Race Valeting

Small world aye, You probably know Darren the owner of the Porsche then? I had a chap from the steel place ask about his Golf....

Thanks, The lads at the garage had to take them off anyway due to a rattle and then weld them back on again Paul

Thanks Martin I wish it was a Porsche workshop, its a local tyre company that the chap owns. Paul

Had this dark blue Porsche 996 cabrio booked in for 3 days to carry out a minor correction detail and also the interior/engine as they were filthy. The car is owned by my friends boss who wanted the car brought back to 'showroom condition' again. The paintwork suffered from some pretty bad scratches/scuff and lots of swirls, and you'll see later on in the thread it was also hiding a lovely purple fleck in the paint too which none of the lads had seen before. On arrival this is what the car looked like, sorry for the poor before shots, didn't have much space/time as I needed it washed and moved inside out the way. Before: The cars wheels were firstly washed using bilberry and a selection of brushes, the arches cleaned with some super de-greaser and the tyres with g101. The lowers of the car was soaked using a citrus de-greaser and left for a few mins to loosen the dirt/grime and then rinsed, followed by all the shuts cleaned using g101 and a swissvax style brush. The car was then foamed using megs hyper wash and left for few mins before rinsing and then followed by a 2bm wash using dodo sp and a z sponge. The car was then dried and taking inside to clay using megs mild clay. Before: Afters: Once the car wash clayed I taped up the necessary items, trims/lights panel gaps etc, this was followed by some paint readings showing on average 120-240um and the front being resprayed and also the driverside rear qtr. The test patch was taped off on the bonnet and started with the makita and a megs polishing pad with menz ip/ff mix, this was the results after 2 hits. Heres some pics of the typical defects: 50/50's The Porsche paint was terrible, thought i'd found a nice combo on the bonnet that worked well, as soon as I got onto the front wing the polish started drying up really quick and clogging the pad, tried fc+/utrafina mix did the same. Ended up using a 4" spot pad with 3m fine cut compound and utrafina se this was nice and didn't dry out due to the oils, the first day 1/2 was spent machining and once all completed it left only the remaining RDS, once the machining was complete the car was given a IPA wipedown followed by some Dodo LP panel at a time, the car was then applied with Dodo Purple haze by hand and left to cure for 30 mins before being buffed. The wheels were then removed so I could remove all the old wheel weights with tardis and then polish isong zaino AIO followed by Zaino CS, the tyres were dressed using megs endurance and the inner arches linnings dressed and shocks/springs cleaned up with the calipers being sealed with zaino cs too. The 2 exhausts tips were taken off to clean/polish as they were covered in tar, Cleaned using tardis and then polished using the britemax twins: The hood was pretty clean just hoovered off and then applied with some 303 fabric guard, the marks are from were it folds up. The engine was dressed using AS Smart Shine via a brush and mf, all the interior plastics in the luggage compartment were dressed with 303 aerospace protectant. Finally the interior which was filthy as the owners chucks loose tyres in the back and you can imagine on light silvers leather the state of them, the whole interior was cleaned using some AG magic sponges, these are my best product for interiors, the leather was then conditioned using gliptone and the matts scrubbed with bio brisk. All the windows were then cleaned and the exterior treated to zaino cs and then the door shuts polished using zaino aio and then waxed using PH and that was job done. Total time 22hrs Finished pics: The car was then parked outside for a few shots. Sorry for the lack of photo's as you can imagine it was a but awkward. Thanks for looking Paul

Thanks, she did come up nice thats for sure just blood hard german paint. I'm currently doing a Carrera S and the paint is a right pig every panel is different. Paul

