Clio 200 Detailed for Nurburgring

[gez 172]

Well, I'm off to the Nurburging very soon, so I wanted the car looking factory fresh.

I wash the car often, but wanted it minty fresh out there with it being a busy bank holiday 'green hell' weekend.

So it's gotta stand out

Firstly, thanks to my friend nick for taking the pictures and lending a hand machine polishing it.

So, the car at the start.

started by snow foaming

Rinsed the car down and then applied Carpro TariX ( Tar & Iron remover in 1) turns purple when it reacts.

rinsed the car again with snow foam, then cracked on with claying to remove any contaminants left.

After claying, quick hand wash to make sure the paint is squeaky clean ready to be machined

in the garage..

then crackec on with machine polishing. Whilst doing that too, the wheels were removed and cleaned

Annnnnd, the results

just need to find my centre caps lol

thanks for looking

Gez

 

[FuzzyDuck]

Looks Fresh. I've been meaning to try out that Tar and Iron remover stuff. Looks like it worked wonders on the wheels.

 

[MonacoDan]

That looks spot on! Those wheels came up so well, great work

 

[gez 172]

Cheers

 

[Keith185]

White wheels always look nice on a white clio

 

[Inequality Street]

2 massive things stand out there. You go from foaming to decon, did you not wash it?

Also, did you not use any form of wax/sealant?

 

[Alastair.]

Good job on the wheels!

 

[gez 172]

It does say I washed it and I forgot to mention the sealing at the end... Lol

i sealed it generously with Autoglym HD wax RyG

 

[Inequality Street]

It does say I washed it and I forgot to mention the sealing at the end... Lol

i sealed it generously with Autoglym HD wax RyG

It says you foamed, de-coned, then washed? Did you not wash before hand?

 

[gez 172]

Why would I wash it before foaming and decontaminating it? Just rubbing the crap all over the paint work... Washing it after foaming and decon is plenty

 

[Inequality Street]

Why would I wash it before foaming and decontaminating it? Just rubbing the crap all over the paint work... Washing it after foaming and decon is plenty

You don't want before foaming. If you want to Decon before washing that's your call, but strictly speaking, it's not done that way round. I'm out.

 

[gez 172]

I'm sure it works all the same..

The decon lifts the crap off the paint anyway, so there's no issue. There's no set guidelines and then claying takes the remainder stubborn contaminants left over RyG

 

[Inequality Street]

I'm sure it works all the same..

The decon lifts the crap off the paint anyway, so there's no issue. There's no set guidelines and then claying takes the remainder stubborn contaminants left over @RyG

There are pretty much basic guidelines though, and your way isn't correct. I'm not doing this just to poo on your thread, just there are ways to improve your technique (I actually really like your car).

In the first few pictures you can see the surface dirt. The idea of snow foaming is you soften up the dirt, and when your pressure wash it off, you take a large amount of surface dirt off. You will never, ever get a clean car just from foaming.

So, after you have foamed, lots of dirt gone but lots of stubborn dirt and grime left over. This is when you should hand wash the car, using two buckets. The foaming simply reduces the possibility of inflicting damage dragging crap around the car, but can't fully.

You foamed, then de-conned and clayed. There would still be A LOT of dirt left on the car after foaming. The idea of clay is to remove the 'stuck on' grime such as tree sap. It should not be used to 'clean' the car. So by claying before washing, you're dragging actual dirt all over the car as you failed to wash it properly, not what clay is meant to be used for. You would inflict a lot of unnecessary damage to your paintwork by doing it this way.

I get the whole, you polished it after, and could have completely got the marks inflicted out, however that meant you would have had to remove excess microns of paint. The idea is to remove as little as possible.

Sorry for the essay, and I'll be quiet now I promise.

 

[gez 172]

Okay cheers for that input

 

[jesus]

Good work on the wheels. White on white looks great when clean

 

[gez 172]

Cheers appreciate it

 

[Kyle 86]

Looks great. You will get some serious fallout when you come back from the Ring

 

[Alan]

It looks awesome mate, pretty much my car, although the spoiler is a bit.. shopping trolley, unless you're going for the full cup racer racer look, i.e. lowered and spaced out.

 

[gez 172]

Getting there slowly... it's a 2012, turns 2 in Germany lol. So I've got a bit of warranty on it still. Once the suspension is due a change by 45-50K, it'll be some proper top job coilovers and 330mm brake upgrade when they're due next.

These are the 8J cup racer wheels on my car, 225 width tyres on it, so they're a little wider than standard 197/200 speedlines, I'll never fit spacers

 

[Alan]

Ah, are they magnesium then?

 

[gez 172]

They're a magnesium mix I believe, quite heavy; but strong as hell lol

 

[Yellow Dave]

Listen to Ryan's advice, his suggestions will certainly help.

Also, try not to apply HD wax too thickly, makes it more difficult to apply and remove.

Also with white wheels, I'd really recomment a nano/quartz/glass coating wheel sealant such as GTechniq C5 and Carpro DLUX

 

[gez 172]

Cheers

 

[Leeshez]

Brilliant effort .

 

[Matt W]

Looks very clean.

Wouldn't worry about trying to make the car stand out, more 200's over there that you can shake a stick at.