Today I did some detailing...

Curran wrote: »

Is just the bonnet or are the tops of the wings or the roof the same?

HI Curran, the top of the wings are ok, you can see it in the picture too. Its mainly the bonnet which is dull / hazy.

Curran wrote: »

I'm mean the 1" or 2" of the wing that would be on the same level as the bonnet. ...if that makes sense

I know what you mean, I think that part is ok but I'll double check later on.

vintagevrs wrote:

I might be wrong but what I think Curran is asking is are the parts of the wing close to the bonnet and therefore exposed to similar elements the same, or is there a noticeable difference in that the wings are much better? If so maybe the paint has been used on your bonnet in the past.

Yeh i get that. I bought the car new 2 years ago so it's definitely not painted.

The top edge of wings is ok so it's mainly the bonnet which is a bit dull. What can i do to bring it to the same level as the rest of the car?

Curran wrote: »

I'd assume that a quick routine will bring it up - wash, de-iron, clay, wash, dry, a bit of a hand polish (not sure if SRP will be effective enough, but try it) and then re-seal it.

Thanks Curran. I will give it a go. is Korrosol (the one used for alloys) is a de-ironing product ?

I wonder would it need a bit of Machine polishing?

vectra wrote:

I wonder would it need a bit of Machine polishing?

It probably does but as i don't have access to one i will give hand polishing a go 1st.

Just did a quick wash on my car and Da's car. Two bucket wash with AG shampoo, Bilt-Hamber Autowheels and Wheel Woolies, dry with a Dry-me-Crazy and finish with a wash of the door shuts. No pics as its not really a detail.

I was going to do the tyres and glass, but "someone" has a flat tyre that needs sorting. I'll do the interiors tomorrow.......

Blaming the cat again because you couldn't hold back with the Brillo pad?!

YbFocus wrote: »

Is that Steve hiding away in the reflection

Yep :pac: he's back from Poland now to terrorise us

With this ceramic coating, do you have to machine polish the paintwork before (or after) the ceramic application step? or does the liquid ceramic fill in all the swirls and light scratches anyway?


Machine polish prior to application to ensure best possible finish.



How long will the ceramic last, and can it be machine polished when swirls begin to show ... or is the point of ceramic that it's such a bad-ass coating that it essentially doesn't swirl or scratch and therefore negates the need for polishing?


I have a coating on my car with almost 11 months now and it is still holding up as good as day one.

I believe nothing will prevent swirls if you have a bad wash routine.

On saying that I do not believe it is possible to keep a car 100% swirl free.
Only last week I inspected my car under lighting and I could possibly count the amount of ( extremely light ) swilrs on 10 fingers.
I was pleasently surprised.
This week I must do a maintanence wash.

There is no need to be polished / waxed as long as it is effective.

There are maintanence sprays to "Top up " the caoting which is basically a misting of product and wipe of every so often.

It has made my life so much easier.
On another note the only way I can describe it is Live it it give the car a "slippery surface" and ther dirt literally runs off the car in the rain.

Whereas wax is like a " grease" that attracts dirt and dust which sticks to the surface and come wash time "could" get caught in the wash mitt and get dragged across the paintwork




sorry, ceramic coatings are all new to me. I'll go google the rest of the questions I have

I know of a guy in Melbourne that does detailing and as far as I am aware supplies ceramic coatings, You could paybe contact him?

Hope this helps.

Car recently cleaned with ODK Jet shampoo and finished off with ODK entourage - both sample sizes. Particularly impressed with the entourage, it goes on and buffs really easy and gives great beading.

I spent this afternoon cleaning the car. It was my first time using Iron X and clay, I'm extremely impressed with them both.

I treated the wheels with Iron X first, the effects were immediate with huge purple streaks running off them. Some light agitation and blast of the hose left them clean as a whistle. I washed, rinsed and dried the car. Then I de-ironed it, followed by another rinse.

Then came time for my first venture into the world of clay. After doing some research I decided to use a G3 clay mitt. I let is soak in a bucket of warm water and AG shampoo while I filled a spray bottle with a similar mixture but with a higher ratio of shampoo to use as lubricant. I started with the bonnet which was pretty bad. Seven or eight passes with the mitt, applying light pressure, had the paint smooth as glass. The car's 5 years old and I doubt the previous owner ever took more than a dirty sponge to it, so it took over 40mins to clay the whole car. The roof was particularly bad. The car is black so it's hard to see the contamination, but I was genuinely surprised with how much was on it. Thankfully it's silky smooth now:)

Another wash, rinse and dry and I was done. The car's going in for a paint correction and wheel refurb on Monday so no polishing or waxing to be done by me today. Even without any, it's looking really good. I can't wait to get it back and see it sparkle once I've a couple of coats of HD wax on it.