For the past 2.5 days I've had in this lovely example of the late e39 bmw M5 in carbon black, the car has only just been bought by the new owner who contacted me with regards giving the car some TLC and bringing her back up to standard On first inspection when the car arrived monday morning I thought it didn't look too bad but due to the poor sunlight I was very mistaken..... On arrival: Firstly the wheels were washed using some bilberry wheel cleaner and a selection of brushes, not too bad as they look like they've been refurbed recently, the tyres and arches with megs super de-greaser and rinsed. Next up a citrus wash applied to the lowers to help breakdown any traffic film and grime, this was left for a few mins before rinsing. Snow foam was next this again left for a few mins to help remove some of the remaining dirt, this was then rinsed and followed by a 2bm wash using dodo sp shampoo and a z sponge, this is how she looked after a wash. Next up was claying, today I started off with the autobrite gentle grey but soon had to step up to the aggressive purple clay because of some bad overspray and the rear wings and bootlid. Overspray: Marring from the aggressive clay on the rear wing to remove the overspray The car wash then taped up ready for polsihing and I quickly ran it outside while we had a peak of sunshine to grab some shots. Defects: Then back inside for some halogen light defects :doublesho some lacquer peel on the edge on the front wing so had to be very careful around this and taped it off for safety. Look how dull and pittered the headlights are, these were machined with 2 hits of menz ip on a green 3m cutting pad: Before: 50/50 leftside machined After: Now time for some paint readings on average is was between 120-140 microns and on the bonnet and down the passenger side it was between 190-230 so plently to play with. I knew the paintwork was going to be tough so opted for menz ip/menz ff mix on a megs polishing pad, heres the results after 2 hits: Once all the machining was completed the car was wash dropped with the pw and filtered water to remove and polish and dust etc, while doing this I popped the bonnet and the engine was looking very grubby so soaked in de-greaser and agitated with a selection of brushes and rinsed at low pressure: Before: Afters: Plastics dressed with AS Smart shine and all the metal cleaned up with zaino AIO The car was then run back into the unit and dried using my super plsuh drying towels, patt dry only. The car was then IPA'd to remove any iols left from the polished and then she was ready for the LSP. Todays LSP was going to be a new 1 for me an trial of the britemax sealant that Matt @ i4detailing sent me to try out, it was applied to the whole car and left while I got on and sealed the wheels using zaino cs and dressed the tryes/arches etc. The sealant was then buffed off and must say very happy with the ease of use and look, next up I started with the interior as the owner wanted all the leather cleaned/conditioned with his gliptone twins, the car was firstly hoovered out fully and the seats wiped down with a damp cloth followed by the cleaned which was left for around mins befow removing with a damp cloth again. Once all the leather was cleaned I was time to apply the conditioner via a foam pad and left to seap in the leather, The car has had some leather dye in the past as there was overspray on the seat buckles plus the cleaner was taking the dye out the seats leaving the cracks again:rolleyes: The owner had a new set of matts to be put in to so these were treated to some 303 fabric guard prior to fitting. Finally the exhausts well what can I say spent over 1.5 hrs trying to make these look any better and couldn't find my dremel:devil: there were soak coke'd up looked like they'd never been polished in their life. Finally all the windows cleaned and sealed using zaino cs and the plastis with 303 aerospace protectant, then a quick spritz of the britemax spray detailer left the car looking like this, sorry no sunny after shots the sun was hiding so plenty of brinkmann shots instead. 28 hrs well spent and 1 very happy client, just a pitty the sun didn't come out to play for the owner when he collected and for the after pics too. Thanks for looking and any C & C welcome. Regards Paul

Thanks for the all the comments guys, this has got to be the nicest car i've worked on so far and what I class as true sports car, the sound was unreal. Paul

