Roadmonster.org

…ROCKS!

I bought some at Walmart this week.

I used this to clean up some oil on the garage floor.

Wow!

This stuff is amazing!

It is the strongest citrus cleaner I have ever used.

I’ll definitely buy more.

I like it even more than the Orange Blast Citrus Cleaner.

-Stewart

…for me to be satisfied that the car is clean enough…

…for the Salem Roadster Show?

A LOT!!!

Today Sam, Rob, and me detailed the Roadmaster some more…

We finished the interior billet polishing & stainless steel beltline trim.

Gave the wheels yet another detailing.

Hit the windows yet again.  Also, we got creative with cleaning the windshield.  There is a space between the glass and the dash on the windshield, where dirt can collect and be seen.  We cleaned that entire area using a plastic body filler spreader wrapped in a micro-fiber towel.

We’ve cleaned areas that I’ve never even thought of cleaning before.

Now that we are essentially done with the pre-show prep…

I am CERTAIN that it will rain on our drive to the Fairgrounds on Friday.

Wish us luck!

-Stewart

We’ve been busy this afternoon.

Just finished polishing most of the stainless steel belt line trim, detailing the wheels and tires, and polishing all the interior billet parts.

The stainless trim has never looked this good since I’ve owned the car.

I also gave the exterior door handles and locks a good polishing…

The billet tilt lever looks like it’s been dipped in chrome…

The turn signal / cruise control lever billet cover was purchased used, and was not polished.

It is now…

Here’s how the Outerwears pre-filters look after a bath.  I’ve cleaned these things about 6-8 times since 2006, and they still look great.

I am very happy with the new RAM AIR decal that Luis made.

The engine bay is complete.  For now…  lol

Thought I’d get a good pic of the under hood decal I had made for the hood insulator, as I pulled out all the lighting I have today…

It’s just a bit too cold to detail outside.

I took this pic of the fuel pressure gauge and the little plaque just because it is very difficult to photograph indoors…

Tomorrow we have some more detailing to do…

Probably some more on Thursday too.

Hopefully it is not raining too hard when we drive to the Fairgrounds.

The weather report calls for rain on Friday…

Rob and I just spent the last few hours cleaning the RoadMonster.

Today we focused on the interior.

I could not stay away from the engine bay…

…so I took off the “T” intake pipe and gave it a good cleaning / polishing.

Soaked the Outerwears pre-filters with Orange Blast and then soaked them in Dawn dish soap and warm water.

They came out nice and clean.

While we were cleaning the interior, I took a pic of the dash emblems.

This pic shows the O-Z Racing emblem and

the Buick Motorsports Division Prototype: Number 1 of 001 plaque.

The Corvette LT1 specifications plate has been there since 2006.

Tomorrow we pull the wheels and clean and wax them, front and back.

We’ve got a plan for each section until Thursday.

Setup for the Salem Roadster Show is on Friday.

4 days and 15 hours to go!

Here’s how I clean the engine bay of my 1994 Buick Roadmaster.

First, I start with a warm, but not hot engine.

Keep the engine OFF.

NEVER do ANY cleaning or detailing with the engine running.

You may be tempted to reach in there with a rag, but DON’T DO IT!

It is way too dangerous.  Take your time, play it safe, and do it right.

Once the engine is warm, but not hot, spray it down with Orange Blast Citrus Cleaner *:

Spray this everywhere.  Let it soak.  Use nylon brushes to loosen any thick grease.  Old toothbrushes work great for this.  Respray as needed.

Try to avoid the Opti Spark Distributor when spraying the engine.

Orange Blast is strong enough to clean the grease and crud without damaging painted, polished, coated, and chromed finishes.

Next, wash off the engine bay with water.  Again, stay away from the Opti Spark Distributor, and the PCM (aka computer).

You don’t want to flood the engine bay, just use a very low flow, and use just enough water to get the cleaner and dirt off.

You will want to use as little water as possible.

Reapply Orange Blast as needed, and repeat with the soaking, scrubbing, and rinsing.

Start up the engine, and allow it to warm up for a few minutes, then shut it off.

Let the engine cool down, and then apply a fine mist of F21 Super Protectant *.

I like this stuff a lot.  Much better than Armor All.  Leaves a nice finish.

Try to avoid the Serpentine Belt.

Other than the belt, lightly spray the entire engine bay.

Start the engine, and allow it to heat to operating temp.

Once the engine cools enough so you won’t get burned, wipe off any excess protectant where it has pooled.

If you got any protectant on the serpentine belt, you can give the belt a few sprays of orange blast, and wipe it off, while the engine is OFF.

Your engine bay is now clean, but now your windshield and front fenders have dirt and F21 Protectant overspray all over them.  Now it is time to give the car a good bath.

Wash and dry the car per usual, then open the hood and enjoy your clean and detailed engine bay!

You may find a few areas where water and / or F21 Protectant has puddled up.  Mop them up with a clean detail cloth.

