Envy Valeting

1st off have got home and the pictures are $hite! Colour doesnt look as good as it did...yeah yeah I hear you say, see for yourselves:) 2 days on this 58 plate C63 AMG, had this booked a while and couldn't wait. Just back from a trackday and the tyres were more than slightly worn and it also needed some love. A story of few words today, but any questions ask away. Main core products used Swissvax after the correction stage. A thorough once over with the PC to sharpen up the reflections and Crystal Rock as LSP. Nothings safe around here! New rubber fitted. Orange pad and worked at speed 5 on the pc. No probs with the pad once loaded up with product Right of bulge done, LH not. Spot any difference? End of day 1, day 2 saw bumpers and skirts finished. Wax time. Apologies again for the substandard pics, she really did look amazing... Tim

Told ya

A paint correction detail on this lovely M3. Washed in the usual way, wheels 1st then pre rinse and SSF All done De-tarred with tardis, a quick look at the paint before claying Great paint readings all over, this was the highest. All original paint. Used a lot of blue tape today Being BMW just went straight to 3m FCP and Ultrafina and a megs polishing pad, no messing. Not refined yet... I was getting very cheerful by now as it was correcting with 2 hits on average per panel (bonnet needed 3) and it was so nice to do. It reminded me of the CSL I did at the end of 2008. That was nice to correct too. All corrected it was time to de-dust and the IPA wipe down, and a quick cleanse with Swissvax CF normal by hand in preparation for the Blau-Weiss. Enjoy the afters, glass was cleaned, tyres dressed and exhausts buffed. The money shots Blau-Weiss feedback? Well very soft, easy to load up the foam pad. The same easy on/off that you get with Crystal Rock, and as nice as Scuderia. A :thumb: to the wax from me. Best wishes Tim

I was really looking forward to doing this car as it was 1 of the 1st to book a slot for the trip. Washed and dried as per my usual methods, then I got the shock of my life..me and evo's! The WHOLE car was covered in tiny white specs of what looked like paint, glass, painted surfaces, trim. It was everywhere. Only 1 course of action, let us clay A clayed 50/50....getting good at these on Evo's..LH untouched/RH clayed A SERIOUS amount of claying was required, again 4hrs worth coming so soon after the 4hrs on the white 6! I was behind but 2 days to play with on this beauty. Back on course again, the problems were clear! Tried quite a few polish combo's but in the end settled for a few passes with Scholl S40 on a megs polishing pad. The gentle approach knocked out all the swirls and only the odd RDS remains. A selection of pics from the process (some maybe refined, some not) Once all the machining was completed the car was cleaned up (easy with S40...no dust!) and the paint cleansed with Lime prime lite. Tyres were dressed, interior detailed, exhaust buffed etc etc. Wax choice was Dodo Blue Velvet, 2 x coats of to leave the car looking as follows:

Pt.6 of the Isle of Man trilogy Hood was hoovered whilst dry, the moved outside to wash. Wheels cleaned 1st with envy brushes and "wheel". Pre soaked and rinsed of with SSF. Washed with Swissvax Car Bath, Z sponge, dried and moved back inside where I clayed the car with Paint rubber and quick finish as a lube. Paint cleansing time, started off by hand on the niggly areas (if you can call anything on Ferrari niggly:)) All cleansed Wax choice, again obvious! Left to cure whilst I did other tasks like clean the glass (crystal), dress the tyres (pneu matt), hoover the interior. Leather cleaned with Conditioned with leather milk. Now looks like Exterior buffed off, apologies for the after pics couldnt go outside as was raining. Hope you enjoy the car. Best wishes Tim

Beauty and beastly interior to follow. The hard work starts here with a few consequative days at the same place. Wheels washed as per usual with Espuma Revolution and Envy Brushes, followed by SSF. Dried off and clayed, never seen a clay bar! This was not a correction detail and the paint needed all the help it could get so was given a coat of AS platimum, followed up by Dodo Juice Blue Velvet. Interior was hoovered out, leather cleansed and dressed with the Zaino twins then glass etc all dealt with to leave it looking like... The drive back was very nice, wild garlic everywhere. Day 2 was spent on a neglected Land Rover Discovery. Main brief was the interior as it was "minging". Exterior was given a wash, and dry. Tyres were dressed and glass cleaned but that was it exterior wise. The interior was as described! Large amounts of Henry, G202, Espuma Dasheen and Z10 were used here to give those results. All done pt.5?