This car has been booked in for nearly 6 months now and is what I would class as a real sports car. The had a full bareshell restoration just over a year ago now and the owners step son (another detailing hobbiest) spotted the terrible respray bodywork that the restorers had done, Simon then contacted myself as It was going to be a birthday present for his step-father and wanted it tip-top. "My father bought the car in 1964 and gave it to me in 1976 so has been along standing friend. I bit the bullet in 1999 and had the car restored by a firm in Sussex. I only collected the car in September of last year. The paint work was taken back to bare metal and 2 new rear wings were fitted. she has been repainted in Italian Rosso Chiaro. I am not too happy with the paint as you can see some orange peal and some imperfections. they have used 2 pack" It was a nice long treck up from Somerset on saturday for Graham which took just over 4.5hrs and this was how the car looked on arrival. The car was firstly rinsed at low pressure and then foamed except the hood which was in great nick and clean, this was left to dwell for a few mins before being rinsed. Then a 2bm wash using a ***** sponge and some dodo sour power, I left the wheels as these were being removed for polishing anyway plus I had to get a tyre changed and balanced for the owner. The car was then rolled in the unit ready for claying, boy this sounded stunning;) Pitty it didn't look as good as it sounded. Heres a few defects that I spotted out pretty quickly: Paint runs: Overspray all on the front wing: Paint sinkage: Sanding marks, basically all over the car:doublesho Now time for clay, started off with the Autobrite gentle grey clay, this was picking up lots of tar and contaminats but not really touching the severe overspray so stepped up to the aggresive clay, this left some bad marring but wasn't worried as it was all being corrected anyway. Some of the swirls and just a FEW...... The car was then taped up ready for machining, I knew the 2 pack was going to be pretty tough and with all the sanding marks I opted straight away for 3m fc+/untrafina se on a megs polishing pad, most panels were 4-5 hits to achieve a near perfect finish which is what I was after. 50/50's Corrected shots: I spent over 25hrs just machining the paintwork upto a good standard to remove the majority of the sanding marks and defects, I would like to see the car again for some more time next year and get up near concourse condition as it frequently visits shows and is at a private gathering tomorrow down in the west country, and back up to Goodwood Revival in Sept. Once all the correcting work was finished the car was then refined using untrafina on a megs finishing pad, now it was time to gve the car a IPA wipedown to removes the oils ready for the Swissvax Best Of Show to be applied by hand. This was left to cure while I polished the bumpers and chrome bits such as grill headlight surrounds etc using britemax metal polish/sealant, the wax was then buffed after over 2 hrs curing. And now save the best job till last..... the wheels removed 1 by 1 and cleaned using some smart wheels and a swissvax style brush and then polished using the britemax again, each coner took 2.5 hrs to fully polish bringing them from this: To this: And after 10hrs of cleaning the wheels my fingers were numb and felt like falling off and with blisters....... I then gave the cam covers and carb covers a polish but didn't get any pics:wall: The exhausts were polished and the tyres dressed with megs endurance, the hood was hoovered and treated to 303 fabric guard and polsihed the rear screen with megs plasicx to remove some scratches and after 40hrs heres the final results: And finally before: After: Before: After: Thanks for looking and all C & C welcome. Rgds Paul

Megs polishing pad with menz ip and menz ff, brought them up a treat. Its a beauty just wish I had the money to buy it when Kris sells it. Paul

