LegacyGT
New member
- Aug 13, 2010
- 2,090
- 0
The following is a writeup of detailing a 2006 Subaru Legacy GT with 80K miles on the clock. This Subaru is a daily driver in one of the harshest weather states - Iowa. With over 100'' of snow last winter alone, and temperatures that swing from -20 to +100 with humidity that pushes the heat indexes near 117 during the summer no car no matter how loved can survive without showing wear.
The Legacy GT is a true sleeper of a car, with major performance under subtle styling. the 2.5 liter horizontal 4 boxer engine is turbo charged to 250 HP and 250 pounds-feet of torque all planted with a full time symmetrical all wheel drive system there is no where this car cant go, and not much it can't out run.
Admittedly the car was in pretty bad shape, the Iowa weather has been punishing with all of the salt and sand used in the winters. A full correction was not reasonable to expect, as the front of the car, hood, and a few side panels really need to be re-sprayed. Even the windshield is badly pitted from the elements. This car regularly sees triple digit speeds and encounters just about every bug and stone out there.
Wash:
Dawn to remove any oil / wax etc.
Two bucket method w/ Grit Guards
Lambs wool mitt
Cobra water guzzler towels
Clay:
Mothers Clay bar
Mothers Quick Detailer Spray
Polish:
Menzerna Super Intensive Polish
PC
Lake Country Orange 6.5'' CCS
IPA Wipe down
LSP:
Wolf Gang Deep Gloss paint sealant
Pinnacle Soveran Paste
Cobra ultra-plush purple towels <3
Before & Test Spot:
After a round with Menzena SIP - Very good results, no marring. I'll try the nano polish, but I don't see much room for improvement.
50/50 after nano polish. Not much additional improvement. For a daily driver I think I can one-step this with SIP.
The sun came out and you can see the middle tape line and the difference a bit of polishing made! Tests are done and I am ready to do the real-deal on Friday/Saturday.
Clay time! Most of the car was pretty good, but the lower panels behind the front wheel and bumper were filthy! I would have gotten more pictures, but I was racing against the sun to get finished with another wash before putting into the garage for polishing.
Oh man, washed and clayed what did I just get myself into.
Taped off and ready to get started.
50/50 - the scratch below was from someone keying the car. Like Plup fiction said, you don't f*** with another mans ride.
50/50 under halogen
50/50 on a different door panel.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Then, along comes WGDGPS -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
After polishing and WGDGPS
Damage to front bumper, will need respraying
I still polished what I could ... now for a hard night sleep. Actually I fell asleep on the couch and my wife had to get me up to bed.
=-=-=-=-=-=- Day 2 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
I had a new assistant that volunteered to help out.
There is a pretty metallic green/blue to the paint.
You have to love Soveran! It smells great as well. I would almost stick to entirely WGDGPS, but I would miss the smell of carnuba.
The engine deserves some love too. It got hit with Meg's APC+ 4:1 and a brush, then Aerospace 303 on pretty much everything.
All in all I would consider it a 90% correction, there was only so much that could be done with out some serious wet sanding and re-spraying. Unfortunately it decided to rain buckets today so I don't have any direct sun after shots yet.
It was a heck of a lot of work, but it breathed some much needed life into the vehicle. Hopefully it will run at least another 80k looking good. I fear the whole car may need to be resprayed within the near future.
.
.
.
.
.
.
And only now that it has been restored, am I able to admit that this is actually my own ride. I really do love this car.
The Legacy GT is a true sleeper of a car, with major performance under subtle styling. the 2.5 liter horizontal 4 boxer engine is turbo charged to 250 HP and 250 pounds-feet of torque all planted with a full time symmetrical all wheel drive system there is no where this car cant go, and not much it can't out run.
Admittedly the car was in pretty bad shape, the Iowa weather has been punishing with all of the salt and sand used in the winters. A full correction was not reasonable to expect, as the front of the car, hood, and a few side panels really need to be re-sprayed. Even the windshield is badly pitted from the elements. This car regularly sees triple digit speeds and encounters just about every bug and stone out there.
Wash:
Dawn to remove any oil / wax etc.
Two bucket method w/ Grit Guards
Lambs wool mitt
Cobra water guzzler towels
Clay:
Mothers Clay bar
Mothers Quick Detailer Spray
Polish:
Menzerna Super Intensive Polish
PC
Lake Country Orange 6.5'' CCS
IPA Wipe down
LSP:
Wolf Gang Deep Gloss paint sealant
Pinnacle Soveran Paste
Cobra ultra-plush purple towels <3
Before & Test Spot:
After a round with Menzena SIP - Very good results, no marring. I'll try the nano polish, but I don't see much room for improvement.
50/50 after nano polish. Not much additional improvement. For a daily driver I think I can one-step this with SIP.
The sun came out and you can see the middle tape line and the difference a bit of polishing made! Tests are done and I am ready to do the real-deal on Friday/Saturday.
Clay time! Most of the car was pretty good, but the lower panels behind the front wheel and bumper were filthy! I would have gotten more pictures, but I was racing against the sun to get finished with another wash before putting into the garage for polishing.
Oh man, washed and clayed what did I just get myself into.
Taped off and ready to get started.
50/50 - the scratch below was from someone keying the car. Like Plup fiction said, you don't f*** with another mans ride.
50/50 under halogen
50/50 on a different door panel.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Then, along comes WGDGPS -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
After polishing and WGDGPS
Damage to front bumper, will need respraying
I still polished what I could ... now for a hard night sleep. Actually I fell asleep on the couch and my wife had to get me up to bed.
=-=-=-=-=-=- Day 2 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
I had a new assistant that volunteered to help out.
There is a pretty metallic green/blue to the paint.
You have to love Soveran! It smells great as well. I would almost stick to entirely WGDGPS, but I would miss the smell of carnuba.
The engine deserves some love too. It got hit with Meg's APC+ 4:1 and a brush, then Aerospace 303 on pretty much everything.
All in all I would consider it a 90% correction, there was only so much that could be done with out some serious wet sanding and re-spraying. Unfortunately it decided to rain buckets today so I don't have any direct sun after shots yet.
It was a heck of a lot of work, but it breathed some much needed life into the vehicle. Hopefully it will run at least another 80k looking good. I fear the whole car may need to be resprayed within the near future.
.
.
.
.
.
.
And only now that it has been restored, am I able to admit that this is actually my own ride. I really do love this car.
rops:
![Type[R]+](/data/avatars/m/13/13158.jpg?1726218533){kind=avatar}
. That car looks pretty great for the (ab)use it sees.
