Today I did some detailing...

DoctorStrange

Aesthetic upgrade rather than detailing




Badges only 6 euro from BMW.

DoctorStrange

Double post

shietpilot

Snowfoam, 2BM wash and some ODK Quick Detailer and the cars are looking as good as after applying wax for the first time!

ronnie3585

That Volvo's looking extremely well for a twelve year old car!

shietpilot

ronnie3585 wrote: »

That Volvo's looking extremely well for a twelve year old car!

Alloys need a refurb and the front passenger window regulator needs to be re-riveted as it's vibrating under certain engine RPMs, otherwise it's a pretty good car. I picked it up a year ago for peanuts for my mum because the engine was covered in oil. New crankshaft seal and timing belt kit and it has been trouble free since! Passed NCT with no issues.

Nice sound from the 5 cylinder too!

166man

Big fan of the xc90 alright. Lovely looking example anyway. The wheels wouldn't have needed refurbishment if you weren't such a shietpilot! I joke!

Mc Love

I hope it's dry Saturday so I can do some cleaning. Mondeo is in a right state inside and out, BMW isnt too bad but could do with a clean too

easygoing39

Forecast for Saturday is looking like a wet day.

www.yr.no,just stick in your location.

shietpilot

I use met.ie as a guide. The short range page is also excellent!

http://www.met.ie/forecasts/5day-ireland.asp

Mc Love

Well that sucks - really wish I had a garage!

Stallingrad

Mc Love wrote: »

Well that sucks - really wish I had a garage!

Preferably in another country!

ianobrien

Ive finally finished the long overdue detail on the motorhome. The process was

1. Bilt Hamber Auto-foam snowfoam, diluted about 1:8 and allowed to dwell for 10 minutes.
2. 2BW with AG Shampoo, roof included.
3. Tar-X in the paint but not on any graphics and washed again
4. Bilt Hamber Korrisol fallout remover and not on any graphics. Washed again.
5. Clayed with a claycloth and the usual home made lube (4 parts water to 1 part Fairy washing up liquid?
6. CarPro Eraser on paint but not on graphics. The label said it could be used to remove stickers so I kept it well clear of the graphics.
7. Two coats of Collinite 845, applied two days apart. Buffed by hand (me left shoulder is still half numb)
8. Wheels were Bilt Hamber Autowheels, wheel woolies and Bilt Hamber Surfix on the back of the wheeltrims. Wheels had AG EGP and CarPro PERL diluted 1:3 on the wheeltrims. Tyres were Orchard Tyre Glitz.
9. Windows were AG Fast Glass on the glass and CarPro PERL 1:5 on the motorhome windows. Buffing was needed after the PERL.
10. Plastics which included rubbing strips, rear bumper, rear step, front grill, fridge vents, toilet door, water filler and external 220V socket done with CarPro PERL 1:3. The mudflaps were also done in the same way.

The (poor) photos (camera phone and fading light)







The attempt at protecting the paint before PERL was applied

punisher5112

Should really wrap the whole thing in paper....

Only messing it's some bus.

Fair play some work put in.

leupold90

Gave the car a maintenance wash yesterday. I used Pearl Rain gloss enhancer shampoo which I had a sample bottle of - and used some Chemical Guys Afterwash when drying.

ianobrien

punisher5112 wrote: »

Should really wrap the whole thing in paper....

Only messing it's some bus.

Fair play some work put in.

All I've left is the bike rack (aluminium so I'm not too sure what to do, Collinite maybe), awning (Collinite I recon but ladders are needed for access) and dash. I've the interior timber done with Lord Sheraton silicone free furniture polish. Quite a lot of furniture polishes contain Silicone and they can leave a blotchy finish (and the residual silicone are almost impossible to remove from timber)

Its not often you'll find mentions of furniture polish in an automotive detailing forum!

Foxhole Norman

Gave my buddies E46 some prep for a wedding at the weekend, he got an M3 interior for it recently and got it retrimmed in a savage orange, I have it now coated with Dye Blok.

E39MSport

3M finesse stick, fine paper, DA with Sonus #2.

Bandito909

E39MSport wrote: »

3M finesse stick, fine paper, DA with Sonus #2.

What's 3m finesse stick?

edburg

Foxhole Norman wrote: »

Gave my buddies E46 some prep for a wedding at the weekend, he got an M3 interior for it recently and got it retrimmed in a savage orange, I have it now coated with Dye Blok.

Orange????

That not tan or has camera fooled me. It is great looking, reading the orange bit I was expecting bright ford asbo orange seats

micks_address

Snow foam, 2bm wash then colinite.. Didn't need to clay as only did 8 weeks ago... Wheels dressed with meguiars.. No point posting pictures as nothing you haven't seen before.. Good Saturday workout...

vintagevrs

That E46 is class. Really nice/tasteful mods on it. An Eisenmann exhaust on a diesel, who knew!

ronnie3585

After spending 8 hours on the car today, giving it a two stage paint correction, I have a whole new level of respect for professional detailers.

I took the plunge during detailingshed's recent sale and bought a Das 6 Pro, CarPro Fixer and Essence and CarPro's Flash, Orange and Gloss pads.

