Shine On
31-07-2007, 12:07 PM
After a late night on the TVR I was grateful to be staying at my friend's house to be reasonably local for the next detail, saving me a very vital hour the next morning!
A tidy Audi A4 Avant, metallic black, for a full correct and protect detail. Upon arrival it was obvious the car is looked after although it does do a lot of miles each week. The customer enjoys it looking good, and washes once a week, but wanted some help in making life a little easier, especially with the monsoon conditions of late.
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05833Small.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05835Small.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05837Small.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05834Small.jpg
Light swirls and a generally dull lifeless look to the paint gave me false hope of a relatively easy detail.
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05832Small.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05838Small.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05836Small.jpg
Whilst washing & claying the car, I kept an eye on the weather. Forecast to be decent, the wind was picking up again and fairly angry looking clouds were heading my way. No matter thought I, this should be a pretty straight forward job.
Preparation finished, I taped up and put the PTG to work. With the offside being nearest me I worked my way along taking lots of readings, all pretty good in the 95-120mic range. The boot had me a little concerned though:
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05839Small.jpg
Note to self - take care here!
Continuing around to the nearside and I noticed the edge of the panel looked particularly orange peely, I suddenly had a bad feeling. Looking closely around the arch I could see sanding marks underneath the paint, and this continued all along the nearside. On the bottom of the rear nearside door, I couldn't get any readings at all. At first I thought it might be a plastic panel...but it wasn't.
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05841Small.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05840Small.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05842Small.jpg
Pants. There goes my 'easy' day. I returned to the bonnet, got the Metabo out of the car and settled on IP 3.02 on a Megs yellow pad. Then it started to rain. At this point, I wished I'd listened more at school :rolleyes:
Then, as quickly as it started, the rain went and the sun was back out. Deciding it was going ot be a pain, I adopted the polish & finish a panel before moving onto the next, so at least where I had been was totally done. Finishing products were my favourites from the Chemical Guys line up - EZ Creme glaze, followed by a layer of Jetseal 109, followed by 50/50 wax. The photography kind of went out the window at this point because I just wanted to get it done. Sitting on the M1 on a Friday night is a great incentive you know!
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05846Small.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05847Small.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05845Small.jpg
I rattled down the nearside on the original paint which was really nice to work with, then turned to the otherside. Sadly this was a different kettle of fish, very hard indeed. Stepping up to a Megs cutting pad, then having to re-visit every area with 85RD on a finishing pad to give a crisp finish, work slowed right down, with me still dodging showers.
The results are however, worth it.
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05852Small.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05853Small.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05854Small.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05851Small.jpg
Great reflections:
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05855Small-1.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05849Small-1.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05848Small-1.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05850Small-1.jpg
I was glad to get this one finished and most importantly the customer was really delighted with it. I did get stuck in the traffic though, not getting home until gone 21:00 with the prospect of having to get up early the next day for the next appointment. I need more sleep!
Thanks for reading.
A tidy Audi A4 Avant, metallic black, for a full correct and protect detail. Upon arrival it was obvious the car is looked after although it does do a lot of miles each week. The customer enjoys it looking good, and washes once a week, but wanted some help in making life a little easier, especially with the monsoon conditions of late.
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05833Small.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05835Small.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05837Small.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05834Small.jpg
Light swirls and a generally dull lifeless look to the paint gave me false hope of a relatively easy detail.
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05832Small.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05838Small.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05836Small.jpg
Whilst washing & claying the car, I kept an eye on the weather. Forecast to be decent, the wind was picking up again and fairly angry looking clouds were heading my way. No matter thought I, this should be a pretty straight forward job.
Preparation finished, I taped up and put the PTG to work. With the offside being nearest me I worked my way along taking lots of readings, all pretty good in the 95-120mic range. The boot had me a little concerned though:
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05839Small.jpg
Note to self - take care here!
Continuing around to the nearside and I noticed the edge of the panel looked particularly orange peely, I suddenly had a bad feeling. Looking closely around the arch I could see sanding marks underneath the paint, and this continued all along the nearside. On the bottom of the rear nearside door, I couldn't get any readings at all. At first I thought it might be a plastic panel...but it wasn't.
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05841Small.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05840Small.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05842Small.jpg
Pants. There goes my 'easy' day. I returned to the bonnet, got the Metabo out of the car and settled on IP 3.02 on a Megs yellow pad. Then it started to rain. At this point, I wished I'd listened more at school :rolleyes:
Then, as quickly as it started, the rain went and the sun was back out. Deciding it was going ot be a pain, I adopted the polish & finish a panel before moving onto the next, so at least where I had been was totally done. Finishing products were my favourites from the Chemical Guys line up - EZ Creme glaze, followed by a layer of Jetseal 109, followed by 50/50 wax. The photography kind of went out the window at this point because I just wanted to get it done. Sitting on the M1 on a Friday night is a great incentive you know!
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05846Small.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05847Small.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05845Small.jpg
I rattled down the nearside on the original paint which was really nice to work with, then turned to the otherside. Sadly this was a different kettle of fish, very hard indeed. Stepping up to a Megs cutting pad, then having to re-visit every area with 85RD on a finishing pad to give a crisp finish, work slowed right down, with me still dodging showers.
The results are however, worth it.
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05852Small.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05853Small.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05854Small.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05851Small.jpg
Great reflections:
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05855Small-1.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05849Small-1.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05848Small-1.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z142/shineondetail/DSC05850Small-1.jpg
I was glad to get this one finished and most importantly the customer was really delighted with it. I did get stuck in the traffic though, not getting home until gone 21:00 with the prospect of having to get up early the next day for the next appointment. I need more sleep!
Thanks for reading.