Megane R26
Wow, what a day! I left my house at 7:15 this morning, and got in at 21:00! I'm shattered! Luckily, I still have enough energy for a write up, so here goes...
Today saw me travel to a deceptively sunny (based on my BURN!) Rugby, to restore some life back into the paintwork of this VERY well spec'd Edition 30 Golf GTI in black. Like many black cars, it was being robbed of its true potential finish wise by various scuffs, scratches and swirl marks, inflicted over a period of time from cheap hand car washes etc.
The task for today was to reverse this hardship as much as possible within a days window, which is no easy task on a rock hard (paint wise) German car.
The car upon arrival:
P1050289 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050290 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050291 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050292 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050293 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050294 by RussZS, on Flickr
It was in superb condition, but the finish lacked a little sparkle, and was suffering slightly from the 'milky' finish which seems to plague this particular colour.
As ever, I started with the wheels.
Autosmart G101:
P1050296 by RussZS, on Flickr
and various brushes:
P1050297 by RussZS, on Flickr
I started off with a liberal spraying of G101 on the wheel face and rear:
P1050298 by RussZS, on Flickr
Worked with Envy brush on the front, and Wheel Wooly on the rear:
P1050300 by RussZS, on Flickr
Tyres were also treated to G101 and worked with a larger Envy brush:
P1050301 by RussZS, on Flickr
Arches also dealt with via G101 and a Vikan Brush:
P1050302 by RussZS, on Flickr
The tar spots collecting in the wheel corners was treated with AS Tardis:
P1050303 by RussZS, on Flickr
All clean
P1050304 by RussZS, on Flickr
Next up, the car was snow foamed:
P1050307 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050309 by RussZS, on Flickr
Whilst dwelling, the shuts, sills and surrounds were agitated with another Envy Brush:
P1050310 by RussZS, on Flickr
Then the car was rinsed, ready for hand washing:
P1050313 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050315 by RussZS, on Flickr
Next up, hand washing with...
P1050295 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050316 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050317 by RussZS, on Flickr
The car was then rinsed, and Tardis was used to deal with the tar on the lower panels around the car. (No pics, as it's black!)
P1050318 by RussZS, on Flickr
The car was the clayed with Elite Polyclay with Citrus Bling as lube, snow foamed again, rinsed and dried with an Elite Uber Drying Towel:
P1050321 by RussZS, on Flickr
Next up, the car was moved onto the driveway so that I could begin polishing prep, but first I took the opportunity to deal with the pesky water runs which plague the Mk5 Golf, particularly from the wing mirror area!
P1050323 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050322 by RussZS, on Flickr
Sorted
I must do a vid of that thing in action, but it's a god send for dealing with trapped water. It's designed as a pet drier, but is ideal for use on cars too, and has both hot and cold air options.
My PDG was used next to asses the paintworks depth and to look for any obvious signs of resprayed panels or thin paint.
The readings ranged from:
P1050326 by RussZS, on Flickr
to:
P1050327 by RussZS, on Flickr
So, perfectly normal for this car and colour.
The car was taped up ready for polishing, and I began working my way around the car looking for any obvious areas of concern, RDS's, etc.
It soon became apparent that the previous owner seemed to enjoy using their touch up stick a bit too much, and had a few failed attempts at removing swirls, presumably with something like the non metallic T-Cut, resulting in:
P1050328 by RussZS, on Flickr
This would be dealt with later.
After testing various combinations on the car, I settled on the use of Menzera Fast Gloss (S500) and 3.02.
Some pics of the correction work...
50/50:
P1050331 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050333 by RussZS, on Flickr
There were various RDS's around the car. We agreed to knock them back in line with swirl removal on this occasion, and to deal with them in isolation on a future date, after I've been on a training course for wet sanding, allowing safer and more isolated removal of deeper scratches.
P1050335 by RussZS, on Flickr
T-Cut marks:
P1050337 by RussZS, on Flickr
After:
P1050339 by RussZS, on Flickr
Another 50/50 using camera flash:
P1050345 by RussZS, on Flickr
Other deeper scratches from T-Cut use:
P1050355 by RussZS, on Flickr
After:
P1050356 by RussZS, on Flickr
Post polishing pic:
P1050361 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050362 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050366 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050368 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050372 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050374 by RussZS, on Flickr
(Light swirling still evident, but largely removed - remember this is a one day detail, so not really possible to achieve absolute perfection)
P1050377 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050391 by RussZS, on Flickr
Boot taped up ready for correction:
P1050386 by RussZS, on Flickr
50/50 from boot:
P1050393 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050397 by RussZS, on Flickr
Again, not perfect, but massively improved, given the time constraints.
50/50 from driver side:
P1050399 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050400 by RussZS, on Flickr
I finished up with...
- Optimum Opti Seal on alloys
- Chemical Guys New Look Trim Gel on tyres
- AS 20/20 on glass
- Optimum Metal Polish on exhaust
- Chemical Guys 50/50 Ltd Edition on the paintwork
- Zaino Z8 in door shuts
Now, the car isn't perfect by any means, but is massively improved from the start of the day. I have agreed to sort the deeper scratches in a few weeks time, and also am going to look at the lights, some stone chips and a few other bits.
Some final shots:
P1050405 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050406 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050407 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050409 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050410 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050411 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050412 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050417 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050418 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050421 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050423 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050424 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050425 by RussZS, on Flickr
Thanks for reading
Cheers,
Russ.
