Hi all
I haven't done anything with the golf in all honesty other than clean it.
However I carried out a detail on a 2013 Ford Focus this weekend so thought I would share it with you all for something for you to look at whilst your bored at work or later on when the other half is watching soaps
The car was in bad shape with bad swirl marks, scratches, a few repainted panels and some dodge paint touch ups. Wasn’t ideal working in the direct sunlight but I done the panels in the shade then moved the car under some tress for more shade, I didn’t have to wait long for the exposed panels to cool down in honestly so it wasn’t a huge pain.
I didn't take a million pictures of every mark on the car or every step of the way because I only had phone and I was pushed for time/day light but I do wish I took some of the key scratch marks around the driver’s door handle and the top of the rear bumper as it was around 90% corrected which I was mega chuffed with but never mind I'll get another bad shape car again.
Few starting pictures
d by
jake braham, on Flickr
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jake braham, on Flickr
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jake braham, on Flickr
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jake braham, on Flickr
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jake braham, on Flickr
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jake braham, on Flickr
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jake braham, on Flickr
Started the day with the usual 6:1 citrus pre wash soaking for a about 5-10 minutes then a thick coat of snow foam. Whilst the foam done its thing I went round all the small gaps and crevasses on the car with meguiars APC 8:1 and a soft detailing brush. I cleaned the wheels with normal wash solution as they were refurbished in April so didn’t feel the need to go all out on them. Cleaned the tyres and wheel arches with a stiff brush and Meguiars APC and degreaser. I jetted off the foam and then washed the car with the 2 bucket method and meguiars hyper wash with 2 wash mitts. Probably shouldn't have bothered with the 2 bucket jobs as I was correcting the paint anyway but it's just habit n all.
unnamed (9) by
jake braham, on Flickr
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jake braham, on Flickr
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jake braham, on Flickr
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jake braham, on Flickr
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jake braham, on Flickr
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jake braham, on Flickr
I jetted the car down thoroughly and then went round the whole car with meguiars last touch diluted at 1:1 and carpro medium yellow clay bar. I done the glass and all the paintwork and it was quite contaminated as you can see. I sprayed the car with Gyeon Iron and Tar before re foaming the car and thoroughly jetting it down once more
unnamed (14) by
jake braham, on Flickr
The next step is by the worst for me which is taping the car up so I don't get any residues from compounding into the rubber and plastic trims, hate this job but saves a lot of cleaning up afterwards.
unnamed (15) by
jake braham, on Flickr
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jake braham, on Flickr
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jake braham, on Flickr
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jake braham, on Flickr
I tried a few compounds and pads and settled with lake country hydro tech blue pad and meguiars 105 for cutting and followed up with lake country orange pad and meguiars 205 for polishing, all done with a Rupes lhr15es mk 2. After this was done I foamed the car to remove the dust, air dried/towel dried the car then wiped down with IPA. I was happy enough with the results so didn't bother with any glazes and called it a day for correction there.
Few during correction shots, 50/50’s
unnamed (20) by
jake braham, on Flickr
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jake braham, on Flickr
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jake braham, on Flickr
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jake braham, on Flickr
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jake braham, on Flickr
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jake braham, on Flickr
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jake braham, on Flickr
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jake braham, on Flickr
Fancy edit one
unnamed (25) by
jake braham, on Flickr
Before I packed away for the night I cracked on with applying my favourite sealant, menzerna power lock ! via a chemical guys red hexlogic pad. I left this for about an hour before buffing it off to lovely finish and tucking the car away in the car port for the night.
Power lock is in all honesty the best sealant I have used and a few friends now also use this after they've seen my work with it. I followed this up the next morning with 2 thin layers of collinite 476 wax
best sealant/wax combo for me at the moment I have no issues with its durability or visual appearance. while the wax was curing I cleaned all the trim and coated it with poor boys natural look dressing, buffed to a nice finish and I sealed the glass with chemical guys jet seal 109 on all the glass apart from the windscreen and treated the windscreen to 3 coats of rain x. Quickly hoovered the interior and wiped the plastics etc. down with a week meguiars apc dilution.
After the sealant was removed, bad iphone pictures but over cast weather so can’t do much about it
unnamed ( by
jake braham, on Flickr
unnamed (1) by
jake braham, on Flickr
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jake braham, on Flickr
unnamed (2) by
jake braham, on Flickr
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jake braham, on Flickr
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jake braham, on Flickr
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jake braham, on Flickr
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jake braham, on Flickr
Unfortunately I have no pictures after the first day/the removal of the powerlock sealant but the weather was overcast anyway and also I was more looking forward to sitting in the garden with beers Sunday afternoon than taking more pictures, my back and knees were knackered after a mammoth 21 hour’s work but well worth it in the end and a very happy lady focus owner.
I'll upload when next detail whenever it happens :)