well, it was that time of year to carry out the winter prep on the Eddy. Since getting her last year, ive only really carried out maintenance washes, so a proper detail was in order.
I had 2 days to complete this in, so i split body work on Sunday and Wheels on Monday.
The only limitation was that the rear lower bumper had recently replaced and was fresh from the body shop so i was only going to washing the rear bumper - no sealants or wax.
The idea of this detail for me, was not to get it to a show and shine standard, but to get the car protected as much as possible for what the winter weather brings.
Plan of attack for the body was:
Cleanse paint with:
Tesco Daisy APC
Iron x and Autosmart Tardis on side panels (wasnt sure how the plastics on the grill would re-act)
Body clayed with Bilt hamber medium clay
wash with 2 Bucket method with Megs hyperwash
Cleanse paint with Carlack systamatic Care
Seal with Carlack Long Life seal
2 coats of Collinte 476 wax.
I didnt photo every single step as time was not on my side - i had until about 1600 before the daylight started to run out.
So, dragged myself out of bed for an 8am start on Sunday.
Current state of paintwork:
Not too bad, but with the car being black, the brake dust and tar are hard to see
First step, APC dilluted to approx 1:10 to get rid any grime and dirt, agitated on the car with a wash mitt:
This was then rinsed off. As you can see, theres no beading whatsoever:
Next up was iron x - this was the first time i had used this. This was sprayed on the lower sides of the car - none at the front in case it messed up the plastics:
Some slight purple bleeding
Car was rinsed and next up was the Tardis
This was again, sprayed only on the sides:
The Car was then rinsed, ready for the clay:
As per instructions, water in a mister was used as lube.
Half the bonnet done - not too bad
Front Wing
driver side (lower)
Eventually clayed the whole car (apart from rear bumper) and only dropped one piece of clay (so went straight in the bin), the claying process took soo long!
Next, i washed the car with the megs hyperwash, using the two bucket method:
The car was then dried and i was left with a decent surface to work with:
Next, it was the carlack twins. I applied the systematic care (SC) to the whole car and then applied the long life sealant (LLS) directly to the dried SC. I had a bad experience in the past when i got some SC on some textured plastic trim on another car - it turned the trim grey and i couldnt get it off. I had to be ultra careful not to make the same mistake.
SC applied all over, including the lights (but not glass)
By now, the light was getting low so had to crack on.
The sealant was applied in small sections, left to haze and buffed straight off - if you leave it on too long, it is a bugger to buff off!
Eventually, the whole car was sealed
I was getting some really funny looks from my neighbours as they were returning from their day out after seeing me in the morning as they were leaving.
It was getting really late so i cracked on with the collinite 476. I applied it to the whole car and buffed off. If it was warm, i would only apply one panel at a time and buff off. However, it was about 10c so i could get away with the doing the whole car in one go.
it was dark by the time i had finished buffing off the collinite.
Just a quick Pic
So, i only managed to get one coat of collintite down.. this would have to be done another day. It was 16:45 and i was shattered. I had my tea and was in bed for 10 -absolutely shattered!
so, the next day, up at 0630 to sort the wheels. I had till 12:00 as i had a lunch with mum planned and then off to the gym.
So, the plan of attack for the wheel was:
Spray with Bilberry wheel cleaner, let it dwell for 2 mins, agitate with brush and wash with megs hyper wash
dry wheel
spray with tardis, dwell for 2 mins, agitate with brush, rinse off with water
Dry wheel
spray with Iron x, dwell, agitate, rinse off,
Dry
clay whole wheel using megs hyper wash diluted in spray bottle for lube.
wash again with megs hyper wash
dry
apply poor boys wheel sealant, buff off
again, another coat of poor boys and buff off.
so, to start, some beading shots of the car as it rained overnight:
Right, so the car was jacked up and placed on axle stands. After more funny looks from the neighbours, the front wheels were first.
The wheels were detailed last year and had 2 coats of poor boys applied, i hope they would make it easier for me to remove all the dirt and contaminants.
As they were:
As you can see, not too bad with just the usual brake dust and tar spots.
First up, Bilberry diluted to 10:1, sprayed and left to dwell:
this was agitated wit ha brush and then washed with hyperwash
The wheels were then dried.
I could now get a better picture of what was in store
Next up was the Tardis. As you can see, it was doing its job and attacking the tar spots:
The tardis was left to dwell only for a minute, agitated with a brush, rinsed off and dried.
Pretty good - now pretty much tar free:
I tried my best to pick at the sticky bits from the old balancing weights but i gave up as it was taking too much of my time. These would have to wait til another day.
Next up was the iron x, sprayed onto the wheel and left to dwell:
irons x doing its thing
agitated with a brush
Then rinsed off and dried. was left with
Next, was the clay
clay bar done its job and picked up a fair bit of crap
Once clayed, the wheels were washed with the hyperwash, rinsed off and dried:
Doing well for time, it was only 10am, had 2 hours to go!
next, the poor boys was applied
this was then buffed off and another coat re-applied and buffed off again...
Voila...
All the brake dust and tar gone
Please excuse the kerbing
Before i put the wheels back on, i decided to give the calipers and arch liners a clean as they were a bit dirty:
the calipers was soaked in Bilberry, left to dwell and then washed with megs. Pretty much the same for the arch liner as well
wheels back on and the whole process was repeated for the rear wheels.
Even though the poor boys was applied a year ago, i really do think its made the cleaning process alot easier and all the crap and contaminants a heck of alot easier to remove
some final beading pics:
The wheels were all done by 11:30, so a quick wash and a hearty lunch at Morrisons.
Ive still yet to:
Add another layer of Collinite
Treat glass with wolfs glass guard
apply 303 aerospace to all rubber seals in door and boot.
I will do these next week and post up pics.
I hope i havent bored the hell out of you guys
and maybe some of you will take something away from this thread.
Im knackered, my backs killing me, my knees are bruised but you know what...? its all worth it..
Thanks for reading
Rich
