Stunning! Exactly what im after..still searching for a gti sadly with no luck, seem to be less and less coming available:( As abit of a detailing geek myself, the paint finish on a black car has to be perfect...
So what im asking is, What stages and methods did you go through to achieve this amazing finish? I know a fair bit about detailing, so feel free to blab away with the various products you use! (only ever worked on light coloured cars in the past, hence why im a little unsure!)
Thanks in advance ,
Jack
To protect the finish my washing routine has been refined to the following products with lots of testing.
Megs apc 10:1 for wheels, arches and tyres
Wheels cleaned with old wash mitt, arches and calipers with small sponge and tyres with a brush and megs shampoo plus
I then snow foam the car with my foam lance and autobrite snow foam. Leave it to dwell for 5-10 mins and jet wash off.
2 bucket method with sonus lambs wool wash mitt and megs shampoo plus
Jet wash off
Dry with megs quick detailer and 2 chemical guys miracle dryers
Wheels dried with sonus der wunder towel and megs quick detailer.
Megs endurance on tyres and arches
APC on exhausts on every wash and megs metal cleaner every couple of months to keep them shiny.
Yearly it gets clayed with sonus green clay which is really mild and doesn't marr the paint.
I've machined it twice. Once Oct 2006 with menzerna final finish on a polishing pad and once again last summer with the same combo. 6" pads generate enough heat for moderate swirl removal. Stepping up to menzerna intensive polish on a polishing pad then cutting pad gives more cutting power and still finishes lsp ready. Drop to 4" pad for more power and menz power gloss if the above is not giving enough cut.
For general top ups for general marring which is unavoidable, running round the car with lime prime on a finishing pad by machine finishes amazingly well with loads of wetness and a lovely base for a quality wax.
Everyone has their favourite wax. I've tried purple haze, blue velvet and supernatural from dodo. Supernatural leaves a brilliant finish but is not the nicest wax to apply and remove and i find it a bit of a chore to be honest. The other 2 were average in every way IMO. Collinite 476 and finishkare 1000 are both fantastic winter waxes that dull the pearl in the paint and make it look more like a solid which is really glossy looking. Great durability and lovely beading but again, both are a pain to apply. My favourite through the summer has always been pinnacle sovereign. Its soft and greasy as butter and is the easiest product to apply i have ever used (it also smells amazing). Leave it 10 mins and buff off to a wetness none of the other waxes have matched for me so far. I'm told swissvax best of show is very similar but i cant justify the extra cost!
I've tried zaino which didn't impress me. I tried autoglym srp when i first got the car and the dust was stupid, straight in the bin. For cheapness, megs nxt tech wax 2 leaves a pretty stunning finish. If you have some marring or light swirls, it sorts them in no time leaving a lovely finish.
Hope this helps
P.S never use anything harsher than apc on diamond cut wheels. Products like hot rims might say they are acid free and safe but in my experience, a couple of applications caused white worm on my wheel. Luckily my dealer swapped them over a few years ago
