Candy White Golf .:R - Detailed by Lawrence

[lawrenceSA]

This was quite a different detail for me in that the detail was a referral from a previous customer and the car was dropped off (with my wife) on Thursday night whilst I was at a club meet and greet. I never actually had the opportunity to have my usual conversation with the customer around what I can/can't do, what I think should be done, and what they expect or even pricing nor had I had the chance to inspect the paintwork prior to starting on it....

So when I eventually got stuck into the car on Friday evening after work it was quite a different feeling working on a car where the owner had completely put his faith in me that he I would do what needed to be done, to make him feel like he got his money's worth... on the one hand I suppose it was affirmation that my results are speaking for themselves and people have faith that I will deliver a good result, but on the other it was a little daunting.... you see anyone who has had their car detailed by me will confirm that I am very adamant on defining the expectations from my side and the customer's upfront, so that upon collection, everyone is happy. I can't imagine pouring so much of my blood, sweat, tears and love into a detail for 20+ hours, only to have a disappointed customer arrive who was expecting 'more'....

Anyway, enough rambling.... on to the detail itself.

So my first task on Friday evening was to rid the car of all the 'stickers'....

The remaining glue residue (which was later easily removed using goo gone)

Once that was done I got to work cleaning and then conditioning all the leather surfaces which showed the tell tale signs of being dirty (the dreaded shine) and landed up repairing a small piece of the leather that had torn away from the seat.

Saturday morning I first took some shots of the condition of the car before I got to work.

Dirt stains in the hard to reach spots

NF ultra stains which would not budge

Process/Products used
Wheels
Tires and wheels were washed using Meguiars Hot Rims All Wheel and Tire Cleaner using a Mothers Tire brush. The arches were cleaned using Cyclo CM30 APC and a Mothers Fender Well brush. Once dried the tires were dressed using Optimum Opti Bond Tire Gel and the arches dressed using Chemical Guys Bare Bones. The wheels then received 2 coats of Collinite 845 for protection

Wash
Car was rinesd not only to remove any loose dirt, but also to help cool the paint - I was unfortunately stuck outside on a rather hot and sunny Durban day
I then pre-foamed it using Chemical Guys Maxi Suds II
Then a full 2 bucket Wash using Cyclo Polymer Hand Wash

Door shuts/Boot shut/under petrol flap/around badges
Cyclo CM30 APC and various brushes were used
Door shuts were then protected further cleaned and polished with Meguiars Cleaner Wax

Decontamination
Tar removal - AF ObliTARate - I was surprised at how little tar there there was
Iron Removal - AF Iron Out - A lot of iron was removed from the car - I wish I had the time to snap some pics but with the relatively short working time of the product I could not risk having it dry on me in the sun
Clay - Clay Magic Blue Clay / Carways mist and wipe
Sticker residue - Goo Gone

Correction
Paintwork
Menzerna PF2500 / 5.5" Cyan pad
Poorboys White Diamond / 5.5" LC Crimson pad
B-Pillars, Diffuser, Tali lights/mirrors
Menzerna PF2500 / LC 4" White pad
Menzerna SF4000 / LC 4" Black Pad

Protection
2 Coats Collinite #845 by hand

Glass
Autoglym Fast Glass

Exhaust tips
Mothers Aluminium and Mag polish
Mothers powerball mini on a drill

 

[lawrenceSA]

The original plan was for the owner to collect on Sunday pm and I had insufficient time to snap any after pics, however at the last minute plans were changed and he was going to collect on Monday night. Turns out that Monday night was raining and so we then agreed he could collect on Tuesday night, so I rushed home after work and managed to snap these few pics in the fast fading light before it got completely dark.... unfortunately no real 'sun shots', but you can still see the transformation in the paint well enough.

]

Total time spent = 21 hours

Thanks for looking and as always, and comments or feedback is welcomed.

 

[cartman57]

Was the owner happy with the results? Anyone would've been amazed at the transformation.
Great results as usual, finished photos are very nice.

 

[Skimmer0220]

Very nice work why did the owner want the revo sticker taken off?


Sent from space through a satellite

 

[lawrenceSA]

Was the owner happy with the results? Anyone would've been amazed at the transformation.
Great results as usual, finished photos are very nice.

Hi cartman57 - yes the owner seemed happy, but having only met him for the first time when he collected the vehicle, it was a little harder than usual to gauge just how happy he was.

 

[Mfour]

wow it looks like a totally different car ..

 

[lawrenceSA]

Very nice work why did the owner want the revo sticker taken off?


Sent from space through a satellite

Thanks

Well it was actually at my request - trying to polish around the sticker would have taken longer than simply removing it, and secondly, if I had left them on and the owner were to ever remove the stickers on his own accord, he would be left with some rather dull paint where the stickers were.

Also, quite a lot of the cars I do are cars that have been on the receiving end of the Revo software, and the guys are all quite good mates who spend a lot of time together going to drag events with the Revo crowd etc.... so for them to get another set of stickers is really not a big deal.

 

[XSSIVE]

Nice! I always like seeing detailed Golf R threads.

 

[vet]

Outstanding work, as usual, Lawrence!

 

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Another top notch job Lawrence. Hopefully both parties were happy from the service and payment.

I know the feeling of getting a car at the last minute without full conversation from the owner on what should be done and the expectations.

 

[JSou]

Epic. So thorough. I love it.

 

[lawrenceSA]

Another top notch job Lawrence. Hopefully both parties were happy from the service and payment.

I know the feeling of getting a car at the last minute without full conversation from the owner on what should be done and the expectations.

Thanks Mike.

Yeah the customer called me the next day to say how happy he was. He indicated that the detail was a 1-year 'birthday present' to the car, and that it was the best money he has spent on it....

:dblthumb2:

Epic. So thorough. I love it.

Thank you very much