lawrenceSA
New member
- Feb 7, 2012
- 1,713
- 0
If nothing else comes from this thread, I hope you will at least see how quickly improper washing and drying can mess up your car. This beauty only has 1200km on the clock and could only have had a handful of washes.... but look at the damage already inflicted.
The worst of it was on the softer B-pillars but even on Audi's very hard paint, the swirls were starting to show
As always the engine bay was first. It only had some light dust and dirt
And some cobwebs :lol:
Everything was blown out, then wiped down with mf towels and Carchem APC followed by a damp MF wipe down, the dressed with Autofinesse Dressel. Forgot to take any after pics
sorry :fear:
The fender wells were then cleaned using Carchem APC and various brushes - these would later be dressed using Autofinesse Dressel. The tires and wheels cleaned using Angelwax Billberry, the tires dressed with Carchem Tire Dressing and the wheels protected using Gyeon Wetcoat.
Before
During
After
The car itself was pretty clean with only the odd bug splatter to contend with.
After a decent pressure rinsing the lower half of the car was soaked in Valet Pro Citrus Pre-wash which was left to dwell before being pressure rinsed off. Angelwax Fast Foam was then applied via a foam cannon, allowed to dwell and then pressure rinsed off. Then a 2 bucket wash using Carchem Luxury Shampoo was performed and the car rinsed. Carchem Revolt was then applied with minimal evidence of bleeding (a good thing as it indicates no contamination) before being thoroughly rinsed off. Any remanining contamination was dealt with using Shield Heavy Duty clay.
With the paint now 'bare' it was easy to see the swirls from poor washing and drying there were also a few bird dropping etchings on the bonnet. You can clearly see the deeper scratches close to the etching where someone has obviously tried to rub the bird dropping off the paint - you should instead try to 'lift' the dropping off the paint.
Paint readings were taken (all in µ [microns]) and as you can see the bonnet was significantly thinner than the rest of the car and so aggressive correction to remove the bird dropping etchings was simply not an option.
After a few test spots I settled on Menzerna PF2300 on a Orange Lake Country Hybrid pads for the correction work. The car is full of really sharp body lines which meant I used just over 2 rolls of tape during the detail and with all the awkward angles, the newer shape RS3 is a fair bit more difficult to correct than the old shape.
The paint was then protected with Collinite 915
All the rubber were cleaned using Shield Heavy Duty rubber cleaner
Then protected using Optimum Optiseal.
The exhaust tip was polished using Meguiars NXT All Metal Polish
The interior was then sorted out
Glass - Autoglym Fast Glass
Plastics - Wipe with damp MF towel | Protect with 303 Aerospace
Carpets - Vacuum | Brush | Vacuum
Leather - Clean with Carchem APC | Wipe with damp MF towel | Protect with Optimum Optiseal
Alcantara - Cleam with Valet Pro Citrus Prewash at 1:80
Door rubbers - Clean with Shield Heavy Duty Vinyl and Rubber Cleaner | Protect with Aerospace 303
And finally Exterior Rubbers - Shield Heavy Duty Vinyl and Rubber Cleaner | Aerospace 303 and Exterior Glass - Gyeon Prep
Here are some after shots
I must say I really fell in love with this color over the time I spent working on the car :drool: Not only does it really have some life in it for a grey, but it suits the lines of this car so well.
Total time spent = 26 hours
As always thanks for looking and any comments or questions are welcome
:hi:
The worst of it was on the softer B-pillars but even on Audi's very hard paint, the swirls were starting to show
As always the engine bay was first. It only had some light dust and dirt
And some cobwebs :lol:
Everything was blown out, then wiped down with mf towels and Carchem APC followed by a damp MF wipe down, the dressed with Autofinesse Dressel. Forgot to take any after pics
sorry :fear: The fender wells were then cleaned using Carchem APC and various brushes - these would later be dressed using Autofinesse Dressel. The tires and wheels cleaned using Angelwax Billberry, the tires dressed with Carchem Tire Dressing and the wheels protected using Gyeon Wetcoat.
Before
During
After
The car itself was pretty clean with only the odd bug splatter to contend with.
After a decent pressure rinsing the lower half of the car was soaked in Valet Pro Citrus Pre-wash which was left to dwell before being pressure rinsed off. Angelwax Fast Foam was then applied via a foam cannon, allowed to dwell and then pressure rinsed off. Then a 2 bucket wash using Carchem Luxury Shampoo was performed and the car rinsed. Carchem Revolt was then applied with minimal evidence of bleeding (a good thing as it indicates no contamination) before being thoroughly rinsed off. Any remanining contamination was dealt with using Shield Heavy Duty clay.
With the paint now 'bare' it was easy to see the swirls from poor washing and drying there were also a few bird dropping etchings on the bonnet. You can clearly see the deeper scratches close to the etching where someone has obviously tried to rub the bird dropping off the paint - you should instead try to 'lift' the dropping off the paint.
Paint readings were taken (all in µ [microns]) and as you can see the bonnet was significantly thinner than the rest of the car and so aggressive correction to remove the bird dropping etchings was simply not an option.
After a few test spots I settled on Menzerna PF2300 on a Orange Lake Country Hybrid pads for the correction work. The car is full of really sharp body lines which meant I used just over 2 rolls of tape during the detail and with all the awkward angles, the newer shape RS3 is a fair bit more difficult to correct than the old shape.
The paint was then protected with Collinite 915
All the rubber were cleaned using Shield Heavy Duty rubber cleaner
Then protected using Optimum Optiseal.
The exhaust tip was polished using Meguiars NXT All Metal Polish
The interior was then sorted out
Glass - Autoglym Fast Glass
Plastics - Wipe with damp MF towel | Protect with 303 Aerospace
Carpets - Vacuum | Brush | Vacuum
Leather - Clean with Carchem APC | Wipe with damp MF towel | Protect with Optimum Optiseal
Alcantara - Cleam with Valet Pro Citrus Prewash at 1:80
Door rubbers - Clean with Shield Heavy Duty Vinyl and Rubber Cleaner | Protect with Aerospace 303
And finally Exterior Rubbers - Shield Heavy Duty Vinyl and Rubber Cleaner | Aerospace 303 and Exterior Glass - Gyeon Prep
Here are some after shots
I must say I really fell in love with this color over the time I spent working on the car :drool: Not only does it really have some life in it for a grey, but it suits the lines of this car so well.
Total time spent = 26 hours
As always thanks for looking and any comments or questions are welcome
:hi:
rops:
