Today I did some detailing...

Mc Love

Yeah I hadnt washed in two weeks and was starting to look miserable but according to James, it was cleaner than most cars that are brought to him

Delighted with his work today.

Richard88

Always swore on Autoglym HD but after reading all the reviews on Collinite 845 I had to give it a go and I'm well impressed with it.

Gave her a good wash (2bucket) followed by a layer of Collinite. It was detarred and polished about 3 months ago.




Don't know how to make these images smaller

Curran

Looking good...nice depth and clarity.

Ron Burgundy II

Richard 88 looks class. I like the finish it gave you.

vintagevrs

Any tips for cleaning chrome exhausts? Or should I say any chrome exhaust tips? Boom boom

Gave them a scrub today but still not right

JoeA3

vintagevrs wrote: »

Any tips for cleaning chrome exhausts? Or should I say any chrome exhaust tips? Boom boom

Gave them a scrub today but still not right

Autoglym do a metal polish. Or Autosol.

Curran

Meguiars NXT Metal Polysh is decent too.

Extausts should all be made with stainless steel as then you can use fine grade wire wool and a close to chrome finish is achievable. It's hard to do anything with chrome tips given the thin finish and the abuse they've to put up with.

JoeA3

You have to keep on top of them too or they go soot black in no time and are much harder to clean then! The MK5 GTI was brutal for it. Always a good sign of a well minded GTI if the pipes were shiny
Some of the aforementioned metal polish applied with some kitchen paper towel works a treat I find.

vintagevrs

Cheers fellas. This stuff is well caked on the inner pipes

MetzgerMeister

Inner pipes can often be black anyway but you can use oven cleaner to get rid of the caked-on carbon. It's made for that anyway so should work.

vintagevrs

Sorry I Didn't mean inner as the inside of the actual pipes. There are 4 pipes on the car and the 2 nearest the middle get dirtiest first while the outside 2 stay relatively clean. The outside 2 deal with less exhaust gas as they are often closed by a valve depending on different variables. BIt like the one below

Voodoomelon

Spent a quick hour and a bit on the car today, its been about 3 weeks since I gave it a good clean.
Just a full shampoo, and whilst still soapy I whipped out the claybar and gave it a once over, man alive the crud that came off the car was unreal.
And I wash it once a week normally. No wax or sealant at all at the moment, but will do for Christmas!

Curran

Looking good....love that 7er! Smashing car!

Spike Witwicky

Hi All

Havent been posting much in the last while as been having a few motoring issues. It all began back in the summer when my 05 C180k had a row with the back of a Hyundai SantaFe. The C180k lost.

So got myself an 03 CLK200. Had the usual cloudy headlight issues that affects a lot of cars of that era. So got meself the Meguiars Headlight kit. (Bottle of PlastRX, a couple of wet sanding pads and wool pad to go on your electric drill)
Well my drill is crap so i used my DA and an orange hex pad.




Had a few issues with the CLK so got rid of it. In the meantime i picked up an old 00 C180 for €450 to use as a runaround. Paint wasnt the greatest but i reckoned a quick machine polish would sort it out (though it did have a few rust bubbles appearing).
Korrosol and Tar Remover first then whipped out the DA and a bottle of Chemical Guys V36. Didnt bother with a finer polish as this was only a runaround till i found something else.

Before and after pics












And done. Still a few scuffs on the bumpers and some rust on the sill but a lot shinier than before. Also took a can of black spray paint to the grey slats in the grill to tidy it up




Held onto the 00 C180 for a couple of months and then a few weeks ago decided to get a bimmer like most of the motoring forum :pac:
Picked up a 320i.
Havent been able to do much with the crappy weather we've been getting but in the spring she'll be getting a full decon, polish and wax

Foxhole Norman

Got to try out Blacklight this morning before the rain hit, very impressed with it! Same with Kleen Freaks Snowfoam, goes on nice and thick for about an inch of foam.

















Hoping to get the little bits of bodywork sorted soon and spend a bit of time sorting the exterior trims and wheels properly

ianobrien

Foxhole Norman wrote: »

<<big long post, full of pics that I'm not going to repeat>>

Now that's nice and deep. I was giving consideration to buying a DAS6 but when I've seen what it can do (I have used hand polished up to now) I will definitely be buying one and asking lots of stupid questions on how to use, polishes, etc

keano25

That BMW looks sweet, paint looks immaculate

vectra

ianobrien wrote: »

Now that's nice and deep. I was giving consideration to buying a DAS6 but when I've seen what it can do (I have used hand polished up to now) I will definitely be buying one and asking lots of stupid questions on how to use, polishes, etc

There is no such thing as a stupid question when being a first time user of a polisher.
Remember we were all in that situation at some point and were appreciative of the advice given to us.
We in turn are only too glad to offer any guidance required.

Curran

Looking extremely well Foxhole!

Nice E28 up the road too!

Foxhole Norman

Thanks lads!

@IanOBrien, a DA-Pro would be the right job, worth their weight in Gold!

Curran wrote: »

Looking extremely well Foxhole!

Nice E28 up the road too!

Sound! I'm actually very tempted to throw him an offer for it, 520i Auto with E39 Sports front seats.

punisher5112

Curran wrote: »

Looking extremely well Foxhole!

Nice E28 up the road too!

Hi Curran and the rest of you all and a happy Christmas.

