Hi guys, been keeping a bit of a low profile recently but decided this would make for a nice write up Car: 3 year old Audi RS4. Detailing Service: 3 day Major Paint Correction. Monday morning began with the pre-foam, using Meguiars APC through the foam lance at 60 degrees: This was left whilst I filled up the two buckets for the wheels and then rinsed off at high pressure, taking a good 10 minutes to cover every inch of the car to ensure as much dirt and grime was removed. The wheels were then cleaned with Meguiars Wheel Brightener (10:1) and the arches/tyres were done with Meguiars Super Degreaser. No Pics of this stage as I had to put my camera batteries on charge. The engine was next, which was rinsed at medium pressure after being soaked with Super Degreaser: Super Degreaser was used once again for the door shuts. These were left for a couple of minutes... ...before being rinsed at low pressure: All the exterior trim/badges etc were then cleaned with APC and a Meguiars Slide Lock brush: I then washed the car with the 2 bucket method and Menzerna Shampoo (using up old stock) then rinsed. The first signs of the condition of the paintwork were becoming visible now the sun had come out: I then finished off the wash stage by removing some minor tar spots from the paintwork and wheels with Autosmart Tardis and then put the car inside after a final rinse off. Gloss-It's aggressive clay bar was then used to remove bonded contaminants from the paint and glass, using Last Touch as lubricant. Paint depth readings were then taken with all the metal panels showing healthy levels and the plastics were similar: Now it was time to assess the condition of the paintwork: Some areas weren't too bad, with just some scuffs and the odd scratch or two: Other areas were worse, with significant signs of incorrect rotary use over the majority of the car, plus some nasty RIDS here and there: I then gave the paint a thorough wipe down with Menzerna Top Inspection as I've noticed Last Touch (if used during the claying stage) can cause problems with polishing now and again and it can also prevent the masking tape from sticking to the trim properly. The Top Inspection just removes any traces of LT and leaves the paint squeaky clean Correction of the paint was carried out with a Menzerna Polishing Pad and 3M Fast Cut Plus mixed with a bit of Ultrafina. This was worked @180rpm's with some sections needing 2 hits before I was happy: Before: After: 50/50 on n/s wing: A smaller compounding pad was used for the bumpers and tighter areas: The front fog light grills were removed to gain better access to the lower parts of the bumper: Bumper fully corrected: I gave the headlights a light polish with Menzerna 85RD RE5 to remove some light bug splat etchings: A 3m Compounding Pad was used for the rub strips: It's important to keep the rotary moving quickly over these parts to prevent heat build up and potential delamination. The lower halves (including side skirts) were also done with the 3M pad, some deeper marks remained but overall I was very happy with the level of correction: After close to 17 hours in total, the first stage of correction was complete. The second polishing stage was then carried out using a Yellow 3M Polishing Pad and Menzerna PO85RD RE5. Out came the wool duster to remove all polishing dust once complete: Top Inspection was then used again to ensure the paint was free of all polishing oils: With the paint and glass now completely free of dust and oils I applied the LSP. This was to be Zym0l Vintage applied by a Blackfire LSP applicator pad: This was applied to the whole car: It was then buffed off after approx 10 minutes. Whilst I'd been concentrating on the paintwork, Marsha had some spare time so she sealed the wheels (Blackfire Metal Sealant), dressed the tyres (3 coats of Gloss-It Signature Tyre Gloss), polished the exhaust tips (meguiars NXT Metal Polish) and shampoo'd the interior mats. The interior was also detailed, including the leather, which was fed with Raceglaze Leather Balm: The engine bay was dressed with 303 Aerospace Protectant: The paintwork was then given a final wipe down to remove any fresh oils from the wax "gassing" and then out came the camera for the after pics A quick walk round the car with the Sun Gun to show the true condition of the paintwork (temperatures had dropped significantly so there were still a few very light smears after the wipe down and I wasn’t prepared to marr the finish by trying to buff them off again): Roof: Bonnet: Then out came Rich's SLR and I tried to do my best David Bailey impression Total Work Time: Approx 33 hours (Including a 1am finish on Tuesday!). Thanks for reading Clark
Clark, you are the man! That looks as good as the Smart Car I just did! LOL Thanks for posting. What is the 85RD RE5?
Fantastic correction on a beautifull motor car Clark, thanks for sharing +1 on Ken's post, what is PO85 RE5 ?
Awesome work, Clark! You are so precise at what you are doing, and pictures are stunning! You got skillz!!!
As always lovely work and I always enjoy your write ups and pictures :thumb: Another job well done :applause:
incredible work! How long do you find the blackfire metal sealant to last on wheels/exhaust compared to wheel sealants or just lsps?
Great job on this one as you always do...you find the Megs APC to be safe for use in a foam cannon? I might have to try that out this spring!
Perfection achieved once again Clark, outstanding finish:applause: PS What no Concourso? :giggle: Just kidding, that end finish came from the extensive paint correction work, not the LSP.
Considerably longer in my experiences. It was a good 3 or 4 months before the beading started to die off on the tailpipe of my Impreza and it gets so hot you cant even touch it No idea mate! I just put around 2cm's of APC in the bottle and filled the rest up with warm water
