(obssesive car cleaning). I've decided to create a post outlining everything i am doing so anyone who is interested can read and maybe pick up some ideas and hopefully give me some back =]Paint Correction and ProtectionFirst thing on day 1Right, the first thing I needed to do was sort out all this stuff I had generally been acquiring over the last few months it was now that I realised why my credit card statement was more than usual!
=]
On to the car .
Car as is pre detail
Having had the car around 4 or 5 months now it still had only had general two bucket method washes, as I was anticipating doing this when I had all the right bits
The condition of the car was good when purchased, the importer has carried out some spray work on the passenger side to fix a dent, however it was an ok job but I was aware that some places hadnt been polished out properly as there was still evidence of heavy buffer trails on the drivers side front wing and orange peel on the drivers side rear wing.
This I aimed to improve.
The wheels had had some major attention two weeks prior to this
(see below) to free them from stubborn brake dust. They had been treated to some SRP and Poorboys wheel sealant. However, they had already picked up some new brake dust! YAY!!!Wash Process
We started by pressure washing rinsing the car
and giving it a good soak with an APC foamy mix. This was worked into crevices, panel gaps, under petrol filler, shuts etc with additional spray of APC where necessary. Car was left to dwell then rinsed.Next was a good thick Snowfoam mix leaving to dwell for 6 or 7 minutes
After 5 mins
The next stage was the typical wash clay wash routine using
1.
Two bucket method wash with BiltHamber shampoo and Sheepskin Mitt.2.
Clayed using BiltHamber AutoClay with water and a dash of shampoo for lube.3.
Rinsed as two bucket method wash as abover again.4.
Dried using Large Big Thirsty drying towel from cleanyourcar.co.ukNow it was ready to go into the garage for inspection and taping up It was early evening by now
(we had squeezed in a protection detail on a Saab for a family friend during the afternoon!)
I really like the angle of this shot have made a mental note for some arty finished images!
=]Inspection
With the car in the garage and it being quite late, we knew we couldnt stay up too with the G220 whirring away keeping up the neighbours We concentrated on finding a good combination by testing on the boot lid.
Please note we were not using a PTG reader, this may explain if we seem a little cautious.With the spoiler removed and the twin work lights pointing down, we were displayed with a complete mess! Marring, swirling and RDSs GREAT!.
... never one to turn down a challenge though
Starting on the low end of the scale we tried Menzerna 106FA final finish with a Menzerna Polishing pad to produce this
A vast improvement but still had quite a few marks on it we wanted to try a bit more intense without overdoing it to see exactly what we could achieve
We ended up settling with Menzerna Intensive Polish on a Menzerna Cutting pad and refining with Menzerna Final Finish P0 85 on a Meguiars soft buff pad.
We were happy with the result
Intensive Polish being applied .
. The result
at this point we packed up for the evening and enjoyed the rest of our cans and made ourselves away of all the work to be done the next day!
Day 2
We cracked straight to it by 8am; first of all setting up lights and inspecting parts of the car .
More typical swirling found around the car
(finished boot lid in background! =] )
Defects on the bonnet
Corrected this photo does disappoint me though, as it doesnt really pick up the correction that well also the vast amount of chips that appeared from correction ruins it! Arrghhh!
Bonnet again .
Careful .
. men at work
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Jim seeing to the front wing
Myself buffing away
Car post correction
The correction and refining was completed and the car was moved out of the garage for another foam and TBM wash to get rid of dust and allow the application of the finishing products
Post correction, no LSP.
As above plus TBM wash
(horrible dull day! =[)I think we managed to achieve about 80% correction.
All that remains now are some deeper RDSs and some orange peel. I should be able to get hold of a PTG soon. Hopefully this will dictate what further action I can take on the car to improve her even more
Finished car in garage
The car was then treated to a coat of Clearkote Vanilla Moose Hand Glaze applied by machine at speed 3 and buffed off by hand.
To finish was Victoria Concours Wax.
I was really excited about using this. I applied it by the palms of my hands, and I must say this was an absolute pleasure, I felt like I could get every nook and cranny. And the best bit was the shine it brought out in the car
One very happy customer me
=]
. Enjoy!
And to finish my favourite three nice reflection shots!
WHEELSThe wheels that are on my 2 i have grown to adore, they're gorgeous! TRDs that weigh about the same as a feather! Anyway, since imported that have always been plastered in really really stubborn brake dust.
After trying out many different wheels cleaners and acids
(wonder wheels etc) i was a bit dis heartened and decided only a refurb would sort them out.Wheels before:
Reading on another forum then gave me the attitude that i may aswell try somethign radical to clean them up.
So off i went to B&Q for some 'Brick Acid' 
Used neat this stuff gradually shifted all the muck.
about 4 hours of scrubbing and soaking later, the front two wheels were clean. Fortunately, the rears are ok 
To finish the wheels i used a meguiars paint cleaner to prepare the wheel surface and then layered on some AutoGlym Super Resin Polish
(SRP), this was then buffed off. To keep the wheels looking nice and also help repel muck and make cleaning them in the future easier, they were then treated to 3 layers of poorboys Wheel Sealent (pink stuff that smells great! )The tyres were dressed in Meguiars endurance tire gel with a special plastic handled applicator.
Anyway, here are the afters.
I'm really chuffed with the results and am looking forward to making the rest of the car as clean as the wheels!
Ben
*please note that strong acids arn't ideal for regular cleaning of wheels, this was an extreme measure!
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