Archive for category: Portfolio

The fantastic Audi RS2 – what a very special estate car this is – apparently there were only 2062 made Worldwide of that only 182 were right hand drive. Nick Mason has one, Jamiroqui has one and so does our customer. This was the first and only RS built by Porsche. Top Gear has voted this car as number 6 of their best driving cars.

Our client bought his car some six months ago and drove it as it was for a short period of time before bringing it to us.

After some initial inspection and discussions we started “Our Bit” (as it turned out it was a big bit).

 

The whole body was wetted from the waist line down and we attended to the alloys and calipers. These were firstly coated with a good cleaner/degreaser and left to dwell for a period of time, then pressure washed off. This removed the loose rubbish and general dust. Then we applied a fine acid to both wheels and calipers – yes they are red (Porsche) after carefully brushing the wheels and calipers they were gently washed again – perfect.

Now came the larger job, the paintwork. Althought his car is 15 – 16 years old the paint was still in good general condition, just a couple of chips. We started by applying a non caustic traffic film remover to the areas that were the most affected by road dirt, wheel arches, under bumpers, door shuts etc. and pressure washing it off, we then started the two bucket method of washing the full exterior and finally washing down again. Before we went any further we clayed the entire body to remove all the contaminents, as you can see from the photo’s the car had been standing outside for long periods of time, lots of mould on the window rubbers and most other crevices. This was attended to prior to washing the vehicle again. It was dried with soft cloths aided with a spray of last touch before being taken into our workshops.

During the time we were working on the car the client visited us on several occasions to see how it was progressing. He also spends some time on Detailing Forums. This car will, might just end up on an Audi one very soon, hopefully with a link to us.

Whilst the car was drying we decided to start work on the interior, first a quick hoover to remove most of the general bits and pieces. The Nappa Leather was just grubby from general use so we applied a cleaner to the seat squab, leather surround and doors. Next was the dashboard area, fiddley places to get to at the best of times, however after some time cleaning with brushes, cloths and detail swabs it looked very good. All the door, boot and bonnet shuts were cleaned and dried before treating the leather trim on the interior which included seats and door cards and dashboard. Cleaned and polished the insides of the windows – shut the doors – done.

Now was the time to mask up the exterior ready for machining.

We measured the paint depth throughout the whole of the vehicle and noted this carefully, with this age of paint you can’t be sure it hasn’t had work before.

Because the paint was quite flat we used a medium grade pad together with a heavy German compound and started with the bonnet. After a few passes we noticed the paint seemed to come alive again and we found some “shine”. Continuing along the wings to the doors, rear quarter panels, tailgate and finally the roof. Changing to a fine/medium compound we started again on the bonnet and through the rest of the panels. The depth of colour and gloss was fantastic and left the metallic sparkling, great finish. The bumpers were finely scratched, especially the rear, obviously where items had been put in and taken out. After a fair bit of time with the machine they looked like glass. We decided on applying 2 coats of DoDo Juice as final polish this really brought out the metallic flec finish. Turning to the wheels, which looked clean after being washed and dried, they were treated to a good application of Rim Wax, this really brought out the fantastic deep silver reflective shine in the alloy.

The car was taken back to our wash area and given a quick blast off to remove the dust that had accumulated during cleaning and polishing, it was then dried and the exterior windows cleaned and polished – with a final wipe over we examined the paintwork and interior. “I’m happy” Job done – Get the client in.

Our client was very happy with the results, so much so that he asked if we could keep the car for a few days till the weather had improved. We did this for him, unfortunatly when he did collect it, it was snowing. He did however tell us that the car would be back in the new year for a “Top up”

This Porsche was booked in through Mark Kessells of Summercourt for paint correction including a hood and interior detail.

On first inspection swirls could be clearly seen as well as a few deeper scratches over the vehicle, the most prominent scratches being on the hood cover.

We started off with the wheels, these were coated in a non acidic wheel cleaner and the faces were agitated as well as the insides of the wheels, with various brushes, as far as we could reach.

The hood was next to be targeted. The whole roof was rinsed down and a mild wash applied, agitated with a soft brush and then rinsed. Once the residue had been removed the hood was then patted dry. This process had to be repeated 3 times to achieve the desired result.

A good pre-soak with a degreaser was applied to the lower half of the bodywork, including the wheel arches and shuts. Once rinsed the vehicle was washed with a lamb’s wool mitt, rinsed and then dried.

 

Once the vehicle was dried and with the aid of a lubricant we set about claying the whole car to remove the bonded contaminants including the windows and faces of the wheels. This left a smooth feel to the paintwork in preparation for the paint correction.

Once clayed the vehicle was then re-washed and dried.

Mick started on the paintwork. The vehicle was masked up with 3m’s blue tape. A reading of the paint’s thickness was taken to give him an idea of what he had to play with and identify any post-production paintwork the vehicle may have had. He then set about removing the swirls from the bodywork. In some areas there were a few deep scratches which were removed as a result of wet flatting. Mick then applied a finishing polish, which removed the fine scratches, resulting from the first stage correction. This left an incredible finish to the vehicle ready for a sealant to be applied.

