Today I did some detailing...

vectra wrote: »

I feel you will get better durability by applying 845 directly to the paint.
Blacklight will shorten the durability.

Ok thanks for that.

Quick bit of oxidation removal as a test on an E60 I'll be enhancing soon. This was more than likely caused by TFR left to dry on the surface. It's on all the trim which is shadowline gloss black.

Before:



After:



It's not 100% yet but a huge improvement.

In that case then it's just oxidation from the sun. No wax or coating of any sort could cause that.

There's also a LOT of suncream/oily fingerprints all over the car.

DA and Chemical Guys V36. It needs a going over of V38 to get the clarity.

Well, I'm finished the two cars finally! Buckle up, its going to be a long one.............

Process was

• Rinsed down with water
• Snowfoamed with Bilt Hamber Autofoam (I don't like a very thick foam but I can't remember the ratios used)
• Rinsed off
• 2BM wash with BH autowash
• Dried
• An application (or three) of CarPro Tar-X (The feckin' Leon was half black!)
• Washed again
• BH Korrisol applied, left for 4 minutes or so and washed off
• Detarred with a mix of CarPro Claycloth, DnD Detailing Clay (medium strength I think) and CarPro Immolube diluted down
• Washed again
• CarPro Eraser applied and the car shoved into the garage
• DA polish with Chemical V36 on Hexlogic Green and V38 on HexLogic Black
• Wiped down again with CarPro Eraser
• Left for 24 hours for the residue to flash off
• CarPro Reload applied

Wheels & Tyres were done in the same fashion but sealed with Collinite 845 (the last of what was in the bottle) and tyres with CarPro PERL 1:1 in water.

Trim was done with CarPro PERL 1:3 water, glass with CarPro Eraser and IPA, under bonnet with CarPro PERL 1:3 water. Interior with BH Surfix 1:5 water and 50Cal Precision interior dressing.

Foaming the Leon (and ya, the foam is going brown around the wheel!)




The Tar on the Leon. Yes Tar-X Shifted it!




Evidence of the materials used............




Finished Leon





MM, the reason I asked you about how you tackled the gloss trim was that when I shone the light over the Leon, I saw I had marks on my trim (it would pass the 2 foot rule under normal light, but not a flashlight). I tackled it with the V36 on Green and V38 on Black, the same as the paint. I sealed it then with the Reload.

Before


After polishing and before sealing


The Octavia was tackled in the same fashion as above.

After decontamination and before Polishing shot. It wasn't too bad really......



After DA polish as above






Ya the wheels/tyres were finished off after the above photos were taken.......

I think I can breathe now, except there's something lurking in the background that's next on the hit-list............

Great jobs Ian!

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

Nice work Ian! You still have swirl marks on those black door trims, they're a pain in the arse to get perfect but the best option is with a heavy cut pad with V38.

Ya I know, but most are gone. For a first attempt I'm happy enough as it was my first time tackling then so didn't go too mad with the machine.

Thanks for the heads up on that pad recommendation. Unfortunately, the heaviest pad I have is the Hex-Logic Green (heavy polish). Ah well, an excuse to go shopping......

First time I've washed the car in close to 4 months.

Quick hoover all around followed by a quick windscreen clean. Tackled the armrest/door fabrics with interior shampoo as well as a wipe down of the plastics. There was some coffee droplets around the cupholder that are finally gone. Gave the pedals and foot rests much needed clean too. Aside from hoovering that's the first clean the interior fabrics have gotten!

Wheel clean, snow foam and a 2 bucket wash. Tackled all the door sills and interior of the doors too. Windscreen clayed and tyres dressed.

No pictures as dirt didn't show up well, plenty of dirty splatter from the recent rain. No wax or anything so nothing particularly shiny.

She's looking well and I'm happy to be able to wash it again

everlast75 wrote: »

Quick/basic question folks.

What is the best way of cleaning the inside windows? Paper? cloth?

Microfiber towel.

I have a waffle microfiber cloth. I'll use a regular microfiber for the first/second pass for dirt and grease, the waffle one to to do a proper clean then my microfiber mitt to dry off.

Good uncle! What a great first car.

I started the enhancement detail on that E60 over the weekend. Washed, clayed, washed on Saturday and started the polishing yesterday.

50:50 of the bonnet:



And a before and after of the roof vs C pillar. Lots of suncream/oily fingerprints all over the place but you can see just how much deeper a colour the paint is once polished:



I still have the front and rear bumpers to do although I won't be doing much with the front as there's lacquer peel and the whole thing is in need of a respray anyway. After that I'll be polishing the exterior glass with cerium oxide and a rayon pad then it's a wash, dry, IPA wipewdown and application of Gtechniq G1 and C2V3.

Products used: Chemical Guys yellow pad with V36 polish followed by green pad and V38. Might have to use V32 on yellow pad for the bonnet's second pass but will see.

Cheers Wailin. It's nice to have a finished product where the difference is night and day. Makes it worth the effort

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

I started the enhancement detail on that E60 over the weekend. Washed, clayed, washed on Saturday and started the polishing yesterday.

50:50 of the bonnet:



And a before and after of the roof vs C pillar. Lots of suncream/oily fingerprints all over the place but you can see just how much deeper a colour the paint is once polished:


I still have the front and rear bumpers to do although I won't be doing much with the front as there's lacquer peel and the whole thing is in need of a respray anyway. After that I'll be polishing the exterior glass with cerium oxide and a rayon pad then it's a wash, dry, IPA wipewdown and application of Gtechniq G1 and C2V3.

Products used: Chemical Guys yellow pad with V36 polish followed by green pad and V38. Might have to use V32 on yellow pad for the bonnet's second pass but will see.

What do you use to get rid of the finger and hand prints?

Washed my E60 today and was hoping that might do it but they are all still there.

I still need to clay the car, would that remove the hand prints too?

Claying doesn't help at all actually. I clayed that E60 thoroughly and it made not a blind bit of difference. What worked and always works is the D/A and cutting polish.