A good detailing session.

[GCA3N]

So I bought a few new products this week but I thought i'd spend the day giving all the products a good run through as well as the 3m rotary polisher I have on loan.




The routine started as usual with a good power rinse, then a wash with G101 APC roughly 1 part to 8 parts water. This stripped off most of the products off the car.


I then rinsed and done a full wash with meguires hyper wash. Now I love this stuff the foaming is for me second to none and always get a good result.


Anyway car washed I gave it a quick spray with autosmart glue and tar remover which removed all the stuck on tar. I left for 10 minutes then re-washed the car.


This time to test it out I used snow foam from cleanyourcar.com. This stuff is half the price of the megs and it was clear early on why. There was no where near as much foaming on the same concentration, infact I had to double the amount I was using to get a similar foam.


Once complete I then clay bared the car using megs clay bar and poorboys carnuba detailing spray as lubrication.


It got one final wash again as above.


Now it was time for the 3M polisher.


I was apprehensive at first but I thought I need to be brave. I wanted to start with the roof so using a medium cutting pad and medium cutting compound I started. I masked off the roof into 6 sections to keep it simple (1 panel at a time.


At first it was strange and I thought "Oh No this is hard" but after 10 minutes I was getting the hand of it.


I finished the first panel and when I buffed it off, the swirls had gone but to my horror loads of holograms. I kinda freaked a bit but I new when I went to the finer compound this would go.


Anyway finished of the roof and then changed to a fine pad and fine (anti hologram) compound.


My initial scare was soon gone as I started to see some awesome results.


The machine is actually very easy to use and results were so much quicker than a DA. I mean I spent about 30-40 minutes on the roof and the results were excellent.


http://i383.photobucket.com/albums/oo280/greigallan/2011-09-15152616.jpg


http://i383.photobucket.com/albums/oo280/greigallan/2011-09-15152554.jpg




Now a bit more confident I went onto do the rest of the car. Rather than using the cutting pad I decided just to use the polishing one with fine compound. After about 90 minutes of fairly hard work I had completed the machine side.


I was tempted at this point to do a machine polish with autoglym super resin but opted to go straight to the chemical guys black light, so the whole car got a coat of that.


So easy to use and the results are breathtaking. The thing I love about it is you can do the whole car in a oner then after 15 minutes buff off to give an amazing seal. It really is the best product I think I have ever used.


Once done it was time for a good wax coat. I opted for the collinite 476 wax.
Another very recent product to my repertoire it is another must have.


A good tip (from big craig) is to wet the applicator pad you use before hand and apply 2 thin coats.


TBH it is a wee bit harder to use than say the dodo juice purple haze pro but I feel the end result is better. It's definitely one you don't want to let dry on the paintwork so I applied to small areas and buffed as I went round the car. This stuff is also an awesome glass cleaner BTW so that was used to get the glass work perfect.


Next on the agenda was the wheels and tyres. The wheels to be honest have some coats of sealant on already but I thought I'd go over them again with poorboys wheel sealant. The tyres got a once over with megs trye Gel. A great product but remember to apply sparingly and allow to dry before you drive.


http://i383.photobucket.com/albums/oo280/greigallan/2011-09-15162339.jpg


Last to be done was the trim. Now I have had my car 12 months and this is the third time I have treated the trim so this stuff goes along way. I am referring to autosmart trim ultra. I applied using a small pad and buffed off the excess.


I done the inside yesterday so no need to go there. Ok I guess it's picture time.


http://i383.photobucket.com/albums/oo280/greigallan/2011-09-15162236.jpg


http://i383.photobucket.com/albums/oo280/greigallan/2011-09-15162226.jpg


http://i383.photobucket.com/albums/oo280/greigallan/2011-09-15162155.jpg


http://i383.photobucket.com/albums/oo280/greigallan/2011-09-15154602.jpg


http://i383.photobucket.com/albums/oo280/greigallan/2011-09-15154524.jpg


http://i383.photobucket.com/albums/oo280/greigallan/2011-09-15154507.jpg


http://i383.photobucket.com/albums/oo280/greigallan/2011-09-15162416.jpg



http://i383.photobucket.com/albums/oo280/greigallan/2011-09-15185645-1.jpg



http://i383.photobucket.com/albums/oo280/greigallan/2011-09-15185632.jpg


http://i383.photobucket.com/albums/oo280/greigallan/2011-09-15185626.jpg


http://i383.photobucket.com/albums/oo280/greigallan/2011-09-15185717.jpg




Oh my Vi unit too which is awesome:D


http://i383.photobucket.com/albums/oo280/greigallan/2011-09-15190711.jpg


The proof, all my cloths being washed by the good lady :D


http://i383.photobucket.com/albums/oo280/greigallan/2011-09-15191328.jpg





Anyway I got to sit back with a brew and look at my results.


