Autopia.org - Click & Brag

My Brilliant Black 2001 Audi S4 - Finally detailed! (lots o' pics)

JackalS4 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:52:16 GMT

So i've been crazy-busy since starting to put together my own little "on the side" detailing thing, barely enough time to do my own car haha! :p Not an official business or anything right now, but just gradually learning and doing friends/co-workers' cars (wash/clay/polish/wax+) and experimenting with my brother's Subaru beater car during my off-time from work.

Anyhow, i've made a HUGE improvement to this used B5 S4 I bought almost 2 years ago. The car was purchased with MAJOR swirls and paint issues, but this of course made for a real nice turnaround. :D

I started things at about a 85-90% correction rate, very impressed with how the Porter Cable 7424XP, 4" Lake Country orange/white pads, and M105/205 combo was really working very well on the hard Audi clear (tried Menzerna SIP/FP but didn't like their correction as much - understandable w/ a DA). But then this had to gradually be eased into a 70-85% correction range because weather, lack of time and what not else were holding me back from getting the correction I wanted on the whole car in time for the cold/winter. Reason for this is that for that level of correction with a DA the Audi clear was needing 3-4 full hits for each section being corrected (read: time consuming).

I did detail my interior and engine bay as well, but really the highlights and best pics are of the exterior so i'll leave it with that (the interior/engine cleanup was a very gradual process I didn't really document much). Same goes for the washing and claying etc.

SO! I present to you my S4 (exterior, quick-ish, 70-90% correction) detail!

First off - "Initial/before Pics" - swirl marks and paint condition:

2003 Maserati

Russecu — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:50:42 GMT

First of all this is my first writeup this format and I am by no means a photographer. :bla2:
Wow its been a while since I did this one. Review of a couple products included that I got in the drawing a few months back from Dave "The Detail Shoppe". Products used below:

Tires:Megiuars APC 4:1
Wheels: Autoglym Custom Wheel Cleaner
Wells: Megiuars APC 4:1
Race Glaze XL Wheel Brush
Swissvax Wheel Brush
Old Microfiber for back of wheel
Tires Dressed with Danse Diamond Gel

Paint:
Pre-soak of P21S TAW
Wash with Optimum Car Wash
Lambswool Mitt
Dedicated Swissvax Brush for Emlems and tight areas

Correction:
Men SIP
Scholl S30
Scholl S40
50/50 IPA wipedown After all
LC Orange
LC Green
LC Black
Makita
Flex DA

Convertible Top:
303 Fabric Cleaner
303 Fabric Guard

LSP:
4 Star UPP w/ polycharger
4 Star Ultimate Spray Wax Plus

Interior:
Cleaned all with Duragloss Leather Shampoo
Someone had already used something to harsh on interior and the coating was gummy and stick in places.
Durgloss Leather conditioner used on seats and 303 protectant on dash

Befores:

Before:

After:

50/50:

Before/After:

After SIP

I know still some stuff in barrel but I don't remove wheels yet and yuck curb rash.

Engine just needed a wipedown with some ONR QD strength and dressed with Optimum Protectant

Finished

My 100% custom paint protection!

CumminsCrazed — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:45:41 GMT

ok guys, so i decided to do a little paint protection with my truck this summer, so i went and bought everything id need. I finally got around to working on it all and of some pics of my current progress. So far only the rear has been done, i will be doing some custom plasma cutting and fabricating for front side. Heres some pics.

Last night @ the shop after having too many beers and getting rear done

About 10 min ago after cleaning up stainless and cleaning rubber

Not too bad for beering it up as far as evenness goes!

Pass.

Drivers

Like i said, fronts will be done tonight and will have pics up as i go along. Front 2nd gen inner fenders are a ***** and a half with the protruding plastic.

quick click and brag

White lexus 23 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:38:52 GMT

hey everyone. got this one dropped off to see if i could fix some sctatches and the owner closing the garage door on the back.
Process:
wash Meguars crystal deep crystal car wash.
meguiars ultimate cut compound with pfw pad.
Menzerna super intense polish -lake country orange pad
meguiars high tech yellow wax. meguiars tan finishing pad
car when i got it

afters

In this pic i had only done a two step polish. I had not done the hatch you can tell the diffrence between the two.

