Well, since the zed has managed to accumulate a load of swirls in her 20 yr old paint work and having stocked up on a few detailing bits and a new rotary I though that it was time to practice on the old scoob before i let myself loose on the zed.

 

So... the car before i started:

 

 

 

 

First i had to wash her, so with the trusty 2 bucket method, I went over the car..... The colour of the water was sooo black that i instantly washed her again. It was at this point that i started to clay the car since I hadn't done so since i bought it...... Well i cannot believe the crap that came off... I ended up using enough clay for 3 cars!!! and I won't be using it again I might add!

 

 

 

 

 

Well i used so much detail spray and clay that i had to wash her again.... so that's 3 washes now.

 

Time was not on my side as I didn't start till lunch time... so I decided to tape up the car ready for a good polish tomorrow, but I couldn't help myself and I had to have a go with the polisher, so I used some Meguiars Ultimate compound and got to work.

 

Door panel before i started.

 

 

After a few passes with the compound and a quick going over with ultra-fine finishing polish and these are the first results:

 

 

 

By this time it had qot pretty dark and Polly had come home so I finished taping up and packed away my stuff ready for a days polishing and waxing tomorrow.

 

 

To be continued.........

looking good so far, when you popping over to do mine? lol

very good. clay bars are great things. problem is once you have done it once and its super smooth you always want it that way, and its not going to happen :lol:

That's a massive difference mate, nice work. Was wonder what the hell was going on in the last pick until I noticed it was masking :lol:

Nice work Paul. Didn't think this was your thing. I'm impressed fella :thumbup:

Who said you cant polish a turd :lol::lol:

 

Well done Paul, it is alot of hard work, but well worth it in the end. At least once youve protected her, it will be so much easier to keep clean in the future.

Who said you cant polish a turd :lol::lol:

 

Well done Paul, it is alot of hard work, but well worth it in the end. At least once youve protected her, it will be so much easier to keep clean in the future.

 

I must admit that was what i was going to call the thread Graham... Turd polishing!

 

And yeah once you've gone through the whole mission fully, including a decent wax or sealant, then future maintenance should be far easier.

Right then, part 2:

 

So I had washed her loads, done the wheels, and masked her ready for a good polishing.

 

So I got out my new rotary and went to work. First i used Meguiars compound to get rid of as many of the swirls as possible.

 

 

 

As you can see there were a fair few to deal with:

 

 

 

After the Meguiars compound, I then moved on to a finer polish. It was by this point in time that i had truly learned the most important lesson of the day.... USE DECENT PADS!!! The ones that came free with the polisher were shite and kept falling apart making a hell of a mess with tiny bits of foam flying everywhere.

 

So after a few passes with the 2 polishes, i was left with this:

 

 

 

 

As you can see, most of the swirls have been removed... not perfect by any stretch of the imagination... but definitely much better.

 

I then used my old favorite: Super resin Polish (awaits flaming) and gave it a couple of coats of polish and buffed her up nicely with a clean dry micofiber, and i was left with this:

 

 

 

 

 

Finally a thin layer of Dodo Supernatural Hybrid which i applied with a couple of foam applicators, left it to cure for 10 mins then a good buffing with a fresh microfiber... Repeat and this is the result:

 

 

 

By this point i was getting quite bored.. so a quick rub of all the trim with the wax, buffed off and the some autoglymm rubber and trim treatment to finish the black bits off.

 

Final results:

 

 

 

 

 

So in conclusion a few observations which may help others:

 

1: I cannot stress this one enough.... DON'T have a cheeky reefer before hand or else you zone out..... get far too obsessive, and take twice as long as you normally would.

2: DO invest in a decent set of pads... it will save you loads of heartache and save a load of time dusting off tiny bits of foam.

3: Do invest in a stool or similar so as to give your poor back a rest.

4: Take off your belt... and rings if you wear them.

5: Invest in decent microfiber towels and drying towels.

6: Apply thin layers of whatever you are applying... you can always add another layer later, better to apply lots of thin layers rather than trying to cake on a thick layer.

7: Don't bother asking the missus for her input... they just don't understand!!!

 

So I hope you enjoyed the write up... I will be doing the Zed soon.

 

And since you can load up 10 photos per post.... here's a couple to make up the numbers.....

 

 

Wow Pablito that is a stunning finish mate:thumbup:well done and I am of to get some clay:yes:

Top work Pabs.

looking fantastic that mate, well done, cant wait to get moved so i can do that sort of thing, bit limited at the moment what with the car being so far from me.

Looks top draw Mate.

Whats Dodo Supernatural Hybrid? First time I have ever heard that mentioned..?

Would you definately say the clay bar was worth it?

wow mate, that is one shiny scooby. top work there bud

Looks super, The scooby looks better :lol::lol::lol:

Hey Pabs, thats top notch work mate :) How much do you charge per panel? lol

Thanks guys.

 

To answer the questions.

 

Clay... An absolute must in my opinion. You would be amazed at how much crap your car picks up. (I should have used some tar remover really... but i didn't have any left) There are various clays, from aggressive to mild. You do not need to spend a fortune. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search/ref=sr_nr_scat_248877031_ln?rh=n%3A248877031%2Ck%3Aclay&keywords=clay&ie=UTF8&qid=1329334167&scn=248877031&h=5b5ca38e4d52f789f4900690c2d30063087ec1eb The Bilt Hamber stuff is awesome and VERY grabby, good value too. You will need some lube, or detailing spray though.

 

Dodo Supernatural Hybrid... Its a hybrid wax and sealant. by that i mean it has natural wax and synthetic additives for durability as softer natural waxes tend to give deeper shine, but less protection.

 

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/wax/dodo-juice/dodo-juice-supernatural-hybrid-paste-sealant/prod_887.html

 

How much per panel... the satisfaction is in putting in the hard miles yourself dude :tt2:

Cheers Pabs,I keep looking at the title and wish it referred to our lass... lmao.....:lol::lol:

Just got back from a few days away and came home to see that the Dodo Juice Supernatural Hybrid Wax has left some nice beading, so for those of you who are interested, or for those who like a bit of beading: