Daily driver and show car?

46addict

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Yeah it involves cutting up and soldering wires. You could pay someone to do it but this can turn into a 10+hr rabbit hole so I don't know what the labor bill would look like. It all depends on how far you want to go. You don't have to kill your dreams before even starting the project.
 

01yellerCobra

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Clean, clean, and clean some more. Get the places you don't think people will see. I use to daily my 01 and show it as well. That was a rough time. Personally I'm more impressed with a clean daily then something that has every stick on piece possible.
 

Mustang Jake

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Clean, clean, and clean some more. Get the places you don't think people will see. I use to daily my 01 and show it as well. That was a rough time. Personally I'm more impressed with a clean daily then something that has every stick on piece possible.
Yeah I’m just trying to figure out what to clean with. Right now I use mothers wash, quick detailed and a meguires white wax with an F11 top coat to wash wax and clay bar the car but I’m looking to get better. I’ve seen cars with every stick on piece possible and I know you can overdo it so I’m just trying for some extr stuff and a nice good shine and polish
 

01yellerCobra

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Yeah I’m just trying to figure out what to clean with. Right now I use mothers wash, quick detailed and a meguires white wax with an F11 top coat to wash wax and clay bar the car but I’m looking to get better. I’ve seen cars with every stick on piece possible and I know you can overdo it so I’m just trying for some extr stuff and a nice good shine and polish
For my big cleaning I do the clay bar and Meguiars 105/205. Depending on how much work it needs. Then I either follow it up with a carnuba or sealer. That usually happens for a couple of big shows I do. The rest of the year is up keep. A quick coat of wax after washing it. Or even using the spray wax I found and like. I usually just wipe down the engine bay to get the dirt off.
 

13v6

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It depends on what kind of shows you go to. If it's a judged show, they only care that everything is there, it fits correctly and EVERYTHING is spotlessly clean. Be sure to wash the insides of the wheels, the wheel wells (they check these things) and the engine needs to be all clean. Usually a display will add points so at least try to put an album together with pictures over the years or something. They won't care about bling.

If it's a voted show, the bling will get you a lot further. You still need to be absolutely clean but you need to stand out with something.

If your paint is all spiderwebs, you won't get anywhere so get that fixed too. It should be all smooth in the sun.
 

Dad

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Get it up on a lift and clean the underside. Can't tell you how irritating it is to have a spotless car with a nasty undercarriage at a show.
 

Mustang Jake

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13v6

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Fixed all of the paint, and what’s the difference between voted and judged
I was just at a show where participants voted for the 3 cars they liked the best. This girl with a '12 v6, rough plasti dip wheel and a kinda clean engine won best of show. Her car is Lava Red and everyone just loved that.

That's basically a voted show. People vote for what they like. A judged show has people that will judge your car on certain things. Mostly around fit and finish and how clean it is. They have a check list of things. And clean, I mean CLEAN. They won't care if they paint shines as long as it's not dirty. You have to clean the wheels, including the insides of the wheels and the wheel wells. Under the hood can take forever because the more you clean, the more dirt you find.

Let me know if that doesn't clear it up by ask questions if you have them.
 

702GT

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I follow this guy. He's got some great methods in detailing/restoration. Really like his videos. I also used this method when I sold my '08. The kid that bought it thought I was a dealer detailer. It's legit, and doesn't take a lot of time... on a mustang anyway. I did this to my F250 once, and probably never again lol. That's a lot of f'n work.

Edit: I picked up most of the equipment he uses on craigslist, the rest I ordered from harbor freight, amazon, and ebay. I spent less than $150. Worth the investment to me, I'll have this gear forever.
 

AndrewNagle

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I follow this guy. He's got some great methods in detailing/restoration. Really like his videos. I also used this method when I sold my '08. The kid that bought it thought I was a dealer detailer. It's legit, and doesn't take a lot of time... on a mustang anyway. I did this to my F250 once, and probably never again lol. That's a lot of f'n work.

Edit: I picked up most of the equipment he uses on craigslist, the rest I ordered from harbor freight, amazon, and ebay. I spent less than $150. Worth the investment to me, I'll have this gear forever.

Fun to watch with some nice tips, thanks for sharing
 

702GT

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Fun to watch with some nice tips, thanks for sharing

Yeah. The first time I watched it I was like, shit man that's an investment just to do an engine detail. But I had some of the stuff like the leaf blower and shop vac already. And really, the results speak for itself. It looks like a $100+ detail job when you're done, every time. The truck took me a little over 2 hours to do, but there's a lot of piping and wiring to work around, not to mention moving the damn step stool every time you need to reach a different area. I still ended up sitting on top of the engine at some point because you just can't reach from the outside LOL. Every time I popped that hood though... "You just buy that truck?" Or the kid that bought my '08, "You're a dealer detailer, huh?" :D
 

Pentalab

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Yeah it involves cutting up and soldering wires. You could pay someone to do it but this can turn into a 10+hr rabbit hole so I don't know what the labor bill would look like. It all depends on how far you want to go. You don't have to kill your dreams before even starting the project.

Fastest way to hide the wiring beneath the hood is to keep the hood closed.
 

ZGrand

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Once you get your engine bay detailed as in the instructional video above, every few weeks take a damp microfiber towel and wipe down the underhood surfaces to keep them all clean and dust free. You can spray the soapy water solution on a corner of the towel to clean any grease spots the damp towel alone won’t get.
 

jsimmonstx

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Fixed all of the paint, and what’s the difference between voted and judged

Voted is a people's choice thing where other participants (and sometimes spectators) vot for their favorites. Sometimes it's based on category, sometimes ist's just a general popular pick, and they award trophies to the people that get the most votes.

Judged is when they have one to three judges come and eyeball the car. This is where "clean" plays a big part. Generally, if the judge can see it, they can score it. Also, they don't open doors, but if the door s are open, you're allowing more scrutiny.

Some things to have for *judged* shows - fire extinguisher, first aid kit, tool kit displayed (they actually make show-car tool kits for this purpose), owner's manual displayed. And yeah, even though it's a relatively new car, you can earn extra points with the owner's manual.

Also for judged shows, you will be docked points if your deck lid and/or hood are not open.

I have a difficult time winning trophies at shows, because more often than not, it's more about "clean" than it is about the build. I can't even win in the modified class because "clean" is still more important than the level of mods.

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