This was the last picture i could get before the camera died but the sun went down shortly after anyhow. (Darn daylight savings time) well Thank you very much for looking.

1996 black camaro Z28 (lots of pics)

gwoodtitans — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 02:27:25 GMT

Here is my camaro. I have had it for two summers now and it's a blast. It has about 107k miles on it and looks pretty decent for its age. Here are some pics. Tell me what you think.

restoration: 300,000 mile 91 VW Jetta GLI

big red — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:26:50 GMT

Figured id post some pics up of my personal car. has just over 300k on it, all original factory vw paint.

date of pickup

the start

50/50

better

after adjusting the stance and throwing on my panasports

under the hood

before

after

paint correction steps
wash
claybar
C.A.R. products 1500 compound via foam pad
3m finesseit on big scratches
poorboys sealer
nattys blue wax.

Acura RSX Paint Corrected

Highrev1 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:28:44 GMT

A customer dropped off his RSX on Friday evening around 7:30 for a full paint correction. I had 24 hours before he was coming back to pick it up and drop off his buddies VW. I knew I had a long weekend in front of me :) I called in my helper cause I knew I would need it :D It was drizzling all day but by the evening it had stopped, thank goodness. I am a night owl so I decided to get right to work washing the car. I foamed it up with a mix of CG Citrus wash and clear and dawn. I get some good foam from that combination. Make fun of my short pants all you want, so much better than having wet ankles while you work :D

I pulled it inside to clay and inspect what I was working with here. The reall killer was removing the other guys wax. It was everywhere that alone took quite a long time. Also the paint was pretty swirled up :( I knew I have my work cut out for me :)

I got started by pulling the wheels and cleaning the wheels and wheel wells. The steamer does fairly well on the wheel wells. Its getting cold here in NJ so I was thinking of ways for me to clean the wheels inside so I don't freeze and made this little contraption. Its a hotwater heater pan with a tube attached. I run the tube outside and am able to keep my garage floor dry yet still clean the wheels :2thumbs:

There were a couple of deeper RIDS around the car that I decided to wetsand. Just to ensure I got them out. I also pulled the rear wing to correct the paint under it.

Couple of 50/50's still working on my photography skills :o

402,000 Mile Acura Legend

4cruizn — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:40:00 GMT

Those who have been around for a few years will remember my post from when I turned over 300,000 miles in my 1994 Acura Legend LS coupe.

http://www.autopia.org/forum/click-b...oom-clean.html

Someone resurrected the thread and asked for an update. Well, here you go!

Last month I turned over 400,000 miles. I drive a lot. I have hit the following milestones in this car:

100,000 miles: 5/20/2003
200,000 miles: 12/3/2005
300,000 miles: 7/29/2007
400,000 miles: 10/30/2009

Here is a video of when/where the 400,000 took place.

Current mileage:

So that this qualifies as a Click and Brag with before/after pics, here are some photos of how the car looked this afternoon. I spent the weekend in Greer, Arizona at a cabin in the White Mountains. We got snowed on last night, and the roads coming back to Phoenix this morning were a salty mess. See for yourself.

My �twin� 1994 Legend is in the garage. That one is a 4-door, though.

It was a mess!

I promptly went to the car wash and high-pressure cleaned everything in the undercarriage. Then at home I washed with Meguiar�s, dressed the rubber & vinyl with Aero 303, and called it a day. This car is maintained regularly with the Meguiar�s 3-step system. Paint is 60% original. Hood, fenders, front bumper, and roof have been painted about 100,000 miles ago (the front end is showing some wear again). The rest is 15 years old. The clear coat on the trunk is starting to go but all in all the old girl still cleans up pretty well. Leather was replaced in 2004 with Katzkins. The rest of the interior is original.

I grabbed these pics tonight @ sunset in an empty office parking garage not far from my house. Since I last posted, I have added 2002 TL Type-S 17� wheels.

Maintenance records.

