Xd

Okay, car was dropped off, quick chat and cigarette before I dropped Mr Harsh off at Potter Bar train station. Car looking rather tired and ready for some TLC. Danny of Autowhizz will be popping over later to have a look at the alloys and see about getting them refurbed.







Okay, So……. Hot rinse, snow foam, another hot rinse rinse, snow foam and then a wash mitt, then another hot rinse and dry…… Then a good smattering of body solvent left for ten minutes to try and dissolve the tar, tyre rubber and dead bugs still stuck to the paint then a wipe down with a clean white microfibre cloth and look what’s still coming off.



So worst is now off but it will need to be clay bared first thing tomorrow to finish off anyway results start to speak for themselves as I am starting to see what lies underneath;



If you look to the right you can see holograms, this is caused by poor washing technique, typically from a supermarket washer trolley. Pay £5 to get your car washed and they throw in some holograms for free. Anyway just to side track a little, a Porsche Cayenne that I maintain regularly for the customer and have recently given it its six month top up polish was handed into Porsche Hatfield for its service, it came back with the same holograming as they had washed it. Now the customer is going to have to get it polished again by me in return for one of their Stainless Steel charcoal griddles

Rest of the car, firstly the cabin air intake, as can be seen because of the design water sits in some of the dimples, this over time has dried off and stained;




I ended up taking this off so it could be cleaned thoroughly and then dressed.

Wheels were given a preliminary clean to see what needed to be done, Danny from Autowizz popped over to check, he will be taking them away to strip, powder coat, respray then oven bake. This will get them back to as good as new.

Xd

There were some typical scratches around the car plus the usual paint blooming and holograming, none of which should be too great a problem, the only thing that I cannot resolve on the bodywork from is road rash. That will have to be resolved another day by the car going in for a front end respray.





It was now time to tackle the engine bay;





This I first steamed and then covered with a snow foam mix of Meguiars APC and Hyper wash to help it bind to the dirt before brushing in using a detailing brush and finally rinsing then steaming off.




This was then blown dry and dressed using Meguiars hyper dressing diluted 4:1
Now primary cleaning had been done, it was now time to take off badges, plates, decals, etc, by which point Lorna should be on the scene to start on the interior.







Once I had removed these I went over the car with a claybar and then inspected the paintwork.



Swirls and holograms we knew about but the interesting bit was the watermarks, these were not coming off with the claybar or solvents, they had etched into the paint so could only be removed with the machine polishing. I decided to start by using a light cut mop head on the bodywork which would help to clean up all these defects before polishing. One of these pads is pretty severe but I knew from previous experiences on this car it would be the only thing to shift these defects.



A quick measurement of the paint showed that to tidy things up we were only removing around 1% of the paint which was excellent news.



Now, the interior. Oh dear





There was a lot of dust and dirt getting in to every crack it could find, Lorna decided best way to tackle this was to vacuum first, then spray with Megs APC diluted 10:1, wipe down with a warm damp sponge. Dry and then eventually condition. In all it worked out around five hours worth of work, primary being completed today but some buffing and secondary conditioning to be done tomorrow.

So, I had completed work on the bonnet, Lorna doing the primary work on the interior, some pictures of the results.











Okay, last bit of write-up on this blog, so, whilst the wheels were of to be refurbished it was time to remove 1” thick of mud from the wheel arches, this was done by softening it with warm water and some degreaser, then scraping off and brushing off and finally steaming. The once all done it was time to dress the arches properly and remove the grime from the suspension and brake components.





Finally found a little surprise for me hanging behind one of the vents;



So with car all cleaned up a second coating of leather conditioner on the seats it was time to place all the badges and trim back on and apply a couple of coats of sealant.





Whilst the sealant was on the paintwork curing I using a can of Meguiars Cabriolet weatherproofer on the roof then polished up the exhaust tips.



At this point the wheels were dropped back off from the factory having been stripped, powder coated, resprayed and oven baked. Then Mr Cuddles (wifes nickname for Bachi) turned up ready to collect his Shiny’d car. He’s was feeling a little sore but had a grin on his face.















And they were off, Peter having given Bachi a lift and a Happy Mr Harsh.

Oh and yes, Peter did leave behind his Porsche for a little TLC.

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it.

Blurter

buaan

Good read

The Loon

Good work Lee

Did that car just return from the PHN Afghanistan Tour

Xd

Its been on a few tours filming hence the front having pretty severe road rash.

m1bjr

I had to read that line a couple of times.

I thought you were talking about a drug deal.



It must be pretty cool living next to you.
With all that interesting hardware to see.

Xd

Hmm, my dear friend Walter our, local nosey neighbour. He's frequently over and introducing himself to my "customers". Its a difficult one but its more secure knowing Walter is always close at hand

s2konroids

Yet again great stuff Lee

I liked seeing how each stage made a difference, and the end result.

Mo-S2K

Wow, you conjured up some magic! Nice work!