Steel Grey Detail

[AliGTI]

Nice work! I agree the Steel Grey looks fantastic when cleaned properly! I wouldn't however bother putting on so many coats of sealants/waxes. One properly applied coat should do (make sure the surface is properly degreased and prepared) and especially after 2 coats you will start getting diminishing returns for your effort and material spent.

You can finish off your exhausts with #0000 grade wirewool and Autosol paste. I used the combo on mine and they came out like this:
Those have around 60k miles on them so they are far from brand new. : )

Hiya. Pardon me saying but those are nice tips!

On a serious note do you tend to keep on top of the polishing of them? I've got a mk5 with 83k. The tips are black and lumpy. Seeing yours makes me think I can maybe bring them back from the dead.

[lukemk5gti]

They can be brought back from the dead but it'll take a couple of hours of elbow grease! Guarantee you can get them sorted.

Every time I wash the car I give the exhausts a quick wash with a separate sponge to keep the majority of the sut at bay and then twice a year I'll polish them fully.

[Hevoshullu]

Hiya. Pardon me saying but those are nice tips!

On a serious note do you tend to keep on top of the polishing of them? I've got a mk5 with 83k. The tips are black and lumpy. Seeing yours makes me think I can maybe bring them back from the dead.

Sorry for the slow reply. Anyways, thank you for your compliment! : )

Yeah basically if you want to keep your tips looking good they will need some extra attention after each wash, but it's only a minute's job each time anyway. Like lukemk5gti said above, you want to have a separate sponge or brush for the really dirty work and some powerful degreaser to go with it.

If yours are in really bad shape to start with, you definitely need the wire wool and metal polishing paste for bringing the back alive again. But make sure to buy the really fine grade of wire wool that is either the #000 or #0000 as coarse ones might leave permanent damage to the chrome coating. As a matter of fact, regular use of any wire wool is something you want to avoid on exhaust tips as it will eventually wear down the shiny coating on them.

I don't how bad yours are but I wouldn't say the process of salvaging the tips should take longer than 15 minutes with proper gear. Good luck! : )

[xjay1337]

Stock GTI's are mild steel. They will have all corroded by now. If they are black and lumpy you'll find yourself resorting to sandpaper.

Put scene tape around the valance when you're working.

[lukemk5gti]

It's that time of year again for my bi-annual full detail!

A few days booked off work so I can travel home and give it the works.... Might not apply so many coatings this time around and see how long the protection lasts!

[xjay1337]

Use cquk and not have to worry for 18 months! ;)

[dansmith180]

I just read the insane amount of layers you put on this  , your shoulder must have been on fire. Assuming you stick to traditional waxes/ sealants I would just use a glaze such as Chem guys glossworkz glaze or Poorboys white diamond and then 2 coats of Collinite 845 and that will easily last 6 months and give a real good shine. Otherwise as Jay says get some ceramic coatings on that bitch.

[lukemk5gti]

I actually did have the same discussion on another thread and believe I did go overkill... This time I'll do less layers and see about the efficacy versus the thousand layers!

Thought about CQUK but @xjay1337 I don't have an indoor area to apply, it wouldn't turn out great if applied in outdoor conditions would it?

[xjay1337]

You can do it outside as long as it's not too dusty. CQUK cures pretty quickly and you can always do a few panels at a time.
Long as there's no rain you'd be fine

C1 takes longer to cure I believe