Taking OCD to the next level, I have every receipt for maintenance on this car, from new to current. It is on the original engine, transmission, clutch, axles, rotors, starter, suspension, exhaust� the list goes on. The original alternator and fuel pump went out just recently at around 400,000. The car does not smoke, leak, or burn oil. A couple of weeks ago it passed Phoenix emissions/smog testing with flying colors.

In case you were wondering, the maintenance receipts total up to $23,300 over the course of 15 years and 400,000 miles. That doesn�t include MOST sets of tires, registration, insurance, and other operating expenses.

See you at half a million!!

2007 Lexus GS450h- Mercury Metallic

Alpha Motoring — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:03:09 GMT

My friend myke951 from MFest and I detailed out my 2007 GS450h

This is my personal car, no before pictures

- Wash via Meguiars Gold Class
- Clayed with Meguiars Clay (Paint, Glass, Rims)
- Surf City Beyond Clay
- Meguiars Ultimate Compound via Porter Cable with Polishing Pad
- Surf City Sealant
- Surf City Barrier Reef Caranuba Wax
- LSP- Mothers Top Coat
- Final Wipedown with Menzerna Acrylic Shield
- Wheels got a coat of Caranuba SmartWax and Menzerna Acrylic Shield
- Chemical Guys- SmartTrim on trims and tires

Thanks & Enjoy

1966 Chevy II Nova SS

Rob Tomlin — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:33:53 GMT

My friend recently picked up a '66 Chevy II Nova SS. I've actually lost track of how many of these cars he has owned since high school, but it's quite a few!

The prior owner, who is also a friend, had owned the car for a long time (10 years?), but he never buffed the car out. It appeared to be a lacquer paint job, and it was in very rough/bad shape. Lots of debris, scratches, etching, swirls and some oxidation.

Given how bad the paint was, we decided that we were going to need to wet sand the car. I did try compounding one area before doing so, and it was very obvious the car needed to be wet sanded. We started with 2000, but it wasn't aggressive enough to get everything out of the paint, so we wound up using 1200 (1500 wasn't enough either).

Since the paint was in such bad shape, we had nothing to lose, since it was really in need of a new paint job.

The first few pics are pretty self explanatory and show what we were dealing with, which is a lot of scratches, swirls, stains etc:

This is the trunk. Pretty ugly. And no, this is not after wet sanding! ;)

The hood isn't any bettter than the trunk. Yes, someone put a can of soda on the hood and let it etch the paint:

The door shows stains, and a lack of shine and reflection:

Roof shot. Lots of deep scratches, pitting, etc:

1991 Civic Si engine detailed (pics)

Rob. — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 02:45:22 GMT

Well I finished my engine bay detail.. took about 4 days total.

I used WD-40 and a paintbrush and 4 microfiber towels.
Works amazing on 20 year old buildup of dirt and rustproofing. No joke. =)
Car had been sitting for 10+ years.. Buildup of rustproofing and dust on it takes its toll.
Car has 105,000 kms (60,000 miles)

BEFORE:

AFTER

New hood insulator.
AFAIK, 89-91 CIVIC Si hatches did not some ith one in Canada.

New powdercoated valve cover. 10% Gloss texture black.
Holds up much better than OEM wrinkle flat black enamel.

Sorry for the dark garage pics. LOL

My Accord

Corey Bit Spank — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:10:44 GMT

Grad school has been busy, but I found an hour to Wash/Polish(Acrylic Prime/FPII combo)/Wax(Collinite). Polish/waxing done via cyclo. Now ready for winter - whenever it comes.

Took about an hour and four minutes. :clap:

1996 Black Bronco

David703 — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:19:28 GMT

wet sanded the passenger quarter then rotory with PG.. then rotory over the entire truck with SIP. Pin stripes added and push bar removed.
Please note i am NOT finished.. just showing progress.

2005 Carbon Black M3: Fall Detail

GoCubsGo — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 06:57:30 GMT

A big thanks to Phil at DD, Ivan at LUSTR, Kevin Brown, Greg at DI, the folks at AutoGeek and everyone else on this and other forums for helping me out with my endless questions. I'm a weekend warrior and have only been into this for about a year so the help is much appreciated.

