1993 MR-2 Turbo Race Car gets christened the AutoLavish way

[jlb85]

The owner of this MR2 is starting a new SOLO race series, and had this car repainted recently. Unfortunetely, it was a budget paint job, and it shows. We were contacted by the owner to do his Race car and his other toy (2003 M3 Vert), a neighbors car, and possibly a few others.

Let me first say it was HOT! temps were around the high 80's to low 90's, with the humidity in the 100's! Our moisture-wicking shirts proved ineffective! By the time supplies were unloaded from the Jeep we were dripping sweat.

Upon arrival the vehicle was in poor condition after being tossed around from shop to shop during the building process, and a budget repaint. There were significant flaws in the finish that would not be correctable, trim was painted over and missing, and the finish looked very dull.

Wheels were in terrible shape as well:

Proper care of your microfiber...

...NOT!


Started by cleaning the wheels with Meg's Wheel Brightener and the EZ-Detail Brush

Then used Meg's APC at 10:1 to deep clean the crevices and trim:

We then foamed the car, clayed with mild clay, dried with the leaf blower, and taped up for polishing:

 

[jlb85]

(Continued)

Paint thickness measurements showed that the front end had fillers (bondo) under the paint. With a job like this it is hard to tell how deep the clear is, and rather risking going through to correct 100% we determined the best would be to get good correction and clarity but not chase all the RIDS.

The paint before:

Getting better after a few passes with Meguiar's M105 on an Lake Country Orange foam pad:

After a second polishing with Meguiar's M205 on a Lake Country Green Foam pad:

(notice pitting in the reflection - poor painting techniques)

The tail lights needed much attention!

They received the same treatment as the rest of the finish (M105 + M205) on smaller pads:

Afters while playing hide and seek with the sun:

Super bright!

sun and clouds, and starting to rain!

LSP was Klasse Twins applied via Porter Cable Random Orbital Polisher

 

[jlb85]

(continued)


Next was time to place the sponsor stickers

..and the winding road to heaven:

As a bonus, here are a few action shots at the track during the shake down at an open event:

Thanks for reading!

AutoLavish

 

[christian900se]

Great job, its amazing what a day of detailing can do! My dad's old G6 had the hood repainted and was dull and completely flat but once I hit it with Power Gloss and some polish, it came out great.

Did he at least let you drive it?

 

[jlb85]

yep! I got to drive it both Saturday and Sunday at the Open Track Day I helped the owner set up the suspension, and he progressed/improved 5 seconds per lap!

 

[SRHTX]

WHAAAAAAAAA!!!! I hate not being able to Auto-Cross or Road Race anymore. It was too awsome to race in SVT Contours and Mustang GTs. I would love to sneak my '08 Mazda 3s Grand Touring Hatchback out to an autocross one of these days. I just have to make sure no one knows that I do it. My doctor, family and best friends will come and take my car away and curse me out big time due to my brain damage. ugh

I bet it was hard detailing that yellow MR-2. Looked like the pain was nice and dull. AWSOME WORK, of course. rops: :cruisin:

Here are some of the ones I use to race:

ahhhhhh.... those good ol days

 

[christian900se]

Sweet! I am looking for a fun daily and I checked out MR-2 turbos as a possibility. That must have made the detail worth it just to drive that baby!

 

[karburn]

Well done! Did the APC take care of the residue from the Toyota badge on the rear that had been removed? That stuff can be stubborn.