I cracked on with the interior, which consisted of the carpets being washed, the leather being cleaned and then treated with a conditioner and the plastics attended to.

On first inspection the dirt on the seats could barely be seen, but as you can see from the 50/50 shot, this became clearly visible.

The vehicle was then re-masked and the car covered, so that we could apply the hood reproofer, which aids in the protection against fading, sunlight and staining. Once applied the hood was allowed to stand for a while and once touch dry, the tape and the covers were removed from the vehicle.

The paintwork was then sealed which enhanced the metallic fleck in the paint, leaving a rich deep colour, which as you can see, looked stunning.

The wheels were sealed with a specially designed wax, developed to reduce brake dust build up, by up to 75%. The product contains Carnauba which is one of the hardest forms of wax available, to give that wet look finish.

With the final inspection and wipe down, the completion sheet was filled in ……………..…job done.

A Black T5 Caravelle was booked for a Protection Detail.

 

The first job of the day was to wash the wheels, they were coated in a non acidic wheel cleaner and agitated with a soft brush to loosen the brake dust and general grime. As well as the faces of the wheels we cleaned the inside of the wheels.

After rinsing the wheels a degreaser was applied to the lower portion of the vehicle, boot and door shuts, allowed to rest and then rinsed along with the rest of the vehicle to remove the loose debris from the paintwork. The vehicle was then washed using the two bucket method from top to bottom and then rinsed.

With the aid of a drying agent the vehicle was dried with a mircofibre towel, along with the wheels and shuts.

We then set about claying the whole vehicle including the roof, windows and wheels, this as you can imagine took a bit of time. These T5’s are quite a big beast.

Once completed the vehicle was re-washed and dried in readiness for the pre-wax cleaner.
There were a couple of marks on the paintwork which the client asked us to remove. These were corrected prior to the pre-wax cleaner being applied.

After the pre-wax was applied and removed we set about applying a high content Carnauba wax to the entire vehicle, including roof and bumpers. All painted areas got two coats of wax, applied by hand. As you can see the paintwork looked simply awesome.

The vehicle was vacuumed and the plastics were wiped down, windows cleaned and the tyres dressed.
With a final wipe down, we managed to get a few shots of the finished article before the client arrived to collect the vehicle…..….. job done.

 

 

Monday morning

During mid September, this A-Class was booked in for full paint correction and interior detail by a local company called Lightbox Photographic.

The client had just bought the vehicle after deliberating over this and a new smart car and after careful consideration the client opted for the A-Class. With only 20,000 miles on the clock the vehicle had been very well looked after by its’ previous owner and with an average of 2,000 miles a year on the clock, the interior was in remarkable condition.

We only had the Monday to carry out the paint correction, as it was going to the sign writers early Wednesday morning and the client needed the vehicle back at the end of the day as this was his only form of transport. It was due to be back with us Thursday for the exterior to be finished and the interior detailed.

The shots show that the paint had started to fade and had lost its’ lustre and with time against us, the vehicle was washed in the usual way with the two bucket system.

We were instructed by the client to remove all the badges, excluding the 3 pointed star from the front and rear, in readiness for the decals and to give that clean look. We had also been instructed to remove the stone chip protectants, located just forward of the rear wheels as these had gone yellow. The decals would be covering this area in any case.

 

With the vehicle washed and badges removed it was dried, before being clayed including the windows and the wheels.

It was then rewashed, dried and allowed to rest before being masked up, ready for correction.

Meter readings had to be taken of every panel prior to any correction taking place. All of the readings ranged from 112 to over 140 microns, giving a good base to work from.

We started with a medium/fine compound with a medium weight mop, this was enough to bring the paintwork and scratched surfaces back to a good pre polish finish. The wheel arch eyebrows also took a lot of time and effort as visually they resembled fine emery paper. However in the end and some hours later the car was ready for the client to collect.

The client returned later that day to collect the vehicle and due to return on Thursday for us to continue..

 

 

Thursday morning.

With the vehicle back in our possession, it was rewashed, dried and allowed to rest while the interior received our full attention.

The seats and carpets were tired looking so we lightly dusted all the upholstery with a good upholstery cleaner and after some scrubbing it came up remarkably bright.

Next we attended to the plastics. All the interior plastics were cleaned and dressed, also those hard to reach areas were cleaned with the aid of a detailing swabs and brushes.

With the interior completed and dried, the paintwork was then treated with a pre-cleaner prior to the sealant being applied. Two coats of sealant were applied by hand to the bodywork and buffed to a high gloss shine – Exterior Paint Completed.

The wheels were sealed with Rim Wax which brought out the reflective metallic shine, this great product is also designed to combat the build up of brake dust.

Next job was the windows, they were cleaned and polished inside and out and made to sparkle. Then the tyres and exterior plastics were dressed – the vehicle was now complete…………..great job done.

We are pleased to say that the client was exceptionally happy with the results.