Sorry guys, been lagging on these write-ups.. :sorry: The first one is a "maintenance' detail I did on a mid-00's Volvo Cross Country ('03 I think?). Anyways, the client was really interested in getting the color back in to the faded bumpers. And just clean up the inside/outside. No correction work was done on the car, and no real deep cleaning on the inside. When I first arrived: (notice lack of gloss) First thing I did was clean the wheels/tires/wheel wells. The rims were cleaned with CG Sticky Wheel Gel undiluted. The Tires and Wheel Wells were degreased with Megs APC 3:1. After: After the wheels were complete, and before starting the normal wash, I decided to deep clean the bumpers. They were sprayed with Megs APC 7:1 and agitated with a Megs Stiff Bristled tire brush. I didn't take many process pics as it was just a simple clean up and wasn't going for a full blown write up. After I had deep cleaned the bumpers, I foamed the car with 1oz of CWC in a 22oz bottle filled with DI water. Then I put 2oz of CWC in my wash bucket, and proceeded to wash the car. After I finsihed washing the car I dried it off, then clayed with Riccardo Yellow and LUBER as clay lube. The glass was polished with Werkstat Prime Acrylic and followed up with Werkstat Acrylic Glos. The paint was cleansed with Werkstat Prime Strong, followed up with JS109 for two coats. I was going to use the rest of the Werkstat LSP's, but it was acting up in the high heat (88*F that day). So I went with the easy to use JS109. Tires/wheel wells were dressed with Megs HD 3:1. Plastic bumeprs were also polished with Werkstat Prime Strong, then protected with 303 Protectant. Afters:
Next up is a WRX Impreza. I was contacted by the owner to take a look at the car and see what can be done. After assessing the paint, and seeing it's neglected state over the years I had let him know a good full detail would benefit the paint greatly, as well as really bring the gloss level up. Then after discussing with the owner how it is fairly neglected during the year (sometimes sees a "down the street wash", sees the snow, and will start seeing the track) it was then in both of our best interests to just give it a one-step. The reason I ended up choosing this process for the owner is I didn't want him to waste all the money on a full 95%+ Swirl removing detail, if it could be ruined by one trip "down the street". With the one step, I was able to remove about 75-80% of the swirls, while really amping up the gloss--which is what the owner really wanted! Here's the car when it first arrived: First up were the wheels. The owner had brought an extra set of prodrives to get cleaned up as well. How nice it was to clean wheels off the car! Wish I could do this with all the cars! The spare wheels were cleaned with Autoglym Custom Wheel Cleaner that I got from Ken to try out. All I can say is WOW. I would say this is almost better than P21S wheel gel. More on this when I post up a massive wheel gel test I did last weekend. Anyways, the tires were scrubbed with Eimann Fabrik Tire Cleaner. Before: During: Of course I forgot afters... The wheels on the car were cleaned with P21S Wheel Gel (to do another back-to-back test) and the tires/wheel wells were cleaned with megs APC 3:1. The engine bay was VERY dirty. So I pressure rinsed the area at a safe distance, and then doused the entire bay in P21S TAW. Let it sit for about 5 minutes, and agitated with various brushes. The I dressed with with 303 Aerospace Protectant. Before: After: The car was then pressure rinsed down, and then foamed with CWC at paint work cleansing ratio, and then pressure rinsed off, before washing with the 2bm and CWC again. After the wash, I pulled the car inside and clayed with Megs Mild (Blue) Clay, and LUBER. This was after a 2'x2' section of the hood, pretty bad! After claying the car I decided to tackle the faded headlighs. I used M105 on a LC 4" Flat Orange Pad x2, followed up with PO106fa on a 4" LC Flat Black Pad. Then they were sealed with Werkstat AJT then Glos. Before: After: Tail lights got the same attention. Before: After: The paint work was next. I didn't get any befores, as you could see in the first pics it was overcast in the morning. It stayed like this until about 2pm after I was already starting to polish. But I hit the car with the Makita, GI 5.25" backing plate, 3M UK Yellow Pad, and Menzerna PO106fa over the entire car. I then Polished the paint with Acrylic Prime with the Flex DA and an LC Flat Black Pad. Followed by 2 coats of Acrylic Jett Triger, and 2 coats of Arcrylic Glos. The Tires were dressed with Megs HD 3:1, wheel wells got Adams Undercarriage Spray, Glass was polished with Werkstat Prime Strong, followed by Werkstat Acrylic Glos and DI Water. The interior was cleaned, but I forgot to take afters--so befores are kinda pointless : Anyways, here's the afters! Total time on the car was 10 hours. That's all! C&C Always Welcome! eace: Aaron
Very nice. I wouldn't think to use Prime on plastic bumoers, is this the first time you've done that?
Yep--first time and it was great. I first tried the bumpers with JUST 303.. but it was blotchy, so I did what Dana said to do if the APC didn't work and just polish them :shrug: So I went with the least aggressive I had--Black pad and Prime. Worked wonders!
nice turnaround on the volvo. the impreza looks like it had some bodywork done on the driver door? or is that just the sun throwing it off
Great work on both. For the Subaru, is the yellow 3m pad aggressive like the LC pads?? How would you say the clear is on the Subaru? I have a buddy that needs a one step, and I was thinking of hitting it with Meguiars d151, because he also will use the guy down the street, or wash it himself
Thanks! It's just the sunlight throwing it off. Paint readings were within normal fluctuation around the entire car Thanks! Those aren't the GC07 Forged Prodrives--these are the cast ones. So they're a lot cheaper. Thanks! Me too, but have to look out for the customers needs more-so than my own They were polished with Prime+LC Flat Black Pad on the Flex DA before 303 Thanks! The 3M UK Yellow is a VERY mild pad. it's in between the LC black and white. But when paired with the right polish, it's can get fairly agressive. The Subaru clear is medium, but SUPER sticky. I had thought about using the DA on this one, but opted against it, and then half way through regretted I didn't because of the sticky clear.
Same thing I said on s2ki. Great details. Man I should have bought more of those pads than I did when Brendan did the group buy for us. I only have two of the yellow ones, and man I love those things. You're exactly right about them too - they're very mild. If I need more correction out of them, I just bump the speed up to about 1750. If you haven't already done so, try the blue one with some 85RD. That combo produces a gloss that'll knock your socks off.
looking good Aaron, glad I could make you think about polishing the plastic. If at all possibe I will polish any trim instead of applying any type product like 303 or anything else like that.
They can be polished, just have to figure out a technique. I have been doing it for years, the less goo you have to put on plastic the nicer the vehicle looks.
