There is always a danger of buying cars on auction as you really don’t get a sense of what the car has been through in it’s life and, in this case the heading “Hyundai Tucson makes a solid come back” is an understatement as this car has been beaten on. A 2005 model city car which somehow ended up at the car auctions and then to us to see what we could do with it.
We will do all this work using DIY techniques and NDG Products. There will be a significant amount of mechanical work to do carried out and to keep the cost realistic as will look for a low millage donor car to source the parts. But our mission is to get this car looking and smelling as close to showroom condition as possible. We have given ourselves a week to complete this project. Is it even possible?
At first look we see
- That it was a smokers car so heavy smoking smell and it has been beaten on for some years, very run down with layers and layers of problems
- Light beige interior with significant black marks all over the seats and nicotine smells and discolouration from smoking
- Cracked centre armrest and heavily soiled
- Steering wheel airbag damaged and worn trim
- Driver’s seat torn
- Worn gear leaver trim
- Fuse panel exposed (not a good sign)
- Lettering missing off rear hatch door
- ABS light on
- Radiator leaking and coolant all over the ABS pump and underside of the car (has been leaking for some time)
- Valve lifters ticking
- Idler pulley noisy causing drive belt system squeal
- Power steering pump reservoir hoses swollen and rubbing on serpentine belt
- Belt tensioner noisy
- Engine bay layered in typical city driving soiling
- Paintwork dull and covered in light scratches
- Headlights crazed and have been restored some time in the distant past
- Rubbish quality window tint causing poor vision clarity
- Some sort of oxidisation in spare wheel well ( needs more investigating)
- Auto transmission fluid brownish colour
- Tyres worn and spare tyre bald
- Car drives straight and no wheel bearing or unusual driveline noises and surprisingly no evidence of accident damage or repairs
Plan of attack
- Find a donor car
- Diagnose ABS fault
- Find source of coolant leak
- Clean engine bay and solve engine ticking and belt system squeal
- Change engine and transmission fluids and filters
- Claybar body to see how much paint correction is required
- Cut and polish body
- NDG Hyperseal treatment
- Clean and restore the interior neutralising the smokers smell
- Restore the headlights
Work process
- Donor car found (in local wrecking yard)
- Removed parts from donor car. Radiator, thermostate, ABS pump, serpentine belt, idler pulley, belt tensioner, abs switch, drivers seat, steering wheel and airbag, luggage security panel, spare wheel, rear hatch lettering, center console and arm rest, body clips and other small trim pieces
- Clay bar body
- Cut & polish
- Mega Gloss Wash
- NDG Hyperseal treatment
- NDG Acidic engine bay degreaser and pressure clean
- Replaced radiator and thermostate
- Replaced idler pulley, tensioner and belt (inspected timing belt)
- Replaced ABS pump and switch
- Cleaned spare wheel well and installed new spare wheel
- Carried out NDG Headlight restoration process
- Changed engine & transmission oil and filters
- Removed all seats, cleaned with NDG Bio Crystal Magic and removed stains from carpet
- Replaced Drivers seat, centre console and armrest and steering wheel
- Finished off engine bay with NDG Engine lacquer
The results 4 days later
According to the owner: “Simply amazing, the car looks new, cannot believe it, you sure it is the same car?”
In summary
The car is a new as it will ever look and considering that everything done to the car was all done as DIY techniques just as it would in any driveway anywhere. We have worked hard to ensure that NDG products are truely DIY and that you can tackle projects as deep as this and get a great result.
This Hyundai was a great project. It was in a very bad way when we received it and there were doubts as to whether it could be restored, but 4 part days later we got not just a great result we got a perfect result. The car looks close to new condition, and smells just like a new car would with our soon to be released odour neutraliser which installs that showroom new car smell. Keep and eye out for that one as we will be launching it in November 2018.
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