Rebirth of a Daily Driver - Oxidized Corolla

[Nick McKees37]

Do you remember what you were doing in February of 2008? I do. I was unloading trailers on a shipping dock, wishing that I wasn't unloading trailers on a shipping dock. Do you know what else took place in February of 2008? My aunt's 2004 Corolla was ran through an automatic car wash and dried using an old bath towel.

Fast forward nearly four years later and the thought of me unloading a trailer on a shipping dock is a faint memory that's eager to be forgotten. While jobs, friends, and one-hit-wonders have come and gone since then, my aunt's Corolla has not been washed since. Epic? Absolutely.

I like to take on a challenge so long as it doesn't involve hard work. If you've read my other postings, you know I'm a big fan of working smart, and not hard. So after work on Saturday I loaded up my trunk full of the best equipment and top-notch chemicals that I knew I would need to restore the neglected, dull, chalky, oxidized finish on my aunt's poor Corolla.

What I would discover early the next morning will haunt my dreams for years to come.

No, this is not a joke, that's an eight year old Corolla, not a boat that's been sitting in a barn for the last twenty-five years. Toyota utilizes a single-stage paint type for their white paint and when it's not cared for properly, that's what it looks like years down the road. With the right equipment and a little bit of knowledge, the possibilities are endless.

I started out by giving the Corolla a much needed bath. For this I used a Pinnacle Quart Master Foam Gun along with Detailer's Pro Series Xtreme Foam Formula Shampoo. This is a winning combination for vehicles that are washed more than once every four years, but when you have such a build up of dirt and road grime, something stronger thrown in the mix makes life much easier.

To really cut through the grease and road grime I added a couple ounces of Optimum Power Clean to both the Foam Gun and my wash bucket. Optimum Power Clean is a revolutionary all purpose cleaner that has a million and one uses. It can be diluted accordingly for interior cleaning or used full strength to clean tires and engine bays. A couple ounces added to your wash solution will enable you to easily clean even the filthiest of vehicles.

After spraying the entire vehicle with the solution of DP Xtreme Foam mixed with Optimum Power Clean, I let it dwell for about three minutes so the Power Clean would loosen the grease and road grime so I wouldn't have to scrub as much. Remember, the goal is to work smart and not hard.

The obvious choice for this extreme makeover was a Flex polisher paired with a Pinnacle polish. To cut through the oxidation and bring back new life to the Corolla's paint I used the Flex XC3401 along with the new interchangeable backing plate system, an assortment of Lake Country Hydro-Tech Tangerine polishing pads and a bottle of Pinnacle XMT 360.

Pinnacle XMT 360 is much more than any regular AIO (all-in-one). Pinnacle XMT 360 corrects, cleans and seals in one simple step and is by far one of the easiest AIO's available. Pinnacle XMT 360 corrects with ultra fine abrasives, cleans with advanced cleaning agents and seals with a unique blend of polymers. I've been using this product for quite some time now and it has yet to disappoint me. So when it came time to revive the dull, oxidized paint on my aunt's Corolla, Pinnacle XMT 360 was the obvious choice for an AIO.

Whenever you're trying to cut through oxidation, you want to use an ample amount of product. Removing oxidation with Pinnacle XMT 360 and giving a light polishing to a vehicle that's in great shape are two completely different animals. When polishing a vehicle that's in great shape with Pinnacle XMT 360 I'll use less than two ounces of product. For the oxidized Corolla I used nearly four times that amount.

Before polishing:

After polishing:

Take note of how I taped off the plastic windshield cowl and other parts of the hood that I didn't want any polish on. That way, I can polish up to the absolute edge of the hood and not worry about getting any polish on the plastic windshield cowl. Taping off trim only takes a couple minutes and saves a ton of clean up time at the end of the job.

Notice how you can now see the overhead light.

It's critical to clean your pad often to achieve the best performance from the product that you're using. I cleaned the pad after every panel because as you can see below, the pad has dead paint on it that will affect the performance of the polish.

