Volkswagen Lupo – Fantasia Green.
This car belongs to one of the admins of car club “OEModified” (http://www.oemodified.com/), a Lincolnshire based car community with some 25 elite members and 160 forum users that travel the country attending shows & exhibitions, running open days and who organise weekly meets for their local OE members.
Ami, the Lupo owner, was to show her car at this years ‘Modified Nationals’ at Peterborough showground. Her car was to be part of the Dodo Juice trade stand indoors so it had to look its best…
Work was carried out over Wednesday and the Thursday. On the Friday morning, early hours, the car was collected from the unit to be driven direct to P’borough showground in readiness for Sat & Sunday’s show.
If you’re a sit back, relax with a brew and a biscuit kinda person then watch this video for the job highlights:
[video]http://youtu.be/8ptWVU8t-is?hd=1[/video]
If not, read on!
Product
· 3M Ultra Fina
· 3M Extra Fine
· 3M FastCut+
· 3M Glass Cleaner
· AMDetails mild clay bar
· AutoSmart G101
· AutoSmart Hazsafe
· AutoSmart Tardis
· Chemical Guys New Look Trim Gel
· Dodo Juice Born To Be Mild
· Dodo Juice Lime Prime Lite
· Dodo Juice Supernatural wax
· Jeffs Werkstat Prime
· IPA (isopropyl alcohol)
· Meguiars Last Touch
· Meguiars Super Degreaser
· Meguiars 105 Ultra Cut Compound
· Menzerna 85 RD 3.02 Intensive Polish
· Menzerna 203s Power Finish
· Zaino Z6
Car in question:
Obviously they’re not its normal wheels! The “mk2 golf smoothies” were off the car being resprayed in readiness for show.
First glimpse at the defects:
The whole car, prior to Ami’s ownership, has been resprayed. Every panel was left with a crazy haze caused by masses of DA sanding marks and buffertrails from the bodyshop. This wasn’t going to be as easy as originally hoped…
Outside ready for the wet work.
Doorshuts greasy and suffering from overspray in areas.
Tackled with Megs Degreaser and AS Tardis to help shift the stubborn stuff:
Before pre-washing the car with foam, 10 minutes were spent hitting the intricate areas with the pressure washer to release trapped grit etc from behind window rubbers, panel gaps and the undercarriage.
In this instance, the rear window seem had accumulated lots of muck and potential damage material that can otherwise cause issues later on if not removed.
Washed with the usual pre-rinse, pre-wash, two bucket approach.
A few tiny tar deposits were removed off the rear end:
Lupo then clayed with AMDetails’ mild clay bar and Megs Last Touch used as lube.
Blown dry with the Black Baron Vehicle Dryer and we can now see the true condition of the paint…
General swirling/machine buffertrails:
Random blemishes:
Deeper scratches:
And “pig tailing” caused by DA sanding:
As you can see, some areas of the car were pretty shocking… Had this of been a darker coloured Lupo, the sanding marks wouldn’t have just stole the colour and clarity of the finish, but they’d have stuck out like a sore thumb! Terrible finishing by the bodyshop; still amazes me how they can get away with it.
Thickness measurements confirming the bonnet had seen paint:
When you get in close, the finish was dire:
After a few experiments, it was noted that the paint is rock hard!
A 3M Cutting Pad with FastCut+ & a blob of Ultra Fina, we’re left with this finish:
OK, better, but you can see, these ‘pig tails’ are deep and will require much more work to chase out completely.
A before/after with the LED brinkman as opposed to halogen light:
A Lake Country foamed wool pad was used with low speeds ~1500-1800 RPM and Megs 105 Ultra Cut Compound. Each section was compounded a minimum of three times; sometimes hitting an area 5/6 times before I was happy with the correction achieved.
A quick check on the O/S/F wing:
Before/After:
Later refined (again, after many compounding passes) with Menz 85RD 3.02 and a 3M yellow polishing pad.
50/50 between O/S wing and door:
Sticking with Megs 105 and the foamed wool pad, I work down the O/S door.
Before:
After two heavy hits: (look at the single halogen’s outline; you can still see its hazy and marked)
And then after many more passes and refinement:
Small tough to reach areas tackled with 3M spot pads:
Looking up at the O/S/R wing, I spot this:
Awesome!
Many hits later:
Petrol filler cap tricky due to delicate decals:
By this point, I’d learnt that it was a bit of a pig (Sorry Ami) to work with. No two panels were the same… Some, I couldn’t continue to use wool and had to switch to foam. Some, I could put too much heat into and had to make several long slow passes. Some, some just didn’t want to be polished at all! Check the O/S C-Pillar after my first compounding stage:
The polish had welded itself in. I forget the pad and polish combination now but it was the same as what was used below on the larger rear quarter panel. Weird.
Working around this with various finishing pads and polish. After:
Wing mirrors with Menz 85RD 3.02 on a yellow polishing pad:
The boot-lid was (pretty much) free from sanding marks, but instead, suffered badly from deep random scratches.
