Audi Allroad Polish w/ Flex and pics

Alright, it's been a little too quiet on the Flex section here, so I thought I'd post some pics of the polish and wax I did on my '04 Audi Allraod. The color on it is cobalt blue and has a tendency to show swril marks like any darker colored car does. I've been meaning to do this since October, but finally go a chance with the holiday break.

It was fairly dirty from the some of the bad weather we've had in St. Louis lately. It was warm enough to do a traditional wash, but I opted for an Optimum No Rinse (ONR) wash instead. I had done my A6 a couple of days earlier using a grout sponge, but didn't care for it as a wash mitt too much. I know there are some die-hard fans out there, but I just don't think it's for me. Recently, I found a 3 pk bundle of MF wash mitts at Costco along with a large MF towel. The pack comes in 3 different colors and are pretty soft. I used 2 buckets (1 solution and 1 rinse with grit guards in both. Hey, I just noticed the text boxes to type posts are bigger...nice!!! Anyway, these wash mitts sreleased dirt pretty well after scrubbing on the grit guard after each panel. It didn't start to get real gunky looking until the lower half, front bumper and rear bumper. Here's a couple of shots from the ONR:

Little 50/50 action:




Costco wash mitts:


Finished product after ONR:



My plan was to do a 2 step polish starting with Menzerna IP followed by 106FA. I was thinking Menzerna Micro Polish for the 2nd polish, but glad I went with 106FA instead...more on that later. I started with an orange pad, IP, and speed 5 on a test setion on the hood. It cleaned up quite a bit, but not to where I wanted it to be. So, went with same combination, but speed 6 second time. A little better, but not quite there yet. So, screw it, busted out the Menzerna PowerGloss on an orange pad on speed 6. Now, that's better. I did most of the rest of the car with this combination. On a couple of panels I tried a yellow pad just to see if I could get some of the deeper scratches, but after a couple of panels, I noticed some micro-marring. Scared the crap out of me at first as I've never induced this before with the Flex. Quickly changed to a white pad and the 106FA, and it cleaned up nicely. Decided to play it safe and went back to the orange pad. I don't know if the Micro Polish would've cleaned things up this nicely.

As for the the 106FA, I really like this stuff. It continued to clean up some swirling and scratches while leaving an extremely glossy shine on the paint. Here's some pics with commentary...

This is the back left quarter panel which (for whatever reason) had some worse swirls than other areas:




Afters:






Hood before:


After:


I know it's not the same part of the hood, but the entire hood pretty much looked like the before pic. Also, there was a little overcast in front of the sun. it was difficult getting good hood shots at that particular time of the day. Also, I had some nasty water spots on my hood that bugged the hell out of me eveerytime I walked out into the garage and saw them on the hood. They were very visible under the fluorescent lights in my garage, but they are about 90% gone now! I know, I know, should've taken some pics...

Here's a favorite when I was laying the PowerGloss down. Now you see it:



Now you don't:



Here are some finished product shots after applying FMJ. Still need to put a 2nd coat on though.







Hello


Not as glossy as I would've like to have shown, but the clouds were in front of the sun on this one.

Anyway, I'm very happy with the results. This is the first time that I've done a 2 step with the Flex. on previous details that I've done for folks, they either weren't paying for the serious correction, or Menzerna IP worked like a champ. The PowerGloss + 106FA made a very good combination. I would've liked to have tried SIP but mine's not coming until Wednesday from DD. Also, don't think I'm neglecting the rest of the car. With 2 small kids I do what I can when I can. Last weekend I detailed the interior (including leather), and then probably in the next week or two, I'll go to work on the wheels. Anyway, please let me know if there are any questions, and with all these folks getting their Flex, let's see some pics:gidiup:

 

Great work and man I love that reflection!

 

car looks excellent in those afters, the paint, trim, everything. Good work!

just wondering, is audi clear coat real hard or something? Those before pics dont really look all that bad, wondering why you needed powergloss... hmm maybe the before pics dont show it the best

 

Vehicle looks good thank you for sharing it with us. Yes, what did you think of the clearcoat? I like the pictuers they look good :thumb:

Question for you, what camera do you use?

 

Nice work! Great reflection shots! Trim looks great!

 

Very nice! I love Allroads Have had a silver one myself. And the clearcoat is hard, like all other Audis and vw I have polished.

The car looks good in black to, good work!

 

Great work! Love the pictures. Please keep them coming. :mounty:

DLR

 

Nice work! Good to see that the flex will take down swirls on a hard clear like that.

 

Thanks for the positive comments. Yes, the swirls weren't that bad throughout, but the Audi clear is prett tough. As mentioned, I started with Menz IP, but wasn't getting where I wanted to be. The PowerGloss on orange pad turned out to be the "right" correction combo for this instance.

Funny thing is on the trim, I really hadn't touched it that much yesterday. You can see some dirt in the wheel wells and I really didn't get a chance to clean up the wheels and tires that much. Might be more of a testament to ONR than anything. I threw another coat of FMJ on it this morning and it's slicker than snot now. Applied some Duragloss Aquawax on the matte black exterior parts. From the research I've done, you really shouldn't go to polishing or putting a machine to these areas.

As for the camera, I have a Pentax K10D with Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 lens. It's really a nice combo and usually manually focus my paint shots, and have to tinker with the white balance. Photography is kind of another hobby of mine.

Now that I think about it, I'm supposed to take the Allroad into the dealer tomorrow for some work. Last time I told them not to wash it, they did anyway. Guess I'll have to be a little more firm this time.

 

Very nice!

 

Thank you for sharing, Power Gloss compound huh. Good stuff and glad to hear it worked well for you :thumb:

I don't think I've tried the FMJ just yet..ummm..now that I think off it I don't think I own any but thank you for sharing the feed back oh and the camera combo is interesting. I know what you mean about photography being a hobby it's a very nice hobby that I'm getting into as well :cheers:

 

Hey, Reefer_Bob, good to see you. I know we've crossed paths on the AudiWorld forum as well. These sites are bad on the wallet!!!

Yeah, FMJ seems pretty solid for the price. I applied 2 coats to my A6 a few weeks ago as well. I was going to do 1z Glanz Wax, but made a last minute gametime decision to change. Not sure why, but just did. Actually, I put some Glanz on both of them this past summer. It was just starting to really lose it's beading over the past few weeks. Keep in mind that I usually put down some Prima Hydro when washing the Allroad though. It's basically a spray wax.

 

Really nice work, especially knowing how tough the Audi clear coat is!

 

Looks great! Love that Allroad!!!

 

Have you used any other polisher besides the PC to compare the Flex to? Also have you used a rotary?

I have a PC,Cyclo, and Hitachi and thinking about getting the Flex.

 

I just have a PC that I started with, but after doing about 3 details with it, I was thinking there has to something better without going full blown rotary. That's about the same time a few Flex threads popped up on Autopia. I ordered mine in September and never looked back. I also picked up a Flex rotary that is 800-2000 rpm (LK 302 or something) off of ebay for $56 a few months ago. it was basically new. One of my New Year's resolutions is to start learning it.