The car's a black Mk6 GTi which had some very bad swirls and holograms after years of cosmetic neglect from its previous owner. I washed, clayed and decontaminated the car last night so I could start the polishing first thing this morning. I started with Fixer on the Orange pad. Being a complete novice I was a little apprehensive to begin with but I took it slow and soon got the hang of it. They were a good combination and cut through the swirls very well, however the pad gunked up very easily and had to be cleaned after every pass. Fixer did the job however it produced an unholy amount of dust. By the time I was done it looked like Tony Montana had sneezed over the car! I used the Flash pad too for some deeper swirls and scratches and it worked a charm.

Once I'd finished compounding (which took almost 5 hours!) I gave the car a wipe down and moved on to the polishing using the Gloss pad and Essence. I had read a lot of the hype about Essence and I'm glad to report that it lives up to it. In comparison to the compounding, it was a joy to do and the results were fantastic. Once finished, I had to give the car a blast of the power hose to remove the dust from the rubbers and seals, after a dry with the MF towel the car was gleaming.

Part two will commence tomorrow morning - two coats of CQuartz UK and then I'll top it off with Reload. Quick question for the experts here - the car will be wet come morning, either rain or dew, is it okay to dry it off with the MF towel and fire straight into the CQuartz, or should I give it a wipe down with Eraser first?

As for the obligatory pictures...there was very little light by the time I finished so pictures were useless, but I'll take a few tomorrow and stick them up!

micks_address

ronnie3585 wrote: »

After spending 8 hours on the car today, giving it a two stage paint correction, I have a whole new level of respect for professional detailers.

I took the plunge during detailingshed's recent sale and bought a Das 6 Pro, CarPro Fixer and Essence and CarPro's Flash, Orange and Gloss pads.

The car's a black Mk6 GTi which had some very bad swirls and holograms after years of cosmetic neglect from its previous owner. I washed, clayed and decontaminated the car last night so I could start the polishing first thing this morning. I started with Fixer on the Orange pad. Being a complete novice I was a little apprehensive to begin with but I took it slow and soon got the hang of it. They were a good combination and cut through the swirls very well, however the pad gunked up very easily and had to be cleaned after every pass. Fixer did the job however it produced an unholy amount of dust. By the time I was done it looked like Tony Montana had sneezed over the car! I used the Flash pad too for some deeper swirls and scratches and it worked a charm.

Once I'd finished compounding (which took almost 5 hours!) I gave the car a wipe down and moved on to the polishing using the Gloss pad and Essence. I had read a lot of the hype about Essence and I'm glad to report that it lives up to it. In comparison to the compounding, it was a joy to do and the results were fantastic. Once finished, I had to give the car a blast of the power hose to remove the dust from the rubbers and seals, after a dry with the MF towel the car was gleaming.

Part two will commence tomorrow morning - two coats of CQuartz UK and then I'll top it off with Reload. Quick question for the experts here - the car will be wet come morning, either rain or dew, is it okay to dry it off with the MF towel and fire straight into the CQuartz, or should I give it a wipe down with Eraser first?

As for the obligatory pictures...there was very little light by the time I finished so pictures were useless, but I'll take a few tomorrow and stick them up!

Love to hear more... Never used a polisher... Or compound or essence

MetzgerMeister

Ronnie, if the pad was gunking up, you were putting too much polish on the pad. Too much polish can be as bad as too little and can decrease the cutting ability of the pad. 4 small dots on the pad is all you should need when working on an area say 3 times the size of the pad. Better off to concentrate on smaller areas and not get carried away.

ronnie3585

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

Ronnie, if the pad was gunking up, you were putting too much polish on the pad. Too much polish can be as bad as too little and can decrease the cutting ability of the pad. 4 small dots on the pad is all you should need when working on an area say 3 times the size of the pad. Better off to concentrate on smaller areas and not get carried away.

I was only using about three pea size blobs of polish on a 2ft x 2ft area. I cut back thinking I was using too much but it didn't really stop the pad gunking up.

Curran

Ronnie, when the morning moisture is gone from the air, dry the car off fully, and I'd give it another 30 mins before starting into it.

*Kol*

What about topping up reload? I put on reload a week or two ago but I feel it could do with another coat.

Foxhole Norman

edburg wrote: »

Orange????

That not tan or has camera fooled me. It is great looking, reading the orange bit I was expecting bright ford asbo orange seats

It is a tan but it's a very orange tan, I love it!

vintagevrs wrote: »

That E46 is class. Really nice/tasteful mods on it. An Eisenmann exhaust on a diesel, who knew!

Eisenmann was a special order, very rare they do a diesel one. Not much noise difference but looks the business!

Curran

*Kol* wrote: »

What about topping up reload? I put on reload a week or two ago but I feel it could do with another coat.

It shouldnt be needing a top up already if you applied it neat or 1:1.
By any chance are you using something that is interfering with the surface, and thus how water sits on the car. For example, a shampoo with gloss enhancers will become the top layer on the car, and water will react to this, not the Reload, which is beneath, still doing its job in terms of protection, but not in terms of how water beads / how easy it is to keep clean and clean, etc.

What shampoo / snowfoam are you using?

*Kol*

Curran wrote: »

It shouldnt be needing a top up already if you applied it neat or 1:1.
By any chance are you using something that is interfering with the surface, and thus how water sits on the car. For example, a shampoo with gloss enhancers will become the top layer on the car, and water will react to this, not the Reload, which is beneath, still doing its job in terms of protection, but not in terms of how water beads / how easy it is to keep clean and clean, etc.

What shampoo / snowfoam are you using?

Morning. I am using reset. I just feel I used so little of the reload. There is hardly an inch of it gone from the bottle.