Some great work you are all doing I haven't had a chance as rain hasn't stopped.

Curran any good deals going need to buy that towel and badly need upholstery cleaner as have a car sitting up a month and it is like a mould fest inside.
Have the numatic just need the cleaner that does great work but also smells great.

vintagevrs

Got Autosol today in Halfords. Quick 3 minutes each side made a huge difference. Thanks chaps

vintagevrs

Not really detailing but hey ho. From this


To this


Easy when you have help:)

crasy dash

Great to get themstarted young.Should start training my daughter now but I know she would only end up in a bucket haha

Can remember my auld fella showing me how to wash the car many years ago I'm getting old

vintagevrs

Yeah it brought back memories of the same for me. There's a video of my father shouting at me, I'm about 4 holding the hose pipe vertical and rain coat or not, it didn't matter as the water ran down the inside of my arm. Cleaning the car was the last thing on my mind, good times.

YbFocus

First go lads ok, please go easy on me

My new DA and a single pass of both Mezerna FG400 and SF4000.

I am really liking this game already








Got the heavy stuff out there is still the stone chips and some scratches but it is amazing after 2 hours!

Curran

Bitten by the bug! :P

Good work - what paintwork are you working on? Is it a Focus?

crasy dash

Its an addiction trust me haha I'm hooked already just learning the technique of a proper hand wash.

I got the same kit as yourself all going well next week I'll have a few hours to prep the car and try like yourself.

Thanks for posting though gives me the confidence to attempt it on my car.

First job I must do though this weekend is try to repair the door handle that froze in the frost last night.

YbFocus

Thanks crazy

Its a bmw, a 90's 3 series.

I was worried but done plenty of reading and went at it

Curran

Good man - should look great when finished - keep the pictures coming!

YbFocus

Thanks Curran, veteran eyes watching me

Curran

Ohhh I'll be watching - but not judging, but rather to see if I can help or guide you in anyway!

YbFocus

Curran wrote: »

Ohhh I'll be watching - but not judging, but rather to see if I can help or guide you in anyway!

Thanks man, I will appreciate any help you can give

I won't be going back at it for a few weeks, but I just had to have a crack at it!
Need to get a few more pads and a quality wax too!

Curran

BMW paint is one of the harder paints you will come across - so not too easy to correct! Microfiber pads will beef up your ability to cut if you need more cutting ability.

YbFocus

Well could i just make a few more passes on the medium cut pads and fg400?

I'd be afraid of going too far! :rolleyes:

I need to do more reading and educate myself

Curran

Removal rates with a DA polisher aren't going to be huge - but that said, you probably haven't owned or know the full history of the car, in terms of what treatment the paintwork has had in the past, so its impossible to say what is a safe amount of polishing to do. Assuming its factory paint, and never polished in the past, you'd have plenty of paintwork to do several passes with a heavy cut combo on a DA machine!

Any questions that you need answers to; drop me a PM - be happy to help!

YbFocus

Only own it a year but it's factory paint except for the passenger wing and bumper which i fine myself!

Thanks Curran I'll do that when i inevitably run into trouble

vectra

YbFocus wrote: »

Well could i just make a few more passes on the medium cut pads and fg400?

I'd be afraid of going too far! :rolleyes:

I need to do more reading and educate myself

Best way to learn is start light and work up.
ie
Start with light cut/polish
then proigress to deeper cut/refine.

Stick a few pics up of how she looks now before you go at it.
Make a thread on it.

YbFocus

vectra wrote: »

Best way to learn is start light and work up.
ie
Start with light cut/polish
then proigress to deeper cut/refine.

Stick a few pics up of how she looks now before you go at it.
Make a thread on it.

Well do vectra, it is destroyed by a lifetime of what must have been automatic washes.
Swirl marks everywhere!

I will get a few pics and make a thread once the weather gets better

TheBigGreen

Nearly 4 months without a wash!!

Snow foam with Demon Wash Foam shampoo (trying to use it up), Bilt Hamber Korrosol Fall Out Remover on the wheels and 2BM using Autoglym Bodywork Shampoo Conditioner.

Must tackle the tar soon!

Foxhole Norman

Bless me Detailing Gods for I have sinned, it has been 2 weeks since my last wash, so I gave it 2 today :pac:











Nieghbours must definitely think I'm mad now, but I also made a sale so whatevs

quadrifoglio verde

Washed the gtv for the first time in 6 weeks
Was absolutely filthy

Collinite is holding up well though, still getting nice beading on it since it was applied in September
Only downside to it is there's so much left and so many new waxes I want to buy

JAMES VTI S

Jaysus 4 months!

Curran

What product is on the wheels James?

JAMES VTI S

Not sure about what's on them now but I used....

TheBigGreen

JAMES VTI S wrote: »

Not sure about what's on them now but I used....

Nothing has been put on to them since James

jacksie66

This post has been deleted.

Foxhole Norman

Everyone needs a clean undercarriage! Sorted with AutoGlym's Engine and Machine degreaser, a good scrub and a blast of the power hose.

MetzgerMeister

Now detailing golf clubs This was one my dad has had for a while. It was covered in scratches from grit gathering on the sleeve of the head cover. Like new now:

SBPhoto

Quick wash with Bilt Hamber Auto Wash, Dry and top up coat of Collinite 845