Today saw me travel to a deceptively sunny (based on my BURN!) Rugby, to restore some life back into the paintwork of this VERY well spec'd Edition 30 Golf GTI in black. Like many black cars, it was being robbed of its true potential finish wise by various scuffs, scratches and swirl marks, inflicted over a period of time from cheap hand car washes etc.
The task for today was to reverse this hardship as much as possible within a days window, which is no easy task on a rock hard (paint wise) German car.
The car upon arrival:
P1050289 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050290 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050291 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050292 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050293 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050294 by RussZS, on Flickr
It was in superb condition, but the finish lacked a little sparkle, and was suffering slightly from the 'milky' finish which seems to plague this particular colour.
As ever, I started with the wheels.
Autosmart G101:
P1050296 by RussZS, on Flickr
and various brushes:
P1050297 by RussZS, on Flickr
I started off with a liberal spraying of G101 on the wheel face and rear:
P1050298 by RussZS, on Flickr
Worked with Envy brush on the front, and Wheel Wooly on the rear:
P1050300 by RussZS, on Flickr
Tyres were also treated to G101 and worked with a larger Envy brush:
P1050301 by RussZS, on Flickr
Arches also dealt with via G101 and a Vikan Brush:
P1050302 by RussZS, on Flickr
The tar spots collecting in the wheel corners was treated with AS Tardis:
P1050303 by RussZS, on Flickr
All clean
P1050304 by RussZS, on Flickr
Next up, the car was snow foamed:
P1050307 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050309 by RussZS, on Flickr
Whilst dwelling, the shuts, sills and surrounds were agitated with another Envy Brush:
P1050310 by RussZS, on Flickr
Then the car was rinsed, ready for hand washing:
P1050313 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050315 by RussZS, on Flickr
Next up, hand washing with...
P1050295 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050316 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050317 by RussZS, on Flickr
The car was then rinsed, and Tardis was used to deal with the tar on the lower panels around the car. (No pics, as it's black!)
P1050318 by RussZS, on Flickr
The car was the clayed with Elite Polyclay with Citrus Bling as lube, snow foamed again, rinsed and dried with an Elite Uber Drying Towel:
P1050321 by RussZS, on Flickr
Next up, the car was moved onto the driveway so that I could begin polishing prep, but first I took the opportunity to deal with the pesky water runs which plague the Mk5 Golf, particularly from the wing mirror area!
P1050323 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050322 by RussZS, on Flickr
Sorted
I must do a vid of that thing in action, but it's a god send for dealing with trapped water. It's designed as a pet drier, but is ideal for use on cars too, and has both hot and cold air options.
My PDG was used next to asses the paintworks depth and to look for any obvious signs of resprayed panels or thin paint.
The readings ranged from:
P1050326 by RussZS, on Flickr
to:
P1050327 by RussZS, on Flickr
So, perfectly normal for this car and colour.
The car was taped up ready for polishing, and I began working my way around the car looking for any obvious areas of concern, RDS's, etc.
It soon became apparent that the previous owner seemed to enjoy using their touch up stick a bit too much, and had a few failed attempts at removing swirls, presumably with something like the non metallic T-Cut, resulting in:
P1050328 by RussZS, on Flickr
This would be dealt with later.
After testing various combinations on the car, I settled on the use of Menzera Fast Gloss (S500) and 3.02.
Some pics of the correction work...
50/50:
P1050331 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050333 by RussZS, on Flickr
There were various RDS's around the car. We agreed to knock them back in line with swirl removal on this occasion, and to deal with them in isolation on a future date, after I've been on a training course for wet sanding, allowing safer and more isolated removal of deeper scratches.
P1050335 by RussZS, on Flickr
T-Cut marks:
P1050337 by RussZS, on Flickr
After:
P1050339 by RussZS, on Flickr
Another 50/50 using camera flash:
P1050345 by RussZS, on Flickr
Other deeper scratches from T-Cut use:
P1050355 by RussZS, on Flickr
After:
P1050356 by RussZS, on Flickr
Post polishing pic:
P1050361 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050362 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050366 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050368 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050372 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050374 by RussZS, on Flickr
(Light swirling still evident, but largely removed - remember this is a one day detail, so not really possible to achieve absolute perfection)
P1050377 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050391 by RussZS, on Flickr
Boot taped up ready for correction:
P1050386 by RussZS, on Flickr
50/50 from boot:
P1050393 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050397 by RussZS, on Flickr
Again, not perfect, but massively improved, given the time constraints.
50/50 from driver side:
P1050399 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050400 by RussZS, on Flickr
I finished up with...
- Optimum Opti Seal on alloys
- Chemical Guys New Look Trim Gel on tyres
- AS 20/20 on glass
- Optimum Metal Polish on exhaust
- Chemical Guys 50/50 Ltd Edition on the paintwork
- Zaino Z8 in door shuts
Now, the car isn't perfect by any means, but is massively improved from the start of the day. I have agreed to sort the deeper scratches in a few weeks time, and also am going to look at the lights, some stone chips and a few other bits.
Some final shots:
P1050405 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050406 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050407 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050409 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050410 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050411 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050412 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050417 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050418 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050421 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050423 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050424 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1050425 by RussZS, on Flickr
Thanks for reading
Cheers,
Russ.