Some marks remained; losing count of how many compounding passes were being made, I didn’t want to push for 100% as A) its almost impossible and B) a good amount of the clearcoat had been removed already – compromise had to be made.
Rear lights 50/50:
O/S complete. I think that was about it for Day 1…
Early start on the second day and trouble already…
The exact same problem on the N/S C-Pillar as what I had on the O/S. Pain!
Deeper marks around the door handle:
On the passenger door, before and after:
If using wool (although same applies for foam pads, too) it’s very important that you keep the pad well spurred and free of polish clumping and dust.
Continuing to use the same pad as above without cleaning it would undoubtedly lead to swirls and circular scratches being induced during your polishing set.
After every set, take a stiff bristled brush (I used the Megs triple duty), a spritz or water and allow the pad to spin; removing all dusting and clumps before moving on.
More sanding marks on the N/S edge of the bonnet:
Bonnet complete:
Rear bumper.
Before/After:
Finally, after some 16 hours polishing, the machine work was complete.
Dusting removed from panel gaps and crevices with a concentrated blast with the pressure washer.
*eek*, good timing, think it might be about to rain:
Little toe-eye covers cleaned and replaced.
Vehicle, once fully dried, wiped down with isopropyl alcohol, glazed by hand with Dodo Juice Lime Prime Lite and then protected with Dodo’s Supernatural wax.
Panel gaps, badges, grilles, lights, locks, seems, shuts and sills wiped and ‘toothpickery’ work commenced to ensure no polish residues remain.
Glass cleaned inside and out with 3M’s glass cleaner.
Arch linings dressed with Megs All Season Dressing.
Exterior plastic trim treated to Chemical Guys’ New Look Trim Gel.
Show wheels returned to the car and replaced.
Some final ‘studio’ shots the night before collection on the big day.
(Please note (as if it’s not obvious) some of the following shots have been tweaked and edited digitally)
Some interior details: (she’s a clever girl is our Ami!)
Early hours Friday morning – wiped with Zaino Z6 and road ready.
And finally at the Modified Nationals 2011 show on Dodo Juice’s trade stand:
Ami was thrilled. Stunned! I saw the car in person on the Saturday afternoon and it did look well. So good infact, that, Sunday, with the show ‘n shine awards, Ami picked up a trophie for the “most outstanding trade stand car”.
A fantastic achievement and a brilliant end to a manic, long weekend. Massive congratulations to Ami and Stuart for their hard work on the Lupo and a big thanks to Dodo themselves. Cheers PJ and Dom.
Overall, ~21 hours put into this one. Well worth it in the end.
As always, thanks for reading.
Jim.
This car belongs to one of the admins of car club “OEModified” (http://www.oemodified.com/), a Lincolnshire based car community with some 25 elite members and 160 forum users that travel the country attending shows & exhibitions, running open days and who organise weekly meets for their local OE members.
Ami, the Lupo owner, was to show her car at this years ‘Modified Nationals’ at Peterborough showground. Her car was to be part of the Dodo Juice trade stand indoors so it had to look its best…
Work was carried out over Wednesday and the Thursday. On the Friday morning, early hours, the car was collected from the unit to be driven direct to P’borough showground in readiness for Sat & Sunday’s show.
If you’re a sit back, relax with a brew and a biscuit kinda person then watch this video for the job highlights:
[video]http://youtu.be/8ptWVU8t-is?hd=1[/video]
If not, read on!
Product
· 3M Ultra Fina
· 3M Extra Fine
· 3M FastCut+
· 3M Glass Cleaner
· AMDetails mild clay bar
· AutoSmart G101
· AutoSmart Hazsafe
· AutoSmart Tardis
· Chemical Guys New Look Trim Gel
· Dodo Juice Born To Be Mild
· Dodo Juice Lime Prime Lite
· Dodo Juice Supernatural wax
· Jeffs Werkstat Prime
· IPA (isopropyl alcohol)
· Meguiars Last Touch
· Meguiars Super Degreaser
· Meguiars 105 Ultra Cut Compound
· Menzerna 85 RD 3.02 Intensive Polish
· Menzerna 203s Power Finish
· Zaino Z6
Car in question:
Obviously they’re not its normal wheels! The “mk2 golf smoothies” were off the car being resprayed in readiness for show.
First glimpse at the defects:
The whole car, prior to Ami’s ownership, has been resprayed. Every panel was left with a crazy haze caused by masses of DA sanding marks and buffertrails from the bodyshop. This wasn’t going to be as easy as originally hoped…
Outside ready for the wet work.
Doorshuts greasy and suffering from overspray in areas.
Tackled with Megs Degreaser and AS Tardis to help shift the stubborn stuff:
Before pre-washing the car with foam, 10 minutes were spent hitting the intricate areas with the pressure washer to release trapped grit etc from behind window rubbers, panel gaps and the undercarriage.
In this instance, the rear window seem had accumulated lots of muck and potential damage material that can otherwise cause issues later on if not removed.
Washed with the usual pre-rinse, pre-wash, two bucket approach.
A few tiny tar deposits were removed off the rear end:
Lupo then clayed with AMDetails’ mild clay bar and Megs Last Touch used as lube.
