Hello guys
What a weekend! I had the huge privilege of detailing a Porsche 911 Turbo in Techart form. What a stunning vehicle! I had two days with the car and I have no shame in saying this was the most fun detail I have ever done
Lets get started.
Some information on the actual car:The car is obviously a 996 Turbo (Quoted as one of the best vehicles ever built) in Techart form. This means the bonnet, skirts and bootlid are all carbon fibre. The car features aluminium "turbo" branded door sills, a huge carbon fibre wing and a variety of engine modifications.
PowerUnder the hood you will find modification heaven from Forge DV Valves to new Air Filters. Expect at least 400kw from this Porsche and a 0-100km of about 3.9 seconds in standard form without the modifications.
RareThe Techart 996 Porsche is an extremely rare vehicle. This example (Especially in the colour it is - Known as Lapis Blue if I remember correctly) is the only car of its type in South Africa. Power, looks and a speciality car all in one. What more do you want?
The actual Detail:I started with the car early on a Saturday morning after being picked up in the James Bond BMW (Love that car!) and began with the detail... Only prob is it was raining....
Not one to be disappointed I began. Here are a few before shots:
As you can see the car was not too clean when I got it. The reason for this is because the car was taken to a meet the week before and it was raining says the owner with a cheeky zoned out look on his face as if sacrificing the car to the rain is perfectly standard procedure. Any excuse to drive it hey?
So... With the car already in the garage I began working. With this detail I decided to have a play with a few of my new Liqui Moly products. I was surprised. I started using the "Auto intensive paint cleanser" for the sills, exhausts and engine bay. It worked so well I ended up coating the entire car with it and using it as a lube for the clay which it did brilliantly. I used a full bottle of the stuff but it was truly brilliant at cleaning and degreasing.
At this point the owner pulled the car out for me. I should mention that at this point the car was still dirty and had not been clayed. I pulled out the Liqui Moly "Rim Cleaner" and got to work in the rain on the wheels. Wow!
I have used industrial degreasers, cleaners and products on rims and never have I found a product that was this effective. Spray on, leave for ten minutes and agitate gently with a brush and the magic happens....
The car was then foamed off and allowed to soak for a bit and then jetwashed off.
At this point the car was left outside for a hour while I went upstairs and watched some tv and discussed Mini Coopers with the owners wife. Why you ask? Simple... It wouldnt start.
The Porsche 996 PSM system and electronics systems mean that even when the Porsche is switched off and ignition is out the systems are still pulling power from the battery. To solve this Porsche provide you with a charger that you plug into the cigarette lighter which will charge the car. We didnt plug this in properly and the car had been standing for a week prior to the detail with no charger. One start to pull her out had killed the battery... So at this stage the car was left outside with a the charger wrapped in a plastic bag whilst the car charged. An hour later it started first time
When bought inside the car was already soaked from the rain so using the Liqui Moly paint cleaner and clay were easy. The car was clayed and the damage was not too bad at all. Bonnet and roof were the worst and the back wing had bad contamination... I didnt touch the rims though... Too risky.
The Correction This was the fun part... I had this to work with:
Not too good... But manageable with the correct products.
The car was then taped up with blue scotch tape. At this pointed I renamed the car to the "Polizei Porsche". At first the owner disagreed but soon was also agreeing. The mixture of blue, black and navy with the products on the roof and bodykit made me think the car looked like a police car. Truly brilliant. Although discussed in joking form I think the owner is seriously considering taping it up again and getting a Polizei banner for the windscreen. This in combination with hazards and xenon lights should create quite a stir at the next track day
The correction process was quite a simple process and I must admit that this Porsche's paint was so willing to work with me.
I used Chemical Guys Pro Polish applied with a microfibre applicator. This was applied and buffed off 5 times per panel using a light pressure.
Then Continued to using Bilt Hamber Auto Balm on the tougher swirls and scratches. This combination was superb!
This is the correction I was getting by hand... I refused to use the Rotary on this car.
The picture above was before I applied the Bilt Hamber which not only fills swirls but cuts and remixes the swirls by reblending them... A bit like smoothing out paint. It also did me the pleasure of further cleansing the paint.
The car was then given two coats of Collonite applied with a foam applicator. The bonnet being matte black was a slight worry as I didnt know how it would react to some products. After 2 coats of collonite it was reacting wonderfully and had a deep sheen to it. Well impressed.
Then I spent a good hour cleaning the seals, door linings, etc etc getting rid of excess polish, removing trapped dirt in the kit and such.
The interior: The interior was in good condition. Especially the leather. Albeit a little dirt it was liveable. I used Chemical Guys Pure Leather Cleaner and moisturiser. This product has once again impressed me. It effectively cleaned the leather and restored the finish.
The before is on the right and the after is on the left.
The carpets were also looking a little dirty so they were ripped out and cleaned with APC 3000 and treated with Liqui Moly Cockpit Care for a fresh smell.
Once again. Before on the left, After on the right. The carpet on the right had only been treated once. It was treated again the result were exceptional. I love the "In suspension" method of cleaning carpets. Highly effective.
At this point the seals, linings, wheels and engine bay were treated to Chemicals Guys O New Car Dressing. Another highly recommended product.
The exhausts, Aluminium "Turbo" trim and engine metals were treated to Autosol Metal Polish. Easy to use and very good. Pity it makes your cloths black though...
The plastic inside the car, boot and such were treated to Liqui Moly Cockpit Care (Matte Effect). Simply spray on. Leave for a few minuted and wipe off. I used the Vanilla flavoured version and what a gorgeous smell. Its exactly like Vanilla. Soft and rich. I found the mixture of new car leather and Vanilla simply awesome. BTW this is not a foam. Its like a deoderant and leaves no residue on leather and goes where you spray it. I found these little features a great relief.
I used Liqui Moly Windscreen Cleaner foam for the Windscreen and windows... Once again. Amazing results. No overspray and no rubbing and stress. Just clean shiny windows.
The key was then also cleaned and treated to Liqui Moly Cockpit Care and placed in the ignition for the owner.
In conclusionWhat a wonderful detail. Being 18 years old I found it a huge pleasure to be working on a car of this caliber and then of course the owner and his wife. Lovely people who were helpful, caring and extremely generous. Happy to provide me with drinks, food and tons of attention. The owner (who claims its my fault
) is now obsessed with his car and in essence that is the point of detailing.
The highlights of this detail ironically was the car getting stuck outside as my own dad did this with his Porsche too. Also the exhaust note inside the garage when the owner switched the car off on the few times it was started. What a BOOM. Deep grunt like I was awaking a grizzly bear. I love that sound. But having done a variety of vehicles I feel the best thing about this detail was the hospitality of the owner and his wife. Truly brilliant.
Here are the afters. My apologies for the lack of artiness... We wanted to take the car up to a nice location but ran out of time...
I hope you guys found this interesting to read and I look forward to hopefully getting my paws on a few more Porsche's.
All comments are welcome.
Mike