Firstly a little bit of back ground info on the car: Current Spec List: Engine: Perrin Motrosport Front Mount Intercooler. Perrin motorsport Induction kit Forge Atmospheric Ram Dump Valve Greddy Oil Breather Tank Spec-R Oil Filler Cap Spec-R Fuse Box Cover Spec-R Battery Cover Spec-R Alternator Cover RoundSport Brake & Clutch Caps. Forge Motorsport Polished Header Tank Forge Motorsport Polished Power Steering Tank Milsport Polished Thru-flow slam panel cover Samco Red vacuum hose Samco Red Coolant hoses Samco Red Ancillary hoses Walbro 255ltr Motorsport Fuel pump Scoobymania Open neck Decat 3" Downpipe Revolution decat centre section 2.5" Firestorm Backbox Ecutec engine remap by Pat Herborn @ Scoobyclinic Suspension: Eibach Pro-street Coilover Suspension Front & Rear Lowered 40mm Front and Rear E-tech Polished Aluminium Strut Brace. J-Spec Front Lower H-brace Brakes: Black Diamond Grooved and Drilled Discs - Front Black Diamond Grooved and Drilled Discs - Rear EBC Redstuff ceramic Front pads. EBC Redstuff ceramic Rear pads. Wheels: Arospeed RSGT 18"x7.5" - Colour coded white Hancook 225/40/18 Tyres Exterior: Trust Greddy Front Lip Spoiler Oricari Front Grille with modified mesh Oricari Side Skirts Oricari WRC Wing mirrors (Electric) Oricari rear bumper under spoilers OEM STI Front Fog Light Covers WRC S7 2003 rear spoiler Custom Red Subaru Grille badge Rear boot lid Debadged Silvatec rear indicator bulbs Detango'ed front headlights with slivatec bulbs Interior: Sparco foot Pedals Sparco Drivers Foot rest Trust Greddy shift knob (Pearl off white) White Colour Coded Dashboard Trim 2 Gauge a-pillar pod Autogauge Boost Gauge Autogauge Oil Temperature Gauge Autogauge Oil Pressure Gauge Instrument surround with 2 gauge pods Link - Knocklink module and sensor Link - Lambdalink Subaru OEM Dashpod Milsport Polished Sill plates x2 4-point Seat belt harnesses in white (Imported from US) Custom made white leather gear gaiter Custom made white leather door card inserts Custom made decklid housing 7" monitor Custom made boot install. CAR-PC & ICE: Clarion Head Unit DXZ748RMP Infinity 6000cs component speakers Infinity 5000 reference coaxial speakers Infinity 1230 Subwoofer SPL 5 channel 1300W amplifier SPL 2 Channel 150w amplifier Subwoofer enclosure Sound deadening VIA M100000 Motherboard,512MB ram. 40GB 2.5" 5400rpm Hardrive HP slimline DVD rom 200W DC-DC Power supply 12vdc Carnetix power regulator B303 GPS Mouse receiver Linitx 7" TFT-LCD Widescreen VGA Touchscreen monitor 15" TFT Tv Monitor (Not included in sale) Centurian 7" widescreen Monitor Running - Windows XP SP2 Centrafuse - For Music and Video Playback Mapmonkey/Destinator - For GPS SAT NAV PowerDVD - for DVD playback Performance: Conservative 275bhp Car Accolades Shows and Media: SIDC Competitions: SIDC/The FastShow '05 - Best Subaru Of Show SIDC/Japfest '05 - Best Subaru Of Show SIDC/JAPS '05 - Best Modified Impreza SIDC/JAE - Best Modified Impreza SIDC/Trax '05 - Best Modified Impreza SIDC/NBO - Runner-up New Age Modified SIDC/Jap show '06 - Best New Age Concours SIDC/JAPS '06 - Best New Age Concours SIDC/JAE '06 - Best New Age Concours SIDC/Trax '06 - Best New Age Concours SIDC/JAE '07 - Best New Age Concours SIDC/JAE '07 - Best New Age Concours Main Shows: Japshow '05 - Meguiars Best Of Show JAPS '05 - Best Subaru Of Show JAE '05 - Best Subaru Rising Sun Sunday '05 - 2nd in Class (Subaru) Rising Sun Sunday '05 - Best Modified Car of Show Japanese Performance Car Show - Meguiars Best of Show Donnyshow '06 - Autoglym Best in Britain - Best Engine and Bay. JAPS '06 - Best Subaru of Show - Runner-up JAPS '06 - Best Pride of Ownership JAPS '06 - Best of Show JAE '06 - Best Subaru Donny South '06 - Autoglym Best in South 2nd Place Modified Mayhem '06 - Best In Show Performance Tuning & Modified Show '07 - Meguiars - Best Engine Bay Autoglym Best Jap Concours'07 - Best of Show Autoglym Concours D'elegance 1st Rd - Modified & Performance - 2nd Place Car Accolades: The car has been the main feature in Banzai Magazine's August '05 Issue -- front cover and large feature. The car has been the main feature in Japanese Performance Magazine's December '05 Issue -- front cover and large feature. A brief mention in Banzai Magazine July '05 issue, page 36 with 2 pictures, while at