foam dwelled, P21S and some brushes cleaned up the rims and calipers nicely.

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With the rims clean, the paint was foamed down with a thick mix of Chemical Guy's Citrus Wash & Clear, then washed.

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Sonus mild clay was used on the upper portions of the car and on the clear-bra covering the front bumper while their purple clay took care of the much more contaminated areas: lower portions, behind wheel arches, etc.

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Little known autoLavish fact: Jacob gains his strength from eating contaminated clay.

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Following claying, we foamed the car...again...this time the soap pulled off the clay lube residue.

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We always appreciate owners like this: not only does he enjoy the car, he takes good care of it too. Two bucket washing by hand only, regular waxing, etc. The only issue was the light swirling, with few RIDS compared to the norm.

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The clear-bra on the front bumper looked rather dull and beat-up, as did the signal indicators

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Door jams, the gas cap, and gas cap area all received Klasse AIO while taping took place.

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While Jacob continued taping, I worked on the very sad looking exhaust tips. This was done using #0000 steel wool, and Blue Magic metal polish...and it took 2+ applications. The afters will give you a good idea of how dramatic the turn-around was.

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Two proven combos were tested to assess what would work best - M205 or Menzerna IP, both which were to be followed by 3M Ultrafina. Jacob worked 205/IP using the Flex + 3M green UK + the 3M yellow foam backing plate, and I followed each using the Makita with a red Lake Country pad + Ultrafina + 3M grey foam backing plate.

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The winner was IP: it cut better and quicker leaving less RIDS and cleaning up fine with Ultrafina

I gave Jacob a chance to get ahead of me on his cutting stage by working the tail lights with M205 + 3M green UK 3inch pad

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The rock-guards that come stock, forward of the rear wheels, were hit with the PC + M205 on an orange LC pad and came out outstanding.

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I hit larger portions of the car (doors/hood) with the 3M Ultrafina pad and LC backing plate, while tighter areas continued to be finished out with the smaller LC pad and 3M grey foam backing plate.

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Jacob took care of the rear wing with the smaller 3M green pads and M205

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Interior work was comprised of vacuuming...

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1Z Cockpit Premium on hard surfaces...

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and leather cleaning.

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The paint received its final cleaning to insure no oils were left from polishing, to clean all the crevices, and to have the paint ready for a good sealant.

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After being blow dried, Blackfire was applied using the PC. The end results of the car's polishing + a layer of protection speaks for itself

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A happy owner - our number one goal

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Looks like a great clean... again. Although on the 3rd to last image. On the hood. I see what looks to be spots. But is this in fact rock damage? I see how it tappers off but has a high concentration toward the front.

What areas to do you guys serve? Do you do cleans in Farmington? Just curious. Thinking about buying an after winter clean for my folks hot rod after Christmas.
 
thanx for chiming in fellas.

The car has LOTS of chips - to the point the owner is thinking about having the car, or maybe at least the hood repainted in the spring. Here's one of the before shots that wasn't included in the write-up that shows how the paint looked / the chips

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We work as far out as someone wants us. Already have done work in Lansing, Dexter, and currently, Jacob (also pictured - he's the owner of autoLavish) is out of the country taking care of a few clients.

No worries hubbard - we took care of that for where it's being posted elsewhere. Thanks for noticing though
 
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thanks for the kind words. Black is a pain to maintain (especially soft ass porsche paint), but we LOVE working on it - nothing has a bigger turn-around
 
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