http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin Sponsored by Detailers Domain en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:34:37 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/detailing-forum/147111-nikku-detailed-07-gti-my-most-informative-detail-yet.html Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:17:21 GMT VW GTI Full Correction – Step by Step Write-Up A few months ago I promised to detail my cousins VW GTI however I have been busy with client details and I wanted to make sure that I had enough time to take a lot of step by step pictures and do a full correction. Ok so to the present day. My cousin went on vacation so I chose two days out of the two weeks he was away to work on his vehicle.... VW GTI Full Correction – Step by Step Write-Up

A few months ago I promised to detail my cousins VW GTI however I have been busy with client details and I wanted to make sure that I had enough time to take a lot of step by step pictures and do a full correction.

Ok so to the present day. My cousin went on vacation so I chose two days out of the two weeks he was away to work on his vehicle. Thankfully our schedules worked out and I had freed up two days so I could detail his GTI.

Ok so let us get started. I am going to try something a little different this time around by accompanying the pictures with product and process information. So bare with me and hopefully you will enjoy the write up as much as I have enjoyed writing it up.

BEFORES

So before I do anything to the car I like to go around with my D40. You can use any camera with a decent quality pixel rate but I find that DSLR provides for better depth and sharpness. Even though I do a walk through at the beginning I find that the process of snapping quality pictures really helps with me with prioritizing trouble areas. If surprises pop up I make sure to call the customer to let him know of the issue before proceeding. It really saves me and customer time and hassle.







Possible bird etching issue on this particular panel.





Scratch on driver side mirror with paint transfer. Possible solutions could be heat gun and a light wipe, ISA wipe (isopropyl and water 50:50 mix), clay & clay lube and polishing.

















The GTI is obviously dull but there is also a noticeable grayish tinge but it is nothing to be overly concerned about.

WASH

Ok so I’ve done the post detail walk through now let us move on to the wash phase of the detail. After my washes I always like to snap additional pictures because you never know what could be hiding underneath all that dirt. Dirt may not be dirt and maybe a scratch.



My tools of choice for washing this GTI’s paint is as follows:
2 Grit Guards
2 Sheepskin Wash Mitts
1 Detail Brush
Chemicals Guys Maxi Suds
Optimum No Rinse
Optimum Power Clean

I mix all three together. 1 oz of Maxi Suds, 1 oz of ONR and 2 oz of PC. I like a little suds so I use Maxi Suds to lift the dirt, ONR is added to soften the water and to pull the dirt away from the paintwork and PC to get rid of any existing wax or sealant even though this particular GTI did not have any protection to speak off.





The tools that I used for the wheels are:
Detail brush (which are brilliant for lug nuts)
Grit guard
One bucket
Daytona Wheel Brush (completely invaluable when cleaning inner rims)
2 Chenille wash Mitts
Chemical Guys Wheel Gel ( 1 part water 1 part Wheel Gel used directly on surface)
Optimum Power Clean (1.5 oz of Power Clean used in bucket solution)







When rinsing wheels it is always safer to wash your wheels when they have cooled down. If you rinse a vehicle that has just been driven you risk the rotor warping because the rotor is hot while the water is cold. GTI was picked up the day before so the wheels were cool so there were no issues rinsing the wheels.



Coating the caliper and wheel with Chemical Guys Wheel Gel.



CG Wheel Gel also sprayed on tires.



You can see the wheel gel working and pulling the dirt away from the tire. This will help the longevity and look of your favourite tire dressing by having a clean canvas to work on.



Here is the Daytona brush in action. I scrub by brushing in side to side and back and forth motion to get the best cleaning action. Again I can’t emphasize how much it’s helped me keep my hands from getting tiny cuts from the rotors.





The Daytona Brush bent and being used behind the spokes.





The chenille mitt being used for the face of the rim. Although I prefer using the detail brush or zymol brush I find that the chenille mitt saves me some time because it has more coverage. I still use the detail brush for the corners of spokes.



Detail brush being used for the lug nuts.



All cleaned up.



Whoops almost forgot the calipers. When cleaning your calipers or the inner rims if you find that it’s being blocked by a spoke or caliper just roll your vehicle backward or forward to clean the previously inaccessible area.



Another example of a wheel scrub down.