Japfest '05. A small picture featured in the Maxpower Magazine supplement called Hardcore - Jap Special, page 11. A small picture in Banzai Magazine's September '05 issue page 74. A large picture of the car taken at the Japanese Performance Car show featured on page 16 of November '05 issue of Japanese Performance magazine. A front cover picture and feature on page 29 in the Subaru Impreza Drivers Club, club magazine Vol 7 Issue 3 September '05. A very small "showing" (5 seconds) in Granada TV's Men & Motor's "Used car Roadshow" that was filmed at JAE '05. It's a feature car in Banzai Magazine's 2006 Calendar, issue 51 January '06. The car has been a feature car in Maxpower magazine -- February 2006 issue. The car is on the front cover of the book "Ultimate Buyers Guide" Subaru Impreza Turbo by Andy Butler. A feature in the "Used Car Roadshow" in one of their modified cars pieces, Epsiode 5 of the last series. Part of detailing feature in the next issue of Total Impreza Magazine Yes a few of you will know the car as Craig Mudds old Subaru WRX, the car was then bought by Kris from the south coast and this detail has be on the cards since christmas so something to really look forward too thats for sure. The car was booked in for a correction detail, engine bay clean up and all the metal work polished, also a good polish on the underneath of the exhaust. Right this was the car on arrival: Firstly the wheels were cleaned using AS Smartwheels and a selection of brushes, the arches were soaked in super de-reaser and rinsed at high pressure, tyres were scrubbed with g101. Next the car was given a citrus pre-soak for the lowers to help remove some of the roam grime and loosen all the dead bugs thn rinsed. Then foamed and left to dwell followed by a 2bm wash using dodo sp and a z sponge. then dried using the i4detailing uber plush towels and some megs lt There was a bit of dull sunlight bit it still showed up the swirling that was on the car so quickly grabbed a few pics: the car was then brought inside to clay usin autobrite grey gentle clay. During: After: The car was then all masked up ready for polishing but now most of the previous protection was removed it showed the true extent of the paintworks real defects. Then all of a sudden heard this :doublesho For polishing it was the usual case with Subaru's of bloody horrible sticky paintwork so had to try a few different combinations before I was happy. Correction work: Makita, Elitecarcare Cuttin pad with a mixture of Menz IP 3.02 & Menz FF RD85. Finishing work: G220 and the black LC finishing pad with 3m ultrafina se. A little 50/50 test patch: Lights before: After: Looking better already: One all the correction work was finished the cars paintowrk was then refined with the 3m ultrafina se combo (2 days) On return in the morning the car was given a IPA wipedown 50/50 mix with distilled water to help remove all the oils from the polishing stage and get a perfect bonding surface for the Swissvax Best of Show. Here is the car with its 1st coat of SV curing: while the wax was curing the windows were cleaned using megs glass cleaner and some glass cloths, they were then sealed using Zaino CS. The tyres were dressed using 2x coats of megs endurance and the wheels sealed using Zaino CS. The wax was then buffed off after around 45 mins leaving the car looking like this. I then started to polish the engine bay and there was LOTS to polish too, I used the 2 stage britemax polish/sealant. Engine bay befores: notice all the horrible water ethings on the metal work, mainly from the bonnet scoop. After 3.5 hrs of polishing and sealing she looked like this: All the underneath of the bonnet and the shut/metal work was all wax with sv too, the hose were leaned and dressed with AS smart shine. Finally the following day I popped back to applied the last 2nd coat of BOS and get under the car on axle stands and polish the exhaust using again the britemax 2 stage polish/sealant. Some final pics hope you all enjoy, and Craig if your reading a stunning car mate that you've built here hope your proud that she looks top notch again. And the final touch, had my friend make me up some stickers for the rear windows to replace Craigs old 1's. Total time around 30hrs All comments welcome as usual. Paul

