The Moriah hasn't had her Saturday bath in a LONG time, and was getting in a pretty bad way with oxidation of the paint. It has no clear-coat, which I was worried was gonna be a huge issue when I polished it this time. But, fortunately, other than a few spots here and there, nothing to really fret over on a 17 year old truck

Of course, as soon as I washed it, the rain started falling (AGAIN). So I took off and went to the shop to polish it. I could climb up on a stump about the product I used, but I figure some photos would speak for themselves. This is just Step 1 of a 3 Step process too.

I can't wait to see the end result, albeit, I don't know if my right shoulder's gonna hold out for it. Ya really don't notice how big one of these Gen 9's is until you're about half done waxing it.

Ennyhoo, here's a before shot, just getting ready to wash it ...


Now a during. This shot was taken at the shop I work at because it was raining while I was trying to get the polish put on. This gives a pretty good idea how bad the paint was.



This is the finished Step 1:



Now, I'm not going to blow my horn too loudly, but gotta tell ya what I used. If your truck is black like mine, go get the TurtleWax Black Box package. Everything in it is black, including the applicators. The really great part about this is that you don't wind up sitting there for hours with a Q-Tip cleaning the white wax out of the cowl vent. I HATE getting that thing cleaned up afer a wax. The Black Box kit comes with a cleaning polish (Step 1), Carnauba wax (Step 2), and detailing spray (Step 3). It is specially designed for black vehicles, and I'm impressed with the results so far. I used to HATE Turtle Wax, but this stuff comes back off very easy. As is the case with any liquid, it takes a while to put it on and rub it in. Not that paste is much faster, though. Just easier to handle.

I'll do Step 2 tomorrow, and get the NevRDull after the chromies. Those should shine like mirrors when I get done with them.

Next project will be detailing the interior. I've been a smoker for 34 years, but as of 10:10 on 10/10/09, I'm officially a quitter. Time to scrub the stink outta the cars and eliminate that part of the temptation to light up. The Black Moriah just gets to go first.

Will post more progress pics as I get more done.

Man,that looks a whole heck of alot better.Awesome job!

Dang, BIG improvement there! I can't wait to see the finished product!

Yes, it is a HUGE iimprovement. Well for the truck. My shoulder's KILLIN me this morning. Looks like I'll probably have to take it over to the shop again. Weather is not being very cooperative at all. Either that, or just take the chromies off one at a time, and polish them in the garage. Good a time as any to rotate the tires too. I don't think they've been rotated more than once in 60000 miles. After I get the chrome polished, I'll put some ArmorAll on the tires too, which wil really black them.

Now I gotta find out where to get the stripe package. Got a bit of sun damage to the ones up high on the bed sides. I haven't seen a whole lot of trucks with these stripes. I know mine turned a lotta heads back when I first got it (1992) Everyone wanted to know where I got the stripes. "Ummm, on the truck". I wanna make sure I have a new stripe set available if I decide to get this thing painted to cover up some of the chips and tiny dings that owning one for 17 years does to it.

Ain't nuthin purtier than a black truck when it's cleaned up. For about 5 seconds. Only thing I don't like about black is it's a dirt magnet.

Anyone give me a clue on what to use on the chrome trim to restore the luster to that? The NevRDull works good on the wheels and bumpers, but on the trim, nope. Almost looks like it needs to go into some sort of mechanical polisher for re-finishing. Either that, or it's going to have to get painted black too. Think I'm going to rattle can the grille too. The grey is flaking off, and I've always wanted it color matched to the truck too, like Ford did the Lightnings. Gonna take a while to mask it right, that's for sure, but I have a good booth at the shop, and can leave it to dry overnight with no fear of bugs, etc getting in it.

Hey Tim, looking at the background in your first picture, are the leaves in Alabama starting to turn colors?

I'd hit that...

Looks good man, honestly I thought your truck was blue until the work you put into it.

Lookin' awesome Tim! Keep the pics comin!

Got the chromies lookin like homies again. Holy crap there was a lotta built up crud on those wheels. I think the brake dust on the front ones had turned into some sort of rusty concrete. Took ALL DAY to get those things polished, so needless to say, we haven't moved to step 2 with the waxing yet. Polished all four wheels and all the trim while waiting for the wheels to dry enough to buff. After I got 'em back on the truck, I shot the tires with ArmorAll. Here's today's results.

I'm impressed

Is this all with arm power, or are you using a buffer on the paint and a drill attachment on the rims?

Blue Goose said:

Hey Tim, looking at the background in your first picture, are the leaves in Alabama starting to turn colors?

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Yeah, the maples and some of the various oaks are. But it's been so wet down here this autumn, I'm not expecting much color this year. When the leaves do start to change colors, they're going to be so heavy with moisture, they're just going to immediately drop. We'll see, though.

UTfball68 said:

Is this all with arm power, or are you using a buffer on the paint and a drill attachment on the rims?

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Arm power. I have some very sore knuckles and elbows tonight.

Old_Paint said:

Arm power. I have some very sore knuckles and elbows tonight.

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I feel your pain...and definitely do not envy what you had to go through with those rims.

Holy smokes! Damn thing is lookin' brand new already and you've even started step 2 and 3!

Old_Paint said:

Yeah, the maples and some of the various oaks are. But it's been so wet down here this autumn, I'm not expecting much color this year. When the leaves do start to change colors, they're going to be so heavy with moisture, they're just going to immediately drop. We'll see, though.

Click to expand...

We usually get better color in wetter years. Dry years they just turn brown , dry up and fall off.
One year we had a dry fall and the aa Governor tried to cancel hunting season. He claimed someone would start a forest fire. But then resended.

Skandocious said:

Holy smokes! Damn thing is lookin' brand new already and you've even started step 2 and 3!

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I used to keep the truck looking like this. I NEVER let it go the way I have in the past few years. But between having a company vehicle again, and so little time to maintain so many, I just fell behind. It makes a big difference if I'm driving it every day too. Last tank of fuel I bought in the Moriah was nearly 2 months ago. Battery was nearly freakin dead when I started it up Saturday morning to take my step-son to work. I need to stick one of those lil' solar chargers in it to keep the battery up. More than that, I need to build a shed for some of the less driven vehicles.

m78 said:

We usually get better color in wetter years. Dry years they just turn brown , dry up and fall off.
One year we had a dry fall and the aa Governor tried to cancel hunting season. He claimed someone would start a forest fire. But then resended.

Click to expand...

Our winter rainy season started a little early last year, but not so early that it knocked down all the leaves, and put just the right amount of rain down for an absolutly stunning color show here. We were just coming off our 3rd summer drought in a row, so the winter rain finally breaking the drought hit just the right combination. It was probably one of most spectacular leaf changes I've ever seen down here.

I'm very familiar with the changes in Virginia. I have a cousin that lives in Vinton (just outside Salem/Roanoke), and I drove up I-81 in the autumn of 1982 going to upstate New York, through the Shenandoah valley. That was the first time I'd ever been in the Smokies, and the farthest north I'd ever been in my life. That was an absolutely beautiful drive.

You guys have a lot more hardwood up there than we do down here. We get a lot of pines because they grow so fast, and there's no snow to strip them down like there is up there. I noticed the same thing in western KY when I was up there. Absolutely mesmerizing color changes in the autumn. I had a huge maple in the front yard that would start changing at the bottom. By the time the top leaves had turned to yellow, the bottom ones were orange/red. That thing looked like a gigantic fire when the sun hit it just right.

Yeah , those pines are all over in the lower areas especially near the coast