Fiat 500 Gucci Edition (less Gucci)

[Jaretr1]

Hello,

This is a car a friend of mine purchased used because it was the Gucci edition. I dont think the 500 is a terrible looking car, but add the Gucci decals and gaudiness to it and it certainly became one. This is what they looked like new:



I didnt take any before photos, but her decals were badly faded, especially the red stripe. I tried to save them before I removed them, but they were to far gone. Her plan was to have me remove them and she would buy new ones and get a body shop to apply them (I wasnt about to try that). This was actually the first time I ever attempted to remove decals, thankfully I was smart enough to hit up the Harbor Freight and get a $14 heat gun. With that they came off very easily.

After washing the car, I used my nanoskin towel to decontaminate the paint. I hit the wheels with Mckee's 37 Hydro Blue. On the paint, nothing special. Used my trusty PC 7424XP (since its a small car) with as orange thin pro pad and Mckee's 37 Fast Compound. I was not looking for show car perfection, and the compound finished plenty fine.

I protected the paint with a new upcoming Mckee's 37 liquid wax. Not yet released, but very thin, smelled amazing, and wiped off after drying to a haze with ease.

Before

After:

Why such a stressed face?
before:

After:


Beauty Shots:




In my humble opinion, the car looks MUCH better without the decals, faded or not. After she saw it, she agreed. Hopefully it will stay less gucci than it was before.

[Klasse Act]

Great work on that paint, I'm assuming its metallic black? I have a 2013 Abarth, with stripes, but they are new stripes installed by my buddy's shop and I don't expect them to fade like that, geez! I would have suggested a warranty call there but if she likes them without I guess it doesn't matter. Once again, you did a great job there, now you've gotta educate her or get her in on a monthly cleaning routine to keep those swirls at bay

[Jaretr1]

Great work on that paint, I'm assuming its metallic black? I have a 2013 Abarth, with stripes, but they are new stripes installed by my buddy's shop and I don't expect them to fade like that, geez! I would have suggested a warranty call there but if she likes them without I guess it doesn't matter. Once again, you did a great job there, now you've gotta educate her or get her in on a monthly cleaning routine to keep those swirls at bay

She bought it used, so there was no warranty on that as far as I know. And Yes, it was a metallic black, a nice color.

[Aaryn NZ]

Nice work Jaret!

Little beast looks superb now mate. I haven't noticed any of these with degraded decals down this way but I have noticed a lot of Minis wih factory applied stripes that are in poor shape.

Love the photo on the grass . . . you guys have strange grass, alot different from our grass but anyhow, the Fiat looks great sitting there. Thanks for sharing Jaret.

Aaryn NZ.

[Sicoupe]

Looks sweet now my friend!

[Jaretr1]

Nice work Jaret!

Little beast looks superb now mate. I haven't noticed any of these with degraded decals down this way but I have noticed a lot of Minis wih factory applied stripes that are in poor shape.

Love the photo on the grass . . . you guys have strange grass, alot different from our grass but anyhow, the Fiat looks great sitting there. Thanks for sharing Jaret.

Aaryn NZ.

I think our grass down here, or up here for you in Florida is called St. Augustine grass. Its thick and can grow over a foot tall, especially this time of year. Its also very robust. Since this is our rainy season, the grass is growing very fast constantly. My lawn guy cant keep up.

[Paul A.]

Shoot, I heard New Zealand has much better grass than us! Oopsie...nevermind.

Beautiful looking correction, Jaret! It finished that good with just McKee's fast compound? Impressive.

I'd try to convince your lady friend to go sans stripes as well.

[Jaretr1]

Shoot, I heard New Zealand has much better grass than us! Oopsie...nevermind.

Beautiful looking correction, Jaret! It finished that good with just McKee's fast compound? Impressive.

I'd try to convince your lady friend to go sans stripes as well.

Yep, no polish. Just the compound. When I do these cars for friends, I want maximum impact with minimal work. I find that most compounds finish down well enough that the slight micromaring or haze is only noticeable to someone like us, not the owner, or not noticeable at all. What is noticeable is the dramatic before and after, so they are always amazed. If this was a show car, or someone expecting perfection, thats another story.

[Paul A.]

I agree 100% and again, nice work. I've used Menzerna HCC 400 like that (basically a 1 step) but it's enlightening to see another product that finishes down so well.