My current detailing project!

[Thomistopheles]

1974 Mazda RX-4 Wagon
http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr260/TurboThom/Eddie%20RX4/5329d4c9.jpg

The guy who bought my cressida has this RX-4 wagon, 18,000 miles. Rare car, I've never seen another in person. It sat for over 2 decades before he rescued it, so it had a ton of issues with the paint. The hood and roof are too far gone for me to do my magic, so they will most likely be resprayed black for a black & gold two tone. I've been working on it a few hours a day, cutting through the oxidation and massaging out scratches. So far I've done prep and polished the upper passenger side. I'll post more as I make progress.

This is what I'm working with:
http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr260/TurboThom/Eddie%20RX4/557733de.jpg
http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr260/TurboThom/Eddie%20RX4/66263683.jpg
http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr260/TurboThom/Eddie%20RX4/077f72ba.jpg

A couple 50/50 shots:
http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr260/TurboThom/Eddie%20RX4/1158b5e3.jpg
http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr260/TurboThom/Eddie%20RX4/0fc8c3d9.jpg

After M105 compound and alcohol wipe:
http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr260/TurboThom/Eddie%20RX4/43b73d15.jpg

After M205 polish and another wipe:
http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr260/TurboThom/Eddie%20RX4/a0152d7b.jpg
http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr260/TurboThom/Eddie%20RX4/9483a652.jpg
http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr260/TurboThom/Eddie%20RX4/6fdf5d1d.jpg

[chuckthefuk]

Wow. so much nicer after and what a classic!!

[Reason]

This is AWESOME!

[mike-tracy]

Yeah amazing work! If you lived around here I'd definitely hire you to work on my old legacy!

[Airgne]

nicework. that car is awesome.

[Thomistopheles]

Thanks.

I'm hoping to get the rest of the car done today. Maybe. Depends on how much time is spent conversing about 70's imports, eating cookies, and making plans for the Datsun 610 in his driveway. :smt016

[Thomistopheles]

Day three... had some breakfast, finished compounding the sides, and we took care of all the parts that needed work by hand. This thing is kicking my ass, I'll probably have 30-35 hours into the paint by the time it's done. :shock:

A before pic for reference:
http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr260/TurboThom/Eddie%20RX4/6e4976b2.jpg

Passenger side is after M105 + 205, driver side is after M105 only.

http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr260/TurboThom/Eddie%20RX4/a40edc3d.jpg
http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr260/TurboThom/Eddie%20RX4/c413d0e7.jpg
http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr260/TurboThom/Eddie%20RX4/58412978.jpg
http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr260/TurboThom/Eddie%20RX4/008b3b17.jpg
http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr260/TurboThom/Eddie%20RX4/6955ebdc.jpg

[chuckthefuk]

Like glass!! I still cant get over the wheels.. new school meets old school. what a visual impact.

[Dead91silvia]

Those are some rare cars for sure! I have polished out cars like that, it's amazing what you can do to single stage paint when its in bad shape...

[Thomistopheles]

It's actually not single stage. It's got very fine metallic flake in it, and back then they would spray the base color and then clear lacquer with aluminum flake in it on top of that. I was expecting my pads to turn gold (single stage) but they didn't.

[Dead91silvia]

really?! Thats kinda crazy!

[kimokalihi]

I wish I knew how to do this. My car needs it but then some stuff on the car is so bad it's a different shade than the other parts of the car like the trunk paint looks much better than the quarter panels and I don't think I can do anything about it.

That's a sick car but I feel like it needs some different wheels like maybe watanabes or something.

[Thomistopheles]

Yeah, the wheels are temporary. He got them cheap and they fit, good for rolling around on while he works on it and he can sell them later for a profit.

I was there for about 13 hours yesterday and it's got the opti-coat on it. I'll be going over tonight to make sure it's all good and then it's photo shoot time.

[Thomistopheles]

Murphy's law strikes again. He took it for a drive after I was done, and his alt belt snapped. On top of that, now the starter is being a jerk. Photo shoot when THAT's taken care of. :lol: I took some out in the driveway, but the sun was gone and this paint doesn't pop without a good light source.

