Detail of 1993 Mustang LX

[Methodical4u]

Ok ladies and Gents... here we have a car that has been both a nightmare and a pleasure to work on. A nightmare in that the car is almost 20 years old and it was before all of the rules about the paint came out... so between the paint being baked on for the last 20 years.. it was already hard to begin with lol.
As it's come out more and more however, it's really beautiful. This is a 93 Mustang LX that belongs to my Aunt and Uncle who are selling it. It's been a garage queen for a long time, but is a victim of severe auto wash and poor car wash marring all of it's life.
First off, here are some of the pics to show some of the very bad marring.





I knew after looking and especially after getting the car washed and clayed that this was not going to be a car that was able to be perfectly corrected, I am always optimistic about a car... sometimes though, you have to understand that to much can cause disastrous results and that having SOME amount of marring, but not to noticeable is a whole lot better than a burn in the middle of a body panel.
I always start out with a lighter pad/compound to check to see what I am working with. This was actually after a few passes on the front bumper

I wasn't particularly happy about this result... but I knew that much more would have resulted in burned paint... so I moved onto the hood. The hood of a car is often the hardest part to get perfected for obvious reasons. Here the pics will show a 50/50 shot as well as the severe pitting that has been a result of years of acid rain, bad water and sandblasting from road debris.

Notice the pitting here:

I completed the other side of the hood and it was basically OK... but not at all something i'm proud of... there will be more that will be done to correct it however... I have a plan ;-)

[Methodical4u]

The rest of the pics thus far I have tried to capture the true paint damage, but the color does make it a bit difficult.
Here is a 50/50 shot, with a bit of glare.. but still shows the difference.


Completed fender and the very damaged door next to it give you an idea how bad the marring actually was.

One of the worst areas... around the door handle...

Now polished out.. the scratching in the door handle area will be very slowly polished out by hand.

Quarter panel completed...


Little more work on the front before I started on the other side

[Methodical4u]

The other side is coming along nicely and the rest of the pics will be posted when the car is completed. A third step correction will be done to jewel the paint to get optimal shine out of it. This car will not be opti-coated, though I think it would be a good idea, but there are some rock chips and such in the paint that should be repaired before adding a layer of something that will be very hard to remove. A standard sealant and possible a wax topper will be used. I haven't decided which I feel will look the best over the Canary Yellow yet.


door before

after

[wrxtreme06]

wow thats awesome. my dad has an 89 fox so i've been brainwashed into having an appreciation for them.

[Axex]

I have an 88 and this is awesome! I wish my paint looked as good as this one though, I really need to redo it

[Methodical4u]

I have an 88 and this is awesome! I wish my paint looked as good as this one though, I really need to redo it

I wasn't sure when I started how well it would come out... for the most part i've been pretty pleased with it, but even minor imperfections will bother me everytime I look at the car.

I had a 93 LX as well... it was the teal color. Very fun car.

This one's for sale if you guys know anyone interested!

[cjm1991]

Looks 100% better. I really like the fox body 5.0s, especially 91-93 lx. What kind of mods on it?

[mcdbrendan]

Nice work!

[Methodical4u]

Looks 100% better. I really like the fox body 5.0s, especially 91-93 lx. What kind of mods on it?

that's the best part! It's completely unmolested... never had a mod on it ever! Just under 75k on the clock

[Methodical4u]

Nice work!

Thanks man... really appreciate it!

[Sasquatch]

Spectacular!

How long does this take you?

[Methodical4u]

Spectacular!

How long does this take you?

Well, with a car like this that has as much that is needed to be done... probably around 35-40 hours. This is also going to include cleaning the exhaust, coating the wheels, doing some interior work... though not to much, all of the little plastic trim will have to be done by hand or very gently doing machine polishing, the engine bay will get a little bit of attention, but it's not something they are worried about to much. I just like what I do to look good and exceed expectations.

On a softer paint like our cars? It's possible for the exterior to take 15-25 hours, again, all depending on the level of damage and how many steps of correction the owner wants.

[BigDaddyRex]

Wow. A great walk through the magic you did to that car. You must have the patience of a saint!

[mcdbrendan]

Thanks man... really appreciate it!

No worries. What type of DA or rotary were you working with? Low vibration makes such a huge difference on long days like this. 15+ hour details are my favorite, I spent just shy of 30 hours on this Scuderia last fall.

[Methodical4u]

No worries. What type of DA or rotary were you working with? Low vibration makes such a huge difference on long days like this. 15+ hour details are my favorite, I spent just shy of 30 hours on this Scuderia last fall.

Oh, it came out beautifully. I use a Flex for basically all of my work. I have used the rotary buffers in the past, but now with things new chemicals and things such as the KBM, it takes about the same amount of time with A LOT less chance of burning which is always a good thing. Typically Menzerna is my very favorite .... only for jobs like this do I change things up a bit, but always revert back to my old ways.

I'm going to actually jewel this paint and REALLY get that little bit of extra depth out of it.