Enjoy!

* If you have Samco Sport Silicone Coolant Hoses, you don’t want to use Orange Blast or F21 Protectant on them.

Here is what Samco Sport says about cleaning their Silicone Coolant Hoses:  “SamcoSport only recommend using hot soapy water to clean your hoses. If you do this regularly, the natural shine will be promoted. DO NOT use petrol or any petroleum based cleaning products (including those labelled as Silicone shine or similar) – whilst these may give a short term shine, over time they discolour the hose.”

This is the best carpet & upholstery cleaner I have ever used.

Folex will clean your carpet, fabric upholstery, seat belts, etc.

It does not leave any residue.

I cleaned the RoadMonster’s carpet with Folex, and it still looks as good as new.

That is really saying something, as the RM was daily driven for twelve years.  The carpet was dirty.  The driver’s footwell was especially soiled.

Not any more.  Folex removed all the dirt.  ALL of it.

Same goes for the seat belts.  Clean as can be.  They look as good as new.

This stuff is amazing!

It removes all the dirt and crud, but it is gentle, and won’t ruin your interior.

I’ve even used it to clean silk neckties with excellent results.

Just spray it on.  Let it soak.  Scrub with a brush.  Extract with a carpet machine or just mop it up with clean towels.  Let it dry.  That’s it.

I love this stuff!

When I bought the Roadmonster, she was in good condition, but she was in no way a show car.

She lived on a farm, and was parked in a car port.  Lots of dirt.  Nine years of exposure from the elements as a daily driver.

The owners washed her once a week, but I don’t think they dried her off afterwards.

The hood, roof, and trunk were covered in what I thought were hard water spots.

Turns out that these were actually craters in the clear coat.

I took the car to a couple of local shops to get some estimates.  What I found was that first, having the car polished out “professionally” would be a lot of money.  Second, I found that a lot of “professionals” use polishing methods that are quick and easy for them, but leave buffer swirl marks.  They’ll use a glaze to fill the swirl marks, but the glaze will wash off, and buffer swirl marks will reappear.  Also, I worried that the “pros” might remove too much clear coat or burn the clear coat.

If you ever want your car professionally detailed, take a look at the cars RETURNING for detail work.  That’s what I did, and that’s where I saw a lot of buffer marks that were about to be redone, with a glaze then applied to hide the marks.

By the way, using glaze makes the paint appear not as deep as it could be…

I was already a Griot’s Garage customer, and had been using their Best of Show Wax.  This is the best wax I have ever used, and I have tried a lot of waxes.

This wax is pretty good at filling scratches on it’s own, but I was never happy with all the imperfections in the clear coat.

I also like Griot’s Speed Shine as a between wash detail spray.  I use it on EVERYTHING.

I also use their Spray On Wax after washing the RoadMonster. 

I spray it on while she is still wet, and then dry her off with a GOOD microfiber towel.

Once you’ve used a GOOD microfiber towel, you will NEVER go back to the thin cheap ones…

I knew that Griot’s Garage sold excellent car care products, so I trusted that their Orbital Buffers would be excellent too.

I bought their Pneumatic Orbital Buffer, as it’s smaller and less bulky than the electric version, and I have access to compressed air.  I prefer air tools.

The Orange Foam Pads are used with their line of polishes.

I bought all four Machine Polishes that Griot’s sells.

Polishes one through four.  I needed all four.

I spent many hours polishing the hood, roof, and trunk.  The roof was the worst, followed by the trunk.  The clear coat on the RM is as hard as a rock, and this took awhile.  I had to use all four polishes, starting at Number 1, and working my way up to Number 4.

I spent the better part of a day just on the roof.

Using a random orbital buffer is slower than using a high speed buffer.  However, you won’t accidentally remove too much paint or in this case, clear coat.  Also, there is no chance of burning through the paint.  Finally, and importantly, you won’t be putting any swirl marks in the finish.

Was it worth it?

You betcha!

My paint looks BETTER THAN NEW!  I get compliments all the time, and people sometimes don’t believe me that it’s the original paint!

Once the entire car was polished, I added several coats of Best of Show Wax, with the Red Foam Wax Applicator Pads.

There are ZERO swirl marks on the paint.  NONE!

Griot’s products are not inexpensive, but I can tell you this:

I paid less buying all the products pictured above, including the pneumatic orbital buffer than I would have paid a “pro” to do it.

I know I did a better job.

It might have taken me longer, but I know the results are better doing it this way.

In addition, I helped a friend with his mini-van.  One of his boy’s had used a rock in to scrape his name in the paint of his van in several places.  My son and I went to work on the paint with the Griot’s buffer and machine polishes, and we were able to remove 99% of the damage.  We then detailed out and polished the entire van.  The remaining 1% of damage went through to metal, so no buffer could fix that.  The van came out great.  Much better than any of us expected.

I still have lots of machine polish left after doing the entire RoadMonster and a mini-van.

Griot’s Garage