Detailed Mates Black LCR

[Anonymous]

A few weeks ago I received a cry for help from Dan with his Black Leon Cupra R with swirls, scratches, buffer trails and bird etchings.

Well today I left the house at 9am to meet with Dan at the local petrol station so we could head over to his parents double garage a few miles away.

I explained to Dan the difference between the pads and a few of the polishes which I carry and the basic principles behind the PC & rotary and gave him a demonstration on how to use the PC. I then let Dan have a go under my supervision, and after a little while he soon got the hang of it. I then gave Dan the task of PC'ing the plastics and below the bump strips while I worked on the main bodywork with a rotary.

Dan had washed and clay bar'd the car the night before as he was looking to keep the price low due to the imminent arrival of a mini Dan.

Car:

'52 Plate Black Leon Cupra R

Products Used:

Meguiars Last Touch
Menzerna Intensive Polish PO85RD3.02
Menzerna Final Finish Polish PO85RD
HD-Cleanse
Zymol Carbon Wax


Process:

Paint thickness gauge readings were taken from each panel in batches of 30 with a PosiTector 6000 gauge. Readings were averaging 130-180microns all over with no obvious resprays or SMART repairs.

As the car had been prepped by Dan the night before, I just gave it a quick freshen up with Meguiars Last Touch and microfibre.

After a test pass on the front wing, I decided to settle on a Meguiars Polishing pad and Menzerna PO85RD3.02.

Menzerna Polished and finished off with Zymol Carbon.

As you can see it was a real mess - loads of swirls and buffer trails from Dans previous unsucessful attempts at the job with his Rotary

under the halogens

and so to work...

Getting there...

Finished polishing and awaiting wax in the garage

Boot panel after polishing - this was probably the worst part of the car

The final result out in the sun after the Zymol Carbon

Total time taken: Approx 7 hours

 

[TeZ]

good work y would u let a nice car get that bad?? lol

 

[JBarber]

Very nice - puts my swirly 182 to shame

 

[Craig]

fook they were bad swirls. comes u pa treat though top worke mate

 

[Brand86]

Good work mate, that looked a real mess before hand!

 

[Anonymous]

It had been subject to a life of car washes...........say no more lol

Even had to do some wet sanding on the bird etchings

 

[Fred@BTM]

you ok now fella after your crash??

 

[Brand86]

It had been subject to a life of car washes...........say no more lol

Even had to do some wet sanding on the bird etchings

Yeh don't understand how people can pay so much for a nice car which they obviously care about, then treat like rubbish. We were saying a few weeks back, people think its excessive cleaning your car once a week, when most people clean their kitchen/ bath room/ lounge at least this often.

I don't know...

 

[Andy.]

Good work! Amazing difference.

 

[Alan]

Great turn around matey!!

 

[_Kenny_]

Top work

 

[young_lew]

Nice...........Fancy foing mine sometime lol

 

[Anonymous]

you ok now fella after your crash??

Yeah i'm almost fully repaired Fred...........thanks

Insurance have paid out for the loss on the van but the personal injury, loss of earnings and damage to equipment payout is likely to take upwards of 2 years apparently.
Will be hefty payout when it arrives thou, 16 weeks loss of earnings for a start:approve:

Cheers for all the comments, Dan was extremely happy with it as was his mrs who's car it was.

 

[Anonymous]

Nice...........Fancy foing mine sometime lol

Will cost ya

 

[AzzurrA]

hey mate,

how deep of an etching would you consider to be 'unrepairable'?
the reason i ask, is i just picked up my Black 01 Clio Sport a few days ago, and after i got it home i noticed that the previous owner appears to have left sap and bird droppings on it for an extended period of time and it has a fair few areas of etching on it... i have managed to get the rest of the area that i have worked so far to a good standard, apart from these etchings (there were lots of swirls, and spider-webbing from someone doing a half-arsed detail on it, as well as a large amount of buildup/fallout that had to be clayed... all gone now)


Thanks,
Jason

 

[Rich]

Fantastic turnaround - nicely done.

