Detailing Bug Finally Got Me ...

[k1ano]

Well I guess it had to happen !

After over 15 years of black cars and not really being arsed to spend a lot of time cleaning em (yes why do I buy Black cars then ?!) I took up an offer from DarrenS to come and PC my Black Toyota GT4.

My basic outlook is that Black cars look brilliant when cleaned and polished, the black trim blending in with the body-colour creating IMHO a different look and a genuine two colour appearance i.e. black and silver ... The trade off being that Black seems to show up swirls much more easily and get dirty quicker so I typically tend not to wash or polish my Black cars very often ... My Vee was last washed and polished properly last year for Kimbolton !

So Darren came over with his kit bag and we did the following ...

1. Washed the car
2. Clayed it (never used that stuff before, but it works great)
3. PC'd each panel to remove swirls and restore the paint finish
4. Used diamond bright to seal the paint

I know a thread 'is useless without pics' so have pinched some from Darrens Cliosport thread which is also listed ...

Roof Before

Bonnet Before

Roof After

Bonnet After

Final View

Cliosport GT4 Detailing Thread

Anyway, as this process seemed to be quite theraputic and the results were fantastic I am now the proud owner of a Kestrel DAS6 orbital polisher and various Megs buffers and products to do the Vee and keep the cars in tip-top condition

For anyone interested I did a fair bit of research and bought from I4Detailing and went for this kit ... Kesterl DA-6 Dual Action Polisher Megs Kit 1

I found a discount code off the internet (can't remember where) which gives a further 7.5% off ...

Anyway my Vee should be looking nicely polished and, hopefully, swirl free for the French trip in June :approve:

Finally thanks to Darren for helping out ...

Martin

 

[Jamesv6]

members_area.php Might be where you got the discount code?

The Toyota looks super :approve:

 

[Matt]

Looks good mate! :approve:

 

[captain_28]

Hi Martin,

Looks smart mate, I know what you mean about the black looking twice as nice when it has been cleaned / poilshed. They are a real pain to keep clean aren't they!

How difficult is it to PC? Is it actually possible to totally balls it up, as I have been thinking about getting one of these for while now?

 

[GTTurbo]

Like a new penny mate :approve:

How much have you spent on the kit in total? Maybe says in the links but i am being lazy!!

Cheers

Mossy

 

[k1ano]

Think my invoice all in was £135 delivered ...

There are other kit options with non megs stuff, and also with more pads and fluids etc. or simply just the polisher on it's own - so a fair choice of options really. With I4detailing you get the extra 5" backing plate which you don't get with other suppliers.

Martin

 

[Williams]

Looks brilliant Martin!! [smilie=boohoo.gif]

Are you sure you've been bitten by the bug, and this isnt just a phase you're going through.. or a rush of blood to the head? :rofl:
Which ever... get that vee done quick before it passes.. lol

 

[sammyturbo]

Time to do the Vee now

 

[k1ano]

Looks brilliant Martin!! [smilie=boohoo.gif]

Are you sure you've been bitten by the bug, and this isnt just a phase you're going through.. or a rush of blood to the head? :rofl:
Which ever... get that vee done quick before it passes.. lol

Yeh, you're possibly correct, it will probably be for sale in a few weeks time :rofl:

I suppose the good thing about this is the results seem so good for the effort put in AND the dreaded scratches and swirls are gone ... Also, for me, not knowing how to do something is also a 'mental block' so being actually shown how to clay a car and use the polisher makes it much easier for me to adopt and build the know-how rather than having to learn by trial and error and the associated risks - the Yota was also good 'low risk' testbed if you like.

Martin

 

[Jamesv6]

Perhaps we can have a live PC polishing demo at one of the SOUTHERN meets.

Oh and before you say it... yes you can.

 

[k1ano]

Perhaps we can have a live PC polishing demo at one of the SOUTHERN meets.

Not from me you won't :rofl:

Martin

 

[VII Car Care]

very nice work there! Now give some attention to the vee [smilie=icon_cheers.gif]

 

[GTTurbo]

Time to do Mossy's Vee now

Well said mate

 

[GTTurbo]

Think my invoice all in was £135 delivered ...

Thanks mate, actually cheaper than my initial thoughts :approve:

 

[Ali]

V Nice Martin.

 

[Jamesv6]

Have you done the Vee yet Martin?

 

[Jamesv6]

Not many PC polishing how to articles lately.

 

[k1ano]

Have you done the Vee yet Martin?

Nar, been having a go layering my front spliter in firbre-glass and respraying it ... Will PC the Vee soon

Martin

 

[k1ano]

BTW - the Toyota doesn't quite look like it did in the above pics now though :rofl:

The paint sealing that I did does seem to make it easier to wash though ...

Martin

 

[k1ano]

Well ... Finally after 5 years I did a proper job of polishing my Vee ... Well proper job for me, as I'm not sure how long other people take ...

On Saturday I spent 3 hours claying the Vee, this is quite a theraputic job and I didn't really mind doing it ... I was surprised at how good the paint finish was and how little tar and crap was on the car. It also gave me an insight to where any swirls marks were ... For anyone that knows me and my Black/Gold car there were hardly any on it, mainly as I wash and polish it very rarely to avoid scratches and swirls ... Also I have owned it from less than a year old so the paintwork has pretty much lived under my watch ...

On Sunday I spent 7 hours PC'ing the car with the polisher and Meguirs pads and cutting/polishing compound. After my experiences with the Toyota test, I felt pretty confident with doing the work on the Vee and soon got into my stride. This process, to me, took ages but again you can see the results as you go along. Some of the minor bonnet and roof scratches, funnily enough caused by my mis-use of an outdoor car cover when I first bought the Vee, came out after a bit of careful work ... I didn't find the lines or shape of the Vee to be an issue especially with the Meg's pads which come up and surround the polishers pad attachment - this means you can also get into the tight areas around the front and rear lights and along the doors etc. I was pretty much bushed by the time I had finished on Sunday night so left the car overnight. The finish looked very good, as the Megs compound is also a polish ... At the end of this whole process I also went around the car with a touch up stick and dabbed any stone chips, which were only really on the front bumper - not too many given the car has not had it's bumper resprayed yet ...

Finally on Monday night I actually decided to seal the paint with Diamond Brite - as I have some of this and have used it before ... This took me just over 4 hours. I initially dusted off the Vee and used the stage 1 treatment on the car with micro-fibre cloths avoiding a swirling motion. I let this cure and then applied stage 2 over stage 1, again with no swirling motions. After a 20 minute or so wait for curing, I then used some polishing cloths to reveal the final sheen ... I was pretty impressed with the result but very 'garaged' out ...

So now all I need to do is take some pictures and mothball the car :rofl: it will probably be plastered within a couple of hours driving. On the whole I enjoyed the various stages and gaining the pleasure from doing the work and seeing the results unfold. The Black/Gold finish really does come alive when polished - which is why my last few cars have been black. I wouldn't say I would like to do this too often or be able to do anything like this as a profession so hats off to people who detail for a living - it's not really for me ...

I guess if I could change the colour of my Vee, as many seem to be doing, I would have it white with black wheels and a Black spoiler - like the new Clio 200 ... Maybe my time to call Jay perhaps

PICTURES TO FOLLOW - PERHAPS ...

Martin