So uhhh.... in the meantime, there's this:
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2012/04/d96ace7c-1.jpg

Might be doing my old Cressida next, then I get to tackle my new outback. I'm trading the wifey's ugly but reliable Sunfire + $1000 for it, and I told the lady I'd detail the interior before the trade. She apologized for not being able to do the same with the OB, but I prefer it that way haha. I'm going to have a field day with this thing...it's in great shape, just dirty.

[Yokosilver]

Amazing work, man. Wish I had those skills. What tools/compounds are you using?

[Wiscon_Mark]

How did this guy get a vehicle this old to not rust in WI?!

[Thomistopheles]

It's a southern car, sat down there for a couple decades before he scooped it up and rescued it.

Yokosilver:
Dawn wash followed by Iron-X, another dawn wash, and clay bar.
M105 compound on Lake Country orange light cutting pads
M205 finishing polish on white polishing pads
Alcohol wipedowns after each pass
Final alcohol wipedown, thorough inspection
Optimum Opti-coat 2.0 to seal it all up and keep it protected

Polisher is a cheap no-name rotary. I'm still saving up for a Flex PE14 rotary and 3401 orbital. My current one is heavy and isn't going to hold up under serious abuse.

[Thomistopheles]

Oh yeah... I forgot to post a finished photo. Haven't done a real shoot with it yet, been really busy. :smt016

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2012/04/7120687139_d6df989f47_b-1.jpg

I'll get around to my legacy eventually, and it will be glorious.

[Yokosilver]

Are you sure you didn't pull that pic from an old magazine ad? Looks amazing, man.

[Wiscon_Mark]

That is awe - wait for it - some!

[jjay03]

Looks great im going to detail my legacy soon but I prob wont go that far its just too much damn work lol. I usually wash/clay/meg 83,80,26 and that is still a whole weekend usually.

[Thomistopheles]

My legacy will probably take around 8 hours. Light oxidation on the panels that weren't resprayed, normal wear and tear from improper wash technique...it's not bad. I have a ton of stuff I have to do before I get around to it, though...so for now, it got a good wash and a coat of Collinite 476s wax.

[jjay03]

My legacy will probably take around 8 hours. Light oxidation on the panels that weren't resprayed, normal wear and tear from improper wash technique...it's not bad. I have a ton of stuff I have to do before I get around to it, though...so for now, it got a good wash and a coat of Collinite 476s wax.

Nice! Mine has a few spots where it looks like bird crap had been for a long time and etched into the clear not sure I can get them out by sanding. I did the hood alrdy and it looks a lot better but it could of used a more aggressive compound and pad.

[Thomistopheles]

Sometimes it's better to leave some defects in the paint. A show car might need 100% correction with zero defects, but with most cars it's a balance of removing defects while removing as little paint as possible....chances are the car will need to be machine polished later on in life and if you remove a bunch of clear now to fix some etching, the clear may not be thick enough later on.

I keep an emergency bird shit kit in my car so I can handle any issues right away. The uric acid in bird crap is nasty, doesn't take it long to start etching your paint. Everything packs into a small cooler with a couple velcro strips on the bottom to keep it from sliding or rolling around in the car, it's pretty handy.

6x Microfiber towels in ziploc bags
Optimum No-rinse wash
Pinnacle clay bar
Poorboy's quick detailer
Blackfire wet diamond spray sealant
Invisible glass
303 fabric/vinyl cleaner

If the bird crap dries on, this is what I do:
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how ... pping.html (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-articles/23231-how-safely-remove-dried-bird-dropping.html)

[jjay03]

Yeah I agree never know how think the clear is either. In my cars that have nice paint I usually always have a microfiber and some detailing spray for any shit that might land on it.

[hansvonaxion]

Awesome result, I wonder if it wouldn't have been easier to respray it!

[Dead91silvia]

Ive done a number of re-fresh jobs... It's always nice when a car has never been mucked with. This is one I did a couple years ago. One of my Celica's I had.

Took a day, a Makita, a buffing pad, a few OZ's of compound, polishing pad, and a few OZ's wax... So much cheaper then $500+ to re-spray and WAY less time!

Before
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2012/04/IMG_5028-1.jpg

After...
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2012/04/IMG_5742-1.jpg

Even took it for a little photo shoot at the air museum I volunteer at.
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/08/IMG_8371-1.jpg

[Thomistopheles]

Man, every red toyota I've bought was oxidized. They're great for a dramatic turn around. I bought a 90 targa supra shell that was so bad it looked pink. Machine polishing was the first thing on the list for that car. My first Supra was the same... bought it for $2k, detailed it, drove it for a year, sold it and came out $1500 ahead.

