SteveE

A very lazy ad considering it's asking top money £12.5k! the car is as poorly described as it is presented in that ad. It should certainly have had a proper detail before asking that sort of money, but it smacks of a general lack of care looking at the engine bay and interior alone! Makes you wonder if that is the approach to maintenance as well?

I have a TT engine from an auto Dan, I was going to do the valves as they were pulled up on a leak down test, but was a strong engine with good compression.

But you had some fairly extensive swirl marks to remove before you can arrive at a finish and using a fine cut polish and pad is for light defects, the advantage of using a harder pad is it will make the finer 205 compound work harder, quicker before it breaks down to the final polish. You can mist the pad with water to allow the polish to spread a bit thinner, this will give you a longer working window to polish out.

The IPA would of cleaned out any existing swirls of polish residue which is why you can now see them, why not make another pass with the 205 but using an Orange pad, either that or 105 and start with a white. You have more than likely reached the cutting capacity of the pad than the polish, make sure the pad is primed properly so your not using any dry spot and I wouldn't recommend using QD as it will fill the paint with product.

Agreed! Product, pads, paint, polish, preparation, Perfection!.....takes the P out of the old wash and wax and that's the fun of it.

A great effort, where you using 205 with the white pad? The level of swirl you have, I would of gone for 105 on a white pad first then moved to an orange if the level of cut hadn't been achieved, also you don't need to keep going over with the same combo just up the pad and/or product cut. Satisfying though when you get the results.

That depends on what sealant you use, You can apply Wax (a sealant for polish but enhances gloss) or a sealant for polish that provides a protective barrier to the paint. This would be the likes of G-technique or Nanolex. If you apply the Summer Coat for instances (sealant by description) it can go on as a last stage product (LSP) giving the wax additional protection as well as providing great a Hydro effective surface that dissipates water and makes it very easy to quickly clean and remove surface dust and contaminates. A wax is not always necessary if you use a sealant as its doing the same job but with a different protective application, I just prefer to layer the products with a top of Sealant for added protection and ease of maintenance.

I just wanted to say a huge thanks to Pig and Sayers for their generous offer of helping with an engine pull, given Neil was prepared to come down from the Black country to do this shows fantastic club spirit and so worth a mention. Unless issues here can be resolved soon it looks like I will be moving J299 on! However for a bit of indulgence i thought I would share a picture from yesterday when I gave her a long overdue wash... not very helpful when I'm trying to make a decisionand I see her looking like this! Hope you don't mind.

An IPA is a straight Alcohol based cleaner designed to remove oils or excess polish material from the paint, when you finish polishing there is always some residue left on the panel and a wipe over with IPA (can use neat but a 50:50 works fine) removes the excess leaving the surface clean and ready for the Wax/sealant to be applied with good bonding. An APC (all purpose cleaner) is a general cleaner which has chemicals included to remove grease, oils, contaminants and surface pollutants. G101 is such a product and whilst works well for its purpose is not suitable for pre wax panel prep because it will leave residue chemical and oils behind which is what you are trying to remove. An APC is used as part of the wash process not final prep. There are other dedicated panel cleaners for pre wax applications and some of the "brand" products have additional lubricants to aid smooth application, in the real world the time you wipe on and wipe off your IPA won't make any difference to the final prep, i have never had issue with IPA and it's a very popular application in paint prep. Just for reference I would recommend Bilt Hamber's Surfex HD APC which is a Ph neutral product and can be mixed down to as little a 50:1 and still be effective. I use this on everything from Door shuts, wheel arch liners, engine bays and interior dash wipe downs to around the home for Window frames tiles etc. There are others which also work well for cars, but nothing like Surfex for so many applications. As for sealants they are entirely optional after a wax. Obviously waxes have a relatively short life span and don't offer great paint protection, whereas a good sealant will provide a longer duration of wax protection and also help in keeping the car clean and in the process of washing. I recommend Power Maxed Summer coat as it can be used over the entire car (body, Chrome, Wheels and the glass) it will provide a clear bond that gives fantastic water beading properties as well as adding another layer of gloss protection to the car. There are other specialist sealants which you can have applied G technique/ Nanolex etc but these are not a general LSP and require a specific preparation and application process. http://www.powermaxed.com/clean-your-car/summer-jacket-nano-sealant http://www.bilthamber.com/car-cleaning-and-degreasing/surfex-hd

I've used the air force side kick for blowing out trapped water in the "dribble" areas I.e. Wing mirrors and door shuts etc. But bought a pet dryer which provides even better output which allows it to be used for whole car drying, but with the attachments allows me to dry down engine bays etc. I don't allways use it, but it's good to have it in the arsenal for detailing jobs.

