Polished Bliss: Latest Major Paint Correction Detail...

[WX51TXR]

Recently done by Clark...

---

The car on arrival, pretty grubby:

So, to firstly get rid of as much dirt and grime as possible the car was foamed with R222 Total Auto Wash at 60 degrees:

Then thoroughly rinsed off, making sure every inch of paint was covered - not just a quick rinse off:

The wheels were going to need a severe clean by the looks of things:

I decided the wheels were going to have to come off to get them 100% clean so they were left for the time being.

Onto the exterior trim/badges etc, these were cleaned with Meguiars All Purpose Cleaner and Raceglaze Detailing Brushes:

They were then rinsed at medium pressure:

That's the only downside to using hot water when it's cold outside, you can't see half the time for the steam!

The front grills were done with the small EZ brush - This is really handy for these sort of jobs, especially on the likes of Audi Grills etc.

Onto the engine bay, this was soaked with Meguiars Super Degreaser (4:1), agitated and then rinsed off:

The fabric hood was then cleaned with 303 Fabric Cleaner and a Meguiars All Surface Interior Brush :

This was then rinsed at low pressure until all the foam was completely gone.

The interior mats were pressure washed @60 degrees:

The extractor machine was then used to get rid of all the excess water and they were then left for the remainder of the 4 days to fully dry. 303 Fabric Guard was then applied to help with future cleaning.

The car was then washed with Meguiars Shampoo Plus, Lambswool Wash Mitt and 2 Clear Buckets before being rinsed off and de-tarred with Autosmart Tardis

The last stage before drying the car off was claying, this was done with Meguiars Mild Detailing Clay but there was very little contamination (slightly surprisingly) evident.

So once clayed, the car was dried off with PB Luxury Drying Towels and the Black Baron Drier.

I then gave the hood its first of 3 coats of 303 Fabric Guard:

 

[WX51TXR]

I then used the Sun Gun to highlight the defects for some pictures, I think they'll give you an idea of the condition of the paint:

I think it's safe to say someone had already attempted to polish the car at some point in the past!

Paint readings were then taken, the Positector 6000 for the metal panels:

Then the 200 for the plastics:

The readings showed everything was original with no real low spots anywhere on the car which is always good

Correction work was carried out with a Meguiars 105 and Menzerna 85RE mix with Gloss-It Orange Foam and the Makita Rotary between 1800-2000rpm's. Each panel was thoroughly wiped down with IPA to check the true correction levels and to ensure I was happy before moving onto the next.

Before:

After:

50/50:

The below pic shows what was often left after 1 hit so a further 2nd or 3rd attempt was needed to gain the desired correction:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

 

[WX51TXR]

The front wings were particularly bad:

Being plastic, I changed to Lake Country Foamed Wool to keep the heat down:

These pads have hugely impressed me during testing and as a result they will be in the store shortly. As you can see, they finish extremely well for wool - just a few light trails visible:

The majority of the back end was plastic too so the same process applied here:

Before:

After:

Once all the compounding was done it was time to refine the finish. This was done with Menzerna 85RE and Lake Country Polishing Pads @1500-1800rpms:

Once that was done I dusted out all the shuts etc with a Meguiars Slide Lock Brush and used a Lambswool Duster to remove the remaining polishing dust sat on the panels.

A further IPA wipe down followed before I applied the LSP.

LSP of choice was a new super duper wax from Raceglaze that Mark had sent up for me to try:

Early signs were very good, one of the easiest waxes to apply and remove and it was up there with Vintage etc in terms of looks :thumb: This was applied to the whole car and then buffed off.

Werkstat Prime Strong was used to polish and protect the chrome trim.

Before:

After:

The engine had been dressed with 303 Aerospace Protectant earlier so this was given a final wipe down:

Meguiars All Season Dressing was applied and then buffed off on all exterior trim:

Any dust/fluff etc was removed from the hood with 3M Masking Tape:

The interior was fully detailed, including cleaning of the leather with Raceglaze Leather Cleaner and a Raceglaze Leather Brush. Feeding was done courtesy of Raceglaze Leather Balm.

Before:

After:

 

[WX51TXR]

As mentioned at the start, the wheels needed to come off to get them 100% clean, the process for these were as follows:

- Sprayed and agitated with Meguiars Wheel Brightener (4:1)
- Tar removed with Autosmart Tardis
- Clayed with Meguiars Aggressive Clay
- Polished by hand with Menzerna FPII and a Lake Country Polishing Hand Pad
- Cleansed with Werkstat Prime Acrylic
- Sealed with Blackfire Metal Sealant
- Tyres dressed with Gloss-It Signature Tyre Gloss (2 coats)

The wheel weights were also painted. All done and ready to go back on the car:

The arches were given a once over too, process as follows:

- Cleaned with Meguiars Super Degreaser
- Tar removed with Autosmart Tardis
- Arch Liners dressed with Meguars All Season Dressing

So with the wheels back on and correctly torqued up, all that remained was a final wipe down with Werkstat Carnauba Glos.

Here's the final result...

The sun even decided to make an appearance...

....and finally back inside ready for collection

Thanks for looking as always.

Clark

 

[JD09]

Is it sad that I wait for these?

Cracking work Clark!

 

[Hunty]

Awesome work buddy! There was some swirlage on that! Cracking turn around mate, pleasure to read

 

[Sarah's A3]

Wow, what an ace job, you make it look so easy too!! Although I know its not! What a finnish on it!

 

[a3_dan]

Wow, thats stunning work mate!!

 

[Gops]

Is it sad that I wait for these?

I do too!! Great work