[Dead91silvia]

I've done it to a few rigs over the years... It's amazing when someone thinks of the car as a POS and they get it back and fall in love with it again because of shiny paint!

[Thomistopheles]

I did a Merkur XR4Ti last year to prepare the car for sale. The owner came in, looked it over, and threw his for sale sign in the trash. :grin: Got a fat tip on that one, too.

Some more photos. My old cressida is his new daily driver, my OB is lurking in the back. RX-4's apex seals gave out. :smt009
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2012/05/a9ca02af-1.jpg
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2012/05/7178790910_417571825d_c-1.jpg
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2012/05/7178790990_e21dd12004_b-1.jpg

[MRLancaster]

Want my 73 MG for that Mazda ;) Very clean!!!!

[Thomistopheles]

Ha, I don't think he'd go for that... We're looking at doing a swap now, probably using a rx7 as a donor unless we can get our filthy hands on a wrecked RX-8.

[Dead91silvia]

Ha, I don't think he'd go for that... We're looking at doing a swap now, probably using a rx7 as a donor unless we can get our filthy hands on a wrecked RX-8.

Get a JDM FD RX-7 half cut, will have all the parts you need. Shouldnt cost too much...

[Thomistopheles]

That's what I was thinking. FD half cut for the RX-4, grab a LS400 (1UZ-FE) as a donor for my old cressida... he'll have a couple sweet cars.

[Dead91silvia]

I have a friend thats obsessed with Nissan RB motors. He has something like 8 s13's and only 3 of then have KA's still in them. 4 of them have RB's. One with a RB26, one with a 25, and 2 with 20's... haha

[Thomistopheles]

I've never been big on nissans. I've driven modded S13s with SR20DET swaps, a few z31 and z32 300ZXs....not really my thing. I'd consider a datsun wagon, but I think toyota runs in my blood. That Pulsar of yours is pretty goddamn sweet though, I've been lurking. I'd rock that thing any day of the week!

Did a little test on my Outback's fender tonight. The car will look damn good when I polish the rest of it.... not looking forward to doing the roof though :neutral:
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2012/05/04ece854-1.jpg

[Wiscon_Mark]

Mission Impossible harness?

[Thomistopheles]

Hahaha. Swinging from the rafters...

Getting up there isn't a big deal, it's the roof rack. I should take a look and see how hard it is to pull everything off, that'd make it a breeze to polish. Plus I wouldn't have to tape all the rails.

[Wiscon_Mark]

You can remove the rails. Probably isn't too terribly hard, just make sure you don't scratch the paint in the process.

[mike-tracy]

Wow man your work is ridiculous! I'd hire you in a heartbeat to restore the paint on my 91 Legacy SS.

[Dead91silvia]

Rails come off with 12mm muts if I remember right... I have removed 3 of them, I just cant remember right now...

On BK's you can take them off without removing the headliner, but I think you need to on a BG...

[Thomistopheles]

Back to the 1974 RX-4 wagon... The engine had 19k when the ooooold apex seals gave it up. We went down to Illinois and grabbed a complete 13B and 5spd from an 87 RX-7, with all the conversion parts necessary from both the 87 and a 79 RX-7 that was sitting next to it. Mazdas are kind of like subarus, you can bolt stuff from another car right up. We're putting in the FC subframe, steering, suspension (3 inch drop, perfect.) and 4 pot brakes along with the motor and trans. We're swapping over the intake and carb from the original engine to keep it simple. Pedals and clutch cylinder are coming from the '79.

But first.... I'm cleaning the hell out of everything!
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2012/06/666939b5-2.jpg

It was pretty well cared for. Came out of a low mileage T-boned car, and I don't think it ever saw salt. I don't need to sandblast and powder coat brackets since they're all immaculate, and the aluminum is cleaning up well. Hell, the bolts are all zinc plated and shiny. Just cleaning off road grime and cleaning up parts with thick aluminum oxide.

Once it's ready to go in, we'll pull the blown engine and I will clean the bay. I'll be doing some of my wire tuck magic as well, it has lots of ugly loose wiring from the factory that needs to be extended, sleeved, and tucked.