Don't bother with a leaf blower, to bulky and no attachments. Air force blowers are the go to brand for those that like the labels, however you can get pet dryers that are far cheaper and work just as well.

Probably went to check his misses had arrived safely in the van! The Scaglietti is an amazing sounding car, but is doesn't do it for me, I think I would rater have and Alfa 8c or an original Daytona.....but hey, i'm still trying to work out what to do with my 300zx, Lol! Nice spot though Jeff.

You don't want a polishing compound without any cut in it, or the swirls wont be removed, there's plenty of polishes that have fillers in but that defeats the object. The Megs 205 is a good starting point and will probably do the job. give the paint a clean (isopropanol) after polishing and add the HD Wax you already have, you could add the Power maxed Summer Coat which offers an excellent sealant over the whole car. If your drying the car with a towel you can pat it dry as an alternative, or if your using filtered water it will dry without water spotting (depending if your in a hard water area), I've never had an issue with towel drying, but then they are washed and bag sealed after every use, as I've said previously it is in the wash process that conditions the paint for polishing and as you are correcting it doesn't matter if you add a few additional swirls.

Meguiars is a safe choice for most colour/paint types there retail Ultimate compound is an excellent quick correction product, but the 205 is a light cut polish so may be to soft with a white pad, but the right way to start. Nissan paint is soft so I wouldn't use Menzerna products as a general rule, they are excellent products but I tend to use these on the Germanic brands and some other European models, that said the 3800 is a great light correction/gloss product. Remember the art of good correction is in the preparation, get the car as clean and decontaminated (iron/Tar/clay) as possible ideally using two buckets with grit guards to prevent any contaminate coming back onto the paint and use a good quality wash mitt (I would use the microfibers for wheels) Use that nice thick towel for drying, but then you already know that, Lol! Tip: If you drop a microfibre, Bin it! or if you think it will recover wash it in non bio (no softener) and sue it for engine bays door shuts in the future. As far as the DA is concerned, its' a good popular model and will allow you to correct, polish and wax without any real chance of doing any damage, and as the tutorials go small areas and take your time. Its' very satisfying. Good Luck! I look forward to seeing the results.

I agree! although I think many wide arches make the car sit heavy at the rear, ideally it would be great to go from the top of the filler line and progressively rounded out perhaps a couple of inches, the fronts I think have a fantastic profile from the top of the wing, but as the per the Op enquired it seems we are lumbered with stuck on arch extensions, which given a few exceptions are pretty awful!

I can just see them standing back and smiling with a sense of unadulterated pride!...then the welding mask comes off..:oops::helpsmilie: I have been considering how much you could roll out a flare on the rear arch to provide more of a hip, I've always the felt the 300 looks too flat at the rear compared to the front, but the main issue I can see is the Fuel filler (LWB) being to close to the arch to maintain a profile throughout...sorely tempted to try though,

I'll be going with my lad, I'll pop by and say hello!

Reflecting on his 2007 O2 performance that I saw him at, he was incredible live, I also saw Michael Jackson who was at the same level albeit for the theatre rather than the instrumental skills. Also seen Whitney Huston who was dire! That said, it's so sad that all three masters of their craft have gone so early. RIP.

Who?

The new years list for those lost this year is already one of the biggest who's who. Sad Sad!

Shocking! just clicked the Beeb website and found the news, don't jump to conclusions over his death, he recently had a hip operation and was hoping to start a European tour later this year...Blood clots are not uncommon in these types of ops. either way he was a music groundbreaker, i saw him at the O2 over a decade ago and still fresh in my mind an incredible live performer and musician. At this rate the entertainment world will have nothing left except One Direction and Ant and Dec..God help us! RIP Prince.

Showing my age, but I remember her appearance on new faces in the 70's, no not every ones taste but a supreme talent lost to us. With all the real stars so recently passed away, I can't help feeling somewhere their is a great party going on! RIP Victoria Wood. Thanks for the laughs!

Happy birthday on her 90th and wishing her many more

Nice nice nice, Glws, current trends should see a good final price on this, shame it has to go though!

And it's good bye from him....thanks for the laughs Ronnie, one of the last great comedians, RIP.