Published on: 18/05/2021 Updated on: 20/02/2025

How to make a car shine again: special guest Fedeperlam and a stunning 1960s Chevrolet Impala

Fedeperlam's new challenge is a tough one: making a car in poor condition shine again. Thanks to Mafra's Maniac Line products everything is possible! If you don't believe us, watch the video posted on the Youtube channel by the well-known influencer. We tell you how it went, including the background of this amazing challenge.

"Robi you don't happen to have a very dirty, very dirty, very rotten car to test the new corner detail?" This was Fedeperlam's unusual request to his trusted collaborator. A unique opportunity to test the new products of our Maniac Line. The challenge is a big one, and the car in question is also a big hunk of iron--a 1960s Chevrolet Impala!

Abandoned for 14 years inside a shed, the car is not only mechanically bad but also really very dirty, both inside and out. The red paint is totally dull and the interior is in very poor condition. A challenge that on the surface might seem impossible... but these are precisely the challenges that stimulate Federico Perlam, the well-known influencer who, with his Befuel team, has been depopulating all social channels for some time now!

To meet this challenge, Federico relies on Maniac Line products, the new Mafra line dedicated to true enthusiasts who love to take care of their cars in every detail and who are always looking for high performance products that can ensure a result similar to that of professionals. Maniac Line has thus become part of the products that the Befuel team uses to care and treat cars to the top!

But the work is really challenging and it takes the help of a true friend, Andrea Pezzoli, the Mafra man immediately ready to assist Fedeperlam in all phases of restoring the car. Thanks to Maniac Line products, the process is really simple...but 4 hands are always better than 2!

Check out Maniac Line products in Fedeperlam's new video

The engine compartment

The condition of the car is such that a total restoration is necessary, starting with the engine compartment--an easy little job!

In normal cases you would have to start with the rims and tires, but the engine compartment is tanned so badly that you risk affecting the side fenders as well. So let's roll up our sleeves and rely on All Purpose Cleaner, the multi-surface cleaner that can loosen even the most stubborn dirt. And the one on our Impala is very stubborn!

All Purpose Cleaner is ideal for the cleaning of rims, engine compartment, fabrics, carpeting, plastics and also for the stains caused by the midges. What Fedeperlam has to face is a job that requires a lot, a lot of patience, probably the engine has never been cleaned... The product, diluted in water 1:1, must be sprayed evenly on all parts of the engine and, with the use of a soft bristle brush, distributed in every corner, even the most hidden ones. After letting the product act for a few seconds, given the poor condition of the engine compartment, it is necessary to use the pressure washer to remove all the accumulated dirt. The result is excellent, although not perfectly complete because so many engine components would have to be replaced, but that is another issue.

Circles and tires it is!

After taking care of the engine compartment, it is time for the wheels. For this operation we use Wheel and Tyre Cleaner which is applied pure, as the rim is really badly tanned. Wheel and Tyre Cleaner Removes all dirt accumulated on tire and rim, including brake dust.

To remove ferrous debris From rims, glass and bodywork needs Iron Remover. Again, the product must be used pure because the car is full of rust, everywhere there is rust! On contact with ferrous residue, the liquid turns purple and also leaves a crazy scent ... of peach. Now it is time to rinse with plenty of water.

Prewash stage

This is perhaps the most exciting phase: you sling on a foam gun and pour yourself Foam Gun Prewash, diluted 1:5, the strongest dilution given the condition of the bodywork. The product should be sprayed evenly all over the car, even helping with a brush to reach the most difficult corners. This operation removes 90% of the dirt which, during washing, could go to affect the paint, creating micro-scratches, the so-called swirls. After distributing the product, it should be left to act for a few minutes, until the foam begins to fall; at this point, you can proceed with rinsing, taking care to always work from the top down.

Off with the washing

The time has come for some hard work. Let's equip ourselves with a double bucket and take Natural Foam Shampoo, 3 small glasses diluted in 10 liters of water and start washing the whole vehicle with the glove Double Face, one side for the top (gray-colored short-haired microfiber) and the other for the bottom (blue-colored chenille microfiber). We work calmly, horizontal and vertical movements never circular, using the second bucket containing clean water to rinse the glove. Natural Foam Shampoo captures the dirt so that it slips off with the foam at the time of rinsing, thus preventing micro-scratches from forming in subsequent steps. After shampooing the entire car, you need to let the product act for a few minutes and then proceed to rinse, always proceeding from the bottom up.