History:
This is my personal ride (2005 Carbon Black M3). No major swirls or spider-webbing just the usual random scratches, a PITA out-gassing issue and a handfull of RIDS, which seemed to be on every other panel :wall. The goal was the paint correction and laying down the initial coat of 845. I still need to apply a couple more coats of 845 (Midwest winter coming), treat the exterior trim with Black Wow, etc.. Overall it was a successful weekend.

PROCESS:

Wash:
Meg's Gold Class Shampoo (2 bucket method)
Flood rinse
Leaf Blower Dry

Clay:
Sonus Green with ONR clay lube

Polisher:
PC7424 (4" and 5.5" pads)

Polishes:
M105 or Menz PO83 as needed - LC Orange Pad
Menz P106FA on all panels (single pass) - LC White Pad
Menz PO87MC on all panels (single pass) - Uber Black Pad (this was my attempt to "jewel" the finish. Never tried this before and I'm not sure if I "officially" achieved a jeweled finish, but I really liked the end result after a uniform pass with PO87MC on a non-cutting pad).

Final Surface Prep:
Menzerna Final Inspection (MFI) on all panels. This was my first time using MFI and it took some getting used to, but once I had my technique down I absolutely loved it. After a final wipe down with MFI the finish was beyond ready for my LSP, extremely clean and unbelievably squeaky (much more than IPA IMO). A little MFI goes a long way and I am sold.

LSP:
Collinite 845 - Uber Black Pad (speed 2.5-3)
Applied twice back-to-back just to ensure full coverage. I'll be adding additional coats with the proper 24 cure time within the next couple weeks. I bounced back and forth on my LSP for the Midwest winter (FMJ, JS109, FK1000P, UPGP, etc.). After a ton of research and all was said and done I opted for 845, hope I made the right choice.

Other:
Tires are dressed with Optimum Opt-Bond Tire Gel.
Wheels hit with FK425 (just for the pix ;)).

The Lineup:

Clay:
The majority of the panels had minimal contamination, but the lower panels behind the wheels were a different story as expected (don't ask me why the Sonus Green looks yellow in the picture because I have no idea).

Dust:
M105 and Menz PO83Q do the job, but they do leave a nice amount of dust behind. I "kind of" used the KB method (4" orange pad, a little extra product & pressure) to cleanup the RIDS so that might explain some of the heavy dusting, but worth it on all accounts. It worked like magic.

A Couple Pre/Post Correction Shots:

Out Gas Issue:
3 months ago I made a mistake trying to apply a chip repair to my hood. The mistake: Within 7 days of applying a new coat of sealant and wax I taped off an area on my hood and then hit it with IPA . This ended up causing an "out-gassing" outline (see 1st picture). I tried to clean it up with M105 a couple days later, but nothing, it was still there. Given my ride is parked in an underground garage and sits in high humidity 23 hours a day I guess it just took some time to "air" out. 3 months later it took just one pass with M105 on a 4" pad and the eye sore was finally gone. Kevin Brown was a huge help on the techinque and Ivan helped me out with a paint reading to make sure I still had enough clear to work with, so props to KB and Ivan.

Out-Gas Damage:

Out-Gas Damage Corrected:

Repaint Issue:
After a fender bender (it happened while my ride was in a driveway, long story and this post is already becoming a novel) the left door was repainted in the spring. The repair shop didn't clean everything up properly, but a single pass with Menz PO83 cleaned it right up.

Repair Damage Issue:

Repair Damage Issue Corrected:

Random RIDS:
Bootlid RIDS:

Bootlid RIDS Corrected:

The Final Results:
It was windy as heck outside so some polish dust made it's way into a few shots and sorry for my ugly mug showing up on one of the pix :scared:.

Overall Outside:

Roof (inside):

Roof (outside):

Hood (outside) I:

Hood (outside) II:

Bootlid (inside):

Bootlid (outside):

Right Door (inside):

Right Door (outside):

Left Door (inside):

Left Door (outside):

Final Overalls:

A quick little headlight restoration...

joed1228 — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:34:08 GMT

Nothing crazy but I figured I'd try to offer headlight restoration as well so here's my first attempt:

Here is an example of my work.