Thanks Craig Yeah she's not in bad shape consider the soft paint, Kris said he hasn't polished her in 6 mths he did srp followed by egp but seemed to be holding up ok. Looking forward to getting cracking on it tomorrow now. Paul

Hi Craig The car has picked up a fair amount of swirls in the time Kris has had it, its just when I was taking a look round at the paintwork I noticed the top of the spoiler had like water drops underneath the lacquer, i'll get some pics tomorrow. It is a stunning car though can't believe its being used as a daily driver know though.... I've been using the britemax 2 stage metal polish/sealant today sorting out the engine bay as the majority of the chrome/stainless was pittered with watermarks/etching, coming up lovely though. after a few hrs polishing These are the typical swirls on the car: Had a little test patch Will be cracking on with the maching tomorrow. Atb Paul

Some top advice there Craig. Im currently working on your old Scooby, Kris dropped it off to me last night, its in for a full correction/engine/underneath its a stunning car mate and if the 350z is anything like this hats off to you mate. P.s was the paint on the spoiler all bubbly like water drops had been painted over??? Paul

lovely jubbly Peter..... looks stunning. Paul

Sorry for the lack of write ups lately folks been so busy over the past few weeks. I had booked in a dark blue Audi TT, on inspection of the car it was obvious the car suffered some heavy swirling and lots of RDS too, the passenger side suffering from the usual brush scratches and scuffs, the owner also said the car suffered pretty bad holograms/marring in the direct sunlight. This was the car on arrival: No pictures of the wash stage but the wheels were cleaned using AS Smart wheels and a selection of brushes, the tyres and arches were cleaned using g101. All the shuts were cleaned using g101 and a swissvax style brush. The lowers were then pre washed using citrus de-greaser and then rinsed, the car was then foamed and left to dwell for 10 mins. Wash using 2bm and a z sponge and dodo SP, the car was then rolled into the unit to be dried using uber drying towel and megs lt. Out with the lamps to inspect the paintwork. Now onto the clay stage, I used AB fine clay and megs lt as a lube. Before: During: After door and rear wing: Once all the claying was done the car was rolled outside again as the sun was shining nice and bright to show the true defects: Then run back inside and taped up ready for some paint readings, on avergare they were pretty healthy driverside had been resprayed and was showing 210+ where as the rest of the car was between 90-135 microns on average. I then got the makita out and got ready to start polishing, my first combo was megs polishing pad and menz ip 3.02 this did hardly anything so then went for a elitecarcare orange cutting pad again with menz ip, this was working lovely and slowing knocking back the defects, the swirls were mainly removed with the first hit, but the RDS were taking 3 hits to remove 95% of them, only the really deep ones remained. 50/50's Corrected shots: Out in the sun to check my work, all the compounding done and now to be finished down with 3m ultrafina se on a black LC finishing pad. Some shots once finishing had be done, thats looks much better now. The car was then taking back in to have a IPA wipedown, and then to follow was a coat of swissvax BOS this was applied to the whole car inc shuts left to cure for 30 mins then buffed. Then the arches dressed with smart shine, tyres with megs endurance, wheels sealed with zaino CS, the glass cleaned and sealed again with zaino cs. The exhausts polished with and sealed with britemax 2 stage polish/sealant, all exterior plastics was dressed with 303 aerospace protectant. 50/50 of grill: Finished shots: Time taken was 26hrs. Finally before: After: Owner was over the moon with the car and the first place they took it was Audi to part-ex it in for a a4 cab:doublesho I bet they got a good price trade in though as its very low miles 30k iirc. All comments welcome thanks for looking Paul

That is stunning Tim, good luck with the comp. god knows what the price tag of that is..... I've got a red xk150 to prep for Goodwood revival next month really looking forward to it now.

I asked the owner if he wanted it removing but he said just leave as the person buying may want to go abroad..... More likely it was hiding something, as it was all bubbled under the sticker. Yes the scratches were removed/filled with the polish.

Today I had booked in for a full valet as the car has been sold and the chap wanted it having a good clean up. I didn't quote/inspect the car prior to taking it in today and boy was it a shock:doublesho:doublesho:doublesho The car had a few scratches also that the owner wanted me to see what I could do with. On arrival: Firstly the washes and arches washed using AS smart wheels and AS G101, the car was then pre washed on the lowers with citrus de-greaser and then rinsed. The car was then foamed and then 2bm wash and the run into the unit and dried using miracle drying and last touch. This is how the paintwork looked under the brinkmann: :doublesho:doublesho:doublesho I started with the front wing and some AG SRP by hand, this did hardly anything so opted for a quick buzz over with the makita. 50/50's After all the machining was done the car was given some AG super resin polish 2. Then the tyres and arches dressed, the interior fully hoover, the plastics clean dressed with 303 and the leather gliptone. Finally the glass cleaned and the exhausts polished. Heres the finished car, don't forget it was just a full valet, not a correction but I couldn't have the car looking like that on return. Brinkmann shots: Engine shots it was given a quick wipedown and then dressed with 303: And finally before: After: Total time was 6.5 hrs

working work, a fair bit of difference thats for sure. Paul

Stew I can't believe i've never bought the products before, I was truely amazed with the gloss wettness. Think PB will be getting a order from me soon.

