Detailing Thread

MetzgerMeister

Also lads, the deadline for names for the Kestrel Group buy is Sunday at 9:00pm.

If you would like to take advantage of this great offer, add your name:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056588521&page=4

eringobragh

Todays Effort:

Another few hours lost on the car...This is a mammoth task hopefully I will have this all done by end of month..and then I will move onto a wheel refurb.

Claybar Kit...what a godsend..Following recommendation from last week I picked one up...I rubbed my hand on the panel from last week and its not near as smooth as the clayed wing...Its like glass!.





Again I only did 1 wing as it can get frustrating!

BEFORE: This scratching was visible without the halogen light: It annoyed me looking at it.



AFTER: Still a small scrape and little scratching up a 90% improvement...if all goes to all these can be filled with SRP..
I am going to move on and come back to the dificult ones at the end.



BEFORE: Somemore scratching





After: 95% Improvment over all.







Some stone chips need sorting and paint 'bubbling' (a common issue on MR2 paint)



Difference between panels:



MILLER TIME!!!!!!!!!!

eringobragh

Anyone got any good videos on DA technique for swirl removal...just want to see if I need to change anything

antiskeptic

Hi there,

I've a 2003 Audi A4 which I'm thinking might come up nicely if machine polished. I was wondering whether this car is suitable for this work (gathering that alot hinges on the quality of the paint). And what kind of cost would I be looking at if not wanting to go to the end of the earth in terms of detail (given the age of the car).

Can anyone recommend someone around the Northside of Dublin or South County Dublin/Bray?

MetzgerMeister

antiskeptic wrote: »

Hi there,

I've a 2003 Audi A4 which I'm thinking might come up nicely if machine polished. I was wondering whether this car is suitable for this work (gathering that alot hinges on the quality of the paint). And what kind of cost would I be looking at if not wanting to go to the end of the earth in terms of detail (given the age of the car).

Can anyone recommend someone around the Northside of Dublin or South County Dublin/Bray?

I assume you're looking for someone to do it rather than do it yourself?

Spirit Detailing is your man Located in Leixlip

antiskeptic

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

I assume you're looking for someone to do it rather than do it yourself?

Spirit Detailing is your man Located in Leixlip

What part of Northside/Southside do you not understand

Only kidding - I don't mind travelling to get a good un. Would you guess at a cost?

Northern Monkey

www.detailingshed.com are based just outside swords.

You can see some of their work here:

http://www.bmw-driver.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=96

listermint

Northern Monkey wrote: »

www.detailingshed.com are based just outside swords.

You can see some of their work here:

http://www.bmw-driver.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=96

These guys do excellent work. Cost is really dependent on what stage / hours of work you want to achieve. So im sure that can be worked out for what level of finish you want.

eringobragh

...top half of the passenger door done and thats it for today pics to follow :cool:

RandomAccess

eringobragh wrote: »

...top half of the passenger door done and thats it for today pics to follow :cool:

That work-lamp you have, did you pick it up in Aldi?
How is it working out for you?

eringobragh

RandomAccess wrote: »

That work-lamp you have, did you pick it up in Aldi?
How is it working out for you?

Yep thats the one...€11.99 and it works brilliantly, just sometimes I have to lift in front of the paint to examine in more detail but generally it works great well worth the money :cool:

...just dont leave the buffer beside it or the pad WILL catch on fire...trust me :eek:

Curran

Doing some good work there eringobradh!!

Its tough but rewarding work eh!

RandomAccess

eringobragh wrote: »

Yep thats the one...€11.99 and it works brilliantly, just sometimes I have to lift in front of the paint to examine in more detail but generally it works great well worth the money :cool:

...just dont leave the buffer beside it or the pad WILL catch on fire...trust me :eek:

That would be a sight!

My cars a bit higher than an MR2, so I might be better off getting a lamp on a tripod, they nearly always come mounted with two lamps though which is more than I need.
I guess a lamp is pretty much required for polishing on overcast days though as without it the surface would be hard to assess.

Curran

Check out this thread on how to make a home made sun gun !!

Had one made up and its very handy.....only problem is, it cant be used for extended periods due to heat build up and battery life...but its great for giving a panel a quick check over, the bulb on for 5-10 seconds!

eringobragh

I am convinced the previous owner washed this car with rocks :P ...I'm not trying to achieve 100% correction but if I get it to 90% I will be happy.
Can't wait to get the blacklight on her

Today I did the top half of the passenger door, time cosuming stuff, but have to say the DA is the best thing I've gotten for the car when you see the
change in paint it makes the effort seem worthwhile.

Car was clayed and polished with Menzerna Medium cut polish and pad.

