I had perzactly the same thing happen to me when I picked up Sarah, Deyon..you're not alone.
I share the anxiety issue as well. Benzos are pretty helpful. <grin>
OMG did that ever give me a grin! TOO funny, D!
ALSO TOO DAMN FUNNY! :=)
Very nice... The car looks great, can't wait to see the finished product..
I am very happy with the P21S soap. I used on both my vehicles and it cleans amazingly well. Also used on my friend's Mach 1 last weekend... Its annoying how much carbon they accumulate over time. I need to get some of the Dr Beasley coat at some point...Exhausting Work!
The first detailing job on the new Mustang, addressing the exhaust tips. The S650 uses carry over mufflers and exhaust tips from S550, so the pipes themselves are not sleeved with a chrome finisher. I actually quite like the crisp look they bring, even if it means they will require more ongoing maintenance. The condition of the tips at first looked fine, but under closer inspection, they needed some attention to bring to a level I'd be happy with.
Frustratingly, Ford still spray the underside of export Mustang's with horrible black paint, something that I immediately noticed when I got home from the dealer. Seeing smoke pour out from under the hood of your brand-new car is not something you want to see! A customer new to Mustang's would be extremely worried by this, but I've treaded this path before and know that the smell and smoke was from that useless paint. I mention this because that stuff was all over the exhaust tips, you can see it in the second pic above, and that was the good side, the underside was caked in it. This meant I needed to add an extra step this morning.
Before I went any further, it was time to glove up. These tips are renounced for being a finger slicer, that crisp edge is certainly sharp. I'd normally have nitrile rubber gloves on when using harsher chemicals, but they would have been useless here. A clean pair of my garden gloves worked well.
Koch Chemie Eulex is a sledgehammer, no doubt about it, and you should never use it in confined spaces as its extremely heady. It's typically used as a heavy-duty tar and adhesive remover, but this paint is like tar anyway. Turns out it worked very well at softening the paint to the point where it was removed with a towel. The problem here is working around that plastic bumper, care was needed to not get the Eulex everywhere. I worked my back to where the pipe joins the muffler, in other words, I had to know when to stop. If you end up doing this, chose your towel carefully, you will ruin it.
After the paint removal, I flushed the tips with ONR to remove the Eulex residue, which I can still smell in the garage. From here, I could start to polishing. For the inside of the pipe, I grabbed a Maxshine Polishing Cone which I had in stock and worked them over with Mothers Mag & Aluminum Polish.
At this point I want to highlight the brilliance of "disposable" microfiber towels. I've been running down a box of Repco Eclipse Microfiber Cloths, which are 200 gsm towels in 30cm x 30cm size. These are not the best towel you will ever have, but they excel in being cheap and sacrificial at 0.65c each. Their replacement I bought some time ago being the TRC Rip 'n' Rag.
I have to say, when TRC launched these, they made a huge song and dance about the concept of a microfiber dispenser pack and the disposable nature. Many companies have delivered this format in the past, long before TRC adopted it. Compared to the Repco towels, they actually have a lower 180 gsm and cost 0.87c per towel. However, with a 70/30 blend, they do seem to be softer and more absorbent, Repco don't publish the blend so I would say their cost per towel is achieved with a higher polyester count vs polyamide (polyamide is the absorbent/softness part).
The inboard right side pipe had some sort of scratch that didn't remove with polish, a light hit with some wet and dry paper sorted it easily, I also used that to round off some of the edge.
It was then time for a favorite of mine, a very obscure product that is so perfectly tailored for its role.................P21S Polishing Soap. I used this a final go-over, it actually feels grittier than the Mothers metal polish. A tub of this is going to last you for the rest of your life, its a must for those who love a clean set of pipes.
The final step was the application of Dr. Beasly's Metal Coat. I got this bottle at great expense through Obsessed Garage, but I see its now available on Amazon...................at great expense too. Like P21S, a bottle will last a very long time.
And the final result. Overall, they are a marked improvement prior to all this work, but I think I can still get a little more out of them. If I can find a tip style I like, I may end up going that route instead.
