Waxon Detailing Forum

This past weekend saw me detailing yet another black magic metallic Mk V GTI. Lets see how it panned out...


The car upon starting on Friday afternoon.



As usual wheels and arches were 1st on the list.

Wheels with some general dirt and grime






Brake calipers were a bit dirty as well




I jacked up the car to gain better access to the wheel arches


Arches were pretty dirty as expected





Sonax Extreme rim cleaner was applied liberaly and left to dwell


A detail brush was used to clean all the small areas and calipers...




Ez Wheel brush removing the majority of the dirt buildup from the wheels


Tyres were scrubbed with a stiff bristle brush and 5:1 APC


Arches cleaned with 5:1 APC and wheel back brushes





After rinsing the wheels were looking pretty neat and tidy


Calipers came up pretty well, albeit still suffering from slight discolouration





With the wheels clean I could now see a few small tar deposits which remained on the inner wheel barrels






These were taken care of with Sonax liquid tar remover and a microfiber towel...







Some finished shots of the wheels








With the wheels and arches cleaned up I turned my attention to washing the car. For this I used a combo of APC and Citrus Wash through a new el-cheapo foamer I have been playing with...


Not the greatest foam but significantly better than off the shelf foam guns


Dwell time was poor compared to the proper PA foamers



After rinsing all the loose grime from the paintwork it was time to sort out all the small details like trim...


Beadings


Rubber seals


Often overlooked areas




And emblems





After re-rinsing the car it was foamed again and washed before claying. Smartwax Smartclay did a good job of removing all surface contaminants



With the day drawing to a close I started on the tailpipes which needed some work.

50/50


And with the flash. These would be further refined later.



Saturday started out by inspecting the paintwork both in the sun, as well as with my P7 LED torch.

Defects in sunlight...






And under the LED



Not wanting to waste any time I got started playing with a few combo's on the bonnet. In the end I wound up using a combination of SIP and P203S on the majority of the paintwork.

The bonnet after correction in the sunlight











Under the LED again...


Close up



Fenders were next...Before


After


Sunlight


Close up



The sides were tackled next. Again before and after with the LED torch




Reflection shots...





Rear hatch pillars were given the same treatment as I worked my way around the car

Dull finish before


And nice and crisp afterwards


LED to check for remaining defects


And some more reflection shots



With Saturday drawing to a close I snapped some more reflection shots from around the completed end of the car...













Before calling it a day I cleaned up the black plastic B-Pillars which needed some attention...

Hardly any visible reflections before




2 hits with SIP followed by 85RE resulted in this




Close up


Reflection shot



Out of light and with only the rear hatch and bumper to correct I called it a day. Sunday morning I slept in a bit so as to avoid disturbing the neighbours before getting started on the final correction work.


Tailights were cleaned up with SIP on an orange LC spot pad...

Befores






And afters







The rear bumper was next with the spot pads...





Last but not least was the rear hatch. Couple of before shots with the LED







And afters






Rear end looking neat and tidy


And correction work completed



Before trying to finish off I gave the car a quick rinse and wash.


Wheelwax Extreme black was applied to the tires leaving me with this



Tailpieces were given a quick rework with some Raceglaze Alutech metal polish



At this point in time the wind started to pick up and I was faced with having to apply the LSP whilst trying to dust the vehicle down...So FRUSTRATING!

In the end I simply couldn't do everything I wanted to for fear of inflicting fresh damage from the dust that had settled on the car. With the work completed I took a few final shots around the corner in the shade...











Some reflections






And a few final detail shots in the sunlight







Overall I was happy with the correction levels achieved and think the car came out well despite the final few trying hours with the wind and dust. I think the upgrade to an enclosed unit is long overdue!

Thanks for looking

WOW Carn! Very comprehensive "walk-through" and equally impressive results. GTI is looking great!!

Nice work

Wow Dave

You def cant beat a clean Black car - Incredible bud

WOW!! Great work David.

Excellent work as always Dave! Tell us a little about that snazzy silver detail brush you been using of late... ? I notice you doing more work at home rather than at your dads place, how much different is the correction phase "outside"?

GREAT work Dave, absolutely awesome as always!!! You writeups are just perfect!!! Well done mate!!!

Just Perfect!

Awesome David! *sigh* B-pillars... damn those things.

Wow!!!!

Awesome!!!!

Amazing Work !!!

Looks good as new ....

The paint looks "wet", wOw David amazing work.

Hi David amazing work as usual a big thanks for all the updates and info

Enjoyed the attention to detail on the rims. Do you prefer cleaning that way or taking them off completely? Which do you find saves you more time?

Thanks gents, appreciate the comments as always

(26-08-2010 09:02 AM)Wells Wrote: [ -> ]Excellent work as always Dave! Tell us a little about that snazzy silver detail brush you been using of late... ? I notice you doing more work at home rather than at your dads place, how much different is the correction phase "outside"?

The brush was found at a home depot style store and was actually advertised as a hog's hair brush. Naturally I had to buy it to test out

It's an ok brush, very much the same as the other detail brushes I sell in sets. The biggest pain with this brush is that is always sinks to the bottom of the bucket, as well as the fact that you need to be carefull when using it in areas where the steel body can touch other parts of the car.

Other than that it's nothing spectacular TBH!


Working from home is like old times when Myself and Grant used to detail together. That being said its not ideal due to both the wind and dust elements. My folks have been in and out the past few weeks hence me working from home. It's too much of a hassle to run around fetching keys, disarming the alarm, etc so I decided to work from home for a change.

If all goes to plan 2011 will see in an indoor wash and detailing bay...Can't wait

(26-08-2010 04:26 PM)Rayner Wrote: [ -> ]Hi David amazing work as usual a big thanks for all the updates and info

Enjoyed the attention to detail on the rims. Do you prefer cleaning that way or taking them off completely? Which do you find saves you more time?

It depends what the client requests. If they prepared to pay for removal of the wheels then I will do it. Otherwise cleaning on the car is the only option.

To remove the wheels for cleaning adds at least an hour and a half per corner to the detail. It's simply not viable to do it on every car

Nothing nicer than an immaculate black car.

Incredible work there David. Truly amazing.
You really do get it perfect everytime.
Well done

Thanks gents

(01-09-2010 06:14 PM)Carn Wrote: [ -> ]Thanks gents

ABSOLUTELY STUNNING