The pics don't do it justice my car has never looked so good. Thanks for looking folks.

[MINIme:)]

:popcorn:

STUNNING!!! I wish I had your skill, patience and dedication. Does the Scottish weather not break your heart after all your effort?
Wish I had a driveway so i could even wash my own car - instead of taking it to the soft cloth car wash over the road... :frown:

[GCA3N]

:popcorn:

STUNNING!!! I wish I had your skill, patience and dedication. Does the Scottish weather not break your heart after all your effort?
Wish I had a driveway so i could even wash my own car - instead of taking it to the soft cloth car wash over the road... :frown:

It is hard but fun keeping it clean :D

Cheers for the comments.

[AndyP & Lenore]

Chortle, chortle... Can see right up your shorts in one of those pics.

Seriously though mate, stunning effort! I love the way a good few members on here get their cars home from the dealers then spend the next few years keeping it BETTER than showroom condition.

Gave our MINI a good wash today - did the full details earlier this year - and as I was wiping it dry I couldn't help think... "this just doesn't 'look' 4 1/2 years old."

9/10 dude. You loose one point 'cos of the shorts incident.:lol:

A.:D

[Craig]

Jings, did you wash it ?!?!? :lol:

Nice wet look ;). Very shiny :yes nod:

[AndyP & Lenore]

Erm... ahem... just thought, should this not be in the Car Care Forum? :idunno:

A. :blush:

[RobSco]

As always Greig - Car is looking Excellent - First Class Job, you'll certainly need your sunglasses on to look at it... :cool:...The shine on that roof is just amazing as is the rest of the car... :yes nod:

Feel you photo's show it off well, and think you should be well pleased with the final result, with all the hard work and effort that you've put into it... :thumbs up:

[GCA3N]

Cheers everyone your comments are very appreciated :thumbs up:

Andy your a hoot mate, and you must have good eyesight too ;):lol:

[ianking]

Its looking good, however I cant believe you machine polished a whole mini with a rotary in 90 mins. You really need to let the polish break down more, that way you will get a better result.

To put into perspective when I was doing Elfmans black roof (which wasnt that bad as he looks after it well, as you do yours) I was 3 hours on that one panel. If you rush you get holograms. Letting the polish break down until there is none there slowly building up the speed then slowly reducing it back down so as to burnish the finish really helps. I still swap to a finishing polish but it makes for less finishing work.
Get yourself a tripod halogen lamp from a DIY store and direct this onto the panel you are working on, that way you will really see if you have corrected it.

[GCA3N]

Its looking good, however I cant believe you machine polished a whole mini with a rotary in 90 mins. You really need to let the polish break down more, that way you will get a better result.

To put into perspective when I was doing Elfmans black roof (which wasnt that bad as he looks after it well, as you do yours) I was 3 hours on that one panel. If you rush you get holograms. Letting the polish break down until there is none there slowly building up the speed then slowly reducing it back down so as to burnish the finish really helps. I still swap to a finishing polish but it makes for less finishing work.
Get yourself a tripod halogen lamp from a DIY store and direct this onto the panel you are working on, that way you will really see if you have corrected it.#

Totally new to this so really trial and error just now Ian. (times were approximate was probably slightly longer ;)) Any tips will be greatly appreciated though. What you upto 3 weeks today I have a mate with a caymen S which has been keyed. Going to craigs on the friday and saturday but help from a pro like yourself would be ace. It's a favour for a mate BTW so I'm not getting paid. :thumbs up:

[ianking]

I have a Bentley Continental booked in for the full works in 3 weekends time so unavailable to help.

What I would say though is that if its been keyed then its likely that it will need painted. Porsche paint is super hard and would need heavy compunds to try and remove heavy defects then refining stage to remove any compound buffer trails. If its not been keyed too deep then it might need wet sanding. If you have never done that before I wouldnt go sanding someone elses car. Best to get a scrap panel to experiment with first. Its taken me some years to gain the knowledge and I started with scrap panels before takling anything of value.

I have wolfs compound for removing sanding marks on hard clear coats. Its a very heavy compound and needs to be treated carefully and I always measure depths of paint prior to going in.

[GCA3N]

Thanks Ian.

