Saved from neglect hell: 98 Explorer mini-resto

[GuardianSport]

 

[sean99]

From the forest of Oregon, near Burnt Woods, population 34, and not a chocodile in sight, lived a detail master named Facimeor. Facimeor would stumble upon the most powerful antibiotic known to man, BM. Facimeor found that if grown in the appropriate substrate, a 2nd generation Explorer,woman owned, it would exude a super mold with antibiotic properties, which he named Beaver Mold...

 

[Facimeor]

LMAO!


you guys are killin me!

 

[Varsity]

You're just....amazing. Beautiful work restoring those interiors and the exterior too! I wanna try cleaning the engine compartment on my Ex, but still sketchy on that for right now. Once I put my engine back together in a day or two hopefully, I'm giving my truck a very deep cleaning from the winter crap. Those pics are very motivational!!

 

[Facimeor]

Yeah its time for spring cleaning of all your cars folks. If anyone wants any tips or product advice Im happy to share my experience.


I havent been able to start on the exterior of the 98 because Im still rebuilding the transmission in it so I can have reverse. I will probably have new pics to show here late next week, and we can discuss paint and trim.

 

[Varsity]

About to get MORE snow here in Chicago so I guess I'll have to wait a bit longer. I have taken an interest in cleaning my Ex so I hope you were serious about the advice bit!

 

[Sogsnakebite]

Any tips on 98 grey cloth seats and carpet, getting ready to rip them all out and start scrubbing but any tips truly apreciated sir

 

[Facimeor]

The problem with the grey cloth seats is that there really is no waterproof backing to the cloth. Sure the foam pads get a very light wrap in plastic from the factory, but thats meant to aid in the assembly not to provide protection for the foam.

If you want them TRUELY clean I recommend removing them from the seat frames and actually just washing them in a good washing machine (I like the big ones at laundromats). Dry them on medium/low heat so as not to shrink them then reinstall on the seats. They really arent that hard to take off the seats and that will give you the best results. Thats a good time to lube up your seat tracks and motors as well, and since you want to do the carpets too, and I recommend removal for cleaning, you have to take the seats out anyway.

For carpets, you need to pull the front seats, the console and the front legs of the back seats, as well as the kick plates in the door sills. Then the carpet comes out very easy for cleaning. Then carefully peel off the jute padding trying not to stretch it or shred it too much, and set it aside to put back later.

At that point really any carept cleaning solution you want to use will work. As I mentioned earlier I just use a little dawn dishsoap, some Purple Power degreaser and a dash of bleach in a 1Gal garden sprayer filled with hot tap water. Soak, scrub, rinse with lots of water from a hose or pressure washer (I use a pressure washer and its not too harsh on the carpet), repeat as needed.

Then hang the carpet to let it dry. I just use a 6ft step ladder with a 2x4 on top to drape the carpet over. After a couple hours of hanging dry I hit it with my wet/dry shop vac to get most of the remaining water out of it and suck out any remaining dirt particles. I move it over near my woodstove after that but if you have a couple nice dry days, just air drying works.

Using 3M super77 (or similiar) stick your jute back where it belongs and reinstall everything.


A trick to help getting your seat covers back on is to use movers wrap (saran wrap on a much larger scale) to loosely wrap the foam first. This lets the fabric slide over easily and provides you a slight amount of waterproofing after all is said and done.

 

[Sogsnakebite]

Awesome thank you so much bro ill do that

 

[Facimeor]

No problem. hope that helps you achieve your desired results!

 

[College Student]

what do you do if there happens to be dirty spots that look like mold on the actual foam of the seat

 

[Facimeor]

There are mold/mildew killing products you can buy over the counter, but the primary active ingrediant in most of them is chlorine bleach. A little bleach and a dash of laundry soap in a spray bottle with warm water will do the same thing.

Spray it, blot out whatever solids you can then respray it and let it dry on there, before putting your covers back on.

