First Wash in 10 Years: Original G-Wagon ABANDONED in Military Tent! | Car Detailing Restoration! Today, we tackle the interior & exterior of a G-Wagon, that is covered in dirt and debris that hasn’t been detailed in years that will require us to pressure wash the entire exterior, followed by a wash, clay bar and then polishing the paint to bring back its shine and a full interior detail including mold removal!
First Wash in 10 Years: Original G-Wagon ABANDONED in Military Tent! | Car Detailing Restoration
After sitting for about a decade, this older G-wagon drives once more, and shines up nicely.
When one normally thinks of “barn finds” they typically imagine an older American car. You know, the kind parked in an old red barn somewhere in the middle of Iowa. But this old G-wagon is just as much of a barn find, even if it’s in essentially a German military tent in the Midwest. But that said, the folks from WD Detailing picked up this G-wagon in order to give it a new lease on life.
A decade in the elements has taken its toll, even under the tent. Environmental conditions can contribute to paint fade which we see on this Benz. And there’s also some bugs that have found their way into little nooks on the Wagon.
Step one is to start with a clean slate, literally. Pressure washing helps remove big contaminants. Then a second wash with soap and scrubbing gets smaller dirt and debris loose from the car. On the outside, iron remover is needed due to some spots of rust. And this also makes for a great chance to clay-bar the paint to prep for buffing.
Military vehicles aren’t made to look great, and this G-wagon is no exception. No one rightly would expect this thing to have a mirror-shine reflection. But a quick cut and buff has taken out the haze and oxidation. To that end, it looks a lot better.
The inside is another area where it can look better, but it’s still far from perfect. Most of the panels and interior parts are rubber or plastic. It’s a military rig after all. Over time, those plastics have lost a lot of their luster, and are very dry. A simple wash bings back a lot of the color in these plastics, but some staining has seeped in to the porous areas, like the seat frames mounting area, for instance. Only a re-dye would fix that. Again, it’s a lot better.
But one more thing. It needs to run! As it turns out, some people can have amazing luck with cars, as this 280GE simply needed a fuel pump in order to get back to life. Not all barn finds are that easy though. Most of them come with a headache, free of charge.