Clio 182 & Saxo VTR
Ok first ill give you a quick run down of the car....
2004, 1 previous owner with 46k miles, fsh.
When buying the car the only negative point i could see was some kerbing on the wheels which were quite bad on 2 of the wheels, that aside the paintwork "looked" in pretty good condition, a light scuf on the front wing but aside from that everything looked perfect.
Im keeping the car off the road until late Janaury, mainly because if i wait until the end of the month i can get another ncb and it will save me just under £500, worth the wait im sure you will agree.
Anyway onto the detail, i used the Megs G220 for the first time, ive never used a polisher before so every step was new, hence why this detail has taken just over 20 hours to do.
Products used were:
Megs polisher
Megs gold class shampoo (2 bucket method)
Megs Clay bar
Menz Intensive Polish (with Sonus SFX-1 after Menz polishing pad didnt quite cut it)
Menz FF
AG SRP (with Megs finishing pad)
AG EGP (with Megs applicators)
P21s Carnauba wax
The car was previously cleaned a couple of days before so no snaps of it with muck im afraid.
The car just before washing:
Cleaned the carusing the 2 bucket method, then got ahead with the clay. Ive never really subscribed to claying, my old Saxo was clayed twice, each time i thought it was pretty pointless as it picked nothing up, always ended up been a huge waste fo time and thought maybe the reason why people get huge amounts of debris is because they dont wash it properly in the first place. Until i began claying the Clio....
That was for one panel! It seemed like every panel was like this, absolutely covered. Now the previous owner lived just off the motorway, a pretty empty peice of land with a house stuck in the middle and aside from the motorway that was it. Ill never have a bad word against clyaing ever again.
After finishing claying, i washed again, with the 2 bucket method, dried and moved the car inside ready for masking up.
Then out came the new stuff.
All masked up, time to look at the paint, as you can see some swirling, marring and light scratches to make it a good first challenge.
Here are the befores and afters:
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
Finished correction:
After the Menz intensive polish and final finish i took the car outside, removed the maksing tape and gave it another clean with the megs cold class again using the 2 bucket method, probably would of got away with just the 1 but id rather not risk all my hard work. After the car was then dabbed dry using a terry towel.
Some shots of the car once dried, wheels were not cleaned throughout, wanted to purely concentrate on the bodywork, the wheels were washed on their last wash and the car hasnt been used since so they were relatively clean.
Reflection and hard light shots:
Some of the car:
The engine bay was previously degreased using AG degreaser and then given about a half can of WD-40, then using a terry cloth cleaned up a while ago, still looks in good shape.
Car was then taken back into the garaged and polished, finally EGP and wax was applied.
Unfortunately i havnt yet managed to get any decent snaps of the car completely finished as with fading light i simply ran out of time. Id of waited until tomorrow but with uk daylight and my 9-5 job theres never a moments chance to see the car outside in daylight until next Saturday so these will have to do, you get the general idea though.
Overall im very happy, paint is fantastic now, yes there are still niggles, some chips on the bumper, deep scratches that simply are beyond polishing capabilities and just general wear and tear that any car will get but i think its the best condition its probably been in since it left the showroom.
Next jobs are to get the 2 wheels refurbed (unless anyone can get me a set of trophy turinis in mint condition please) and give the arches a good clean as well as the interior next Saturday.
Comments welcome, just remember its my first ever detail other than swapping form sponge to wash mitt.
2004, 1 previous owner with 46k miles, fsh.
When buying the car the only negative point i could see was some kerbing on the wheels which were quite bad on 2 of the wheels, that aside the paintwork "looked" in pretty good condition, a light scuf on the front wing but aside from that everything looked perfect.
Im keeping the car off the road until late Janaury, mainly because if i wait until the end of the month i can get another ncb and it will save me just under £500, worth the wait im sure you will agree.
Anyway onto the detail, i used the Megs G220 for the first time, ive never used a polisher before so every step was new, hence why this detail has taken just over 20 hours to do.
Products used were:
Megs polisher
Megs gold class shampoo (2 bucket method)
Megs Clay bar
Menz Intensive Polish (with Sonus SFX-1 after Menz polishing pad didnt quite cut it)
Menz FF
AG SRP (with Megs finishing pad)
AG EGP (with Megs applicators)
P21s Carnauba wax
The car was previously cleaned a couple of days before so no snaps of it with muck im afraid.
The car just before washing:
Cleaned the carusing the 2 bucket method, then got ahead with the clay. Ive never really subscribed to claying, my old Saxo was clayed twice, each time i thought it was pretty pointless as it picked nothing up, always ended up been a huge waste fo time and thought maybe the reason why people get huge amounts of debris is because they dont wash it properly in the first place. Until i began claying the Clio....
That was for one panel! It seemed like every panel was like this, absolutely covered. Now the previous owner lived just off the motorway, a pretty empty peice of land with a house stuck in the middle and aside from the motorway that was it. Ill never have a bad word against clyaing ever again.
After finishing claying, i washed again, with the 2 bucket method, dried and moved the car inside ready for masking up.
Then out came the new stuff.
All masked up, time to look at the paint, as you can see some swirling, marring and light scratches to make it a good first challenge.
Here are the befores and afters:
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
Finished correction:
After the Menz intensive polish and final finish i took the car outside, removed the maksing tape and gave it another clean with the megs cold class again using the 2 bucket method, probably would of got away with just the 1 but id rather not risk all my hard work. After the car was then dabbed dry using a terry towel.
Some shots of the car once dried, wheels were not cleaned throughout, wanted to purely concentrate on the bodywork, the wheels were washed on their last wash and the car hasnt been used since so they were relatively clean.
Reflection and hard light shots:
Some of the car:
The engine bay was previously degreased using AG degreaser and then given about a half can of WD-40, then using a terry cloth cleaned up a while ago, still looks in good shape.
Car was then taken back into the garaged and polished, finally EGP and wax was applied.
Unfortunately i havnt yet managed to get any decent snaps of the car completely finished as with fading light i simply ran out of time. Id of waited until tomorrow but with uk daylight and my 9-5 job theres never a moments chance to see the car outside in daylight until next Saturday so these will have to do, you get the general idea though.
Overall im very happy, paint is fantastic now, yes there are still niggles, some chips on the bumper, deep scratches that simply are beyond polishing capabilities and just general wear and tear that any car will get but i think its the best condition its probably been in since it left the showroom.
Next jobs are to get the 2 wheels refurbed (unless anyone can get me a set of trophy turinis in mint condition please) and give the arches a good clean as well as the interior next Saturday.
Comments welcome, just remember its my first ever detail other than swapping form sponge to wash mitt.
