WX51TXR + Blackfire SRC polishes by PC vs. Elise No.1

[WX51 TXR]

First car since our holiday, and boy was it a case of back down to earth with a bump – this one took 14 hours in total! The owner had been out to see me for a pre-inspection a while back, and the car hadn’t looked too bad in sunlight, but under the halogens it looked a whole lot worse – plenty of swirls and a few scratches here and there. In the week running up to this detail, BenP had posted a thread on the unbelievable hardness of Lotus paint, so I knew I had my work cut out, and took the opportunity to try out the new SRC polishes from Blackfire. Not being able to take paint thickness readings due to the bodywork being composite, I proceeded with caution, and strictly limited myself to two attempts with the Compound per panel. As it turned out, only the rear spoiler section needed this – all the rest of the panels were corrected with one go of the Compound, followed by one go with the Finishing Polish. I can’t put into words how pleasant these polishes are to use. No dust, no need for heavy pressure, no need for high speeds, just great cutting and finishing power – even by PC. The only bummer was the weather and working conditions – it rained and stayed dull all day long, the garage floor was really filthy and the driveway was grit covered. After finishing the detail with the interior, there was no way I was rolling it out onto wet grit and then jumping in and out to take pics… so I’m afraid the pics aren’t that great. C’est la vie.

Wash

Whole car rinsed at moderate pressure using the Karcher
Alloys treated with Blackfire Wheel and Tyre Gel (didn’t use Wheel Brightener as alloys were all showing signs of corrosion) and rinsed with open ended hose
Whole car foamed with Poorboy’s Slick n Suds (4:1 mix in foam gun) and left to dwell for 5 mins
Whole car rinsed at moderate pressure using the Karcher
All trims and inside the arches treated with P21S Total Auto Wash
Whole car washed with Blackfire Gloss Shampoo using lambswool (bodywork) and microfibre (wheels and inside arches) mitts, and the two bucket method
Whole car rinsed with an open-ended hose
Whole car dried with waffle weave towels

Clay

All paintwork and windows clayed using Meguiars Detailing Clay and Meguiars Quik Detailer
Excess lubricant mopped up with waffle weave towels

Polish

Whole car taped with 3434, then machine polished with PC, using Blackfire SRC Compound and Lake Country orange light cut pads. One attempt comprising multiple passes (1st at speed 1 no pressure, rest at speed 4-5 using moderate pressure) was enough to get everything out, bar some of the scratches on the rear spoiler section, which I made another attempt on using the same method. I then followed up with Blackfire SRC Finishing Polish using Lake Country green finishing pads, as the finish left by the Compound was good but not perfect (some micromarring). The quality of the finish left by this finishing polish is better than I’ve seen before, with terrific brightness and flake pop. All residues were buffed with Poorboy’s Super Thick n Plush towels.

Protect

All bodywork protected with Blackfire Wet Diamond All Finish Paint Protection, applied using foam pads and buffed using Poorboy`s’ Deluxe Mega towels
Wheels protected with Poorboy`s Wheel Sealant, applied with foam pads and buffed with work towels
All exterior trims treated with 303 Aerospace Protectant, applied using a microfibre pad and buffed after 15 mins with waffle weave towels
Exhaust tips polished with Autosol and protected with Meguiars NXT All Metal Polysh, both applied using Poorboy’s work towels
Tyres dressed with Blackfire Long Lasting Tyre Gel

Interior

All hard surfaces wiped down with damp Poorboy’s work towels, and then dressed with Poorboy’s Natural Look Dressing
All glass cleaned with Meguiars NXT Glass Cleaner and Poorboy’s work towels
All alcantara surfaces brushed down with Meguiars Interior Brush
Carpets removed, thoroughly hoovered and replaced

Here’s the pics…

General before shot…

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f293/polishedbliss/polishedbliss/elise0206/elise0206a.jpg

Defects before any work…

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f293/polishedbliss/polishedbliss/elise0206/elise0206b.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f293/polishedbliss/polishedbliss/elise0206/elise0206c.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f293/polishedbliss/polishedbliss/elise0206/elise0206d.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f293/polishedbliss/polishedbliss/elise0206/elise0206e.jpg

After using the SRC Compound (from the same angles)…

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f293/polishedbliss/polishedbliss/elise0206/elise0206f.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f293/polishedbliss/polishedbliss/elise0206/elise0206g.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f293/polishedbliss/polishedbliss/elise0206/elise0206h.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f293/polishedbliss/polishedbliss/elise0206/elise0206i.jpg