This has been a on going detail throughout this week, the car was dropped off to the unit monday afternoon and was booked in for a Full Correction and Interior Detail plus engine tidy up, the owner insisted on my using his blackfire range as this is what he normally looks after the car with. The car is a stunning example and highly modified too running just over 400bhp, soon having new injectors to boost the power that bit more. Here is the car on arrival: First up the car was given a citrus wash on the lowers to remove some traffic film, this was left for a few mins then rinsed. Next up the car was foamed with a APC mix to help strip some of the protection already on the vehicle, left to dwell for 10 mins then rinsed. The car was then washed using 2bm and a zymo l sponge then rinsed with some DI water. Then run into the unit and dried using dodo supernatural drying towel and last touch. The car was then to have the wheels removed and the arches cleaned/dressed and the wheels fully cleaned polished using zaino AIO and then sealed using Zaino cs, I had to make a makeshift ramp so I could get the trolley jack under the car as it was that low :doublesho Befores: Afters: Wheels before: Afters: While I had it on the axle stands for the rear arches I made well and tackled the exhaust with britemax 2 stage polish and sealant. Heres a few 50/50's the diff guard was also polished. The car was then clayed using some mild autobrite clay and last touch as lube. was pretty clean and well looked after: I was claying panel at a time and drying afterwards ready for paint inspection. Paint reading were taken and mostly around 100 microns but some places were down as low as 85 on places on the bonnet and the passenger side so pretty light with these areas. Heres the paintwork under the brinkamnn: Some halogen shots before and after and also 50/50's The machining was done in a 2 stage process: I finally settled for the following after trying many combos but the usual sticky scooby paint was prooving to be a PITA yet again... Megs polishing pad and megs 83 black lc finishing pad and 3m untrafina se before: after: before: after: before and notice the marks from where its been de-badged: 50/50 before: after: 50/50's This was the car at the end of yesterday after all the machining was complete. Today it was a job of the interior, engine bay applying the Blackfire paint protection sealant which was left for 8 hrs to cure, while I was waiting I got on and hoovered the interior and gave the dash and plastics a wipedown, the glass was cleaned inside and out, the door/boot/bonnet shut was also given some blackfire PP. The engine bay was given a wipedown and the metal polished on the strut brace and other metal pieces with the britemax metal polishes, the hoses and plastics were dressed with AS Smart Shine. After: Then in th mean time I had to do a mini valet on the father-in-laws Saab 93, I also had a chap pop by with a nice Aplina B12 and asked if I could help him with fitting a bootlip spoiler, after about 20 mins playing around setting in up with tape etc we had it sorted. He saw what I was doing to the scooby and was amazed and said he wants his Alpina doing so will be in touch soon so happy days. Now back to the scooby and applying the Blackfire Midnight Sun wax, this was applied panel at a time and buffed, I am amazed with these products we can see the finsh just get deep and more gloss by the second, A must on my shopping list. So finished shots: wheels and tyres all finished and dressed using megs endurance. some outside shots, bloody cloudy but hoping to have sun tomorrow and get a video and another layer of wax before its collected. This has been a very enjoyable detail and alot of blood sweat and tears well nearly anyway while doing the arches ouch knuckles.... Thanks for looking and all comments welcome. Paul

