I've been looking forward to this one for a LONG time! The owner, a DW member, contacted me late last year to get booked in for one of my ever popular single day Enhancement Details.
The car itself is a huge personal favourite of mine - I've loved the V6 ever since it was released on Ph1 form. Liquid Yellow has got to be one of THE best colours there is out there, so a LY V6 was a dream come true for me...
Some befores (it was raining at first so some were taken inside):
DSC04101 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC04102 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC04103 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Wheels, tyres and arches were first, using:
- Smart Wheels 4:1 on the wheel rears and fronts with various brushes
- Surfex 4:1 on tyres and arches with various brushes
DSC04104 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Lots of dirt under those hefty arches:
DSC04105 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC04106 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC04107 by
RussZS, on Flickr
The wheels at this stage were very clean, but traces of brake dust and tar remained, so IronX and Tardis was used to deal with this:
DSC04108 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC04110 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC04111 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC04114 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC04118 by
RussZS, on Flickr
2nd hit of IronX
DSC04116 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Next the car was foamed with Hyper Wash to begin to break down the loose dirt on the car:
DSC04121 by
RussZS, on Flickr
I then worked around the car with various brushes, attending to the more intricate harder to reach areas, using Surfex as and when required:
DSC04122 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC04123 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC04124 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC04125 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC04130 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC04132 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC04133 by
RussZS, on Flickr
After this, the car was fully rinsed, then hand washed with Auto Finesse's Lather Shampoo and a CarPro/CQuartz Wash Mitt:
DSC04135 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Then the car was rinsed again. At this stage it was evident that the car was littered with fallout, tar and was rough to touch, so I began to safely decontaminate the paintwork. IronX was first:
Not too bad...
DSC04136 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Getting worse...
DSC04137 by
RussZS, on Flickr
The boot!!
DSC04138 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC04139 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Wow...
DSC04140 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC04141 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC04143 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Apparently caused by some recent building work a neighbour has had completed.
Tar was dealt with next using Tardis:
DSC04144 by
RussZS, on Flickr
I then foamed again to ensure any IronX and Tar was fully removed:
DSC04148 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Looking sharper already :)
DSC04149 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Next I clayed with:
DSC04150 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Once the car was inside, I also dealt with the large sills which also had tar present on them. I removed this via Tardis and a MF rather than using a spray, to avoid any Tardis going into the cabin:
DSC04151 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC04155 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC04152 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC04154 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Next I began to assess the paintwork for defects, swirling and scratches.
Generally it was in very good condition, but it had picked up a bit of swirling, and the paint lacked a fair amount of gloss. After trying a few combinations I settled on Scholl S17+ and various polishing pads.
Before:
DSC04158 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC04161 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC04162 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Bonnet 'after' under Halide:
DSC04163 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC04165 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC04170 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Great flake pop!
DSC04172 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC04174 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC04177 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Before:
DSC04195 by
RussZS, on Flickr
After:
DSC04196 by
RussZS, on Flickr
After polishing was completed, I began dealing with some of the other details.
Exhaust before:
DSC04198 by
RussZS, on Flickr
The excellent Britemax Metal Twins were used, making short work of the built up grime:
DSC04200 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC04202 by
RussZS, on Flickr
The Twins were also used on the Metal Petrol Cap:
DSC04204 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC04207 by
RussZS, on Flickr
3 coats of Opti Seal on the wheels:
DSC04208 by
RussZS, on Flickr
C4 on plastic trim:
DSC04209 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC04210 by
RussZS, on Flickr
I then finished up with Zaino Z2, topped with Swissvax's Crystal Rock.
DSC04213 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Auto Finesse Crystal was used on the glass, Britemax Rubbermax on the tyres and ZAIO on the door shuts.