dsms detail - Champagne Gloss: Audi A8

[dsms]

This one needed quite a bit of work, unfortunatley the owner did not want any correction or polishing done to the car and needed it back the same day.



The A8 arrived at my house around 8am Sunday. It was a chilly 50degree morning here in NJ that day...the last car I worked on was in 80+degree weather, just one week prior.



Here is the inital condition of the car upon drop off

I inspected the Audi and saw lots of road grime on the lower panels and tons of dried bugs on the front end. After cleaning the wheels using PoorBoys spray and rinse in conjunction with the swissvax and EZ wheel brushes I moved onto washing the Audi.



My wash process was as follows:



Pre soak w/ P21s TAW

Treat all dried bugs with Poorboys bug squash 2:1 (superb product)

Treat all lower panels road grim with Surf City road grime destroyer(new favorite)

2BM using Gloss It Gloss shampoo (slicker than Z7, highly concentrated)





Here are some shots of the lower panels

Before surf city road grime destroyer

During

After

Before

I must thank Todd Helme for the reccomendation of this product. I saw his thread about a orange gallardo which had very similar road grime/tar that was taken care of with the grime destroyer from surf city. Overall I really think this is a great product to have in your arsenal, its a very think gel that you spray on and let dwell before some light agitation and it works like a charm. Also the PB bug squash is great, similar application but its much thinner consistancy and it really loosens dried bugs on the paint.



Next came claying. I used Gloss It green clay(mild) with megs last touch 1:1 as lube. The gloss it green clay is very smooth and for a mild clay it picks up a lot of contaminants n 1 pass.



Here is the clay after only 1/2 the hood:shakehead:

I clay only 1 panel at a time and then re-wipe the panel using the last touch lube to avoid re-washing the car to remove the clay/lube residue



After clay I moved on to the "less than stellar" interior.



I used Gloss It satin leather cleaner for all leather care, its by far the best leather cleaner I have used. Its as easy to use as Lexol or Zaino stuff but it has the cleaning ability of Leather Masters...the best part? No streaking!



Passenger seat before cleaning

Passenger seat after cleaing

50/50

What looks like body oils from leaning on the arm rest

Scuffs and stains on the interior lower panels



Before

During

After

I then turned my attention over to the carpets. After dry brushing and vacuuming I pre treated the stained areas with Folex solution and then pressure washed the carptes to remove the deeper stains. After PW'ing the carptes I used APC 10:1 and agitated for several minutes followed by another PW rinse and then drying in the sun.



Before, all 4 looked similar to this one

Here are how the carptes tunred out

Door panel cleaned and conditioned

Next I cleaned all door jamb areas including the trunk. I used APC 20:1 and the swissvax brush to agaitate the solution o certain areas. This part got a little messy



Before vacuuming and cleaning jampbs

During

After a wipedown with 1Z CP

All water spots and dirt stains were cleaned off the under part of the trunk lid using another MF

Trunk area before

After

 

[dsms]

Then back to the interior which needed a lot of work



I used



Gloss It leather cleaner

1Z CP on plastic

Edge detailing sticks

APC

5.5hp shop vac



Door before

Door after

A 50/50 shot after cleaning with only the Satin leather cleaner from gloss it

All small plastic trim was cleaned with 1Z CP

Interior all finished off

Trim was dressed using Adams In and Out spray - awesome product alternative to Black Wow if your in a hurry. Doesnt have the durability though

Metal polished using Adams metal polish 1

Glass cleaned with 1Z Glas Polish and IG

Finishing touches

Tires dressed with Gloss It signature tire dressing, deep shine like Zainos but it lasts about 2x as long

Key was cleaned with a toothpic and 1Z CP (it needed it)

The LSP of choice was Gloss It Gloss Finish sealant x1 applied by the cyclo polisher using white finishing pads. Cure time is about 10mins, I just went around the car applying the Gloss Finish to each panel and by the time I finished it was about time to go and buff it off



I followed up with a Gloss Enhancer QD wipedown, hands down the overall QD winner for me

 

[dsms]

The final results...I think this color really pops when clean but I would have liked to see what it would have looked like fully polished.

Very nice clarity for a light colored car

And one more... I was playing around in iphoto and came up with this as my new background for my computer, thought it looked artsy :computer:

Hope you enjoyed and thanks for looking:thumb:

 

[connorb850]

The car looks like new again, great attention to detail.

 

[Thomas Dekany]

1 - if you use the old uploader on photobucket the pictures will not have those dotted lines.



Otherwise the detail is top notch.

 

[dsms]

1 - if you use the old uploader on photobucket the pictures will not have those dotted lines.



Otherwise the detail is top notch.

Thanks TD! Which dotted lines are you referring to?

 

[dsms]

I didnt use the bulk uploader on photobucket either, would that be better to use?

