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

[JackalS4]

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:



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04132.jpg



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04133.jpg



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04134.jpg



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04135.jpg



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04136.jpg



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04152.jpg



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04154.jpg



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04112.jpg



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04170.jpg

[JackalS4]

So time to get into the actual correction!!



50/50`s and progress shots:





Used the trunk lid as my test surface - ended up with 2 hits M105 and 1 hit M205 for the better part of the car...



Fine scratches:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04095.jpg



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04100.jpg



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04101.jpg



Cleared up nicely with M105/205!

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04103.jpg



Clarity comparison (left side polished)

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04105.jpg



Holy moly...power to the PC XP!

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04106.jpg



Right side polished:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04140.jpg



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04143.jpg



This is the kind of correction I was getting - not flawless but really, really big improvement (right side)!

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04156.jpg



B-Pillar - approached this with just M205 due to softer clear (taped first):

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04159.jpg



"Kissing" panel with bits of polish:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04160.jpg



Spreading out the polish first - PC still off:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04161.jpg



Corrected!

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04163.jpg



Hood - with a chunk of correction...

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04190.jpg



Rear quarter panel 50/50:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04122.jpg



Funny 50/50... [:D]

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04194.jpg



Front bumper section before:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04435.jpg



Front bumper section after (white dots can still be seen despite pic, but big improvement!):

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04438.jpg



Another B-pillar before:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04441.jpg



...and after:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04442.jpg



Again, the kind of correction I was getting:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04443.jpg



Trunk lid - THIS really made a BIG difference in how the car overall looked/reflected etc...

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04452.jpg



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04453.jpg



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04454.jpg



Applying Duragloss TPP #105 (LSP):

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04463.jpg



...and on trunk:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04464.jpg

[JackalS4]

And now on to the finished product - bear with me as this is all with a 3.2MP Sony cell phone camera.... :o



AFTERS:



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04456.jpg



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04465.jpg



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04466.jpg



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04475.jpg



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04484.jpg



Stone chips...not going anywhere...ah well! :D

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04189.jpg



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04184.jpg



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04139.jpg



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04141.jpg



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04157.jpg



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04155.jpg



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04171.jpg





A couple of edited pics in a parking garage:



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/Dsc04478.jpg



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/Dsc04479.jpg



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/Dsc04480.jpg



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/Dsc04481.jpg



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/Dsc04482.jpg





Rain beading with Duragloss #105:



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04501.jpg



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04502.jpg



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04503.jpg



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04504.jpg



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04505.jpg



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/Dsc04506.jpg



http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/Dsc04507.jpg





Oh, and just a HINT of some of the stuff used:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/DarkForceJackal/DSC04080.jpg





She`s not perfect, but i`m QUITE thrilled to see her looking better than ever! :D



Plus protected from our lovely Canadian winter...sort of... :nervous2:

[Carticular]

Awesome work!! I have a brilliant black Audi too and I love the M105/M205 combo!

[Nikku]

Jonathan good job ! You`re well on your way :) Keep it up!

[vtec92civic]

hey car looks great . . . . . always been a fan of the beading shots. You also got a nice little selection of products there =)

[SVTContour]

Nice job, I did battle with my brother-in-laws black A4 a month or two ago. Like you, I had to settle for less than 100% correction using my PC. Since then I`ve acquired a rotary, so I`m ready to go another round.

[brandn3w]

Oh this is FANTASTIC!!! I have VERY similar swirling in my paint and I JUST got my PCXP and 105/205 with the HT cyan/tangerine pads per the forums advice for my Brilliant Black! I actually had a B5 A4 winter beater that I loved so much I sold it and my other car to get my current Brilliant Black B6, thank God. =D



I know how hard Audi paint is, but this REALLY gives me a good feeling as to the correction I can expect. To be honest, from a simple PCXP 105/205 I think it looks just awesome. :goodjob





Quick question: What temperature did you polish at because I`d like to do it during Thanksgiving break depending on the weather. Seeing you`re from the North and I`ll be using the same products I was curious what they still operate/break down at.