Ist job was as a thankyou to a Manx man for the loan of his unit (in case of rain) and was a straightforward wash and a coat of platinum, dress tyres sort of affair. Before: After: The 2nd CSL was booked for a correction detail. I do love the e46's, and especially CSL's :argie: Best part of the day was being taken by Nick up the mountain course of the TT and him letting me drive his pride and joy back:argie::argie: Thanks very much Nick, now I want one!!!! The car was washed wheels 1st with espuma revolution at 10:1, envy brushes and rinsed. Pre soaked with Envy SSF, allowed to dwell and rinsed off. Washed after with TBM, guards, Z sponge and DG901 shampoo. Rinsed and dried off with a towel. Moved indoors to clay with BH clay and water as a lube. Followed by PTG readings All safe so taped up ready to go. As usual for BMW's I went with FCP and UF on a Megs polishing pad and this seemed to do as well as ever. Not a lot of pics as I cracked on. Once all machining was done the car was de-dusted and cleaned up ready to be waxed. After much discussion with the owner it was a toss up between Swissvax Blau-Weiss or Dodo Supernatural. As Nick was interested in buying a wax to serve the "fleet" and not just the BMW's we went with the Dodo Supernatural. My afters were obviously taken rammed in the garage (raining again!) but Nick emailed me some too, and his are the outdoors ones taken after I'd left the IOM. Exhausts were buffed with autosol and wire wool, glass cleansed with espuma glass green, and tyres dressed with rd50. This was my final detail on the Isle of Man and what a car to end on:argie: I want to thank all those involved for their help, business, and hospitality. After this it was time for It was flat calm and I was lucky enough to be joined by the CSL owner, his partner and their little girl so we shared breakfast and chats halfway across the sea...lovely. Tim

Thats looking $hit hot, nice one

Roadtrip! A nice BH jaunt to the lake district saw me get to do this evo for Steve in Barrow in Furness. Had a nice 2day break in Ulverston but no earthquakes for me, but the car was a SHOCK! Passed Martinmacs turn off, looks a lovely area then also called in to see Nick at Clenz on the way back down. Looks ok from the front EEK A hint of things to come...notice the orange colouration? Also available in white Now a look at the problem. Steve had mentioned an orange residue/colouration to the car. This was on most surfaces from the front wheels back, and I mean everywhere. Here is the door half clayed, top done/bottom to be done. I knew I was in trouble now as it was taking a lot to remove the bonded contaminants. Started with Dodo Gentle grey, then the Purposeful Purple and ended up with the Scholl blue clay. Not pretty Getting there By now I was seriously behind schedule as the claying had taken 4hrs and I had a correction to do. I was not sure if there was time but after a few frank discussions with Steve (sorry Steve!) I pressed on (under cover in the garage...it rained pretty much all day!) Paint thickness readings were taken and it was OK to proceed. Polish used FastCutPlus and UltraFine and a megs polishing pad Not a lot of pics from here on in as time was pressing and I needed to get on. Join the dots and you can get a rough 50/50 of the roof. Made it a hell of a lot brighter and there was a lot of hazy paint. Top half untouched, bottom half done. And again Machined until it was all done, dedusted and cleaned up. Then given a coat of Swissvax Saphir, tyres etc and moved out for some final pics. Please excuse the slow puncture:cry: I was glad to actually manage to complete the job after the claying took so long, and thanks to Steve and father for their hospitality during the day and putting up with the frustrations! Back to the hotel after to just make last food orders and a few pints of Theakstons Tim ps nice car on the M6:

OK new car detail and leather seal for Richf's new baby. Car all washed in the normal way, wheels were expecially easy as the owner sealed them with FK. he was very worried the espuma revolution was going to strip the sealent but even he'd have to agree it didnt:thumb: Paint silky smooth so no need to clay. I was off with the AIO(well after a quick couple of scratches were removed by rotary). Here is the AIO cured and half buffed off (RHSide of bonnet) As my normal choice is wax and cleaner fluid I was impressed by how easy the AIO was to use and how nicely it buffed off. This was all buffed off then the car had 3 coats (the owner had done 2 previously on the Skyline and wanted me to go one better) of ZFX'd Z2pro, last coat curing here Whilst the final coat cured and Rich did the school run, I hoovered the interior, dressed tyres etc. Rich had done the glass and other shiny bits kindly. When he got back the leather was sealed with Swissvax leatherglaze which I have used to good effect on other cars. Its absorbs fully and leaves no trace. Car buffed off fully and given a tag team wipe off with Z8. Enjoy the afters: Thanks for looking Tim

