Gave my TT a detail today

[Tyke]

Hi everyone.

I gave our new Mazda 5 a clean yesterday, but as it's only a month old and has only 800 miles on the clock you might as well go to your Mazda showroom to look at one!

Anyhow, I turned my attention to my TT today. It's not long passed it's 2nd birthday and has around 20k on the clock. It's my daily driver and is kept outside 24/7. However, it wasn't all that dirty, although it hasn't been cleaned for nearly a month due to holidays and the bloody weather here in the UK - it's been raining for nearly the whole summer

Here's a few befores to give you an idea:







Not dreadfully dirty as I mentioned, but the alloys are in their customary dirty state and the exhaust needs a bit of TLC.

So I started the washing process.

Firstly I tackled the alloys, trying out Carlack wheel cleaner for the first time. I was a little underwhelmed TBH; it works reasonably well I guess, but I feel that virosol [a citrus based degreaser here] works better and costs considerably less.

Next up I pressure washed the bodywork to remove any loose debris and used my Superspray filled with Zymöl auto wash and left it to soak whilst I filled my wash bucket with the same.

I then carried out a two bucket wash with a lambswool mitt, a final rinse with filtered water from my Aquagleam filter then dried with a Sonus Der Wunder drying towel with a few spritz's of Last Touch.

This was followed up by some Sonus green clay using Last Touch as a lubricant.

The polishing stage was by PC using Sonus 4" and 6" white pads with Menzerna PO85RD polish. There are some swirls present [this paint is bloody hard!] but I didn't have time for defect removal today.

The wheels were sealed with some Chemical Guys Wheel Guard whilst my LSP today was Collinite 476S [looking for a little extra durability - the Victoria Concours I'd previously applied was no longer beading at all]. This was removed with my new Monster Fluffy microfibre towels - what a great towel, soft and very effective at removing product.

Finally the exhaust was cleaned with Autosol polish using a Meg's terry towel.

Phew, I'm knackered. 6-7 hours of work later, here are the results:



























I hope you approve! I love that last shot personally.

Cheers

[tod071]

Tyke, that is amazing! Glad your hard work paid off.

Hope your neighbors don't complain about the sun's bright reflection off that car!

[zoomzoom mazda5]

The flake shot is great. It's a great shine and nice wetness too, how bout the mazda5? would like to see it too!, i got one too!

[Tyke]

Thanks guys

No pics of the Mazda 5 I'm afraid, I might get some tomorrow although my wife's been out with a friend today with all the children in it, so it may look a little the worse for four children under eight having been let loose on it! We've gone for the 2.0D Sport version in Galaxy grey metallic and are loving it so far.

[stiffdogg06]

Nice job! Is the befores, there was no flake!!

[BlackBenz2]

That looks awesome....Great Job!!!

[Tyke]

OK, here's a couple of snaps of the Mazda 5. It must have only covered 60 miles since I washed it and already it's covered in flies!

[BlackElantraGT]

The TT looks amazing. You can tell all that hard work paid off in your photos. I'm amazed that you could squeeze and get work done on the passenger side (our driver's side) because it looks like there's not even enough room to even open the door to get in!

[TH0001]

Great write up and amazing job!!!

[Tyke]

Cheers guys! Yep, there's not much room on the drive and the passenger must get out before you pull in. Oh to have a garage! Still, at least I've got off road parking which is more than some around these parts

I gave it a second coat of Collinite and CG wheel guard this afternoon and got some nice pics out in the sun:















Thanks for looking!