87 Grand Wagoneer (Blue Ext. / Tan Int.)

[asudchiman]

Carpet Cleaning Test

I took a chance to to demo the carpet cleaner on one of the old floor mats.
Honestly, wasn't sure it would make this much of a difference.

Take a look...

Before:


I sprayed the carpet solution in a stripe right down the middle trying to hit all of the major stains.


During the cleaning:


Final Results: Still not perfect, but a big improvement

[asudchiman]

Since we always post the before and after photos, we never show the dirty side of things (unless it is mud following a trail ride)...

A a result, I thought I would share how much dirt and grime came out.

[asudchiman]

Power Washing the Front Carpets

Also, worked on the front carpets a little too.
I used Folex on the back, but used a full gallon, so this time I used Simple Green. I don't know that I could tell that one was better than the other.
The simple green does have a stronger smell and foams a little more.
Either one should work for you.

[asudchiman]

The seats are dry and I think it turned out well. Here is the back of the bench seat which was the dirtiest of them all.

[asudchiman]

Noico Sound Proofing

The noico sound proofing arrived this afternoon from Amazon. At 1/6 thick it is not too thick, but it REALLY makes a big difference. Especially on the face of the tire wells which were loud to the "knock" test even with the dampener installed. This made a big improvement.

I installed it mostly where the original jute carpet backing was installed, the fire wall. and a little on each tire well. Once I pull the front headliner I will put it there too.

Here is a link: Noico Closed Cell Foam

(edit: I ended up ordering a second roll of the foam. It really goes well with the sound dampening material)

Here are the pics so far:

[asudchiman]

Steering Wheel

I ordered a new leather steering wheel cover (AX18 Sand) made by wheelskins.
Unfortunately the color is not 100% but it feels really good, so I still went with wheelskins for quality over some of the cheaper alternatives.

First I had to cut off the wheel cover. It looked nice, but not quite as polished.
Then I removed the OEM leather which was really warn and just not able to be salvaged.

[bwwhaler]

Looks awesome, you need to bring it to ECI and let the rest of us nuts check it out, great job getting it clean and shiny. Uwharrie isn't far from you, and it's not until June, so you have plenty of time to finish it up.

[asudchiman]

Carpet Dye Day

I have done a bunch of reading on dying carpet with Rit Dye.
Thanks to a few post here on the forum, and on various blogs I decided to go for it. If I don't like it, I will simply buy a replacement carpet, but if it does okay, I prefer to stay original.

Here is how it turned out.

Carpet Dye Mixture:
1 Gallon Chemical Sprayer
1 bottle liquid Tan Rit Dye (DO NOT USE BOXED CRYSTAL FORMULA!!!)
1/2 cup liquid fabric softener
fill sprayer with VERY HOT water. Boil it if need be, but I used 130 degree tap water and it worked fine.

Here are the pictures:

[asudchiman]

Carpet Dye Fail

I posted this on my carpet power washing thread in more detail(http://www.ifsja.org/forums/vb/showthread.php?t=178593), but I am going to mark the carpet dye experiment as a FAIL, but with important lessons learned.

The dye process absolutely worked, but you must go with a very dark color to get it to look right. I used RIT Tan, and the colors concentrate is spots too much and as a result, it just makes the carpet look dirty. I knew going in this was simply an experiment. If it worked, great, if not I would just buy new carpet. I will be buying new carpet.

Here is a shot of all of the carpet pieces in one pile.

[asudchiman]

Polishing the Bumpers and Grill

This weekend the girls (6 and 9) and I worked on polishing the bumpers and grill. First, I started with bark keepers friend and a magic eraser. I use this on my boat and it usually brings great results.





After rinsing well with water I thought it turned out great! (at the time anyway)

[asudchiman]

More photos after Bar Keepers Friend and a Magic Eraser









It brought a decent shine back to the bumper. The oxidization of the back bumper was bad. It is a big improvement, but still not where I would like (more work to come)

[asudchiman]

A Before Photo

Sorry it is out of order, but I couldn't find the before photo on my phone. I forgot to take any of the front and this one of the back is before any of the work. This is the condition of the bumper when I got the jeep.

[asudchiman]

The next step

At first when the bumpers were still wet following the BKF treatment, they looked fantastic. Unfortunately, once they dried the oxidization came back.

So I took it to the next level. From reading the forum and a few other sites I attempted the following process:

1. Wipe down the bumpers with a thin coat of paint thinner. Do not go crazy here. A little is all you need.

2. Use a professional car polisher (mine is a random orbital) and meguiar's ultimate compound to polish the bumpers to a mirror finish. Take your time and work side to side and up and down. Don't rush it. Let the polisher and compound do its job. I set my speed to a 5 out of 6 for this step.

3. Wipe off any remaining compound with a clean microfiber towel.

4. (I have not done this step yet) Once satisfied with the bumpers, finish with a coat of either collinite liquid metal wax or Ultima Paint Guard Plus (follow instructions exactly)

Here are the photos of the bumpers following polishing using this method. I still need to go over it one more time.



I still need to work on the lower section of the bumper before sealing it with wax/sealant (step 4)

[asudchiman]

Here is another before but after trying bar keepers friend.

[asudchiman]

After polishing

Here is the After of the trim using the polishing process shared above