Just got done with the Adam's PC kit on a truck that was so bad even the Junkman would be impressed (in a bad way!). Most of the cars I have owned have been kept in excellent condition, but that was not the case for my 2002 Ford Explorer Sport Trac. Just after buying it new, I started a business, we had two children, moved into a new community with constant construction (and dust), and my daily commute took me past a working limestone quarry!
Between the kids and the business, something had to go, and as an engineer, it wasn't going to be powertrain maintenance, so washing and cleaning the Sport Trac dropped off the list, especially since the other circumstances would have required washing more than once/week. I washed it maybe 4-5 times a year over 7 years, and many of those were in an automated car wash. It was also the company utility vehicle until we bought a new Sprinter last year, and the kids were constantly banging into it with something when it was at home....
So, now I have a shiny new G8 GXP and once again a reason to keep the car clean & shiny, and the Sport Trac will soon be up for sale, so I thought I would take the opportunity to learn on the ST and maybe help its value a bit in the process. After I did the research and homed in on Adam's (thanks to Dylan for putting me onto this stuff!), like a good noob, I watched all the videos and read posts until my eyes hurt.
Well, first of all, after a thorough washing with original blue Dawn and a claying, I could see that the hood was worse than I realized. Clear coat failure all over it. No amount of SHR, FMP and OP time did much other than make it shine between the CC cracks. Oh well, on to the rest of the truck. First, the ugly pictures:
This is the cab & bed on the pass side:
About the same place on the driver's side:
Back of the bed on the pass side:
Tailgate:
Now the good stuff:
Pass side cab-bed
Driver's side cab-bed - only one of the many scratches visible on the Before shot remains, and you need a halogen to see it:
Tailgate:
Is that funhouse mirror effect in the last pic flattering or what?! The Adam's products worked great, and I have to say that it took some patience and playing around to get everything right, but it was worth it - now I won't be learning on the GXP! Funny thing is, I was impressed by the polishes and wax more than enough, but the real cool part was when I tried APC in desperation on a couple of things that would not come off on both the exterior and interior plastic & rubber - took it right off! Now I wouldn't recommend that for most things, but my truck was an extreme example if there ever was one! Great stuff Adam!
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vinci
Hey folks,
Just got done with the Adam's PC kit on a truck that was so bad even the Junkman would be impressed (in a bad way!). Most of the cars I have owned have been kept in excellent condition, but that was not the case for my 2002 Ford Explorer Sport Trac. Just after buying it new, I started a business, we had two children, moved into a new community with constant construction (and dust), and my daily commute took me past a working limestone quarry!
Between the kids and the business, something had to go, and as an engineer, it wasn't going to be powertrain maintenance, so washing and cleaning the Sport Trac dropped off the list, especially since the other circumstances would have required washing more than once/week. I washed it maybe 4-5 times a year over 7 years, and many of those were in an automated car wash. It was also the company utility vehicle until we bought a new Sprinter last year, and the kids were constantly banging into it with something when it was at home....
So, now I have a shiny new G8 GXP and once again a reason to keep the car clean & shiny, and the Sport Trac will soon be up for sale, so I thought I would take the opportunity to learn on the ST and maybe help its value a bit in the process. After I did the research and homed in on Adam's (thanks to Dylan for putting me onto this stuff!), like a good noob, I watched all the videos and read posts until my eyes hurt.
Well, first of all, after a thorough washing with original blue Dawn and a claying, I could see that the hood was worse than I realized. Clear coat failure all over it. No amount of SHR, FMP and OP time did much other than make it shine between the CC cracks. Oh well, on to the rest of the truck. First, the ugly pictures:
This is the cab & bed on the pass side:
About the same place on the driver's side:
Back of the bed on the pass side:
Tailgate:
Now the good stuff:
Pass side cab-bed
Driver's side cab-bed - only one of the many scratches visible on the Before shot remains, and you need a halogen to see it:
Tailgate:
Is that funhouse mirror effect in the last pic flattering or what?! The Adam's products worked great, and I have to say that it took some patience and playing around to get everything right, but it was worth it - now I won't be learning on the GXP! Funny thing is, I was impressed by the polishes and wax more than enough, but the real cool part was when I tried APC in desperation on a couple of things that would not come off on both the exterior and interior plastic & rubber - took it right off! Now I wouldn't recommend that for most things, but my truck was an extreme example if there ever was one! Great stuff Adam!
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