13 replies to this topic

[Driven Auto Detail]

Hey peeps, thought I'd post one of my recent jobs. The vehicle belongs to the Brownsburg Police Department and it serves as the prisoner transport van. Being 11 years old and never garaged, it was very oxidized and beat up. The Chief of Police asked me if I could do anything for it and I told him I'd do what I could. To my surprise, it was actually a single stage paint. Needless to say, I went home wearing a lot of red paint on my shirt and pants. Plus, all my towels were red. Ok, on to the job...

Brought in from the rain:







Washed via foam canon and a soft wheel brush (I wasn't worried about damaging the paint...hehe). After washing I allowed it to air dry as to not ruin my good drying towels:







After washing, it was time to mark off a test spot to see what I was up against:

[Driven Auto Detail]

I decided on a Meg's YELLOW polishing pad, Optimum Compound, and my new Makita rotary. I had never used the rotary before, so I thought this would be a good vehicle to test on:









After tackling the hood, I moved on to the side of the van. I had to leave the smaller areas for hand polishing at the end:







By now, my YELLOW Meg's polishing pad had turned into what looked like a BURGUNDY Meg's cutting pad:

[Driven Auto Detail]

More "work in progress" pics:

[Driven Auto Detail]

After about 7 hours of work, here is the end result:













I will say that the paint was far from perfect, however, knowing what the vehicle is used for, the goal of this job was just to make it look BETTER.

Comments, questions welcomed! Thanks for viewing!

[Obsessive Detail]

Great turnaround! Night and day difference!

[Driven Auto Detail]

Thanks OD!

[Al.]

Driven Auto Detail, on Oct 30 2007, 09:03 PM, said:

Thanks OD!

Great turn around Mike! Wow

[Ron Harris]

That looks great for a government vehicle. You should try and work up a contract to restore the headlights on the crown vics the police officers use. It is a safety issue. I know a guy in south carolina who did this and made some good money!

[Driven Auto Detail]

Thanks a lot guys!

Ron Harris, on Oct 31 2007, 07:24 AM, said:

That looks great for a government vehicle. You should try and work up a contract to restore the headlights on the crown vics the police officers use. It is a safety issue. I know a guy in south carolina who did this and made some good money!

That's a great idea. I'll have to keep an eye out for their Vics to see what kind of shape their headlights are in. Although, I know they are buying new Chargers to replace the Vics and Impalas as quick as they can. We'll see!

[Anthony Orosco]

I wonder if the guards transporting the prisoners are now....."Hey! Don't touch the paint pinhead!"

That's a really great turn around Oxidized paint is so nice to work on because it makes for some really dramatic BEFORE and AFTER's.

Anthony

[Driven Auto Detail]

Anthony Orosco, on Oct 31 2007, 05:17 PM, said:

I wonder if the guards transporting the prisoners are now....."Hey! Don't touch the paint pinhead!"

That's a really great turn around Oxidized paint is so nice to work on because it makes for some really dramatic BEFORE and AFTER's.

Anthony

Thanks Anthony! You're right about oxidized paint making good before and afters.

By the way, I have to tell ya that I love your video demonstrations. Keep 'em coming!!!

[Anthony Orosco]

I have a few more in the making, including a "Beginner Rotary" that was supposed to be for "Iceman" but it's now turned into a more indepth project

Take care,
Anthony

[Driven Auto Detail]

Anthony Orosco, on Oct 31 2007, 11:36 PM, said:

I have a few more in the making, including a "Beginner Rotary" that was supposed to be for "Iceman" but it's not turned into a more indepth project

Take care,
Anthony

Awesome! I could use that one as well.

[icemang17]

Anthony Orosco, on Oct 31 2007, 07:36 PM, said:

I have a few more in the making, including a "Beginner Rotary" that was supposed to be for "Iceman" but it's now turned into a more indepth project

Take care,
Anthony

Anthony

I'm still waiting on my tutorial!!! I'm sure its worth the wait!

I thought about polishing the 928 today....but the opti seal still looks great 6 months later!