 

[kaval]

I would avoid photobucket actually. Kills the quality of your pictures. Take one of the pictures you uploaded to photobucket and save it to your hard drive. Then open the original and the photobucket version and compare them..you'll see the difference.



Nice work by the way. Honestly such a dramatic difference! For just a small detail on the outside it looks fantastic. Would love to see it all polished up! The interior - WOW!

 

[Thomas Dekany]

Thanks TD! Which dotted lines are you referring to?

I should have said broken lines - look at the side molding in this picture

 

[Pats300zx]

Awesome work. What part of NJ are you located in?? I never knew you were that close to me.



Todd also recommended SC Grime Destroyer. I picked up two bottles and love it.

 

[DSVWGLI]

Very impressive attention to detail on the interior :2thumbs:. The exterior looks great as well.

 

[RC0310]

amazing job.. keep it up!!

 

[dsms]

Awesome work. What part of NJ are you located in?? I never knew you were that close to me.



Todd also recommended SC Grime Destroyer. I picked up two bottles and love it.

Im in Bergen County. Where are you?

 

[Pats300zx]

Im in Bergen County. Where are you?

West Chester, Pa. Right outside of Phila. For some reason I always thought you were in Tx

 

[dsms]

West Chester, Pa. Right outside of Phila. For some reason I always thought you were in Tx

I was thinking West Chester NY, its about 25mins from where I am. But I guess were Not so close after all :doh

 

[imported_Jimmyz]

Wow, that was very impressive, and it is obvious that you take real pride in your work (and I can't believe someone could treat their car, especially a car as nice as an A8, like that). I noticed that the plate on the A8 says New Jersey, so I was wondering how far you are away from NYC (more specifically, Purchase area in Westchester County), because I have a brand new Audi S5 and R8 that I would liked to get professionally waxed, and I need a full detail on my 2002 Land Rover Discov II SE.



Also, do you like that satin leather cleaner? I remember when I was a kid, my dad used to put Armor-All leather protectant every week or so on the leather of his new (now its a classic) Benz, and after a few months, it was clear that although the leather looked great, it was getting really dry, and after a year, it started to crack, and a few months after that, the leather cracked so much he put sheepskin seat covers on the seats he used it on. So, because of this, I never ever put anything on any leather or alcantara in my cars until I am 100% sure that it is a good product and will supply me with the outcome I want (as I would be using it not to clean the leather or make is shiny, but for it to become more soft, supple and luxurious). So with that in mind, do you recommend that satin leather cleaner (also, not only do I not use leather cleaners to make the leather shiny, I hate it when leather cleaners make it shiny).

 

[dsms]

Wow, that was very impressive, and it is obvious that you take real pride in your work (and I can't believe someone could treat their car, especially a car as nice as an A8, like that). I noticed that the plate on the A8 says New Jersey, so I was wondering how far you are away from NYC (more specifically, Purchase area in Westchester County), because I have a brand new Audi S5 and R8 that I would liked to get professionally waxed, and I need a full detail on my 2002 Land Rover Discov II SE.



Also, do you like that satin leather cleaner? I remember when I was a kid, my dad used to put Armor-All leather protectant every week or so on the leather of his new (now its a classic) Benz, and after a few months, it was clear that although the leather looked great, it was getting really dry, and after a year, it started to crack, and a few months after that, the leather cracked so much he put sheepskin seat covers on the seats he used it on. So, because of this, I never ever put anything on any leather or alcantara in my cars until I am 100% sure that it is a good product and will supply me with the outcome I want (as I would be using it not to clean the leather or make is shiny, but for it to become more soft, supple and luxurious). So with that in mind, do you recommend that satin leather cleaner (also, not only do I not use leather cleaners to make the leather shiny, I hate it when leather cleaners make it shiny).

The Satin Leather cleaner is super safe on all leather finishes and leaves a non greasy finish behind.



Here is the description:



"Gloss-it developed a leather cleaner that would gently clean and replenish natural leather oils and restore that natural leather smell.



Gloss-it Satin leather cleaner is mild water based cleaner that is pH balanced and contains no petroleum additives. Contains natural leather oils to replentish your fine leather products.



Safe on all types of leather and will not stain or streak, contains no harsh alkali. Apply Satin leather Polish after leather surface is cleaned."



There ya go!

 

[Scottwax]

Excellent work, especially the interior. :bow



Good interior detailing does not get enough love around here.

 

[dsms]

Excellent work, especially the interior. :bow



Good interior detailing does not get enough love around here.

For detailers a perfected paint finish is always a top priority but for the majority of my customers an immaculate interior is just as, if not more important to them. Just think how of how much time a customer spends inside their car, they are more likely to spot flaws on the interior rather than the exterior. I do appreciate the kind words Scott and btw do you still polish using your cyclo?

 

[sixty7mustang22]

I would avoid photobucket actually. Kills the quality of your pictures.

What do you suggest using instead?