LOVE the 2.7TT B5 S4!!! Great looking car! Nice job, all around! =] :D





Example of my Brilliant Black :-X



http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/7613/dscf1175qs.jpg (http://img17.imageshack.us/i/dscf1175qs.jpg/)

[GoCubsGo]

That one needed some work and you did great job! Looks fantastic :2thumbs:.

[gdal]

great work ... btw how long did it take you?

[JackalS4]

Awesome work!! I have a brilliant black Audi too and I love the M105/M205 combo!



Isn`t it a great combo??



In fact, I find on some of the lower panels I wasn`t even bothering with the M205 because it just WASN`T needing it (as far as my eyes could tell, anyway) with the way the M105 was finishing down (3 pressured, slow passes followed with 2 lighter, quicker passes of just the 105).




Jonathan good job ! You`re well on your way :) Keep it up!



Thank you sir! And she`s finally finished so I can relax a bit... :clap:




hey car looks great . . . . . always been a fan of the beading shots. You also got a nice little selection of products there =)



I`ve been meaning to get an updated shot of my inventory, it`s all been very carefully selected, and a lot of it has slowly built up.



Thanks!




Nice job, I did battle with my brother-in-laws black A4 a month or two ago. Like you, I had to settle for less than 100% correction using my PC. Since then I`ve acquired a rotary, so I`m ready to go another round.



I figured somehow or another, with snow brushes, ice, washes and what not else coming there`s gonna be SOME degree of marring over the next while so yeah, whatever. Plus I didn`t have much time and also only so much correction could be had with the PC (although I really wonder how much more correction the rotary can do if the PC was given more time - time will tell I guess). More important for me is learning, and knowing etc. And that`s also why a rotary will likely be in my future (as well as for some time-saving hopefully)! :)




Oh this is FANTASTIC!!! I have VERY similar swirling in my paint and I JUST got my PCXP and 105/205 with the HT cyan/tangerine pads per the forums advice for my Brilliant Black! I actually had a B5 A4 winter beater that I loved so much I sold it and my other car to get my current Brilliant Black B6, thank God. =D



I know how hard Audi paint is, but this REALLY gives me a good feeling as to the correction I can expect. To be honest, from a simple PCXP 105/205 I think it looks just awesome. :goodjob





Quick question: What temperature did you polish at because I`d like to do it during Thanksgiving break depending on the weather. Seeing you`re from the North and I`ll be using the same products I was curious what they still operate/break down at.







LOVE the 2.7TT B5 S4!!! Great looking car! Nice job, all around! =] :D





Example of my Brilliant Black :-X





These days it seems a PC can do quite a chunk of correction, with the new XP model, smaller 4" pads and the wonderful M105 for DA formula! Rotaries will always have their place, but to me I think the PC always will too.



Temperature-wise, I polished at anywhere from 5 to 20C (40 to 70F) because it was being done gradually over about 2 months (of freak-ish weather). I myself never noticed a difference I can think of in the way the polishes broke down.



Thanks for the compliments on the car, it`s been a blast to own and drive in all weather conditions...totally worth the finicky maintenance for a guy like myself. Twin-turbo V6 + AWD for the win!



Wow, dude, your black B6 is pretty bad too!! :nervous2:




That one needed some work and you did great job! Looks fantastic :2thumbs:.



Thanks!




great work ... btw how long did it take you?



Thanks... because this was a gradual job, I did it over about 2 months or so, spread out. In actual polishing hours, with the tapering correction I was settling for...i`d have to loosely guess anywhere from 10-15 hours, but really hard to say. Plus I was experimenting a lot to learn stuff and try products etc. I did a single stage polish on a client`s car with the PC & M205 only, and that took me about 5-6 hours IIRC to give you an idea.