zmcgovern45
New member
- Sep 5, 2012
- 3,443
- 0
This car belonged to a repeat customer of mine who is a big time car enthusiast. He has great taste when it comes to choosing his toys, and this car was no exception. This S6 is equipped with a V10 engine which sounded amazing with the custom exhaust that he had installed on the car. Overall the car was in average shape. The paint had the usual flaws - scratches and swirls, the wheels were filthy, and the interior was in need of a lot of work. While white cars lack the "wow factor" that you get with a nice, clean, black paint job, they still clean up very nicely and this one turned out great!
Exterior Process
Wheels: CG Diablo Gel (4:1) agitated with several brushes then rinsed, followed by Iron X agitated with several brushes then rinsed
Tires: Tuf Shine Tire Cleaner w/ Tuf Shine Tire Brush
Bug & Tar: CG Bug Bugger & Tar Remover (6:1)
Wash: CG Citrus Wash & Gloss (diluted to strip and remaining protection)
Decontaminate: Iron X
Dry: DI Waffle Weave Towels
Clay: DI Fine Grade Clay
Tape: 3M Painters Tape
Correction: Menzerna FG400 on 6.5" LC White Polishing Pad via Rupes LHR21ES, 3" White Polishing Pad via PC7424XP
Protection: Optimum Opti-Coat 2.0 Permanent Protective Coating
Exhaust Tips/Metal: CG Metal Wax (Polish + Protection)
Tires: Optimum Opti-Bond Tire Gel (2 Coats)
Glass: Stoner's Invisible Glass
Engine Process
Wash: Meguiar's D103 (10:1) agitated with various brushes and sponges then rinsed
Dry: Blown dry
Dressing: 303 Aerospace Protectant and CG Black on Black Spray
Interior Process
All door jams wiped down with Meguiar's D103 and MF Towels
Personal Belongings Collected and Stored in Trunk
Thorough Vacuuming
Dash, Plastic, and Leather Wiped Down with 303 Aerospace Protectant
Floor Mats removed, scrubbed with D103 (10:1), then treated with 303
Approximate Total Time: 14 Hours
Before
Wheels were terrible! Brake dust and dirt caked on the wheels and some even embedded into the rim leading to permanent damage. If I had to guess I would say these wheels haven't been cleaned in at least 6 months.
The rear wheels were not as bad as the front due to the smaller calipers, however they were still in horrible shape.
There was dirt, tar, bug splatter, etc all over the car.
The engine was in pretty good shape, some dirt here and there, and the plastic trim was dull and dirty.
During
The wheels were a battle all on their own. After several rounds with wheel cleaner, I used IronX to help break up some caked on brake dust. You can see it working as it turns a purple color when it reacts with iron particles.
After the car was washed, IronX was used to decontaminate the paint. This greatly reduces the amount of bonded contaminates on the paint, which saves a good deal of time when it comes to claying. You can see the IronX reacting with the bonded iron particles and changing to a purple color (which makes it especially fun to use on white cars since the color change is so apparent).
Once the car was clean and decontaminated, I proceeded to polish my test spot. Here is the spot on the hood before correction.
And afterwards... a nice improvement.
50/50 of test spot on hood (white is so darn hard to see the defects, this picture didn't do it justice. Don't worry though, I have some better 50/50 shots coming up!)
Hood before correction
and after
You can see the difference between a new pad and the pad I used to polish the hood. Polishing not only helps to remove/reduce scratches but it pulls out dirt and contaminates that have become embedded into the paint, which is why the used pad now appears dirty.
After the hood, I proceeded to the roof and then to the trunk. I was able to get a nice angle on the trunk to show the defects a bit better. Here is the trunk before polishing.
And after correction. There are still plenty of deeper scratches remaining, but the glos and clarity has been restored.
50/50 Trunk after. This really shows how dull the paint was prior to correction. (I told you I had better 50/50 shots coming!)
Here is a closer look
Door before
Door After
Exterior Process
Wheels: CG Diablo Gel (4:1) agitated with several brushes then rinsed, followed by Iron X agitated with several brushes then rinsed
Tires: Tuf Shine Tire Cleaner w/ Tuf Shine Tire Brush
Bug & Tar: CG Bug Bugger & Tar Remover (6:1)
Wash: CG Citrus Wash & Gloss (diluted to strip and remaining protection)
Decontaminate: Iron X
Dry: DI Waffle Weave Towels
Clay: DI Fine Grade Clay
Tape: 3M Painters Tape
Correction: Menzerna FG400 on 6.5" LC White Polishing Pad via Rupes LHR21ES, 3" White Polishing Pad via PC7424XP
Protection: Optimum Opti-Coat 2.0 Permanent Protective Coating
Exhaust Tips/Metal: CG Metal Wax (Polish + Protection)
Tires: Optimum Opti-Bond Tire Gel (2 Coats)
Glass: Stoner's Invisible Glass
Engine Process
Wash: Meguiar's D103 (10:1) agitated with various brushes and sponges then rinsed
Dry: Blown dry
Dressing: 303 Aerospace Protectant and CG Black on Black Spray
Interior Process
All door jams wiped down with Meguiar's D103 and MF Towels
Personal Belongings Collected and Stored in Trunk
Thorough Vacuuming
Dash, Plastic, and Leather Wiped Down with 303 Aerospace Protectant
Floor Mats removed, scrubbed with D103 (10:1), then treated with 303
Approximate Total Time: 14 Hours
Before
Wheels were terrible! Brake dust and dirt caked on the wheels and some even embedded into the rim leading to permanent damage. If I had to guess I would say these wheels haven't been cleaned in at least 6 months.
The rear wheels were not as bad as the front due to the smaller calipers, however they were still in horrible shape.
There was dirt, tar, bug splatter, etc all over the car.
The engine was in pretty good shape, some dirt here and there, and the plastic trim was dull and dirty.
During
The wheels were a battle all on their own. After several rounds with wheel cleaner, I used IronX to help break up some caked on brake dust. You can see it working as it turns a purple color when it reacts with iron particles.
After the car was washed, IronX was used to decontaminate the paint. This greatly reduces the amount of bonded contaminates on the paint, which saves a good deal of time when it comes to claying. You can see the IronX reacting with the bonded iron particles and changing to a purple color (which makes it especially fun to use on white cars since the color change is so apparent).
Once the car was clean and decontaminated, I proceeded to polish my test spot. Here is the spot on the hood before correction.
And afterwards... a nice improvement.
50/50 of test spot on hood (white is so darn hard to see the defects, this picture didn't do it justice. Don't worry though, I have some better 50/50 shots coming up!)
Hood before correction
and after
You can see the difference between a new pad and the pad I used to polish the hood. Polishing not only helps to remove/reduce scratches but it pulls out dirt and contaminates that have become embedded into the paint, which is why the used pad now appears dirty.
After the hood, I proceeded to the roof and then to the trunk. I was able to get a nice angle on the trunk to show the defects a bit better. Here is the trunk before polishing.
And after correction. There are still plenty of deeper scratches remaining, but the glos and clarity has been restored.
50/50 Trunk after. This really shows how dull the paint was prior to correction. (I told you I had better 50/50 shots coming!)
Here is a closer look
Door before
Door After
rops:
