Today I did some detailing...

So still somewhat of a work in progress because there's only 1 layer of fusso on it but here's the photos from the other day.

Process was:
The usual decontamination
Compound (M105)
Polish (M205)
Wash (to remove any dust in crevices)
IPA wipedown
Fusso (more coats to come)
Wheels 2 coats of collinite 476s


Before:




And After:











And bonus points for the car in the reflection



So I didn't get to do the paint correction in the unit I usually use and had to make do with the back of the house, honestly I've no idea how anyone does it outside :-D

Any criticism of my photos will be appreciated, I think they need some work.

edburg wrote: »

Bonus point answer, its a BMW.

Black one looks good to, shiney black cars just give so much satisfaction when done.

It's not actually black ;-) it's a dark grey noticed that the pictures aren't great

Good work!

Colour of the BMW, I believe is Sparkling Graphite. The one in the reflection is an E30; hard to tell, and early version - Tech 1?

Critique of the photos - Detailing or Photography stand point?? I'll assume you mean Detailing...and Im sure you know this (from your pictures of interior trim posted earler), but also for the benefit of other readers.

You say you machine polished the car, but there is nothing to show this. One could assume, you simply washed the car, put on some QD and took a few pictures down the length of the car, except the last picture.
Its very easy to make a car look very glossy looking or perfect reflections, by taking pictures down the length of it, its not a fair representation. Also, even with head on pictures, such as the last one, if the point of focus isnt on the paintwork, its not showing a true representation either.
A 'before' picture showing wash damage, and an 'after' picture showing corrected paintwork would be far more impressive. These should be taken with a light source shining directly onto the paintwork, and the image taken from the same place; or a 50:50 saves time as its one photo






An image taken direction at the paintwork, with a light source shining away from the paintwork, reflecting on a wall, will also mask any paint defects.
Taking pictures is a painful job, and very time consuming, both during the work, and afterwards to document.
With all above said, there's only a need to take it on board if you plan to build a portfolio, otherwise, just get out there and enjoy doing the work!! One or two before and afters are always nice though!!

From a photography stand point - images are under exposed, but we know that because people seen a black car and not a grey car! :P

Car appears to have gotten a nice turn around, so keep up the good work!

Curran wrote: »

Good work!

Colour of the BMW, I believe is Sparkling Graphite. The one in the reflection is an E30; hard to tell, and early version - Tech 1?

It's an E30 alright but it's a face-lift without a tech 2 kit and it looks like the front bumper is off.
I've never seen a 2 door in that colour so I'm going to guess that it's a convertible?

Arbo94 wrote: »

After:

Great result, would the shinemate be safe to use on clear plastic? Like the clear sheet that covers the speedo? I have some scuffs infront of my speedo after a steering column repair.

Voodoomelon wrote: »

Great result, would the shinemate be safe to use on clear plastic? Like the clear sheet that covers the speedo? I have some scuffs infront of my speedo after a steering column repair.

I removed the clocks from my sons Toledo one time and gave them a quick once over with the normal DA
It made a big improvement on them,
I can only imagine if I spent longer at them, they would have been 100%. So to answer the question, I would say perfectly safe to use.

Should I leave it 24 hours between coats of king of gloss too? Or is is fine to top fusso straight away?

wash x2 bilt hamber
DA Polish carpro refect
finish with hydro2

happy with results as the car was filthy and had zero protection since i left it so long to wash it.

plenty on here can relate..

Great job! I went to wash the car yesterday but on walking from the back door to the shed to get the pressure washer I decided it was far too cold:D It was bitterly cold.

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

Yeah it was incredibly cold but I couldn't turn down the challenge! I put on 4 layers, earphones in, metal on and worked away

Those pics are actually proof as to why I love BH AutoWheel. Spray on, let dwell and powerwash off and you get that finish. I did absolutely no scrubbing or rubbing of any kind to clean the wheels.

Safe to use Autowheel with every single wash?

Picked up my first bottle a while back and have used it twice. Its deadly stuff, always clean in behind the spokes though.

Yes it is definitely safe to use for every wash, but if you are using it on a regular basis, say a weekly wash, it's a bit overkill. I'd use it on the wheels once a month to keep them tip top and a regular wheel cleanwe for washes in between.

If you feel as though they need it, be at ease in the knowledge it's doing your wheels no harm anyways!

I like 50Cal Retaliate; works well diluted at 10:1
Same premises, though a move is closing in; hoping to have everything wrapped up on Wed, and move next week; so same place for Saturday anyways!

punisher5112 wrote: »

Where you moving?

Not far, the other side of the N3 and near the Blanchardstown Centre....Coolmine Ind Est.