Marc@AutoLavish
Club Sponsor
I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to work on this beautiful and very well kept Shelby GT500 Mustang. In addition to how much this particular muscle car is babied, I enjoyed this detail as the vehicle is made not far from me in the metro-Detroit area. As a metro-Detroiter, the Mustang is quite the iconic figure and I grew up surrounded by these beasts: with everything from the classic 67 designs, to sub 10 second Fox bodies, and of course the 'Stangs of the mid to late 90's.
I also felt lucky to have the honor of being the first person to wash the vehicle. The owner is very careful with his ride, and up to this point has always done quick detailer wipe-downs with microfiber cloths on the body and wheels, out of fear of ruining the finish by adding swirl marks. When I first met the owner and got to inspect the vehicle, I was shocked: this would be the first vehicle I've worked on that is swirl free. The owner was coming to me not only to free up time by having someone else take care of it, but to have me thoroughly clean small areas and give the exterior a nice layer of protection.
Upon arrival, here she is: White with metallic blue racing stripes, only slightly dusty
The owner expressed his concern with some grease marks and dirt in the engine bay, so I began with those issues after spraying the wheels with P21S Wheel Cleaner Gel. As nothing was horribly soiled, here's a look at the typical level of dirtiness
mechanic/dealer prints...
APC (10:1) + agitation with a Meguiar's Slide-Lock brush took care of things nicely
After a light rinse, I turned my attention back to the wheels. The wheel faces were all nice, but the lug-nuts, calipers, and inner barrels of the rims could use a little love.
before:
sprayed with wheel cleaner gel:
agitated with a (dedicated to wheels) Slide-Lock brush, barrel brush, lug brush:
after everything was said and done, here was the wheel turn-out:
in this one you can even see the time I spent getting the wheel weights cleaned paid off
The rims and engine bay were taken care of, then I moved on to give the GT500 a nice rinse and wash. Before I started however, I wanted to pre-treat some areas with APC and a little agitation.
Area around the third brake light housing
Swissvax brush dedicated to paint doing the agitating:
and flushed
some other areas that needed a little attention:
CAN'T have gunk in the Shelby badge!
with the plate off, the rear end could get a full and proper cleaning / claying / waxing
this is an area that decided to give me problems....
wouldn't come perfectly clean...little did it know I had Q-Tips!
After a gentle wash with a lambs wool mitt, I clayed the paint with mild clay. VERY little contamination, with the only areas to note being the lower panels behind the wheels
Dried with waffle weave towels in the garage for shade, then used compressed air to remove water from the grill and hard to dry areas
I also felt lucky to have the honor of being the first person to wash the vehicle. The owner is very careful with his ride, and up to this point has always done quick detailer wipe-downs with microfiber cloths on the body and wheels, out of fear of ruining the finish by adding swirl marks. When I first met the owner and got to inspect the vehicle, I was shocked: this would be the first vehicle I've worked on that is swirl free. The owner was coming to me not only to free up time by having someone else take care of it, but to have me thoroughly clean small areas and give the exterior a nice layer of protection.
Upon arrival, here she is: White with metallic blue racing stripes, only slightly dusty
The owner expressed his concern with some grease marks and dirt in the engine bay, so I began with those issues after spraying the wheels with P21S Wheel Cleaner Gel. As nothing was horribly soiled, here's a look at the typical level of dirtiness
mechanic/dealer prints...
APC (10:1) + agitation with a Meguiar's Slide-Lock brush took care of things nicely
After a light rinse, I turned my attention back to the wheels. The wheel faces were all nice, but the lug-nuts, calipers, and inner barrels of the rims could use a little love.
before:
sprayed with wheel cleaner gel:
agitated with a (dedicated to wheels) Slide-Lock brush, barrel brush, lug brush:
after everything was said and done, here was the wheel turn-out:
in this one you can even see the time I spent getting the wheel weights cleaned paid off
The rims and engine bay were taken care of, then I moved on to give the GT500 a nice rinse and wash. Before I started however, I wanted to pre-treat some areas with APC and a little agitation.
Area around the third brake light housing
Swissvax brush dedicated to paint doing the agitating:
and flushed
some other areas that needed a little attention:
CAN'T have gunk in the Shelby badge!
with the plate off, the rear end could get a full and proper cleaning / claying / waxing
this is an area that decided to give me problems....
wouldn't come perfectly clean...little did it know I had Q-Tips!
After a gentle wash with a lambs wool mitt, I clayed the paint with mild clay. VERY little contamination, with the only areas to note being the lower panels behind the wheels
Dried with waffle weave towels in the garage for shade, then used compressed air to remove water from the grill and hard to dry areas