The front bumper was in the worst shape of the entire vehicle and what looked like dirt was actually stains in the paint. For the lower portions in between the slots I used Poorboy's Master Cut Compound by hand and the rest of the bumper was polished using Pinnacle XMT 360 on a 5.5" Lake Country Hydro-Tech Tangerine polishing pad on a Flex XC3401.

Before polishing:

After polishing:

Fender before polishing:

Fender after polishing:

Just like the rest of the outside of the vehicle, underneath the door handles needed desperate attention. Because a polisher wouldn't fit, I used a Lake Country White Polishing CCS Euro Foam Hand Polish Applicator. I'm a big fan of the CCS Euro Applicators because they feature the same high quality durable foam found in Lake Country's CCS pads but in the convenience of a hand applicator that is perfect for polishing tight spots.

I applied a dime-sized amount of Pinnacle XMT 360 to the White Euro Applicator and with a little elbow grease, the oxidized paint along with the scratches were gone.

[Nick McKees37]

Below you can see a quarter of the roof polished. The difference is night and day to say the least.

After removing all the old dead, chalky, oxidized paint to reveal shiny paint, I applied a thin coat of Blackfire Wet Diamond All Finish Paint Protection to further amp up the gloss and provide months of protection against the elements.

Blackfire Wet Diamond has been one of the most talked about paint sealants lately and for good reason, it's phenomenal . Words cannot describe how thin this sealant goes on when applied with a dual action polisher and after it dries to a haze, wipe off is effortless.

While I waited for the Blackfire Wet Diamond to dry to a haze I restored the headlights using 3M's Lens Renewal Complete Kit with Protectant. The headlights were in such rough shape that sanding was required and 3M's kit is the easiest to use that I've come across for jobs that require sanding. The directions are clear and concise and if you look around you can even find thorough how-to videos for the kit. It requires just a little bit of patience and a quality house hold drill.

After removing the Blackfire Wet Diamond after it dried to a haze (I let it sit for about 30 minutes) I pulled the car out into the sun to admire the rebirth of my aunt's Corolla that was made possible thanks to quality products and a little bit of knowledge.

Overall I was very pleased with how the Corolla turned out. I always enjoy taking on a new disaster because I learn something new every time. Pinnacle XMT 360 performed like a champ when paired with a Hydro-Tech Tangerine polishing pad and the power of the Flex XC3401. It cut through the dead paint like there was nothing to it. In some areas the paint was finicky so I performed an extra step because shortly after my aunt purchased the vehicle brand new back in 2004, it was in an accident, so some panels were repainted. Meguiar's 205 worked like a charm and further refined the surface in these areas bringing out maximum gloss to match the rest of the glossy paint before applying the Blackfire Wet Diamond Sealant.

Products used:

• Pinnacle XMT 360
• Blackfire Wet Diamond All Finish Paint Protection
• Pinnacle Quart Foamaster Foam Gun
• Detailer's Pro Series Xtreme Foam Formula Auto Shampoo
• Optimum Power Clean All Purpose Cleaner 17 oz.
• Flex XC 3401 VRG Dual Action Orbital Polisher
• FLEX XC3401 Changeable Backing Plate System
• Lake Country Hydro-Tech Foam Pads
• Meguiars Mirror Glaze #205 Ultra Finishing Polish
• 3M Lens Renewal Complete Kit with Protectant
• CCS Euro Foam Hand Polish Applicators
• Poorboy's World Master Cut Super Cut Compound

[TexanJim]

Nice work, sir!!!

[ShineTimeDetail]

Lookin good! Its always awesome to see the clouds in light colored cars- not so hard on dark cars!

[Audi X2]

Nick I always enjoy and look forward to reading your write-ups

Your hard work here revived a very abused looking vehicle.

[LegacyGT]

Fantastic turn around I was reading thinking what about the headlights, the headlights, PLEASE polish the headlights

And then you did

[mchess1]

Great job Nick! No comments from your Aunt?

[Bobby B.]

Awesome job Nick!

[C. Charles Hahn]

Showing off that you already have the new Flex backing plates the rest of us have to wait around for... not cool Nick!

[shoeless89]

I have a 2007 Corolla that in the same generation of that model. It looks almost the exact same except mine is red. Get job!