Seriously though, the initial clean is about hitting the reset button, albeit very early on. As mentioned during the first wash, these cars sit out in the open for months, all the while the interior is left to bake and outgas. The most obvious here will be the glass, often witnessed by a fine haze when looking out into the light. The interior in general sees many hands as its assembled, driven off the line, prepared for shipping, moved from Ford's holding yard to the dock, onto the vessel, off the vessel, into a holding yard, driven onto and off the truck, then many dealerships personal as its prepared for sale. Think of like buying a used car, you replace all of the fluids to start from fresh. Same concept here. 
Because the rear seats will never have been used, I didn't feel the need for a more intensive leather cleaning back there. After the wipe down with Griot's, I applied ColourLock Leather Shield, including the back of the front seats. A quick vacuum on the carpet, it was time to move to the front row seats.
Get a good trimmer to do a couple of red leather inserts in the front seats. Not so expensive but makes a big difference. You see and feel them every time you get into the car.The Spec!
Up until this point, I just realized that I haven't outlined my chosen spec for this car. Model wise, I briefly entertained the idea of aiming for the top and ordering a Darkhorse. Thing is, I had a strong hunch that Ford were going to ask in excess of $100,000 for them, which many said I was bonkers to think that. History will prove that my hunch proved correct. In any case, I had already decided on a GT Fastback before Ford announced pricing. An EcoBoost didn't interest me, nor did a convertible.
Next, colour. Believe it or not, I actually considered two colours. The delightful Atlas Blue would have made for a different look, but........................Race Red was calling my name again. For me, fire engine red and Mustang's go hand in hand.
To mix things up, I also decided on the Black Pack, called the Nite Pony Pack in America. This brought satin black wheels, black painted roof and side mirrors and black badging. But the best part of the Black Pack is the headlights, the lack of chrome makes the front end look sinister! Even my salesman commented that the Black Pack was the smart choice. Sadly, shortly after my car was built, Ford discontinued the Black Pack due to parts shortages. Very happy that I managed to get it though!
From here, I also knew I wanted Magneride. This is quite an expensive option, one that I didn't question selecting for the improvement in ride and handling it would bring. Had it been available when ordering my S550, I would have ordered it then too. The massive side benefit to Magneride is the red painted Brembo calipers. If you have bought a car with big brakes, I kinda want to see them, not blend into the background like they did on my S550.
I love how Ford are now putting Brembo calipers on the back, makes the car look so much better. The little Pony logo is a nice touch too.
Transmission? If Ford offered the Tremec on the GT, there might have been a choice to make. Other than being very noisy, I never had an issue from the MT82, the shifter feel and weight was perfect. But, I wanted to try something different, and so the 10R80 10-speed auto became the default.
The only other option that I pondered was the Recaro seats. I test drove a S550 with Recaro's a few years ago and thought they were great. But, I had a lot of people telling me that they get old really quick, the firmness and high bolsters becoming an issue. After placing my initial order request, I had later asked for them to be added on my order. For some reason, my ordered didn't get amended. That wasn't a bad thing because by the time I noticed it, I had already changed my mind again. When prices were announced, I was already looking at a considerably more than I had expected to pay, so no Recaro's worked out for the better.
There are three other options I would have dearly liked to order if Ford were more adventurous. First, a choice of wheels! I hate those bird-nest things, especially in black. I would have loved the machined Y-Spokes offered in the US, which are compatible with the Performance Pack.
I know I harp on this, but the Carmine Red interior would have brightened up an otherwise dark environment.
And I would have liked a rear spoiler, the pinched rear of the S650 sort of needs one. For some reason only known to Ford Australia, you can't order a spoiler separately, nor can you have it when selecting the Black Pack, its only available on the Appearance Pack which also includes stripes. However, having seen an S650 in person now, the rear is much better than I had been expecting.
At the end of the day, I'm happy with my spec.
Side story I forgot to mention earlier - I remarked to my salesman that I knew which car he was going home in tonight. Apparently, there was a contest who would be driving my old Mustang home, seniority ruled supreme, and the sales manager won the argument. I should have piped up and insisted my salesman take it first, it was his sale. In any case, I told him to give it hell.
Not that I'm thrashing the car, its just tight. (That's 11.47 MPG and 62 miles)