Clean and Clear bucket. Keep that in mind for after the wash.



1 ounce of ONR going in the bucket.





1 ounce of Maxi Suds going into the bucket





2 ounces of Power clean going into the bucket.





A quick blast of the hose and voila! A wonderful symphony of colours.



GTI being rinsed down.





2 bucket wash method being practiced. At the beginning of the process you have two clean sheepskin wash mitts in the suds bucket while the bucket with clean water remains untouched until the first pass with the mitt on the paintwork.





Mitt doing it’s thing. Always start from the top of the car down that means, roof -> pillars -> hood -> trunk -> upper panels -> lower panels and bumper.



Place your dirty mitt into the clean bucket. Give it a quick shake to loosen the dirt away from the mitt. The grit guard will do its job by keeping the dirt at the bottom.





A mitt from the suds is now being used to clean. Repeat the process until the entire vehicle is done.



Mitt from clean water bucket rung out and then placed into the suds. I made sure that the mitt I had just used on the panel did not come in contact with the mitt soaking in the clean water bucket. I remove and ring the mitt in the clean water bucket first and then transferred it into the suds bucket. Only then did I place the dirty mitt into the rinsing bucket.





Dirty mitt from an extra dirty panel.



Mitt being shook to loosen dirt.

POST WASH WALK THROUGH

Below is an assortment of scratches and oh so lovely rail dust. Did I ring my cousin’s neck for it? No Comment.



















DRYING



My trusty Makita was used to knock out hidden water areas in the gas tank, in between trim areas and tiny crevices that my hands would usually be unable to get to.



For the rest of the vehicle 3 waffle weave drying towels were used. You can get away with two but I find using three much more efficient. I don’t like wet towels. In terms of the quality of the waffle weave, nothing but the best should touch your paint. The last thing I am sure anyone wants is for their products used for cleaning to induce marring in the paint.





Before I forget a shot of the water after washing the GTI.



Moving onto claying. I used Riccardo Yellow and clay lube which was a mix of OPT Quick
Instant Detailer and ONR. I find using QID alone with clay lube causes hazing on the paint. Easily preventable if you dry each panel as you clay rather than leaving it to haze. I chose to use ONR with QID just because I feel the clay glides a little more with the ONR mixed in.



The Riccardo clay is rolled into a ball and then flattened out.





Here I am claying the GTI. I find when claying I use the up and down and side to side motion. I have had some clients when claying ask me why the clay at first seems to start removing a certain contaminant then kind of stops working and usually more often than not it’s because they were only claying in one direction rather than in the up and down and side to side motions.

So if you notice that a contaminant is not coming be sure to do both motions and if that doesn’t work bump the clays aggressiveness up but be aware than you will probably need to follow up with a polish to get rid of the light marring left by the clay.







Drying the hood with a waffle weave after claying.



When you notice the clay is starting to get loaded(dirty). Fold and flatten the clay back out and voila you have new clay. However if you drop the clay at anytime just throw the clay out. It isn’t worth saving that extra little bit because dirt in the clay will end up scratching your car and that just isn’t worth it.





PAINT MEASUREMENT

Now on to measuring the paint thickness of the paint. The Defelsko 6000 was used to measure the paint. The paint on the GTI was relatively healthy except for the roof where you’ll see from the pictures it hit 78 microns. This area will be discussed when I start polishing.







POLISHING



My tools for polishing were 2 x Metabo PE12-175 polishers, 6” Sonus White Polishing Pads, 4” Flat LC polishing pads, 3M Sun Gun, 3M Backing Plate, Rubbish Boys Backing Plate, Meguiars 105, Meguiars 205 and Menzerna 106FF.

For most of the car except the roof Meguiars 105 was used with the 6” and 4” pads. M205 with 6” and 4” was used on the roof.

Polishing Steps
900 rpm light pressure – medium pressure
1100 rpm heavy pressure
900 rpm medium pressure - light pressure

When I neared the end of a pass there was almost no pressure on the pad. I lifted the rotary to make sure my arms were sustaining most of the rotaries weight. By doing this the finish that was attained in my opinion was almost LSP ready. I then followed up M105 with M205 with the same process except that I kept the RPMS at 900rpm the entire time.



