1997 Viper GTS Full Detail

[BlknBlu]

Here is my first attempt at giving a full detail to a friends car that he just purchased on Monday. It is a 1997 Dodge Viper GTS in red with polished wheels and no other options. The car has 15k miles and has mostly sat the last few years with an occasional start up. The car was in a garage near a construction site so it was dusty. The car arrived at my house today and I started gathering the tools for the trade and put together a game plan. Look for more updates here or go to my website. http://mopargarage.net.p9.hostingprod.com/1997viperdetail.html

Enjoy

Bruce

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[BlknBlu]

Here are the tools of the trade that will go on the car.

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Bruce

[slitherv10]

I see someone is heeding Junkmans ways.

Well put together bruce. Its all fun and games until someone gets shiny......new car.

[Sybil TF]

You can do mine next.:D

[Junkman2008]

That's gonna be fun. :)

[01sapphirebob]

Good luck Bruce! I'm about 95% done with the paint correction on my sapphire using Griots products as well. Cant wait to see what this one looks like when you are done. I've easily got about 16 hours in mine.

[BlknBlu]

Spent about 5 hours tonight just cleaning and clay barring the car. There are more pics on my site but here are the highlights from today.

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Bruce

[BlknBlu]

more pics

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Bruce

[2010.Blue.White.ACR]

I just bought that same griots set up. I love it.

[GBS]

Can't beat using a leaf blower to dry the car and to help keep the paint swirl free after it's polished.

[BlknBlu]

Here are pics of the remaining items that were worked on. Lots more on my website.

Bruce

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[BlknBlu]

The car has about 20 hours of work in and it turned out just awesome.

I would like to thank the Junkman and Griot's Garage products.

Bruce

[01sapphirebob]

Nicely done!! I gotta putt the wheels off mine and get some cleaning done in there.

[bayviper]

Too nice to drive now, sorry :)

[eric@thompsonracing.us]

Nice work Bruce! Good to see you are using a foam gun! They will help reduce swirls caused from the wash process. I recommend stepping up your wash mitt to an acrylic or merino wool mitt, rather than the one you are using. You will see a difference in your paint!

BTW, your pics you posted yesterday are not showing up for me.

[eric@thompsonracing.us]

Also, I like the red bike on the wall. What is it? My brother's and I just restored my father's original '59 Schwinn Panther II for him!

[BlknBlu]

That picture was taken at the owners place, not sure what it is.

Bruce

[octopus]

Excellent! I remember you posting about detailing a while back.. Glad to see you did a writeup on here. If you do any other cars post them up! It seems like you're a Griots guy... Have you ever used Griots Paint Prep or Griots Pre-Wax Cleanser? I'm thinking about picking a bottle of each up but was wondering how well they work.. Specifically how well Paint Prep removes old wax. Once again, nice work!

[BlknBlu]

For some reason the last of the pictures will not post, but you can see the whole process here with more pics.

http://mopargarage.net.p9.hostingprod.com/1997viperdetail.html


Bruce

[Bill Pemberton]

Great job, Bruce , that is the way to get a new owner into a new member of the Crossroads Club!! Now that is a President going above and beyond to show Viper owners what an outgoing helpful Club we are , ha!!!

[Thawk97]

I'd love to hear a bit more detail for how you used the products in the engine bay & wheel wells. That's on my list, but I haven't known the best products/methods to clean grease & tar & junk without hurting finishes like our beautiful intake manifold & valve covers.

[eric@thompsonracing.us]

Great series of videos:

Cleaning Engine Bay (http://www.adamspolishes.com/t-Detailing_Video_Vol_8_Chapter_03_Cleaning_the_Engi ne_Bay.aspx)

[ViperPete]

Amazing job! I was wondering myself what to use on the car.

[repiV]

Great job, Bruce , that is the way to get a new owner into a new member of the Crossroads Club!! Now that is a President going above and beyond to show Viper owners what an outgoing helpful Club we are , ha!!!

I just found this thread.....I didn't know new members to the Crossroads of America group got a free detail from Bruce!! That's awesome. Bruce - Let me know when to bring it over!! :-)

[BlknBlu]

It was Free to Josh, but you should see the free garage lighting i got from him.

Bruce

[ViperPete]

You have some serious skills man. I'm going to wax the Viper for the very first time on Wednesday. Is Meguiars carnuba wax any good?

[Vprbite]

Personally been liking Griots lately. And also if you have hard water, their in line water softener is killer.

[eucharistos]

nice work!

[ViperPete]

I have a water softener so that's no biggie. I'm going to wax the car for the first time tomorrow so just curious what is better when I go to the auto parts store.

[Viper Red]

That is just perfect. Well done

[Matt Dillon]

NICE Job Bruce! Thanks for Sharing!

[quickster2]

I've had great success using S100 on my motorcycles anyone use S100 for the engine bay and wheels on a Viper? I do not use S100 on the paint other than some overspray. Thx

[BrianACR]

Some great info here! I have been thinking of trying the clay bar thing. My car is 15 years old and the paint is a bit swirled. What is the proper process to go through to do a clay bar? Or is there another, better method that I could do?

[BlknBlu]

Use the 2 bucket wash method and keep plenty of water on the car. If you plan to polish after the claybar use Dawn dishwashing soap. It will remove all waxes, detailers and grease leaving your paint in it's raw form. Once complete use a detail spray and do small areas by applying product and rub the clay in. no need to press down just let the clay do the work and keep the paint lubricated so the clay glides across it. then wipe of with good micro fiber towel

Bruce