Thanks All! Mike, its worth 2k apparently but this was a quickie job so reckon they'll be quids in! Chris, anythings possible...I'm in Cumbria on Sun/Mon next week and Lancashire Tuesday LOL but no time to fit anyone else in

Not a lot of exciting cars of late, but thought I'd post up 2 so you know I'm still alive and working albeit on less glamorous cars of late BUT I am looking forward to next week hint hint The DW 1st? A KIA, and no not killed in action LOL! Just been inherited by the owner and its slightly grubby inside. Products used were Espuma G202, a lot of Henry and Dasheen. Exterior is wearing AS Platinum. Yesterdays car is a nice M3 that I last saw about a year ago when it was brand new. Its picked up a few scratches and that was the main reason for its visit. Washed, clayed etc as normal then PTG readings taken and wet sanded. Polished up with my new Meguiars 205 sample, then cleansed with lime prime and waxed with Dodo Juice Blue Velvet. Sorry the BMW finished pic is not too great... Best wishes Tim

Looking very good, a nice deep clean

PS acid free, cheers Bronzee

I had this very debate on the MLR the other day. Most detailers that detail for a living dont use it. I'll copy and paste my reply below: I was caught up in all the bilberry hype but felt OK its more expensive than what I was using (autosmart smart wheels) but IF it truly is a spray on rinse off product then the time I'd save on jobs would be worth the price premium. Sadly it was hype for me and I moved on to now use Espuma Revolution. Dilutes 10:1, acid free and is approx £17 for 5 litres or £8.31 for 1 litre (which is 10 litres at working strength) Good value and even cheaper if you buy 25 litres but that would last years! Tim I was actually amazed to be backed up by polished bliss who said I agree with Tim about the Bilberry; we tested the entire Valet Pro line last year, and Bilberry performed less well than our current pH neutral product, which is Blackfire Gel Wheel & Tyre Cleaner. For really tough dust problems, Meguiars Wheel Brightener is hard to beat

For general valet jobs I use these.... http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0328062802 some guys have them for sale at £8.99 EACH! Where I need more care with paint I use these http://www.envyvaleting.co.uk/products_info.asp?id=164 they are a 2 pack and are great value, very soft and I have it on very good authority flexipads also make the ones Sonus sell

I use Espuma Dasheen, cleans and conditions and smells good too! www.espumadirect.co.uk and look up dasheen, brilliant stuff.

I know its too late now but my preferance lies with Dodo Juice, either the sour power or born to be mild, followed by Meguiars gold class (very good value) then also like the duragloss cos of the lovely smell! Wax wise Dodo Juice takes some beating but if you go down that route, for best results you will also need to clay and cleanse. Best wishes Tim

That was actually a nice car under all the swirls thanks. Personally if it were mine I'd get the front end painted as it was hammered with stone chips but I think the owner has plans for that soon.

Cheers , and what did I do on my day off from cars....went to Beaulie of all places!

Good morning all! Have been struggling to get any pictures onto the site as says they need re-sizing so as there are so many and time is always at a premium its going to have to be links I'm afraid. Anyway, been VERY busy so please enjoy the last weeks gruelling work Mercedes E320 Avantgarde http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/s ... p?t=111187 Audi A3 Paint correction detail http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/s ... p?t=111599 EVO 6 Paint correction detail http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/s ... p?t=111898 SLK 55 AMG V8 http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/s ... p?t=112317 Ferrari 360 Spider http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/s ... p?t=112344 and rest......day off today TFFT! Best wishes Tim

Thats a lovely looking car, good work Peter and a credit to the owner

Looks great Immy, roll on the good weather

Not doing bad Stew, but I cant help wondering if you got the answers elsewhere LOL?! CS, all the stuff has been fitted by the owner themselves and got a bargain on the brakes (£600 can you believe!!! NEW too)

Had 4 days of sunshine on it Stew. I'll get moaned at soon for going brown by her indoors! I only have to look at the sun