13 weeks of work, Absolute Red content (56k no way)

JD09 · Apr 11, 2010

I picked up my car several months ago now. Fantastic condition, including FASH, but the paint was . . . well;

So I finally had option of a daily driver (A4 derv) and a garage, while my parents were away in Vietnam. So a long weekend and the work begins.

First off, as she stands;

Quick blast down with the Karcher and a lot of the grime is removed;

Then a snow foam with a mixture of Gold Klass Shampoo and ph neutral snow foam. Note to self, taking pictures while snow foaming is trickier than I remember;

Shuts, tight spots and cracks agitated with G101 and envy brushes;

JD09 · Apr 11, 2010

One part of this stage I was very happy with when finished, although each side took over two hours each, were the door shuts. Here I found a major amount of grease, grime and what I am guessing was delivery wax as it was very difficult to shift. Sadly I don't have many pre wash pictures, but the following are after being washed down with G101;

So on to a spray down with Tardis, the agitated and resprayed with G101 and agitated again. The tight space made this stage very lengthy;

You can probably tell how happy I am with the results based on the number of photos of such a small area!!

The car was then washed, two bucket method, with Megs Gold Klass shampoo, wash mitt etc. Those into their detailing will note one major difference in my approach to washing my car - no wheel pictures! This is purely because these will be removed at a later date to be cut back and sealed properly. They are in surprisingly good nick, but are being replaced for 18"RSTTs soon as well.

Once washed down and dried, we were left with this;

Pat dried with I4Detailing large drying towels and on to claying. For this I used Megs no:16 last touch as per usual, but decided to try the I4Detailing poly clay - big mistake. Really didn't like this due to its inability to refold easily to give a clean surface. Photos not so good from this but not too bad on the contaminants side of things. There was very little tar present as well so Tardis was barely used;

Bonnet;

Rear bumper;

The car was then refoamed with just Megs Gold Klass and then washed with the usual 2BM and Megs Mitt, dried and backed into the garage to assess . . . well, back up what I already knew (sadly).

Looks good!!

Not!!

The car was a mess. UDS, major marring from a lifetime of bad washing, possibly even petrol station brushes :sadlike:

and even a few bird dropping etches;

A particularly bizarre scratch on the drivers side wing;

The car was then taped up for the end of day one;

Again, something I am maticulous about, as my last car showed signs of bad over run from a buffing machine on the rubbers and plastics - PITA to remove!

Sorry to leave this at a fairly "cliff hanger" moment, but photobucket is being very slow tonight. I will update once the photos have finished uploading.

Thanks for reading

James

s3 Hoggy · Apr 11, 2010

Looking forward to this one mate! looks like you had your work cut out!

Matt

JD09 · Apr 11, 2010

Ok, so, photos up loaded, good to go again

The car was good to go with a machine polisher. Now comes the major delays. First, my Kestrel rotary gave up the ghost. Then I was away every weekend for around a month and therefore just had no time for the car. I braved walking to work for almost a month to make sure I didn't drive her out of the garage.

Finally ordered a new Silverline as an in betweener machine, after almost calling on Jimmeh to get her booked in. Sadly my new role at work leaves me with no time, coupled with a misses in Birmingham Uni (down at the weekends) left me with about an hour a day, if that. So, panel by panel she was machined.

Started with Lime Prime and a 3M polishing pad via rotary, but this had little affect on the UDS and I wanted as much perfection as feasible. So, on to a 3M pad with Menz Power Finish 203s (worked so well on several previous customer Audis) and this did not disappoint. I managed to achieve about 85% correction, so not perfect but very happy in comparison;

A real idea of how bad the paint was;

In comparison to;

A 50:50 of bonnet (done) to wing (marred);

During the weeks that went by, the sun did show its face once or twice. So I was able to take the car out of the garage and get some direct sunlight befores;

So, finally, this weekend I was able to final stage polish the car with the DA and some Lime Prime on a Lake County Finishing pad. I do love Lime Prime, even though I am not a major Dodo fan.