Blown dry with the Black Baron Vehicle Dryer and we can now see the true condition of the paint…
General swirling/machine buffertrails:
Random blemishes:
Deeper scratches:
And “pig tailing” caused by DA sanding:
As you can see, some areas of the car were pretty shocking… Had this of been a darker coloured Lupo, the sanding marks wouldn’t have just stole the colour and clarity of the finish, but they’d have stuck out like a sore thumb! Terrible finishing by the bodyshop; still amazes me how they can get away with it.
Thickness measurements confirming the bonnet had seen paint:
When you get in close, the finish was dire:
After a few experiments, it was noted that the paint is rock hard!
A 3M Cutting Pad with FastCut+ & a blob of Ultra Fina, we’re left with this finish:
OK, better, but you can see, these ‘pig tails’ are deep and will require much more work to chase out completely.
A before/after with the LED brinkman as opposed to halogen light:
A Lake Country foamed wool pad was used with low speeds ~1500-1800 RPM and Megs 105 Ultra Cut Compound. Each section was compounded a minimum of three times; sometimes hitting an area 5/6 times before I was happy with the correction achieved.
A quick check on the O/S/F wing:
Before/After:
Later refined (again, after many compounding passes) with Menz 85RD 3.02 and a 3M yellow polishing pad.
50/50 between O/S wing and door:
Sticking with Megs 105 and the foamed wool pad, I work down the O/S door.
Before:
After two heavy hits: (look at the single halogen’s outline; you can still see its hazy and marked)
And then after many more passes and refinement:
Small tough to reach areas tackled with 3M spot pads:
Looking up at the O/S/R wing, I spot this:
Awesome!
Many hits later:
Petrol filler cap tricky due to delicate decals:
By this point, I’d learnt that it was a bit of a pig (Sorry Ami) to work with. No two panels were the same… Some, I couldn’t continue to use wool and had to switch to foam. Some, I could put too much heat into and had to make several long slow passes. Some, some just didn’t want to be polished at all! Check the O/S C-Pillar after my first compounding stage:
The polish had welded itself in. I forget the pad and polish combination now but it was the same as what was used below on the larger rear quarter panel. Weird.
Working around this with various finishing pads and polish. After:
Wing mirrors with Menz 85RD 3.02 on a yellow polishing pad:
The boot-lid was (pretty much) free from sanding marks, but instead, suffered badly from deep random scratches.
Some marks remained; losing count of how many compounding passes were being made, I didn’t want to push for 100% as A) its almost impossible and B) a good amount of the clearcoat had been removed already – compromise had to be made.
Rear lights 50/50:
O/S complete. I think that was about it for Day 1…
Early start on the second day and trouble already…
The exact same problem on the N/S C-Pillar as what I had on the O/S. Pain!
Deeper marks around the door handle:
On the passenger door, before and after:
If using wool (although same applies for foam pads, too) it’s very important that you keep the pad well spurred and free of polish clumping and dust.
Continuing to use the same pad as above without cleaning it would undoubtedly lead to swirls and circular scratches being induced during your polishing set.
After every set, take a stiff bristled brush (I used the Megs triple duty), a spritz or water and allow the pad to spin; removing all dusting and clumps before moving on.
More sanding marks on the N/S edge of the bonnet:
Bonnet complete:
Rear bumper.
Before/After:
Finally, after some 16 hours polishing, the machine work was complete.
Dusting removed from panel gaps and crevices with a concentrated blast with the pressure washer.
*eek*, good timing, think it might be about to rain:
Little toe-eye covers cleaned and replaced.
Vehicle, once fully dried, wiped down with isopropyl alcohol, glazed by hand with Dodo Juice Lime Prime Lite and then protected with Dodo’s Supernatural wax.
Panel gaps, badges, grilles, lights, locks, seems, shuts and sills wiped and ‘toothpickery’ work commenced to ensure no polish residues remain.
Glass cleaned inside and out with 3M’s glass cleaner.
Arch linings dressed with Megs All Season Dressing.
Exterior plastic trim treated to Chemical Guys’ New Look Trim Gel.
Show wheels returned to the car and replaced.
Some final ‘studio’ shots the night before collection on the big day.
(Please note (as if it’s not obvious) some of the following shots have been tweaked and edited digitally)
Some interior details: (she’s a clever girl is our Ami!)
Early hours Friday morning – wiped with Zaino Z6 and road ready.
And finally at the Modified Nationals 2011 show on Dodo Juice’s trade stand:
Ami was thrilled. Stunned! I saw the car in person on the Saturday afternoon and it did look well. So good infact, that, Sunday, with the show ‘n shine awards, Ami picked up a trophie for the “most outstanding trade stand car”.
A fantastic achievement and a brilliant end to a manic, long weekend. Massive congratulations to Ami and Stuart for their hard work on the Lupo and a big thanks to Dodo themselves. Cheers PJ and Dom.
Overall, ~21 hours put into this one. Well worth it in the end.
As always, thanks for reading.
Jim.