Time for drying

This is it, time to dry out our Chevrolet Impala. Let's take Super Dryer, the exaggeratedly absorbent Mafra cloth. Thanks to its Microfiber, of the highest quality, Super Dryer retains dirt particles that were not removed during the washing step. On Horizontal flat parts, cloth is applied by laying it on the car and pulling it toward us, while on the vertical sides Let's fold the cloth neatly and run it over all sides of the vehicle. In this way, we will prevent it from touching the floor with the risk of picking up dirt.

During the drying process, it may happen that some water gets stuck inside the moldings. Thanks to Exterior Quick Detailer and to the cloth Super Dryer We will help the water go away forever!

Limestone away

In a car like our Chevrolet Impala, traces of scale are everywhere and become even more obvious after washing. We take Water Spot Mineral Remover and, with the help of a microfiber pad, Let's start by calmly removing all the stains from the bodywork. It will be a pleasure to see all traces of limescale disappear--try it to believe!

Decontaminating the bodywork

Having finished washing the entire body and removed the limescale, it is time for decontamination. What is needed is a claybar. By wetting the bodywork and the claybar itself with a product such as. Fast Cleaner, we slowly go about making the bodywork soft again as it was when it came out of the Chevrolet factory in the 1960s. A very patient job but with an extraordinary result! With this process we go about removing all the dirt that is impossible to remove with a simple wash.

And now it polishes

One last step is still missing to make the Impala's magnificent red shine again: polishing. The car is really very old, badly tanned and has been repainted unprofessionally. It will not be easy to bring it back to its original splendor, but we really like impossible challenges!

First, it takes very firm action: you need a bad product like Heavy Cut - Polish Corrector 2.0, a polish with a very versatile compound without silicones and fillers that, thanks to its Micro Abrasive Technology (M.A.T.) formula, guarantees a firm cut and an excellent finish right out of the box. We pour a few drops of product onto a medium/hard pad (blue) and, using a random orbital polisher, we apply the product all over the bodywork. In this way, we are going to remove the bulk, cutting away a large chunk of dirt, wear and dullness accumulated over all these years. Then with an ultra-clean microfiber cloth we go on to remove the excess wax. We will already see a much brighter color! After this very aggressive step we move on to a medium/soft pad (yellow) to apply a polish that can give gloss and shine to the surface: Ultra Finish Polish Illumina 2.0. Thanks to its anti-hologram formula, it provides an excellent finish and gives a deep shine, removing any collateral damage produced in the cutting phase . After this pass, the end result is incredible, the Chevrolet Impala's red shines again and the car looks like it just left the dealership.

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And eventually it shines again as good as new

It was an incredible job and the end result is really outstanding, even Federico did not expect this result. At first it seemed an impossible task, the car was really badly tanned, the tint was not just covered by oxide and dirt, it was like gone. As Fedeperlam says, "Not even when you win the regional Burraco championship do you have such great satisfaction!"

The work was time-consuming but following all the correct steps and using the new Maniac Line products was easy and the end result fantastic-we showed you how to make a car shine again. The body of our magnificent Chevrolet Impala is back like new!

Below with the interior

We open the door and see what the interior looks like. A mess! Surely it has been several years since it has been cleaned?

Let us equip ourselves with vacuum cleaner with double motor and, as a first step, we vacuum all the dirt from the seats and the interior of the car. Then we move on to cleaning the dashboard with Interior Cleaner Purifier, a safe and effective specific car interior cleaner that allows a triple action on the treated surface: decontaminating, sanitizing and anti-odor. Let's spray the product all over the dashboard and, with the help of a brush, let's also pass it on the inside of the radio buttons, along all the moldings and on all the details on the huge dashboard, a unique molded fiberglass piece! Let's also pass the product on the leather of the seats and the inside of the doors, and we will see the red become really bright and no longer that forgotten tomato color in the sun on a July afternoon.

Goal achieved

The car that arrived in the Befuel Performance workshop was really in very bad shape. Now it's a whole different thing and comes away almost as good as new, just missing one little thing...it won't start!

The hand is passed to Robi who will have to restore the Impala's engine, brakes and all the mechanicals. After all the work done on the body and interior, it would be a real shame not to be able to take it on the road!

Continue to follow Fedeperlam's adventures on his channel YouTube, soon there will be another challenge to overcome with products from the Maniac Line.

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