Catching up on write ups this was from the weekend, the car was booked in for 2 days for a full correction detail and engine bay. The car was pretty tidy on arrival just light swirls and a few scratches to touch up plus the usual dealer polish resideu for the lifeshine they applied. Firstly the wheels were washed using as smartwheels and a selection of brushes, the fronts needed 3 washes to get fully cleaned as there was some stubburn dirt/brake dust. The exterior badges and shuts were cleaned using g101 and a swissvax style brush, next up a apc foam and left to dwell for 5 mins before rinsing, then washed 2bm with dodo sp and z sponge then rinsed using di water and then run into the unit to dry using time to dry and a miracle drying towel. next up the car was clayed using zaino: Onced all clayed I then took some paint readings, on average it was 110-140 with some parts down to 88 on the rear arches were there was event of a previous repair the front arch had readings of nearly 180 so manybe some paint there also... Now time to look at the defects with the halogens, bonnet was pretty bad with lots of deep RDS. some brinkmann shots of the bonnet I hit the boonet with some menz ip and menz ff on a yellow lc pad and was achieving these results After the bonnet I then got started with the rest of the car I then stepped down to a black lc polishing pad with the same menz combo. sunligh 50/50 and defects: also some evident of holograms too on the rear qrter and bootlid: some corrected shots in the sun yet to be lsp'd The car was then taken back into the unit for the ipa wipedown to remove the oils from the polishes, then it was time for the 1st coat dodo ph left to cure for 20 mins then buffed off and then home time. The next morning it was time to tidy things up another coat of ph and clean/dress engine bay: while that was left to cure I cleaned/dressed the engine bay using 303 aerospace protectant, the wheels were sealed using zaino cs and the tyres dressed using megs endurance and arches with flair. All the plastics were dressed with raceglaze colour enhance dressing, the trim and metal polished and sealed with zaino cs. And a final z8 wipedown before the owner collected. a few finished shots inside before taken out for the outside pics: Now the outside shots with some arty pics: My favourite pic has to be this 1: Total time taken was around 18 hrs Thanks for looking Paul

Hi Chaps sorry for the lack of write ups this week been so busy only just had 2hrs spare to do a write up. This was a brand new BMW 330d that the client had only collected from the dealers on the friday and has only covered 120 miles. The client was tempted with having the supaguard treatment from the dealers until he saw the monkeys that would be applying it..... then he contacted me for a new car details inc engine and interior. This was the car on arrival @ 8am this morning. Firstly the wheels were cleaned using some warm g101 and a selection of brushes, the arches and tyres cleaned using megs super de-greaser. Next up was a citrus soak for the lowers and left for 5 mins then rinsed, this was followed by a APC foam to help strip the transportation wax. While this was dwelling I popped the bonnet and with some apc and a swissvax style detailing brush removed the transportation wax and gave the engine a wipe wash, also the door/boot shut plus the fuel cap. Next up was a 2bm wash using dodo SP shampoo and a z sponge and rinsed. Then rolled inside to get dried and inspect the paintwork. The car wash in very good condition paintwork wise as the onwer had asked for minimal work, so I then started to clay using zaino which removed very little indeed. Next up was Zaino AIO applied via microfibre applicator and buffed, next up was a layer of zaino z1 and left to haze before applying a coat of zaino z5 pro car polish. Next up was the 1st layer of z2 this was left for 20mins before buffing while I zaino cs the wheels, next the 2nd layer of z2 including door shuts left again for 20 mins while I dressed the engine bay with 303 aerospace protectant then went back and buffed the z2. She was looking very slick already and the metallic fleck really beginning to pop with the sealant, so applied a 3rd and final layer while this was curing I hoovered the interior and then applied some 303 fabric to all the carpets and mats, this was applied in 3 coats and then all the leather cleaned/conditioned with gliptone, the plastics and interior trim treated with 303 aerospace protectant, then buffed off the 3rd layer of z2. Wheels all cleaned and sealed and tyres/arches dressed: As the owner's request he wanted the sealant topped with some Swissvax so my choice for the day was Saphir this was applied to the whole vehcile and left for 20 mins while I cleaned the windows dressed the tyres with megs endurance and then finally sealed the glass and exterior trim with zaino cs. And finally some finished pics, sorry for the poor light outside the sun was hiding... Some nice flake pop: Thanks for looking Paul Total time taken was 10 hrs

Hi Nick To be fair it didn't look too bad with all the previous wax etc on the car as it covered/masked a few of the marks, It is show on the A8 OC stand at a few shows throughout the year but the owner wanted it profesionally detailed as he couldn't quite get the results with the PC. Paul

Its not too bad actually, I tend to use the sonus quite abit both the green/grey but am pretty short so been using my zaino. The swissvax paint rubber is similar to the polyclay is it not??? Paul