Polished Bliss: New Audi S3

[Clark@Polishedbliss]

A simple detail and equally simple write up for this one today
The car:

The owner has had the car since May and was only really after a protection detail but really wanted the paintwork polished up a bit too as he felt it was a bit flat and dull, so we agreed on doing a 1-step machine polish in order to do it in a day. The paintwork itself wasnt bad at all, with minimum of swirling but the reason for the dull appearance was revealed when the clay step came round (wash process was usual 2BM,Tardis etc).

This was the clay after half the bonnet:

The car had sat around at the dealership (in Leeds) for a while before the customer took delivery and right next to the dealers is a railway line, so what you see on the clay in the pic above is metal filings from the tracks that had firmly bonded to the paint

Needless to say, it was lunch time before i got the car inside after spending a good while ensuring the paint was 100% clean!

As i mentioned, the paintwork was only sporting minor swirls (and some heavy clay marring thanks to me :wave: ) so no halogen shots this time and luckily all that was needed was 3M's Ultrafina and finishing pad:

This was worked at 1800rpm's and took approximately 2.5 hours to do the whole car

Once this stage was done i applied Blackfire Wet Diamond All Finish Paint Protection at the owners request as he has a bottle himself and wants to keep the finish topped up with this. This pleased me as there are few products that are easier to apply and buff off

As i did the wheels/tyres/exhaust & glass, Rich detailed the interior including feeding the leather as the customer was wanting away just after 5pm and i was running it a bit close


And here's a few after pics:

Total work time - 8.5 hours
Thanks for looking

 

[RGBArgee]

What's with Clay? How does it work, how do you use it, where can you buy it? Looks great evn on a grey car!

Cheers

R

 

[Clark@Polishedbliss]

Clay basically contains abrasives which use the clay as a "carrier", and generally come in "mild" or "aggressive" forms. As you spray a lubricant onto the paintwork, you use finger tip pressure to glide the clay over the surface so it doesnt come in contact with the clean paint but pulls any contaminants (such as tar, tree sap etc) away, leaving a smooth as glass feeling to the paintwork. You may think your paintwork is clean but if it hasnt been clayed in the last 8-12 months or more then you would be surprised, this stage makes one of the biggest differences to the overall appearance to the paint and makes applying/removing products alot easier too. You can buy Clay from Halfords (Meguiars Quick Clay - which is good for beginners) or from us :icon_thumright:

Hope that helps