MotownMuscle's own: The SideWaysCoupe Cobra Terminator Revitalized by AutoLavish

Thanks again Dan for the opportunity and it was a real pleasure to work on your beautiful ride. I'd say that's a pretty accurate description of the events, though to our credit, originally I estimated between 8-10 hours of work. Once seeing it in person, I thought it would be much closer to 8 hours because the condition of the car appeared to be very nice with just light swirling. Following phones calls put it back to the higher end of the estimate, and then past the original estimate.
As stated in the write-up, some areas couldn't be completely brought back safely, but the overwhelming majority of the car now looks nearly perfect. I can always appreciate an owner that states "Do whatever you have to do. When you give me back the keys I want you to feel like the car is truly good to go." We don't often run into problems that require owner input and feedback, and we try to be extremely up front on what's happening. In the end, we're very pleased at how this beauty came around, and I can only hope the owner gets the opportunity to put some miles on it: there's nothing better than enjoying a better-than-new car.
 
Marc, another outstanding job! Every time I read these your professionalism just jumps out from them. I can also say in speaking with Marc on the phone, he's a stand up guy. Truly a car guy, and out to make sure his job is at the top of the game each and every time.

I still like reading your articles. I usually end up buying a new product or finding a use for something that I already have in my (ever growing) arsenal of detailing products.
 
Looks great. Love a black Cobra. Great work once again.

Question for AutoLavish though...what is your general cleaning method used under the hood of this particular car? I know these Fords have the COP, deep spark plug holes, wires all over, ect... I see you used a spray and a brush, but do you hose it off, or wipe it off? I'd be nervous to use a hose.

Under my hood is pretty clean, but there is light dirt here and there I'd like to clean off.
 
93-bucket said:
wow nice work!
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Thanks!

FlyLike said:
Looks great! Immaculate job as always.
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Much appreciated. I feel the extra work really made a difference.

Hugger Z said:
Very nice work Marc! And congrats Dan, the car is looking awesome! :thumbsup:
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Thanks a lot buddy!

$uperstang said:
Wow great work and awesome car dan!!!
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Thank you!

ctgreddy said:
that looks GREAT! love the car and the detail work looks amazing
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She's a beauty for sure. Hard to look at some of those afters and not like it...

Overboost said:
Marc, another outstanding job! Every time I read these your professionalism just jumps out from them. I can also say in speaking with Marc on the phone, he's a stand up guy. Truly a car guy, and out to make sure his job is at the top of the game each and every time.

I still like reading your articles. I usually end up buying a new product or finding a use for something that I already have in my (ever growing) arsenal of detailing products.
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:D Thanks a lot man. I always appreciate your feedback. Hope your Stang is still looking good!

SVTSINR said:
Looks awesome, I really like that last pic. Does Steven Pham sell high res photos for development?
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Thanks - I always put my favorite pic like, and one of my favorite pics first ;)
I'm not sure is Steven sells them, but I'll ask him once he's back from traveling around Europe.

88RedLX said:
Looks great Dan. Great job by AutoLavish...people who obviously take pride in their work.
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Thank you - we most certainly do. I feel we're obligated to make sure cars are returned in a condition that a client couldn't do himself/herself. It's great to work for car enthusiasts that really care as once everything is finished, they truly appreciate the work.

SVT32VDOHC said:
Looks great. Love a black Cobra. Great work once again.

Question for AutoLavish though...what is your general cleaning method used under the hood of this particular car? I know these Fords have the COP, deep spark plug holes, wires all over, ect... I see you used a spray and a brush, but do you hose it off, or wipe it off? I'd be nervous to use a hose.

Under my hood is pretty clean, but there is light dirt here and there I'd like to clean off.
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Great question. On modern cars, wires aren't as much of a concern as they're all coated and meant to get lightly dirty / come in contact with water to some point. One of the most important steps is properly masking anything off that you don't want to get soaked, and even more: drying everything once done. A long thorough blow-dry session means you don't have standing water in areas like spark plug holes, around the alternator, etc. A cheapo $30-40 leaf blower is a great investment for anyone serious about how their car looks. Not only does it help to get water away from vital areas of the engine bay, it's helpful around trim, door handles, side mirrors, emblems, wheels, etc.

We spray, agitate with a brush, rinse using a pressure washer (you use less water) at an appropriate distance, and then blow-dry. Finally, you spray wax / quick detail all hard surfaces like the underside of the hood, water channel, etc, and dress other things as needed (rubber/vinyl protectant was used on some of the rubber lines).
 
That sounds good. Thanks. It's not too bad, but dirty sitting the holes of the blower pulley and other crevices bugs me. Car had 5,400 when I got it, and it was perfect. Only got 11,000 on it now, but it needs a touch of TLC.

Oh, and BTW...you said his readings of paint/clear were pretty thin. I think mines the same way. The bottom of the doors and quarters are pathetic. You can see how rough the orange peel is, there is hardly anything sprayed down there. Ford should be ashamed of themselves putting paint like that on a Mustang Cobra.
 
SVT32VDOHC said:
That sounds good. Thanks. It's not too bad, but dirty sitting the holes of the blower pulley and other crevices bugs me. Car had 5,400 when I got it, and it was perfect. Only got 11,000 on it now, but it needs a touch of TLC.

Oh, and BTW...you said his readings of paint/clear were pretty thin. I think mines the same way. The bottom of the doors and quarters are pathetic. You can see how rough the orange peel is, there is hardly anything sprayed down there. Ford should be ashamed of themselves putting paint like that on a Mustang Cobra.
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I hear you. Obviously low miles, but it's the small things that make it feel and look much better.

As far as paint, it's hard to say what all is going on and why. I wouldn't be surprised if it was "detailed" at some point by the previous owner for one. The lower you go on the sides, the thinner the paint is on most cars, and we weren't getting unusually low readings by any means on the lowers. Please keep in mind that orange-peel looks exaggerated when looking at paint from more and more of an extreme angle: so lowers (regardless of true orange peel) will usually look worse on every car as viewed from above. While not the nicest factory paint I've worked on, it was far from horrible. If you think this paint is bad, go look at any modern BMW 3-series...
 
Marc@AutoLavish said:
I hear you. Obviously low miles, but it's the small things that make it feel and look much better.

As far as paint, it's hard to say what all is going on and why. I wouldn't be surprised if it was "detailed" at some point by the previous owner for one. The lower you go on the sides, the thinner the paint is on most cars, and we weren't getting unusually low readings by any means on the lowers. Please keep in mind that orange-peel looks exaggerated when looking at paint from more and more of an extreme angle: so lowers (regardless of true orange peel) will usually look worse on every car as viewed from above. While not the nicest factory paint I've worked on, it was far from horrible. If you think this paint is bad, go look at any modern BMW 3-series...
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Good facts, there. Yeah, the lower part of my doors and quarters are terrible. Below that last body line on the door, I know you know the one. That is terrible looking down there.
 
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