 

[JD]

looks great, nice results

can some one tell me the difference between the rotary and the PC? i have a PC at home and i know that it is meant to be safer on paint, but will the rotary get out larger marks etc?

jamie

 

[Brand86]

It's the difference in what motion the pads are spun in. Rotary is more powerful but on the downside can be more dangerous as it focuses on one area.

Having seen a black Saab that was rotary polished and mopped at the weekend, I can vouch for the damage that can be done if not done well. It looked absolutely terrible with visible marks where the pads had been used.

 

[Anonymous]

hey mate,

how deep of an etching would you consider to be 'unrepairable'?
the reason i ask, is i just picked up my Black 01 Clio Sport a few days ago, and after i got it home i noticed that the previous owner appears to have left sap and bird droppings on it for an extended period of time and it has a fair few areas of etching on it... i have managed to get the rest of the area that i have worked so far to a good standard, apart from these etchings (there were lots of swirls, and spider-webbing from someone doing a half-arsed detail on it, as well as a large amount of buildup/fallout that had to be clayed... all gone now)


Thanks,
Jason

Hi Jason,

I'm affraid it is almost impossible to tell without seeing the damage. However, I am willing to do you a full detail for free if you supply the flights and accomodation

If its deep it will need wetsanding back to flat and then machine polishing after.

 

[Anonymous]

looks great, nice results

can some one tell me the difference between the rotary and the PC? i have a PC at home and i know that it is meant to be safer on paint, but will the rotary get out larger marks etc?

jamie

The rotary deals with defects in about half the timeand is better for deeper marks.

The rotary is totally different to using a PC, the whole technique is completely different and feels awkward at first, but it soon becomes 2nd nature.
There is alot more chance of causing more marks with the rotary compared to the PC which is almost fool proof............notice the 'ALMOST'

 

[JD]

lol at the almost, just like claying is fool proof, almost.

ok well i am a student for the rest of this summer so will have alot of timeon my hands so i think ill stick with the PC for now.

just out of interest how much would a full rotary kit set you back?

jamie

 

[Rich]

looks great, nice results

can some one tell me the difference between the rotary and the PC? i have a PC at home and i know that it is meant to be safer on paint, but will the rotary get out larger marks etc?

jamie

PC is a random orbit machine head spins and occilates, push down on it and the motor will bog and slow to stop you burning paint.

Rotary just spins and spines and wont bog down under pressure so means you can burn paint easier, also spins faster than a PC which makes for faster and more effective defect correction, but requires more skill to get a wax ready hologram free finish than the PC.

 

[Anonymous]

lol at the almost, just like claying is fool proof, almost.

ok well i am a student for the rest of this summer so will have alot of timeon my hands so i think ill stick with the PC for now.

just out of interest how much would a full rotary kit set you back?

jamie

Mine cost the best part of £450 for a Metabo one including polish's, backing plate, and a 5 of each of the Megs pads.

Metabo £190
Backing plate £20
Menz polish x 3 £60
15 megs pads at £10 each £150

Hope this helps

if your going down the Rotary route you really need a paint thickness gauge too which cost anywhere from £100 to £2000.
My Positector was approx £700/800 new

 

[Rich]

lol at the almost, just like claying is fool proof, almost.

ok well i am a student for the rest of this summer so will have alot of timeon my hands so i think ill stick with the PC for now.

just out of interest how much would a full rotary kit set you back?

jamie

LOL at claying being fool proof probably the most easist way to damage your paint there is when done wrong.

Rotary's are cheap compared top a PC, though a decent one is about the same price as a PC but can be purchased in 240v. But as above A PTG is a must.

 

[JD]

ok thanks for the help, remember that thread about someone who had another go at claying his bonnet rich? managed to some how make it devoid of any paint lol!!

i bought the 7424 or what ever thenumber is off autopia at xmas last year and ahve been pleased with the results, just does take its time and sometimes doesnt get the worse marks out.

think ill stick with, thanks for the help, great work again

jamie