 

[97xlt4.0]

I hope the interior on my '97 turns out that good!! Awesome work

 

[Paraphoe]

This is one of the most impressive, if not the top detailing job I've seen on this forum. Amazing work.

Can you recommend and particular spot cleaners to use on small stains without removing the carpet entirely?

What about the exterior - what'd you use on the red Trac? Just basic compounds and waxes?

Again, amazing work.

 

[austin26372]

Awesome work! I'm an ex-marine detailer; I've yet to see something that bad, even with all of the inop boats I've had!

I clean hardcore - pressure washed and watered bleach. Degreaser on the carpets.

I'm still getting into full automotive compounding; boats are a completely different animal. What's your compound of choice?

 

[2TimingTom]

Nice work! I think Joe Dirt has met his match!

 

[Facimeor]

My spot cleaner of choice is just good old cheap Purple Power brand degreaser, cut 1:1 with warm water, spray on, brush with nylon bristle brush then shop vac out until dry. Sometimes I will follow that with straight water to help remove the product. The biggest problem I find with spot cleaning is making it cleaner than the area around it. So I might follow a spot clean with just a light overall mist in the surrounding area of my carpet cleaning ****tail and then a shop vac dry again.


For paint corrections I use all Meguiar's products. Its what I was taught on and so its what I know. The processes and products I use will vary depending on what kind of paint Im working on and how bad the damage is Im trying to correct.

For the red Sport trac I started with Ultra Cut Compound (M105) on a polishing pad (yellow) for the majority of the surface. In particularly nasty spots I used M105 on a cutting wool. This was then followed up with Swirl remover 2.0 (M09) on the same yellow pad and finally machine glaze (M03) on a finishing pad (grey). Finally I applied Synthetic Sealant 2.0 (M21) by hand. The last step in my process is to go over all the edges of the trim and mouldings with Final Touch and a fine painters brush (I just buy cheap paint brushes from home depot and cut the bristles down to about an inch at a slight angle) to get any residue product out.

Some other tips:

• soft bottle brushes and toilet brushes work great inside door jams and around objects under the hood.
• Always mask your plastic mouldings before doing paint work, it will save lots of cleanup time
• Cleaner wax (like Mequiars) works really well for polishing your windows and will remove moderate water spotting
• Microfiber towels are your best friend, buy them in bulk and save some ONLY for your final processes. If you drop one on a dirty floor, dont use it on your paint ever again. I keep my "paint only microfibers" in a big ziploc.
• before you detail, wash your car paying particular attention to door jambs, underhood and around windows and mouldings. Then when you are done wash it all over again.
• Be careful becuase they can scratch your glass, but a single edge razor blade is your friend when dealing with neglected glass. I usually just use them around edges where minerals build up. Clean glass can MAKE or BREAK a detail job.

Enjoy your spring cleaning!

 

[Joe Dirt]

I don't argue with anything above, especially since Facimeor is a Meg's guy...

Have you tried UC or now the MF kit yet? UC saved me from the hours of 105/205 I used to spend on customer's cars... Nasty stuff up here in the mitten.

This works for me- I can get sooo much free time back now that I don't have to document and take pics while detailing stuff! Faciemor- the reigns are all yours, I'm retiring! Woo hoo!

 

[austin26372]

Wax for windows - my favorite. After detailing a boat, I'd do a once over the entire thing with wax. Saves me from breaking out the windex.

I use moist rags for door jambs; I guess it saves me clean up from brushes.

 

[Facimeor]

Joe, I havent tried any of the new 2011 products. I dont detail regularly enough to go through much product so Im still using up old stock. Also Im a rotary buffer guy so I tend to get plenty of action with the 105. If I need to cut something quick the wool does the trick.

I was planning on making an order here for the spring season. if you have some recommendations I would like to hear them. Im always looking for ways to make things go faster, so I have more time to spend goofing off!


Edit: by UC I was assuming you mean Ultimate Compound, but I dont know what MF is
Also, you cant retire, because slaves can ony be sold...now get back to work!