General condition of the paint:









SIDE BY SIDE after Polishing:



BEFORE AND AFTERS:

Before:



After:

---

Before:



After:

---

Before:



After:

---

Before:



After:

---

eringobragh

CONTD:


Before:



After:

---

Before:



After:

---

FINISHED PRODUCT:

Curran

Cracking work!! Getting some nice deep reflections! :cool:

By the way....100% correction is almost totally unachievable....unless its a brand new or fairly new car!!

Just keep that in mind and dont go chasing 100% correction or you will strike through the clear coat!

eringobragh

Curran wrote: »

Cracking work!! Getting some nice deep reflections! :cool:

By the way....100% correction is almost totally unachievable....unless its a brand new or fairly new car!!

Just keep that in mind and dont go chasing 100% correction or you will strike through the clear coat!

Cheers man..yeah I just want to get the thing looking somewhat decent..I've happy to get it 80-90% better and use filler on the rest

You were right about the claybar it makes a big difference allright.

RandomAccess

Curran wrote: »

Check out this thread on how to make a home made sun gun !!

Had one made up and its very handy.....only problem is, it cant be used for extended periods due to heat build up and battery life...but its great for giving a panel a quick check over, the bulb on for 5-10 seconds!

Yes, saw that thread before and the lamps they make are pretty good. I was in homebase the other day but didn't see any ultra cheap cordless drill like the ones they were using, might take a look in B&Q another time. Though I will likely just get a halogen with a stand like eringobragh from Aldi sometime.

Curran

RandomAccess wrote: »

might take a look in B&Q another time.

Got mine in B&Q...cant remember what price it was but it was reasonable!

RandomAccess

Great work on the car, those deep scratches seem to have been improved massively as well. Mine has a few deep scratches that I will be hoping to minimise the appearance of without going mad of course.

Unfortunately something came up last weekend and shot all my plans to ****, all my evenings last week were a bust then as well! Typical, the best run of weather we are likely to have for months and I end up missing out on it. Glad to see someone else making hay anyways!

eringobragh

RandomAccess wrote: »

Great work on the car, those deep scratches seem to have been improved massively as well. Mine has a few deep scratches that I will be hoping to minimise the appearance of without going mad of course.

Unfortunately something came up last weekend and shot all my plans to ****, all my evenings last week were a bust then as well! Typical, the best run of weather we are likely to have for months and I end up missing out on it. Glad to see someone else making hay anyways!

Cheers but it happens I've the DA months and just when I had a bit of time to do this my radiator dies :mad:

Worthwhile investment the DA

eringobragh

forgot to mention I was nursing a hangover doing this.

Curran

RandomAccess wrote: »

Typical, the best run of weather we are likely to have for months and I end up missing out on it. Glad to see someone else making hay anyways!

Just to ease the pain a little......they arent the best conditions for polishing paint work anyways!! The panels are hot to begin with and will dry out the polish very quickly. Not ideal for washing or claying either as the water dries out and leaves marks, but not a problem if you are polishing I suppose!

eringobragh

Curran wrote: »

Just to ease the pain a little......they arent the best conditions for polishing paint work anyways!! The panels are hot to begin with and will dry out the polish very quickly. Not ideal for washing or claying either as the water dries out and leaves marks, but not a problem if you are polishing I suppose!

My house is southfacing so the car isn't in the sun! But good point all the same.

eringobragh

Any use lads???



http://aldi.ie/ie/html/offers/special_buys3_21222.htm

I'm in the market for a power washer and I believe this is a Karcher rebrand...I've read that the warranty phone no goes to Karcher and everything

Hal1

Can't go wrong with that 3 year warranty. I've a powercraft washer about 8 years now. It's very similar to that one and hasn't let me down so far.

vectra

Curran wrote: »

Check out this thread on how to make a home made sun gun !!

Had one made up and its very handy.....only problem is, it cant be used for extended periods due to heat build up and battery life...but its great for giving a panel a quick check over, the bulb on for 5-10 seconds!

Curran wrote: »

Got mine in B&Q...cant remember what price it was but it was reasonable!

I wonder would lED work lamp be any better than the Halogen one used by Erin?

Curran

I'm currently waiting on someone to come back to me about LED lighting...waiting on samples and pricing.
Can get 50w lamps, that give 500w of light and look similar to the halogen set up. Don't know if they'll be any better, but the whiter light should be a bit nicer to work in, as I replaced the flouresent strip lights with new bulbs and the light is much more natural....like day light when it's pitch black outside

RandomAccess

A lot of the serious detailers in the UK seem to favour a mix of lights, halogen, metal halide, fluorescent as apparently they each show different flaws from swirls to buffer trails and marring (not sure which does what though)

I guess if you have scads of cash you could go a bit mad with lights alright.