I finally had some time to give the Karcher and G220 out a couple of weeks ago. In preparation, I hadn't washed the car for a fortnight, but a final weekend of country lanes and rain containing Saharan sand saw the car looking pretty unloved come wash time:





First off - give the snow foam an outing. I confess, I hadn't managed to get "proper" snow foam solution, so I used AutoGlym pressure wash;


Still, it seemed to lift the dust off without physical contact, which is what I wanted from it:



Next I did the roof with the AutoGlym roof cleaner:


So with minimal effort thus far, it's left "ready to wash":




Now, the weather wasn't ideal for washing cars...:


...but I gave a two bucket wash with Megs NXT shampoo (can anyone tell me what the difference between gold class and NXT actually is, apart from colour and smell..?)and a Megs lambswool mit, then went round with AG Insect Remover (particularly on the windscreen) and I spent half an hour with a microfibre cloth and some AG Tar Remover (which is fantastic). A second two bucket wash to get rid of any residues and I was ready to move the car inside for a claybar session.

It's amazing how much dirt was still on the car after all of the above- this is the result of 1/3 of the bootlid on a new clay:


Still, a bit of elbow grease later and she was looking nice and clean and ready for buffing:



I haven't used a buffer before, so it was a mix of reading the Megs websites, looking at how-to's and some experimentation. I settled on Megs #83 and the red pad (I forget the number) - I'm sure XD would tell me off for the pad choice!!!

The results were good once I had got a bit more used to it, though. Here are some pics (for a change..)

This is a nice one of the bonnet - see the arc line (bottom left to top right) - the left of which is the non-cut area, the right is much brighter.


and here's a before and after of some hollogramming and spiders' webs:


It's only one pass so they're not 100% cleared up. Not having a paint thickness gauge I was wary of taking too much out!

I also like this pic of a nice shiny flank:


I then went round the car again with a #80 speed glaze and a yellow pad.

To top off I used the Megs Step 2 polish, and topped off with Carnuba wax - I need a buffing bonnet!!!

A couple of learnings: I now know I need to clean the pads on the fly, and I need a couple of additional pads. Also going to try a Mez compound on the advice of XD. All in, it's made me a bit disappointed not to have a darker colour - silver just doesn't do all that effort any justice I also ran out of time so didn't get to go around the little tiny creases and edges, or do the interior. Oppsie!

Some final pics of the finished car.







Phew!

 

oh and I know I know - the wheels are crappy, the tail pipes need doing and it needs lowering

It's been at DMS for the last couple of weeks having a full polybush kit, ACT clutch and new gearbox fitted. Wheels and BBK next, then suspension, then FI.

 

great job!

 

Looks good! I need to spend a few days on my car. Close on my house in 2 weeks, finally will have my own garage again!

 

WOW!!!

 

The car looks brand new. Good Job.
and I always like the tail fog light

 

It does until you see it has 108k miles of stone chips on the front

But thanks!!

A few weeks on and it still looks just as good when I rinse and QD. Mind you, it's only done a couple of hundred miles now that she's my weekend toy.