I love how thick the Sonus pads are. Too bad they have been discontinued.



I apologize for the blurry pics. It’s hard to take pictures on your own thankfully on the second day my gf came by and helped towards the end of the detail.



Door ding.



After 3 passes with M105 on 4 inch pad. I could have used a more aggressive pad or even wet sanding but I didn’t think it was necessary to take it to a more aggressive level when I felt that the results were more than satisfactory.



The result.



Remember the scratch and paint transfer on the side mirror? Gone.



Sorry defects were a little hard to take on the white. However in this particularly picture you’ll notice the 3M sun guns reflection is a little hazy and trust me there was quite a bit of swirls.



Haziness and swirls gone.



Cleaned up.



Cleaned up.



Cleaned up.





Here I am correcting the bumper. Yes I love my shorts and my crocs. Those aren’t my socks I swear.



I will be using a 4 inch LC pad with M105 on the bumper lip area. This area needed about 3 passes.





Here I am taping off the rubber near the bumper lip area. Even though I am working at such low RPM’s its just good practice to tape. When using a rotary or even a DA the corners of the pad can burn subsequent perpendicular areas. Be aware and you are better safe than sorry so make sure you tape off.



Polishing away. If you look closely the pad is not touching the increased grade of the paint where the paint meets the trunk.



Now to the hatch. I propped the hatch open with a microfiber towel placed on the bumper while using a polishing bottle to prop it up. It gives me better access to the paintwork in that particular area.









Emblem before.



Emblem after with cuetip with m105 then cuetip with m205.



Hazzy and Swirly.



Cleaned up.



Cleaned up.



Yes that’s me shining a 3M sun gun on my head. No I’m not trying to get a tan and yes I was just playing around. Life isn’t fun without silliness.



Closing out day one. I removed the tape that was used to protect the lower plastic trip as I was polishing the lower panels. Tape used. Two balls.



In the middle of day two refining the paint with M205 on Sonus white and checking my work.







Here I am using a MF towel to brace myself so my clothes do not come in contact with the surface of the paint. I am a heavy boy but that isn’t my belly that’s my sweater.







Priming a pad with M205.







That brings an end to polishing.

POST POLISHING RINSE

The wash is to just remove any powder left on the car. Most of the polishing dust was removed via air compressor.













PRE-LSP















303 Aerospace Protectant was used on all the exterior trim.



I find that spraying product onto the MF and then wiping the applied area provides for a more uniform look. I’ve noticed when product is applied directly you have streaking issues.

















My girlfriend giving the interior a quick wipe down with Einszett Cockpit Premium.

LSP APPLICATION

LSP: Migliore Primo

My take on Primo. I applied primo by using an applicator pad and I would work two panels at a time then buff off. I found Migliore fairly hard to remove. Once I thought that I had buffed off all of the wax there would still be obvious streaking. I resorted to using quick detailer to help with the initial buffing and then would follow up with a clean MF . It also helps to have a lot of microfiber towels on hand. Look at the pictures and you be the judge. So do the ends justify the means? I like the product even though it may take me longer than usual to remove it. It looks great. I’ll give it a few more tries before I have a solid answer.















Notice the hazing near the halogens. Clarity isn’t perfect because there was still wax there. On to more buffing.











Loving the deep and wet look.



On to the rest of the car.





Defying gravity. Definitely hard to get off. :doh:

AFTERS



















Outdoor Photo Session



Buffing off a little more wax.



VOILA!





















Putting on another layer of Tropicare White Pearl Dressing on the Tire. 2 coats were applied. One after polishing and one after LSP.



RainX being applied to the windows.

Exhaust tips were treated with OPT Metal Polish 0000 Steel Wool. OPT MP with MF.

VW GTI: $27,000
Cost of lunch for GF? Too Much
Grateful Cousin? Priceless

Detail Hours: 15 hrs
Camera Work: 2 Hours ]]> Detailing Forum nikku http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/detailing-forum/147111-nikku-detailed-07-gti-my-most-informative-detail-yet.html http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/detailing-forum/147030-deatail-kit.html Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:45:29 GMT Hi all. I was wondering what detailing kit you would recomend for a carbon black beast. The weather has been awesome here lately so putting it away is day to day but I need a complete kit to get all the nasty swirls out from the reapeted washing this summer. I have a paypal account and my question is what is the best for the buck. I have a 8 inch orbital buffer/polisher. Thank for any responses.... Hi all. I was wondering what detailing kit you would recomend for a carbon black beast. The weather has been awesome here lately so putting it away is day to day but I need a complete kit to get all the nasty swirls out from the reapeted washing this summer. I have a paypal account and my question is what is the best for the buck. I have a 8 inch orbital buffer/polisher. Thank for any responses.

