My girlfriend just got her new (used) car and she wanted it to be cleaned and waxed for protection as the car is gonna be sitting 24/7 under the sun. So, I gratuitously accepted it with arms wide open hoping its gonna be a easy fix; hoping its gonna be completed by 6-8 hours max.
So I had my mind set to give some passion on her car.
(I really hope this writeup turns up good as I have never post this amount of pictures before)
Day 1: Delivered to my place on Sunday 6pm ish. Here some pictures of it.
Little bit dirty on the sides - no problem
On the grill, lots of dirt
Rear Lights reflection on Halogens
Not to bad
some light swirls -
On to the side mirrors
There's a big scratch on the side mirror
I was starting to sweat abit and thought it was still an easy fix.
Now lets look at the front bonnet (deep breath)
Looks like someone tried to rub something coarse on the bonnet -
It starts to get ugly
Here a closeup shot -
If you see closely on the paint's surface - what I thought was metallic flakes was actually TONS of over spray. The reflections was also not that good. Slightly blurry. I ran my fingers to the surface and it was really really coarse - even after I QD'd a small portion of the bonnet as to ensure its not the dirt on the surface that made it rough. Oh well, wait till the claying session then.
It was already late and was really tired as I just finished another friend's car before this car came.
DAY 2:
I woke up early (around 6am-ish) to get a head start on this job. Few more pictures I missed.
Paint chip on the bonnet - touch up was not that good.
On side of the car - lots of these ugly chips with rust in them
Door Handle RIDS
Tar spots on the lower panels of the car.
Another sign of a minor accident - big scratch with some paint transfer
This is at the front bumper - driver side
Some smears on the wiper arms - not sure was they were though
Here another shot of the wheels - luckily they were in good shape - thus wont be needing Wheel Brightener for this.
Here are some shots of the engine compartments
ENGINE BEFORE
Not so dirty.
Dirt buildup and grease stains.
some more dirt
Some shot on the
INTERIOR
Grease on the door hinges - yuck
Pedals can use some good APC'ing.
I'm not a fan of those plasticky floor mats (pict: front passanger side)
Seats has some minor stains on them. Generally good in condition.
Dust
Hair and dust on the centre console.
Dusty airvents - needs wiping
Dashboard
Closeup of the AirConditioning switch
Slighty dusty on the steering emblem.
Stains on the A pillar
Gear console
Her rosary is quite dirty - hmmm.....
On with the
washing - Just grab HyperWash and Meguiars MF washmitt. At this time - just my luck- powerwasher went dead.
And my spare powerwasher was at one of my parent's houses. So - just used tap pressure for this wash.
A bad attempt on being artsy fartsy with the camera
APC'd (10:1) the wheel wells + tires and it really worked like a charm.
Sprayed it on using the foaming head, leave for few seconds - lots of scrubbing via generic brush and rise.
The inner part of the rims was washed via drumsticks (generic brand) and managed to pull out most of the dirt stuck on there.
The lug nuts was clean using a generic paint brush and APC agitated.
Gunk on the wells and McPherson struts was melting away
ENGINE COMPARTMENT WASH :
I only used APC (10:1) with foam head sprayer. Sprayed on, let soak, scrub with generic brush and rinse with garden hose. Repeated on more stubborn stains. Dried it using compressed air. Sprayed HYPERDRESSING (3:1) and cook it for 15minutes.
Here are some
AFTER pictures. (some stubborn stains are still there)
Didnt have enough time to use the aluminum cleaner on the valve covers. Still have stains in them. Get them next time.
Done washing - used 2 Water Magnets to dry the car up.
After the wash - some parts of the car was still rough. There's the hissing sound when you rub your palm on the car. Same thing on the windows - oh over spray mayhem...
INTERIOR CLEANUP
Used various brushes to clean up the interior. Vacuum was a wet/dry vac (karcher model). Some pictures on the afters.
Pedals scrub with small brush + APC (10:1). Sorry was too dark and end up using flash.
All the vinyls were wiped with damp cloth and dressed on #40. I love this stuff!
Yes- thts a piece of my hair. Must have fallen when I was taking some picts. There some more specs of dust on the handbrake - clean up again after taking the picts.
Vents clean via vacuum (bristle tipped) +MF + Q tips.
Ahh... thats more like it. Dust free emblem.
