2006 Ford Eddie Bauer Explorer

[1anonly]

Since we were having an unusual 80 degree October weekend here in southeast Wisconsin, I decided to do a full detail on my DD. This vehicle gets no where close to the lovin' that my Corvette gets. When I worked at my old job I had park next to the building. Not a big deal but the business right across the driveway was an aluminum foundry. If the wind was blowing right, my SUV would have a fine layer of casting sand on it when I was done with work. I would have sand get in the window seals and scratch the hell out of my windows. Not to mention sand on the wiper blades too. Just imagine how the paint felt Well about 21 months ago I got laid off from there and my SUV thanks me for it. So here's my transformation.

 

Before Shots - It might not look too bad, but it was dirty.

 

 

Bugs all over the front and mirrors.

 

I had a couple of door scuffs to take out.

 

Then the wheels

 

 

How about the motor

 

 

Interior you ask?

 

Yes, I told you guys it needed some lovin'.

 

I started with the wheels by using APC and a fender brush in the wheel wells. Then I sprayed the wheels with GWC, pulled out a boars hair brush and broke out my NEW Powerstick......very handy. After drying I put a coat of SMW on the rims and VRT the tires. If my tires looks extra shiny, it's because they are less then 2 weeks old.

 

 

Next area was the engine bay. I don't think I ever cleaned it in the four years I've owned it.

I sprayed it down with APC and used the boars hair brush. Then gave it a rinse and let it dry. Once it was dry I used VRT on everything I could reach and used IN & Out on the rest. The thing looks new.

 

 

After washing the wheels and motor it was time for the body. Since I had a ton of bugs on it, I sprayed the front with APC before I even filled my wash buckets. I did two bucket Dawn wash on it and most of the bugs came off during the wash. Then I pulled out the leaf blower and blew the water out of the gaps and dryed it with a M/F drying towel. Once dry, it was time to clay. I went through a full bar of clay doing this thing. After claying I did one pass with SHR and a pass with FMP. Then I did wipe down with IPA (70%/water mix). Now that the body was completely stripped it was time for a coat of SMW. This was the second time that I ever used SMW. I did not care for it after the first time, but after talking to Dylan and seeing my errors, I was giving it another shot. This time it worked a lot better. Then I topped it with a coat of BG. And did the black parts in VRT

 

Now the interior. I did the interior about a month ago, so I'm using those pictures and write-up. I play a lot of volleyball and softball so my driver seat is usually dirty. I used the Leather & Interior cleaner with a horsehair brush and was amazed! After cleaning the seats and rest of the interior I put down coat of the Leather conditioner....Mmmmmmm leather. The windows got done with the Adam's window cleaner and glass M/F towels. I got my windows so clean that I noticed some overspray that has been there for almost two years. (Body shop did it) Overspray came off with a little steel wool. I had one spot in the carpet next to the gas pedal that I cleaned with the Carpet & Upholstery cleaner. It came out no problem.

 

Dirty towel from the seats

 

 

Clean Seats

 

 

More no bugs on the grill

 

 

 

The area where I had scratches

 

 

 

I had throw this one in there for obvous reasons.....Check out the hat! Bet you want one?

 

 

 

Here are my buffing pads

Dirty

 

Clean.....yes I know the white pads are pink. That is from trying a sub-par product from a sub-par company. If I would of used Adam's DS, this would not of happened. Live and learn.

 

 

OK Boys and Girls, here is the tip of the day. After washing my pads I do a quick spin on the PC and put them on a drying rack (Face down) next to a dehumidifier set at 50% humidity. By doing this, my pads dry in less than 24 hours.

[Nordgrey]

Great work Dan!

 

The contrast between the base colour and the wheel well trim in the before and after pics is amazing. I had not actually noticed the wheel well trim in the before pic, had to go back and check it out.

[Mato]

Very nice write-up Dan, looks real good

[mc2hill]

Very nice work Dan.

[Chris@Adams]

Real nice Dan!!

[Captain Slow]

D A Y U M !!! Great work Dan.

[Fierce5]

Good job! Looking forward to do my DD as well

[Osok]

Nice work!!! I always like to see a DD turn around. I especially like the cleanup on the seats too.

[johnnymossville]

Great work, but what impressed me most was how well those seats came out. I'm gonna have to get some of the Leather Cleaner/Conditioner.

 

Those seats look New!!!

[1anonly]

John, the trick with the seats is to get a horsehair brush and scrub the leather cleaner into all the little nooks and crannys on the seats. Then wipe them clean with a M/F towel. After they're cleaned I hand rubbed in the leather conditioner. You can protect the seats better if you apply it by hand. The only downside is that your hand smells like leather for a day or so.

[johnnymossville]

1anonly. Thank you for those tips. I have the exact same color seats in my wife's car and though they still look much better than your "before pics",... they could use a cleaning anyway.

 

I'm gonna do it just like you say.