Jer ]]> Detailing Forum jer23 http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/detailing-forum/147030-deatail-kit.html http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/detailing-forum/146690-nikku-detailed-08-m3-jerez-black-new-life-new-owner.html Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:10:01 GMT So I was approached by this client about a one step polish on his newly acquired M3. What I did not know was that it was second hand and it had obvious signs of rotary usage and poor maintenance. There were heavy swirling, scratches, holograms, wax/polish residue everywhere, and much more. It was just riddled with issues. The new owner has all the intention of maintaining her properly. ... So I was approached by this client about a one step polish on his newly acquired M3. What I did not know was that it was second hand and it had obvious signs of rotary usage and poor maintenance. There were heavy swirling, scratches, holograms, wax/polish residue everywhere, and much more. It was just riddled with issues.

The new owner has all the intention of maintaining her properly. Thanks goes out to him and his family for being so hospitable.

Ok so just to remind everyone that this is a one step polish. The owner will be getting a multi-step come spring.

So I took readings of the entire vehicle before moving ahead with anything and the hood had really low spots 76 microns and on other spots of the car as high as 204. My plan going into this detail before I even saw the vehicle was a one step polish while pyramiding the rpm's however upon arriving and seeing the actual state of the vehicle I decided to do a one step polish while using varying pressure to get better cut out of Menzerna Power Finish. I decided not to push my luck on the hood despite only using Power Finish. I used no pressure when polishing the hood and simply let the polish and pad do the work for me. I also wanted to get as much gloss out of the vehicle as possible so after PF broke down I burnished it with the Metabo.

The end result was far from perfect but I was happy with the result. The detail ended up taking about 8.5 hours. You will notice that there are still deep swirls and RDS left on the vehicle which will need a multi-step.

I was not able to take as many pictures as I would have liked so I'll try to add a little more value by going through my process in a little more depth.

Wash
OPT ONR
OPT Power Clean
CG Citrus Wash and Gloss
CG Grime Reaper
Grit Guard x 2
5 Gallon Bucket x 2
Zymol Wheel Brush
EZ Detail Mini
Daytona Wheel Brush
Chenille Mitt x 2 ( wheels )
Sheepkin Wash Mitt x 2 ( paintwork )

Clay
Riccardo Yellow
ONR
OPT QID

Paint Correction
Sonus 6" White Pad
LC 4 inch White Pad
Menzerna Power Finish

Equipment
3M Sun Gun
Fenix TK10
Metabo PE12175
3M BP
RB BP


LSP
Collinite 476s

Wheel Dressing
PB Wheel Sealant
Chemical Guys Wheel Gel

BEFORES

The befores are fairly self explanatory. You will spot holograms, swirls galour and not in the pictures were deeper scratches, bird poop etching, wax/polish residue and thin paint. During the initial wash I had to wash it at least 2 times on all panels and on certain panels 3 wash passes were needed to get rid of all the dirt.





















DURING

I had very little room to move about so I apologize for the close ups rather than a shot covering a panel.


Rocker panel passenger side


Lower Rocker panel after correction. You'll notice there are swirls still present but there has been a significant improvement.


Another shot of the same area.


Trunk area after correction. I was able to squeeze this sun shot off as the rear of the M3 was close enough to the garage door that the sun was able to peak through. Swirls were still present after Sonus White pad and Power Finish. Speaking of Power Finish. I had much success with Intensive Polish with a Sonus White with previous one step BMW's however for some reason this particular combo was leaving light marring on the paint so I decided to go to PF and it worked out well.

AFTERS

On to the after shots. Sorry about the lack of sun shots. The sun was pretty much down by the time I was done.
















