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Hi All,
This is car detail write-up #3. As usual, appreciate any feedback you have on things I could do to improve.
This is the newest car I have worked on and it was in very good condition (which was nice for a change!) and only had some very minor swirling and a couple of RIDS to deal with. Being my father's baby I opted to go with HD Nitro Seal on this one and must say the gloss and clarity from this product is amazing, even better than the HD Poxy I did on the last silver Commodore and certainly worth the extra $$$. I must say the VF SS-V Redline is a good looking car, particularly for a Commodore, the black wheels, Brembo brakes, tall front bar and wide fenders really give it quite a menacing and masculine look.
The paint depth levels were measured and whilst the car was consistently around the 160 – 180 microns mark all over, the bonnet was less than half this at around 80 microns…! I took at least a dozen readings all over the bonnet and same results… Any experts here know why this might be? The car hasn’t been polished before to my father's knowledge and certainly no accidents or resprays etc… Took it very carefully over this area and used no cutting and minimal polishing just to give the paint more sparkle.
Anyways here was the process I followed:
Wheels
Body
Paint Correction
Paint Protection
Small Details
Interior
Total Time: 20+ Hours
Cover Photo
And here come the photos....
A very thick foaming!
Having been a little disappointed with all the leftover grime and brake dust I was getting with the Angelwax Superior Bilberry Automotive Wheel Cleaner (mixed 3:1), I decided to try a new product, Scholl Concepts RIM 7 Wheel Cleaner Gel. Both PH Neutral products.
Despite the awesome colour reaction in the photo, it required heaps of agitation to remove any of the brake dust off and there was heaps left over even after this. I ended up having to clean the wheels again by hand with HD Total APC to get them properly clean. In fact, it made the Angelwax product seem much better, so might stick with that and just increase the ratio to 2:1 and see how that goes.
Some good iron contaminant bleeding.
Went back to the Dodo Juice Dodo Clay. This time it started off very soft and sticky and annoyingly was leaving lots of clay residue on my hands but after a few minutes it did firm up. I think I still preferred this over the Angelwax Cleanse Fine Clay Bar which is just too hard.
The unusual paint difference…
Two stages to get the taillights sorted.
Jee the Kamikaze Silica Scale remover does an awesome job.
After Angelwax Elixir and Bilberry Wheel Wax. The difference is more noticeable under the natural sun light, but the wheels certainly blinged after this.
Still working out how to take a good photo of the finished car.
Hope you enjoyed!
This is car detail write-up #3. As usual, appreciate any feedback you have on things I could do to improve.
This is the newest car I have worked on and it was in very good condition (which was nice for a change!) and only had some very minor swirling and a couple of RIDS to deal with. Being my father's baby I opted to go with HD Nitro Seal on this one and must say the gloss and clarity from this product is amazing, even better than the HD Poxy I did on the last silver Commodore and certainly worth the extra $$$. I must say the VF SS-V Redline is a good looking car, particularly for a Commodore, the black wheels, Brembo brakes, tall front bar and wide fenders really give it quite a menacing and masculine look.
The paint depth levels were measured and whilst the car was consistently around the 160 – 180 microns mark all over, the bonnet was less than half this at around 80 microns…! I took at least a dozen readings all over the bonnet and same results… Any experts here know why this might be? The car hasn’t been polished before to my father's knowledge and certainly no accidents or resprays etc… Took it very carefully over this area and used no cutting and minimal polishing just to give the paint more sparkle.
Anyways here was the process I followed:
Wheels
Rims, tyres and wheel arches sprayed with Scholl Concepts RIM 7 Wheel Cleaner Gel and left to soak
Wheel arches and tyres scrubbed down with the Vikan Wheel Arch Brush
Rims, wheel nuts and brake calipers scrubbed with the Concours Wheel Woolie set and Swissvax Wheel brush
Rinsed off with the Gerni Super 140.2 high pressure hose
Followed by HD Total APC with microfiber towel and wheel brush
Wheel arches and tyres scrubbed down with the Vikan Wheel Arch Brush
Rims, wheel nuts and brake calipers scrubbed with the Concours Wheel Woolie set and Swissvax Wheel brush
Rinsed off with the Gerni Super 140.2 high pressure hose
Followed by HD Total APC with microfiber towel and wheel brush
Body
Angelwax Fast Foam applied to the whole car through the Autobrite Snow Foam Lance and left to soak for 5 minutes
High pressure rinse off
Angelwax Superior Shampoo applied through the Two Bucket Wash Method with warm water, a Grit Guard in the rinse bucket and using the Concours Cloudburst wash mitt
High pressure rinse off
Chemical decontamination - Iron LS X sprayed on body work and wheels and spread with the wash mitt and left for 5 minutes
High pressure rinse off
Car dried with the Concours Tempest Twins Hi-tech Drying Towels and Compressed Air for the wheels, grills, vents and body gap panels.
Physical decontamination - Clay barred using the Dodo Juice Dodo Clay and Born Slippy as the lubricant.