[ELFMAN]

Looking Great Greig :cool::thumbs up: (apart from the Shorts....)
Ian made a FAB job of mine - but he's never got around to posting the pics, too busy polishing Aeroplanes and Bentleys methinks!!! :smilewinkgrin:

[Stewart]

Very nice and I know what you mean by the pictures don’t do it justice to the overall finish, in the flesh its probably scary. I remember seeing Ian’s car for the first time at the Knockhill Mini come Classic car event and I had a really good look and it looked seriously spot on, the Roof and especially the A Pillars and just the overall clarity of the paint.

I swear by the Megs Hyper as well, it may be £25 for the 5lt but it last for years, I just bought another one after more than three years as I used it on my Honda.

This chemical guys black light sounds interesting I like the fact it’s a glaze come sealant all in one as my megs glaze can only take wax over it so I only use it once a year. I’ll have to use the stuff I have before I move on as I hate buying stuff and just have it sitting there. Also it’s great you can go on to the wax so quick, my Blackfire sealant that I’m happy with has to cure overnight before repeated application or wax.


Anyway I’d say your leaving us amateurs that play with the idea of detailing and enjoy our car washing to that of the more pro that are concerned with correction and clarity. :thumbs up:

So next year we all expect a NMS discount on machine polishing our Roofs and A pillars :smilewinkgrin:

[GCA3N]

Cheers lads :thumbs up:

Stewart the blacklight is amazing mate.

Euan what's up with my shorts ;)

[ELFMAN]

Euan what's up with my shorts ;)
It's not what's up WITH your shorts... :hand: :laugh:

[N16SHP]

hmmmm, it's alright I spose. I've seen better but for an amateur I suppose it'll do!

Only joking Greigory, it looks the dawgs! I can appreciate how the pics don't do it justice. I spent 5 hours doing Kirsten's PW S, and after taking the pictures, I decided not to post them as it just looked like a clean car. You had to physically be there to look at it and touch it to notice the difference. Cannot wait to hook up now before the Deeside run.

[GCA3N]

Cheers pal. Yeh should be awesome. Hopefully rain stays off too. You wanting another Pizza cooled by Kim :D

[Delboy]

Looks amazing in the pics Greig so I can only imagine what it's like in person! I'll be booking the Beamer in soon! ;)

[Forbes]

Only joking Greigory, it looks the dawgs! I can appreciate how the pics don't do it justice. I spent 5 hours doing Kirsten's PW S, and after taking the pictures, I decided not to post them as it just looked like a clean car. You had to physically be there to look at it and touch it to notice the difference. Cannot wait to hook up now before the Deeside run.

You doing mine so Ian doesn't kill me?

http://i.imgur.com/gSpi8.gif

[GCA3N]

Looks amazing in the pics Greig so I can only imagine what it's like in person! I'll be booking the Beamer in soon! ;)

You know where I am bring her up anytime:thumbs up:, well when I'm home Kim's not as good.:hand:;)

[gauldrymini]

Greig good effort...car looking:cool:

...and I think I am doing well giving our MINI a wash every other weekend:rolleyes:

[GCA3N]

Greig good effort...car looking:cool:

...and I think I am doing well giving our MINI a wash every other weekend:rolleyes:

I can be ..... obsessive :lol:

[lorraine]

cars looking great my hubby is obsessive in cleaning cars as well

[GCA3N]

Cheers Lorraine.

sent from my galaxy S ll

[mark1984]

nice job. very nice looking jcw. could u tell me what is the wee sat nav looking thing to the right of your rev counter?

[GCA3N]

nice job. very nice looking jcw. could u tell me what is the wee sat nav looking thing to the right of your rev counter?

Cheers mate. It's a Vi monitor, cracking bit of kit. http://www.vi-performance.com/features.aspx

[Bazthemod]

It tells him how slow he's going ... lol

[GCA3N]

It tells him how slow he's going ... lol

it does look good though, besides when you know your quick there's nowt to prove.

[mark1984]

haha ok i thought that they cracked that one allready with the big round thing in the middle. what ealse does it do? would it fit on my mini cooper D?

[mark1984]

haha ok i thought that they cracked that one allready with the big round thing in the middle. what ealse does it do? would it fit on my mini cooper D?
please tell me how you mounted it next to your wheel?

[N16SHP]

You doing mine so Ian doesn't kill me?

http://i.imgur.com/gSpi8.gif

After the time it took me to get all the tar and crap off of Kirsten's....no lol! Besides, you're pretty handy with a bucket and mitt yourself no?