And washed the rosary with hand soap and ta da
BTW, all the pillars was wipedown with a damp cloth. Sorry no pictures on that. Door jambs were sprayed with APC, scrubbed with brush and rinse of. Managed to get the grease stains out. Some still remained. Door jambs got treated with D151 applied with Yellow Applicator.
Fabric Seats was treated with 3M Fabric Cleaner and Protector (foam type) + terry towels and scrubbed. Good stuff - almost all the visible stains were gone and nice scent too (No extractor was used - rushing time)
Interior window and rear view mirror was cleaned with MEGUAIRS DETAILERS - GLASS CLEANER . Great product indeed.
CLAYING SESSION
Claying begins via Meguiars C2000 (blue) clay with LAST TOUCH (1:1) as lube.
Here a picture of the clay on the side of the car
Here a shot of the clay from the ROOF
After a lengthy session on claying - surface was a little bit better. Still had a slight hissing sound when you ran your palm across. Didnt tried the Aggressive clay though.
Few minutes after - it rained heavily -
(Thats another addition to the family's car. Toyota LandCruiser - its sitting outside as no more place in the garage)
Stopped for the day.
DAY 3 & DAY 4: PAINT CORRECTION (9AM - 5PM)
Few test spots using different different products were done.
M80 - good but not aggressive enough to clean up the defects.
M83 - Better but still not able to clean defects within my budgetted time.
D151 + Cutting Pad - works fast and great. Swirls were gone in 1 pass (Rotary - 6.5" pad - 1000rpm slow sweep) only left with deeper RIDS
After much testing and evaluating the paint - I came to see that the car had been resprayed in different panels. I tried to replicate the D151+cut pad on other panels - some worked, some didnt (as in not cleaning fast enough)
so certain panels :
M105 on PFW - Rotary 1000 - 1200 rpm slow sweep.
Picture time:
Reflection shot via high powered LED. (halogens didnt show it quite well)
Result of 1 sweep of D151 + CUT pad (6.5")
Look at the difference between corrected and non corrected.
Ok. The Front passanger door was not working with D151 - so opt for M105+PFW. Followed with D151+yellow pad.
Compouding dust on the windscreen.
Same treatment at the rear passanger door
can you spot the difference?
Rear panel after same treatment
Rear bonnet with same treatment
Thats not a scratch below the keyhole. Just some odd reflection.
Tried using a LED to see the reflection. Good enough.
B pillar treated with M82+tan pad on RB. Much better than before.
FRONT HEADLIGHT CORRECTION
The material was plastic. Tried the least aggressive method to clean it up.
M82+Tan pad on Rotary (1 pass)
2 good pass
Uncorrected vs corrected - see the diff in contrast.
Was satisfied with the test spot and continued on with both headlights.
REAR LIGHT CLUSTER - CORRECTION
Same treatment as the front headlights.
Whole lamp polished (halogen lighting) - not 100% perfect but sure is better than before.
Under LED lighting - sorry for the blurry picture.
Few more things I found on the paint.
Overspray (black) on the rear door handle
Thumbprint on the clear - this is on the panel betwen the front bumper and the fender.
Washed it again to remove all the dust via Shampoo Plus. Finish paint correction at 4.50pm.
Wheels got a coat of Endurance and wells+undercarriage treated with HyperDressing (3:1).
Rest for a cuppa cofee and went to pick up my girlfriend from work - hour plus drive. Sent her to her parents house for dinner and I went back to my place to continue. So so so tired...
LSP
All body panels + head lights + rear lights + wheels - treated with M21 2.0 2 coats via hand applicator. Didnt used the DA as its already 6pm.
Exterior Windows was cleaned with MEGUIARS Detailer Glass Cleaner and sealed with Rain X (2 coats)
Here's some pictures.
1st coat sealant
2nd coat - was already 9.30pm..
Wipe off with Meguiars Ultimate wipes (body) and ADS green glass MF and ADS MFs on wheels.
Finally done at 10.45pm
Checked everything for missed spots. Re dressed the tires with Endurance.
Got one more gift for her.
Quickly pack all tools and products. Went to her parents house to pick her up and ta da.....
She was thrilled to see her car was so "clean". Touched the paint and told me -- uuuu..its smooth... gave me a kiss and a hug
Some dodgy night picts (sorry my camera didnt respond well under poor lighting. Up the ISO to 400 and its noisy/grainy pictures galore)
So after 4 days 3nights of work - its done
Comments and advises are welcomed.
Cheers and thanks for looking.
maybe they replaced the affected panels and painted it back. 
