This car was literally a couple of thousand miles old yet had already picked up some quite significant swirling and scratches, so was booked in with me to rectify this and to also lay down some firm protection on the wheels and paintwork!!
So, a few befores...
DSC06357 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Pretty mucky behind the number plates!
DSC06358 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC06360 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC06362 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC06363 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Okay, so first off I dealt with the wheels, tyres, arches and brake calipers (huge Brembo's in this special edition!)
A few befores:
DSC06364 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC06365 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Initially the wheels were pressure rinsed with my Kranzle K7 to remove as much loose dirt as possible before making physical contact with the wheels.
Next Auto Smart G101 mixed 4:1 was used on the the tyre sidewalls in conjunction with a Valet Pro Detail brush, to degrease and release and dirt or existing tyre dressing thus ensuring the new tyre dressing can bond properly to the rubber:
DSC06366 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Next Auto Smart Smart Wheels at 4:1 was liberally sprayed over the face and rear of the wheels, along with the calipers, then agitated with various brushes to safely release and dirt and brake dust build up:
DSC06368 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC06369 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC06370 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC06371 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Finally, the wheels were pressure rinsed:
DSC06372 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Much better, however there was some evidence of light brake dust pitting so IronX was used to each and every wheel to ensure any brake dust or fallout was also removed safely:
DSC06373 by
RussZS, on Flickr
The car appeared to be covered in a PDI wax of some sort, so a degreaser was used to begin to break this down - in the form of Britemax Grime Out. Grime Out is a great degreaser and works very well in a pre-wash role:
DSC06375 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Car covered using HD Foam Lance:
DSC06376 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Whilst the Grime Out was dwelling, I worked around the more intricate parts of the car with a different Valet Pro Detail Brush and G101 mixed up 4:1 to remove any dirt caught up in between badges, in door shuts etc:
DSC06378 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC06380 by
RussZS, on Flickr
The stubborn dirt behind the number plates was worked specifically too:
DSC06381 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Next the Grime Out was pressure rinsed off and the car was hand washed with Zaino Z7, CarPro Wash Mitt and Zaino's excellent bucket system:
DSC06382 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Following this, the wash suds were pressure rinsed off and the decontamination stages began. Initially IronX was used to safely remove any fallout present in the bright white paint:
DSC06384 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC06385 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC06386 by
RussZS, on Flickr
At this stage the heavens opened up so I have no photos of the following:
- IronX pressure rinsed to remove
- Auto Smart Tardis used to safely remove any tar deposits from the paintwork/wheels
- Pressure Rinsed again to remove traces of Tardis
- A final snow foaming used to 'run out' any Tardis or IronX from under badges etc
- Final Pressure rinse down then moved inside for claying
For the claying stage I used Auto Finesse's Soft Clay in conjunction with Valet Pro's Citrus Bling 16:1 as lube:
DSC06389 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Not much left after IronX and Tardis had done their respective jobs so well!
Next the car was dried. I used a CG Wooly Mammoth on the glass and paintwork and my Aeolus 901X was used to blow trapped water out from wheel nuts, under wing mirrors, badges etc:
DSC06390 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Next the paintwork, finally clean, decontaminated and dry, was assessed to see how bad the defects were, to look for any evidence of resprays and also to measure the general paint thickness.
The paint depth readings gave a healthy average of 170 microns.
In terms of defects, the paint was in pretty bad condition given that it only had a few thousand miles on the clock!!
Surprisingly deep marks around the door handle:
DSC06391 by
RussZS, on Flickr
General swirling:
DSC06392 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC06393 by
RussZS, on Flickr
After trialling a few combos, I settled on the new Megs M101 Compound in conjunction with Festool Rotary and 3M Polishing Pads.
Some of the defects around the handle remained, but much improved:
DSC06394 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC06397 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC06399 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Deeper scratch on the bonnet given particular attention:
Before:
DSC06402 by
RussZS, on Flickr
After:
DSC06403 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Quite severe swirling was found on the passenger side:
DSC06404 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC06405 by
RussZS, on Flickr
and after:
DSC06408 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC06409 by
RussZS, on Flickr
The lights were also quite heavily swirled:
DSC06414 by
RussZS, on Flickr
After:
DSC06419 by
RussZS, on Flickr
After the corrective work, I finished up with:
Auto Finesse Mercury on the exhaust...
DSC06421 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Before:
DSC06422 by
RussZS, on Flickr
After:
DSC06443 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Crystal and Dodo Juice Mint Merkin on glass:
DSC06423 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Tripple on shuts, sills and number plates:
DSC06425 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC06426 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC06449 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Mint Rims on the alloys:
DSC06429 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Z9 on the leather:
DSC06430 by
RussZS, on Flickr
and finally Auto Finesse's Desire on the paintwork!
DSC06427 by
RussZS, on Flickr
and finally, after 8 hours or so, some afters:
DSC06432 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC06434 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC06437 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC06439 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC06435 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC06444 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC06447 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC06448 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC06454 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC06458 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC06463 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC06460 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC06465 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC06469 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC06471 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC06472 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC06473 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Thanks for reading :)
DSC06476 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Russ.
