2011 Mustang Father/Daughter Project

[Captkaos]

Quick into: I met (online) Mike on my 73-87 forum when he owned his Blazer. I recently acquired a 2011 Mustang for my daughter. It is a V6 and I got it fairly cheap. It has a ton of miles on it (253K as of this post). This is my daughters car to hopefully teach her how to care for it. We have big plans for it and she has until Feb 2023 to get it ready for her to drive. Our first order is to get it reliable.
Now to why I am here. This car looks like someone extracted all the goodie out of it and treated it, well, like a car. Here are pics when we got it. It looks like car washes were its life and a shedding dog. AND I am NOT a detailer... Just trying to learn and teach her how to take care of it.

 

[Captkaos]

Our first order of business was to vacuum all the dog hair out and start cleaning up the interior. We used some car upholstery cleaner on the cloth seats, and wiped them down, it was pretty nasty, and I would like to find a way to do some deeper cleaning on it.

I also took the interior apart: removed the seats and console to clean it all out.

 

[Captkaos]

Just to keep the images separated, this is the AFTER on the seats. pictures don't do this justice, it is much cleaner than before.

 

[Captkaos]

Next item that needed attention was the left over glue/foam whatever from vent visors. The passenger side apparently came off "better" than the driver but still had to go over it with a 3M magic eraser to get most of this off.

 

[Captkaos]

This is where the fun started. I talked to Mike about the paint on the side of the car. The previous owner told me they hit a paint bucket, what I couldn't tell until the first initial wash was that it was all over both whole sides of the car. The drivers side was the worst.
Mike suggest to try the following: Goof Off, WD40, Paint Thinner, Any type of orange citrus solvent, Tar and Sap remover – Stoners
After washing it we just went down the list. none of them showed any difference until we hit it with the paint thinner.

 

[Captkaos]

After a couple hours of wiping and on the plastic pressing/holding thinner on a rag we got all of it off on the driver side. Did not get pictures of the passenger side, but the difference is huge. I went over it with some wax just to protect it. I also ordered some pads, some 3D Speed and 3D Poxy from Mike so once we get the rear axle back in (was roaring so we regeared and added an LSD) we plan to polish and wax the whole car.

I put a before and after pic for comparison.

 

[Captkaos]

This catches me up to date on progress. The last items I was hoping to attack before the wash, clay, polish and wax was getting whatever black spots (thought it was tar) off the rear of the car (and fix the detached front bumper).

I sprayed some Stoner Tarminator on it in a small area and didn't make a difference at all. I attached a pic but it may be too small to see so not sure you can zoom in. I HOPE Claying it will get this off.

Any advice?

 

[Mike Phillips]

Hi Chris

Very cool - thank you for joining the forum and sharing this project.

Quick question - have you tried to pick any of these black spots off with your fingernail or a plastic razor blade? Or credit card?

There’s a thing called

Artillery Fungus

It’s a long shot but could be this - especially if the car was parked over time.

 

[Captkaos]

I have tried with my fingernail and it felt like tar, but it is very small dots. I am going to try plastic razor blades next.
They car was driven daily so it isn't from sitting.. and some roads in our area were repaved when the owner last lived. I can try to get a better pic.

 

[Captkaos]

So I used a plastic razor blade and it sorta removed some of the bigger pieces. But it is scratching the paint so I dont really want to dig into it. Pictures attached.

 

[Mike Phillips]

Hi Chris,

TINY problems like seem to be BIG headaches! LOL

Here's a technique I've used that works, it requires two things,

1. A citrus solvent
2. Patience

Most people can get the first product but never have the second ingredient.

Dampen a scrap rag or scrappy microfiber towel with the citrus solvent, I like XENIT by Stoner.

Stoner Xenit | Product 94213 | Natural Citrus Cleaners | Stoner Spray | Kleen-Rite

Stoner 94213 Natural Citrus Xenit Cleaner breaks through sticky materials like tar, gum, adhesives, and more. 10 ounce aerorosol spray can; 12 per case.

www.kleen-ritecorp.com

Then using patience and wearing a nitrile glove, HOLD the citrus dampened towel against the offending black dots for a minute or two. Then wipe with the towel.

Allowing some TIME to go by enables the citrus oils to penetrate, loosen, soften the black dots - whatever they are - so they can be removed.


Besides that - Meguiar's or 3M body shop AGGRESSIVE clay should do the trick with lots of lube.

 

[4getgto]

Just following along...I bet this will be a big transformation when you're done.. Can't wait to see it when its done..
Cool car for a young girl to have..

 

[Captkaos]

No one has XENIT locally so I am going to attempt some Citrus cleaners to see what comes about. Claying the car is on the list so we shall see. I am actually waiting for the rear axle to be completed so we can reinstall it, and make it drivable again. It was making a noise so we regeared it and added a LSD. The local cruise-in starts this weekend and she wants to go. Will keep this posted on progress.

@4getgto she likes it so far. She wanted a 1969 Mustang fastback,

 

[4getgto]

@4getgto She wanted a 1969 Mustang fastback,

I bet too she would. So would dad..

Cruise in's are fun. She'll get into it I bet..

 

[Captkaos]

Yeah I would get and drive one before I let a 15 year old. I told her lets start with this and see how it goes. I am GM guy so this is the first Ford I have ever owned. I do plan on LS swapping it

So this evening I got a rag and some goo gone and wiped/soaked it down. I then decided to hit it with a plastic razor blade hoping not to destroy the paint. A LOT of this came off. See results. I will take better pictures tomorrow. It got dark on me.

 

[Captkaos]

Took some better pics today. Some spots are still there but not as pronounced. I guess I need to buy some aggressive clay.

 

[Silly Rabbit]

Great father/daughter project, car will be well taken care of after your daughter has time into the car like that.

 

[Captkaos]

We got the rear axle back the evening that I posted the above pictures. She and I worked on it until dark and followed up the next morning and got it installed in the car. Took it to the local cruise-in and parked by my brothers 2020 Camaro.

 

[Captkaos]

@Silly Rabbit that is my hope. Putting some time investment into it so she can appreciate it more.

Fast forward to this weekend, we gave it a good wash and and I went over it with a Speed Master Clay Towel. It was horrible. The good news is all the spots on the car are gone now. Pic of the same area as show above with the spots shown. I also went over the car with 3D Speed and 3D Poxy. for someone who doesn't have a clue what they are doing this really went well.

 

[Captkaos]

I didn't get good pictures AFTER the 3D Speed and 3D Poxy treatment because I ran out of day and had to get everything put back up. And today it rained. There are still some nice scratches in the paint but @Mike Phillips talked me down off my OCD/Perfectionist so hopefully I will keep remembering a 15/16 year old will be driving this BUT this is something this paint has never done.. Bead water... More pictures to come.