Possibly one of my favourite shots of this M3 :)











Hope you enjoyed the write-up. Total hours worked 8.5hrs. ]]> Detailing Forum nikku http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/detailing-forum/146690-nikku-detailed-08-m3-jerez-black-new-life-new-owner.html http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/detailing-forum/146674-hard-water-spots-shadowline-trim.html Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:59:59 GMT Does anyone know how to get hard water spots off black shadowline trim? Does anyone know how to get hard water spots off black shadowline trim? ]]> Detailing Forum alpinamotorsport http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/detailing-forum/146674-hard-water-spots-shadowline-trim.html http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/detailing-forum/146536-what-can-used-e39-m5-seats.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:42:58 GMT I have the BMW Car Care Original BMW Leather Care Kit with UV Protection that I purchased at the dealer. I use it on the 550i when I clean the interior but can it also be used on the e39 M5? The leather in the e39 looks different. What kind of leather is it? :1zhelp: I have the BMW Car Care Original BMW Leather Care Kit with UV Protection that I purchased at the dealer. I use it on the 550i when I clean the interior but can it also be used on the e39 M5? The leather in the e39 looks different. What kind of leather is it? :1zhelp: ]]> Detailing Forum bmwluvr4evr http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/detailing-forum/146536-what-can-used-e39-m5-seats.html http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/detailing-forum/146505-nikku-detailed-2007-audi-s6-klass-kf400.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 01:53:13 GMT I was approached by this customer after a garage incident at his condominium. The management was stupid enough to use his car to sustain a couple of cardboard boxes and obviously the bottom of the boxes had dirt. Upon removal of the boxes by management they induced bad marring on the trunk and along the rear passenger side rocker panel. So here we are now and I suggested that the customer... I was approached by this customer after a garage incident at his condominium. The management was stupid enough to use his car to sustain a couple of cardboard boxes and obviously the bottom of the boxes had dirt. Upon removal of the boxes by management they induced bad marring on the trunk and along the rear passenger side rocker panel.

So here we are now and I suggested that the customer just go for a spot correction for the affected areas, a winter prep and leave a full correction for the spring.

First off this car is beautiful. I just love colour of the vehicle and choice of wheels for this beast. Audi + classy wheels are always a win in my book. In this particular case the owner chose Klass KF400 wheels. I am so very glad that he did.

One last thing due to my busy schedule as well as his I accommodated the customer by detailing it overnight and just for fun he made things even more interesting by bringing along his brothers C350 for a quick wash and wax before I had to tackle his car. I also had a 335i booked for the next morning. It was a fun 17 hours of detailing. :applause2:

Lets move on to the detail.

Wash for Paintwork
Optimum ONR
Chemical Guys CWG
2 Wash Mitts
2 Grit Guards and 5 gallon pails

Wash for Wheels
CG's Wheel Gel
Daytona Wheel Brush
EZ Detail Mini
Zymol Wheel Brush
Chenille Wash Mitt

Clay
Riccardo Clay
ONR + OPT QID for Lube

Paint Correction
Tufbuf 5 inch
Sonus White 6 inch
Sonus Blue 6 inch
Menzerna SIP
Menzerna PF
OPT Poli-seal(used to clean the paint)
Isopropyl

LSP
2 x Collinite 845

Interior
Woolite
Folex
1z Cockpit Premium
1z Plastic Deep Cleaner
1z Leatherpledge
1z Gummifledge
303 Aerospace
303 Fabric Guard

Equipment
Defelsko 6000
3M Sun Gun
Fenix TK10
Halogen
Ridgid wet/dry vac
Metabo
3M BP
RB BP


BEFORES

Ok so I apologize for not getting the defects on the passenger side rocker panel but I am sure you can tell from the trunk that there was significant marring.

Yes the car is a little bit on the dirty side but that's what we're here for.





























































AFTERS

I wanted to make sure I had enough time to look after the defects so I ONR'd the affected areas and proceeded to polish them up nicely before moving onto the winter prep for the rest of the vehicle.









The interior was given a much needed a good vacuum, conditioned and protected. I would have liked to have spent more time on the edges of the mats but time was a factor.



























Outdoor Sun Shots































Thanks for looking guys.

Total time worked: 8 hours. ]]> Detailing Forum nikku http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/detailing-forum/146505-nikku-detailed-2007-audi-s6-klass-kf400.html