Really incredible transformation Kendal, totally impressed!
Really incredible transformation Kendal, totally impressed!
This is going to be next to impossible for you guys to see but I tried to capture this as best as i could.
When I got the car there were 3 spots where a rock or road debris had deflected off of the windshield and had taken a big chunk out of the windshield but not broken it.
I thought I could smooth/sand out the worst of these spots like you'd sand down wood or something. Not exactly how it works with glass. I used steel wool and while it did sorta smooth out the divot it also left a hazy cloud around the spot where I had scratched the crap out of the glass.
Enter Cerium Oxide. Its the real polishig compound for glass.
It looks like this when you mix it with water.
This picture is trying to capture the scratches I put in the windshield
This is after the first few go rounds with the polishing compound
Finally here is the final product after about 3 polishing applications
I guess you'll just have to trust me that it looks better. I'm happy with it.
2002 330Ci & 2020 Tacoma
Nice work. Too bad all my windows had weld spatter in them because I was lazy, or I'd try this.
Jay
If you’re going to use steel wool on glass make sure it’s #00 or finer. We use #00 at work (I’m a detailer at an Audi dealership) for our windows and I’ve had zero issues with scratching glass. Also works great for polishing chrome.
I don’t remember what I used but definitely more coarse than #00.
Thanks for the tip.
2002 330Ci & 2020 Tacoma
A car with 286,000+ miles has some wear and tear. One thing that these coupe are known for is the seat bolster threads breaking. You can see it here.
My first try at stitching it up was just a "loop stitch" I don't know what its called but just going back and forth with the needle and thread and it didn't work.
I couldn't pull the stitch tight and make it stay.
I also did this during that try and it made me want to give up.
Then I found this helpful guy on youtube who showed me how to do the double needle blind stitch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUt-I8abAYM
Finished product
I only had the blue thread and what little bit was left visible I touched up with a black magic marker so you can't tell.
2002 330Ci & 2020 Tacoma
It's time to upgrade your Car Bro. Either buy the new one or go to body shop for transformation.
More leather "repair". I didn't take any before pictures but the bolsters were torn on both sides. There was a worn down place showing white backing nearest the door, the center of the back was torn in multiple places showing white and all the leather was alligatored up pretty good.
I will say it looks better in person than in the pictures. May still buy the $349 seat covers in the future but for now I have less than $60 in materials and I learned quite a bit about this process.
Finished product
2002 330Ci & 2020 Tacoma