Gave the Gul a bit of a detail today...

[bonelorry]

Thought I might aswell make a detailing thread since everyone else is, Although I clean the car weekly I have not been able to do the full works for quite a while as I have been busy doing all the mechanical jobs on the car and undersealing it also in my spare time.

Prob spent around 6.5 hours in total today including a few cuppas and a bacon buttie.

Following process I used today...

Rinsed the car and wheel arches thoroughly
Washed the car using 2 bucket method with a Lambswool mitt and Meguires ultimate shampoo
Washed the wheels, Tyres and wheel arches using a Meguires Microfibre Mitt, Soft wheel brush and bottle container with foaming head containing Megs soap to a high concentrate
Rinsed the car again
Dryed the whole car with Elite XL drying towel, Dried the wheels, Door shuts and engine bay with Microfibre towel.
Cleaned the glass with Autoglym fast glass then Autoglym Glass Polish
Removed any tar specs using Autoglym Intensive Tar remover
Polished the car using Autoglym Super Resin Polish using a sponge applicator to apply and microfibre towel to remove
Waxed the car using Collinites No:845 liquid insulator wax using soft applicator and Elite buffing towel to remove
Wax the wheels with Collinites No:476 wax using different applicator and microfibre cloth to remove
Dressed the bumper tops and mudflaps with Autoglym bumper care using an applicator and then buffed with a Microfibre cloth
Polished the tailpipes with Autosol
Final spritz over with Megs Quick detailer


The car is in on the 29th for a professional paint correction/machine polish to further enhance the depth and clarity of the paint....And to remove the minor swirls also. Hoping for a 90% correction on the swirls from past experience, Then I will paint all the calipers etc and its pretty much how I want it cosmetic wise.

Some pics from today, Plenty more on my project thread...

[Tomcat]

So very nice....so very jelous...

[merc85]

Id had thought the clay bar would have got rid of the swirls? But Looking very nice.

[bonelorry]

Id had thought the clay bar would have got rid of the swirls? But Looking very nice.

The Clay bar when used with quick detailer spray as a lubricant just safely removes away from the paint any traffic film, Tree sap, Minor tar spots etc. Any major tar spots are removed using tar remover.

Then onto the polishing stage, The Autoglym Super Resin Polish does fill some minor swirls and make the paint smooth to help with the wax application.

The only true way to remove swirls or holograms in the paint is to machine polish the car using various pads and polish compounds until the best correction is achieved, You also need good U.V lighting too.

Cheers

[merc85]

The clay bar removes deposits on the paint which create the swirls. Not saying what your doing is incorrect just saying the imperfection in the paint must be quite bad to warrant a compound with a machine polisher?

I havent had to go down this route before and a few of my cars the black one certainly was quite bad when i first got it.

[bonelorry]

The clay bar removes deposits on the paint which create the swirls. Not saying what your doing is incorrect just saying the imperfection in the paint must be quite bad to warrant a compound with a machine polisher?

I havent had to go down this route before and a few of my cars the black one certainly was quite bad when i first got it.

Yes the Clay bars main purpose as you rightly said does remove deposits which if you leave on the paint will cause or contribute to swirls if you ignore them and then try to polish to car.

You end up with a very dirty polishing cloth or applicator.

Swirls and imperfections on my car are created by previous owners that have owned the car either using sponges, Chamois leathers, T-Cuts, Polishing the car by hand without removing the tar or cleaning the paint properly prior to polishing. A number of other things not washing the car properly.

Under a U.V light you can see these swirls and in turn these rob the paint of depth and clarity, The Imperfections in my paint are minor. Infact even brand new cars that leave the factory benefit from a machine polish.

My previous car which was a Mk5 Golf GTI Edition 30 looked fantastic and was only 5 years old, It was enthusiast owned and looked after and washed regular. After a minor paint correction/machine polish the car look truly amazing.

Using a D/A polisher gives much better results and is not considered extreme, Wet-sanding and heavy duty compounds/pad combos are used on cars which have heavily faded due to major neglect.

Ofcourse you could try to do it by had using Autoglym super resin polish or the likes but you would be there for many hours and only achieve a very minor correction to the paint.

[merc85]

Lol perhaps i have Ocd when it comes to cleaning cars doh

[V70 Graham]

Looking VERY nice, not jealous.....much lol

[bonelorry]

Lol perhaps i have Ocd when it comes to cleaning cars doh

Its all about what works for you and getting the results you are happy with, I would never do anyone else's car even though I have been asked numerous times.

All good fun and keeps us out of trouble

[AndysR]

Even on this phone screen I can see you've done a phenomenal job there Simon. Must confess your cleaning technics are much like mine, now you've machined it there will probably be no need to machine it again if you follow your current technic, mine was done 5 years ago and I can get the same results by hand now that the polisher did then because I'm careful with the car when cleaning

Oh and now you've got your original reg back on the car I recognise the car, on my PC somewhere I've got a picture of this car at the Ring in Germany

[bonelorry]

Even on this phone screen I can see you've done a phenomenal job there Simon. Must confess your cleaning technics are much like mine, now you've machined it there will probably be no need to machine it again if you follow your current technic, mine was done 5 years ago and I can get the same results by hand now that the polisher did then because I'm careful with the car when cleaning

Oh and now you've got your original reg back on the car I recognise the car, on my PC somewhere I've got a picture of this car at the Ring in Germany

Its booked in on the 29th for the machine polish Andy

If you can find that pic would you mind posting it on my project thread? The previous owner used to go to the Ring every year but only to spectate, He never ran the car on the track but I was told when I collected the car that he saw quite a few other enthusiasts whilst there.

He never posted on the forums so the car was pretty unknown before I began plastering it on all the Volvo forums and whoring the car HAHAHA

[AndysR]

Lol, yeah the shot of the car is going round the roundabout right by the entrance to the track, in the two years I've been going I've been quiet pleasantly surprised at the amount of Volvo lovers who attend, the force is strong in Germany.. Lol

Yes once I've got the Internet working at home I'll post it up for you

[WOODY T5]

looks very very nice mate lovely

[iancho]

Really interesting write up and beautiful pics, Great thread!

[bonelorry]

Lol, yeah the shot of the car is going round the roundabout right by the entrance to the track, in the two years I've been going I've been quiet pleasantly surprised at the amount of Volvo lovers who attend, the force is strong in Germany.. Lol

Yes once I've got the Internet working at home I'll post it up for you

Thanks Andy, Looking forward to seeing it!

looks very very nice mate lovely

Thanks Woody

Really interesting write up and beautiful pics, Great thread!

Cheers