Today was an interesting one for me - a Mk5 Golf GTI in the same colour as my own Edition 30 and not a colour I've worked on since wet sanding my own. It's a great colour to work with…
This particular example has recently had a bit of work done to it to begin to get it looking great again - so interior work on the seats, a wheel refurb and finally today a light correction detail to complete the restoration.
On to todays work. Some befores:
DSC09104 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC09105 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC09109 by
RussZS, on Flickr
As ever wheels first today with just G101 and various brushes:
Quite a lot of mud in the arches:
DSC09110 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC09111 by
RussZS, on Flickr
After rinsing:
DSC09112 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Great paint job on the wheels from local specialist A1 Wheels in Bilston!
At this stage my camera died so no pics of the clean/cleanse process I'm afraid, but the process was:
- Pre soak with Citrus Power
- Hand Wash with Lather
- IronX and Oblitarate used to safely remove fallout and tar
- Glide and AF Clay used to remove any remaining contamination (tree sap mostly today)
Next the paint was assessed to see how much we had to play with and the severity of the defects.
After assessing various combinations, we settled on Rupes Green Polishing Pad, Rupes Zephir and Rupes LHR-15E
Some correction shots:
Before:
DSC09125 by
RussZS, on Flickr
After:
DSC09128 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Before:
DSC09131 by
RussZS, on Flickr
After:
DSC09132 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Door before:
DSC09135 by
RussZS, on Flickr
After:
DSC09136 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC09137 by
RussZS, on Flickr
50/50:
DSC09138 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC09139 by
RussZS, on Flickr
After:
DSC09142 by
RussZS, on Flickr
50/50 on OS rear quarter:
DSC09151 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Under Brinkmann:
DSC09176 by
RussZS, on Flickr
After:
DSC09178 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Rear lights before:
DSC09182 by
RussZS, on Flickr
After:
DSC09183 by
RussZS, on Flickr
B Pillar before:
DSC09199 by
RussZS, on Flickr
After:
DSC09208 by
RussZS, on Flickr
We finished up with Auto Finesse's excellent Power Seal:
DSC09229 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Some afters:
DSC09221 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC09222 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC09232 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC09234 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC09238 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC09243 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC09248 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC09251 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC09263 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC09266 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC09282 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC09283 by
RussZS, on Flickr
This black is actually quite difficult to make look glossy and get depth from - it's quite 'milky' at times. I think we've done a good job of working with the properties with the Rupes/Power Seal combo though.
Thanks for reading,
Russ.