These next two were taken after using the SRC Finishing Polish…

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f293/polishedbliss/polishedbliss/elise0206/elise0206j.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f293/polishedbliss/polishedbliss/elise0206/elise0206k.jpg

General after shots…

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f293/polishedbliss/polishedbliss/elise0206/elise0206l.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f293/polishedbliss/polishedbliss/elise0206/elise0206m.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f293/polishedbliss/polishedbliss/elise0206/elise0206n.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f293/polishedbliss/polishedbliss/elise0206/elise0206o.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f293/polishedbliss/polishedbliss/elise0206/elise0206p.jpg

I did this car on Sunday. Another Elise rolled into my driveway on Tuesday morning at 9am… needing the same treatment… and another 12 hour session. More pics up soon!

:)

[Bellydawg]

That is a beautiful car. Excellent work.

[AZ Ferrari Man]

Looking good! Thanks again with the Range Rover help! What is SRC polish from Blkfire, (is it the cermaiclear polish) Also how do you like the Wet Diamond Sealant? Thanks,

[WX51 TXR]

I`m absolutely stoked with the whole Blackfire range - one day soon when I get chance I`m going to make sure I do every single step, i.e. compound then finishing polish then gloss enhancing polish then the sealant. In fact, I have a black 350ZX to do next Monday, so if the weather is kind I`ll try to do exactly this. The SRC polishes are indeed based on Menzerna`s PO85RD3.01 and PO106FF cerami-clear polishes, and vastly outperform the standard versions of Intensive Polish and Final Polish II. The extra lubricant allows a longer working time and prevents excessive dusting (in fact, you get no dust at all with the Finishing Polish), while the abrasives are tougher and don`t fracture as easily, meaning you can use heavy pressure for long periods and really work the defects hard. Before last week, I would have said I couldn`t correct Lotus paint with just the PC (a fellow UK detailer recently did one and went through all the usual supsects with no success, i.e. OHC, PG, #83, and eventually used Diamond Cut), but with these polishes I now question whether I actually need to get a rotary. I`ll be using them a lot over the coming weeks, so I`ll report back as I go. :)

[AZ Ferrari Man]

SO they are the new Blackfire USA Ceramiclear line that is in the new Shiny Black bottles? Sorry, just cant seem to find them, do you have a link to the compound?

[BLACKWRX]

.......I was going to post pictures of a car i just detailed.......but your pics would put me to shame......EXCELLENT JOB & EXCELLENT CAR

[AZ Ferrari Man]

How much product did you use, and did you work it till gone and clear, or did the extended `wet` time make it difficult to judge when the polish had broken down?

Andrew

[WX51 TXR]

I tried to use the same amount of product as normal (i.e. a normal sized cross on the pad per panel) but the bottle lid design tends to push out more product than is ideal, so I resorted to squeezing out little blobs evenly over the pad before spreading with the PC off - if you try them you`ll see what I mean. The break down characteristics are superb - the extra lube does mean a long working time, but eventually it starts to dry and like the SRR`s changes from coloured to translucent when the abrasives are done and the residue ready for buffing. This makes it very easy to judge when the work is done - I rate these polishes as the easiest I have used by PC. For example, can you imagine using PowerGloss with a 6.5" pad without generating a whole heap of dust and having to continually spritz with QD? With the Compound, you won`t have to, as the lube keeps it wet, and dust generation is minimal. It`s the first time I`ve been able to take out serious defects from hard paint in one attempt with the PC without any fuss or hassle - try them, you`ll love them. Just go easy on softer paint until you get used to the extra cut afforded. You should be able to get the products direct from Classic Motoring. Here`s a link (SRC twins half way down the page)...

http://www.properautocare.com/blackfire.html

:)

[heffergm]

All hail Colin Chapman. Nice work.

[3Dog]

If you go to http://blackfireusa.com/ You get free shipping.

[04Si]

Nice car. Where in Scotland. I was born in Aberdeen. Now living in Scottsdale Arizona.

[mgm2003]

Wow, you put some work/time into that, and it shows!

The flake in that paint is insane.

[WX51 TXR]

Nice car. Where in Scotland. I was born in Aberdeen. Now living in Scottsdale Arizona.

Oldmeldrum, 20 miles NW of Aberdeen! :)