Zenith Grey Seat Ibiza FR - Detailed by Lawrence

[lawrenceSA]

Products used:
Cyclo CM30
Turtle Wax Intensive Wheel Cleaner
Autofinesse Iron-Out
Chemical Guys Maxi Suds II
Meguiars Gold Class Shampoo
Autofinesse ObliTARate
Clay Magic (Blue) Clay
ONR
Menzerna PF2500
Lake Country Orange CCS Pads
Menzerna Black Finishing Pads
Meguiars Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner
Chemical Guys Blacklight
Collinte 845
Meguiars NXT All Metal Polish
Smartwax Smart Dressing
Autoglym Fast Glass
C-Thru
A multitude of brushes and MF Cloths and foam applicator pads
HP Washer / Foam Cannon / Wet 'n Dry vac

Day 1 - Tuesday
Wheels, brake calipers and arches
Here you can see the buildup of dirt in the arches (as well as the surface dirt on the car)

The wheels were removed from the car to reveal a fair amount of dirt, road grime, tar and iron deposits.

After a thorough cleaning of the wheels and you can still see the tar/iron deposits remaining.
]

All the tar spots were then removed

And then the iron remover sprayed on

And agitated after a few minutes

faces getting the same treatment

Revealing clean wheels

The wheels were then rinsed/dried and sealed

The caps were also cleaned

Next the wheels arches
Before

During

After

Brake Calipers were cleaned up

Engine Bay
All loose dirt/dust was blown out the engine bay before the sensitive electrical components were sealed off. A thorough cleaning was performed and the engine bay then dressed.
Before

After

 

[lawrenceSA]

Wash and decontamination
Before commencing with the wash I took a few pictures of damage to the paint, in the sun
Swirls

Surface dirt

Tar

Deeper scratches (notice how 'flat' the reflection of the background is in this shot)

Damaged rear bumper

Dirty door jambs + petrol cap

Dirty badges

Dirty Exhaust

Residual polish/wax from a previous clean perhaps :bang:

All the surface dirt was washed off and any previous protection stripped off the paint. In and around all the boot/door jambs, petrol cap, window seals, badges etc was then thoroughly cleaned. The car was then rinsed and dried in preparation for tar removal. Once the tar had been removed, the entire car including the windows was subjected to a full iron decontamination.

The rest of the day was spent claying the paintwork and glass surfaces.

 

[lawrenceSA]

Day 2 - Wednesday
Paint correction
Now that all the 'gunk' sitting on top of the paint had been removed I could see the actual damage to the paint. Although there were some swirl marks present, there were not many - an obvious sign the car is cared for.

There were however quite a few deeper scratches dispersed across the car, and many places where the paint had been etched (predominantly the roof and bonnet). Not being a show car looking for perfection, I intentionally did not try and attempt removal on these as you can see how deep the etching itself is.

And then zoomed in closer

By comparison, this is what a chip in the paint looks like up close

Taped up and ready to polish

The paintwork therefore only received a mild polish (PF2500/Orange Pad) to remove the shallower swirls followed by a full paint cleaning. This was then followed up with Blacklight (on a Black Pad) to enhance the depth and gloss.

 

[lawrenceSA]

Day 3 - Thursday
Paint protection, Interior and final touches
2 Coats of Collinite #845 were applied and the interior was vacuumed and exhaust tips polished. All glass surfaces were then cleaned and treated and all exterior plastic trim treated.

Onto the after shots! (I tied to get a few in different types of light)

And lastly my favorite shot

Thanks for looking

 

[cartman57]

Once again....................stunning results!!
Photography is great too, thanks for the write-up

 

[lawrenceSA]

Thanks Cartman57

 

[pointillistic_practitioner]

Very good!