Results;

The car will not see as much love and attention in the detailing department as I want, due to work and travel. So instead of just Carnuba wax, I gave the car a very decent dose of sealent. Yes, this won't give as good a finish (yes I'm picky

) but will last a very long time. Poison of choice was an "old" faithful; Chem Guys Blitz spray sealent. Results;

JD09 · Apr 11, 2010

I have forgotten to add another part I am very happy with, the exhausts!

The car was finished with Megs Long Lasting tyre shine, Autoglym Fast Glass, Chem Guys New Look trim gel and then a wipe down with a relatively new fav, Zaino Grande Finale;

The only part not treated to a full recon was the rear bumper. Due to a very unfortunate trip/fall I have damaged a very minor spot of paint, but being a perfectionist, I am having it resprayed. There are a couple of very deep scratches from unloading over 8 years as well, so a good chance to get her spot on. For the moment, I am covering the area in a matt black bumper protector, covering the offending area!

Plans; wheels off and cut back and sealed, then sold/replaced. TT pedals have been fitted but a few interior parts need bringing back to life including the CC buttons, radio buttons and the headlight switch. Next stage, interior! Leather needs a good treating, as well as a decent clean of the carpets etc.

Thanks for reading!

James

The Maestro · Apr 11, 2010

GRIPPED! Waiting with bated breath lol. As my "1st Semi-Pro Detailing" post suggests, I'm newly into this detailed, erm, detailing, so to see your extensive start-to-finish is/will be educational.

I'm impressed so far ... chop chop with the rest, lol.

JD09 · Apr 11, 2010

Oh, and the piece of kit in the background is the next target for the DA/Rotary

This thread will be updated as other parts are finished on the car, so check back

The Maestro · Apr 11, 2010

Fantastic mate, nice job!

Thanks for going to all the trouble of posting this gargantuan post.

JD09 · Apr 11, 2010

Thanks Maestro, it certainly takes a while. I really do miss doing this weekly; I use to detail locally.

a3_dan · Apr 11, 2010

Absolute smashing job mate!

How did you get the bizarre scratch to fade? (I found one very similar on my rear wing today..... :crying:

)

a3_dan · Apr 11, 2010

Oh and btw, your new sig pictures, as nice as they are, they are MASSSSSIVE!! :detective2:

JD09 · Apr 11, 2010

Holy . . . ! Fixing!

NHN · Apr 11, 2010

Yeah was about to say the site must be fecked to allow those big pics in sig, I kept reading the thread thinking there were new pics then realised it was the sig lmfao.

Nice job BTW.

JD09 · Apr 11, 2010

Fixed

Thanks for the compliments all!

NHN · Apr 11, 2010

Ooooooooohhhhhh thats so much better, ****** shine on that car aswell damn, made my transitions react lmfao

JD09 · Apr 11, 2010

a3_dan said:
Absolute smashing job mate!

How did you get the bizarre scratch to fade? (I found one very similar on my rear wing today.....)

Cheers Dan. A good pass with the rotary with 3M polishing pad and Menzerna 203s took it out nicely. Clearly only in the very top layer.

Sarah's A3 · Apr 11, 2010

Wow, all that hard works paid off! Looks good. I'm finding it hard doing mine as I need it for work! Hey ho!

JD09 · Apr 11, 2010

Thanks Sarah, very happy with the results.

Noticed you're in Cheshire as well, where abouts?

Nilz · Apr 11, 2010

I wish I had the time to do this sort of thing to my car, you have done a cracking job there mate!!

Garf · Apr 11, 2010

Nice JD, didnt realise it was you from CS until I saw your dads R8 lol

that paint was shocking before hand, good work.

JD09 · Apr 12, 2010

Garf said:
Nice JD, didnt realise it was you from CS until I saw your dads R8 lol

that paint was shocking before hand, good work.

Cheers fella, thought I recognised your username as well.

Sarah's A3 · Apr 12, 2010

What did you use on the exhausts??

JD09 · Apr 12, 2010

Started with a clean with a degreasant and soft brush. Then moved on to tardis for some detarring action. Followed by a good scrub with wire wool and autosol. I then finished it off with a "metal sealent" on trial from a friends detailing business. Not sure how long this will last, but there are others out there so will be interested to see if it works. Not bad for a freebie and if it lasts a month, great!

Sarah's A3 · Apr 12, 2010

JD09 said:
Started with a clean with a degreasant and soft brush. Then moved on to tardis for some detarring action. Followed by a good scrub with wire wool and autosol. I then finished it off with a "metal sealent" on trial from a friends detailing business. Not sure how long this will last, but there are others out there so will be interested to see if it works. Not bad for a freebie and if it lasts a month, great!

thanks for that, will have to get some tardis, it looks good!

JD09 · Apr 12, 2010

Tardis is excellent, Sarah. A real life saver when it comes to stubborn tar spots. Remember that it is a dangerous chemical and should therefore be couriered as such.

Buy it in cans, or you are welcome to some of mine since you are local (have a can from Polished Bliss and you will only need a small amount).

s3 Hoggy · Apr 13, 2010

Superb results fella!

Matt

JD09 · Apr 13, 2010

Thanks Matt.

Sarah's A3 · Apr 13, 2010

I was reading some of the detailing posts a few weeks ago and saw a product (will have to find it again doh!) that made the bits in the pearlescent stand out and really sparkle! Thats what I want my car to look like, good thing is I Love detailing and dont mind the time it takes so you have shown me what a really good job can look like, brilliant!

Jimmeh · Apr 14, 2010

Very well done here Jamie - the hard work paid off in the end.

Are you going to be going to any of the shows this year? Would be good to catch up.

Jim

JD09 · Apr 14, 2010

Thanks Jimmeh, I am hoping to but being new to the Audi side of things I need a nudge on dates and locations. And yes it would be great to catch up and have a natter.

I forgot to mention in the thread, a big thanks to the following;

Matt@I4Detailing - exceptional speed and price on products
Angela@Polished Bliss - very quick response to a number of questions

And of course, our resident super star, Jimmeh, for help and suggestions via PM and text. Cheers buddy

mdre83 · Apr 15, 2010

Stunning piece of work mate... :respekt:

Maz · Apr 15, 2010

Amazing pictures and great work, very impressed!

JD09 · Apr 15, 2010

Thanks guys

A3Tom · Apr 15, 2010

Nice work

, the paint before was shocking....looks like it had been cleaned with a brick!

How did you find the silverline?. I've got one and to be honest for the cash its not bad as long as you use a decent backing plate

JD09 · Apr 16, 2010

Not as easy to use as my old Kestral Tom, being honest. I found it more cumbersom. But like you say, not bad for the money. I went back to my PC for the last stage of Lime priming which was so nice in comparison. Forgotten the weight difference between my rotaries and the old faithful!

Gops · Apr 16, 2010

WOWW!!!

Looks the sex mate!! Very nicely done!! Im taking notes... :readit:

Hunty · Apr 16, 2010

Got there buddy! Looks excellent mate, considering the hardness of th paint!!! Prefer the R8 in the background if I'm honest

About to do my Mazda 6, nice and soft!!!

JD09 · Apr 16, 2010

Hi chap! Thanks, very happy with it to say the least! Yeah tell me about it - just 18 months left to drive it fully comp! Although price (yes I asked) was only 500 extra on top of our multicar quote, but wait for it - 5k excess haha!

Ahhaha, Mazda paint, softer than Renault paint by memory lerrrrrrrvly!

How's the shoulder?

Hunty · Apr 16, 2010

Wasn't as soft as I thought it would be that mazda paint! Didn't get the correction I was after but it's miles better with just a single day detail! 8 hours mind. Shoulder is a mess unfortunately, they didn't tighten the collar bone down as much as they'd have liked, so i look like a machete victim now!!! C'est la vie, at least the joint is more secure! £5k, sweet! I'd have to sell my house!!! Ha Ha Ha, 18 months ey? I'm green with envy mate.

Sarah's A3 · Apr 16, 2010

wow, had missed the R8!!! gorgeous!

13 weeks of work, Absolute Red content (56k no way)

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