High pressure rinse off
Angelwax Superior Shampoo applied through the Two Bucket Wash Method with warm water, a Grit Guard in the rinse bucket and using the Concours Cloudburst wash mitt
High pressure rinse off
Chemical decontamination - Iron LS X sprayed on body work and wheels and spread with the wash mitt and left for 5 minutes
High pressure rinse off
Car dried with the Concours Tempest Twins Hi-tech Drying Towels and Compressed Air for the wheels, grills, vents and body gap panels.
Physical decontamination - Clay barred using the Dodo Juice Dodo Clay and Born Slippy as the lubricant.
Paint Correction
The car was polished with HD Polish on a combination of Lake Country CCS Orange Light Cutting Pads for lightly swirled areas and White Polishing 5” Pads on the rest using the Rupes Bigfoot Polisher LHR15E Mark II
For tighter areas, HD Polish on the Kamikaze Banzai Dynamics Polishing 3" Pads on the Rupes Bigfoot Mini Polisher LHR75E.
RIDS were removed with Kamikaze Banzai Dynamics Cutting 3” Pads and HD Cut.
The tail lights had two stages of cutting, then polishing with the above.
For tighter areas, HD Polish on the Kamikaze Banzai Dynamics Polishing 3" Pads on the Rupes Bigfoot Mini Polisher LHR75E.
RIDS were removed with Kamikaze Banzai Dynamics Cutting 3” Pads and HD Cut.
The tail lights had two stages of cutting, then polishing with the above.
Paint Protection
CarPro Eraser was used to remove any traces of polish
HD Nitro Seal was then applied in the two stages by hand, Part A and then Part B and left to cure for 24 hours (good to give me break) and buffed off with a new plush microfibre towel the next day/
The wheels were treated to Bilberry Wheel Wax and left for a few minutes and buffed off.
HD Nitro Seal was then applied in the two stages by hand, Part A and then Part B and left to cure for 24 hours (good to give me break) and buffed off with a new plush microfibre towel the next day/
The wheels were treated to Bilberry Wheel Wax and left for a few minutes and buffed off.
Small Details
Badges cleaned with Kamikaze Silica Remover and brush
All Plastics and rubbers around the bumpers and windows sills etc were treated with Solution Finish
Exhaust tip polished with Autosol Metal Polish and 0000 Super Fine Steel
Wheel arches treated with 3D Magic Blue to restore back to black
Angelwax Elixir used on the tyres to restore them to a factory looking matte black finish
Angelwax Quick Exterior Detail (QED) applied as the final product to the car to give a little more sparkle
All Plastics and rubbers around the bumpers and windows sills etc were treated with Solution Finish
Exhaust tip polished with Autosol Metal Polish and 0000 Super Fine Steel
Wheel arches treated with 3D Magic Blue to restore back to black
Angelwax Elixir used on the tyres to restore them to a factory looking matte black finish
Angelwax Quick Exterior Detail (QED) applied as the final product to the car to give a little more sparkle
Interior
Angelwax Heaven for Leather Cleaner with Gentle Horse Hair Leather Brush for the leather seats
Angelwax Hide Rate for the leather seats making them a little softer
HD Total applied on all plastic trim surfaces and some stains on the carpet
Stoner’s Invisible Glass with Ultra Microfiber Glass cloth on all the glass and buffed with a separate towel
Ryobi Wet Dry Vacuum with Godfreys Car Kit attachments
Angelwax Hide Rate for the leather seats making them a little softer
HD Total applied on all plastic trim surfaces and some stains on the carpet
Stoner’s Invisible Glass with Ultra Microfiber Glass cloth on all the glass and buffed with a separate towel
Ryobi Wet Dry Vacuum with Godfreys Car Kit attachments
Total Time: 20+ Hours
Cover Photo
And here come the photos....
A very thick foaming!
Having been a little disappointed with all the leftover grime and brake dust I was getting with the Angelwax Superior Bilberry Automotive Wheel Cleaner (mixed 3:1), I decided to try a new product, Scholl Concepts RIM 7 Wheel Cleaner Gel. Both PH Neutral products.
Despite the awesome colour reaction in the photo, it required heaps of agitation to remove any of the brake dust off and there was heaps left over even after this. I ended up having to clean the wheels again by hand with HD Total APC to get them properly clean. In fact, it made the Angelwax product seem much better, so might stick with that and just increase the ratio to 2:1 and see how that goes.
Some good iron contaminant bleeding.
Went back to the Dodo Juice Dodo Clay. This time it started off very soft and sticky and annoyingly was leaving lots of clay residue on my hands but after a few minutes it did firm up. I think I still preferred this over the Angelwax Cleanse Fine Clay Bar which is just too hard.
The unusual paint difference…
Two stages to get the taillights sorted.
Jee the Kamikaze Silica Scale remover does an awesome job.
After Angelwax Elixir and Bilberry Wheel Wax. The difference is more noticeable under the natural sun light, but the wheels certainly blinged after this.
Still working out how to take a good photo of the finished car.
Hope you enjoyed!
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