Black Polo GTi Full Detail

Detailing & Bodywork
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Tim_GTi
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Black Polo GTi Full Detail

Post by Tim_GTi »

All this info can be found on my progresss thread, but thought I'd put it all in a single thread also.

This was my first detail on my own car I did back in March.

The car:

Polo GTi
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The kit:

Kestrel DA with Poorboy's polishes (SSR1,2, 2.5 and Black Hole)
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Anyway, the Car looked pretty minging to start. And yes the stance looks gash but that'll be done in due course.
Pics befores (actually had also started on the wheels):
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The front didn't look too bad considering the rest of the car
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The car was then foamed using the Elite Car Care solution as i still have a tad left knocking about. Wheels sprayed with Billberry wheel cleaner.
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left for 5 mins
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Then Jetted down
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Then taken to my Nan's house where it lived in the garage for rest of the detail. It was then washed and clayed.
Washed using Megs Shampoo Plus, two buckets and grit guards, and a woolen mitt.
Clayed using megs clay, with a diluated solution of free sampled Quick Detailer I got from a company.
Dried using two large extra long haired microfibre towels.
Here's the Quick Detailer which I diluted 3:1 with water for the clay lub, and the clay after a session on the bonnet
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The car overall wasn't the worst I'd seen previously in terms of contaminants.

Clean car:
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I should've washed it again here, but it was starting to drizzle so didnt fancy my chances.
Then got the car in the garage and starting inspecting the paint.

As you can see, the paint was heavily swirled on every panel
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The bumpers and offside mirror weren't that bad though, as I'd learnt to wash properly before they were sprayed, however still looked disturbingly marred under the light. the front bumper also had a scratch
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Bonnet
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Scratch on bonnet
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Chip on the nearside rear door
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Closer shot
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I knew this chip wouldn't come out with the machine correction. And will hopefully be the only inperfection left when finished!
Car was then taped up
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tight garage!
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Was using a Kestrel DA S-6 polisher, with Serious Performance branded 6" and 4" pads. Poorboy's SSR1, SSR2, and SSR2.5 polish.
Test areas with the polishing pad and SSR1 showed that I'd need a heavier combination to get a decent correction.
I then tested the bumper with this combo as it's not original paint, and came to the same conclusion.
I then moved onto SSR2 with the same pad. It did the trick for the bumper, but not the rest of the car. So I stepped up to the cutting pad with SSR2.
This combo was good, it got rid of alot of the inperfections, leaving only a few small scratches. Notice in the pic below
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I continued using this combo for the bonnet and whole passenger side. Looking back now I may go back over it with SSR2.5 and a cutting pad to get down to the remainding small scratches on certain areas. I was too scared to use this level of cut for a first go.
And even though the remainding scratches are very insignificant and can only be seen under intense light, I do like perfection so may well do this 8). It'll mean running over the panels again with the lightest polish and pad after also, so will see in terms of time what's feasible.

Anyway here are some results. Apologies for the claustaphobic flash pictures. My light konked out the minute I turned it on. Which also made things quite hard when polishing!

door before
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after
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Left is before
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Right is after
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A ghastly scratch on the nearside rear door before
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Completely gone after (you can see some light scratches I wish to abolish with the SSR2.5 at a later stage on the flash also)
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I didn't get as many photos as I'd hoped. Mainly being down to my light malfunction! A friend also came round for help on a few mods to his 9N3 so i was a bit distracted.
My cutting pad also ripped through
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Here's one of the bonnet so far though. You can see the depth of the shine here, the reflection of that house is from the otherside of the street! A good 40 feet away. And the cloth is sat on the bonnet.
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Tim_GTi
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Re: Black Polo GTi Full Detail

Post by Tim_GTi »

Continued:
Here are some before shots
Rear door
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Roof
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Front wing
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Various drivers side
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As you can see like the rest of car, the paint was ghastly!

Here were my initial weapons of choice
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My cutting pads 4" & 6".
Poorboy's SSR2 and SSR 2.5 Polish
Poorboy's Spray n Gloss Quick Detailer
And about 20 microfibre cloths!

I used the SSR25. all over initially, but got macromarring in some spots (when an agressive pad and polish combo leaves it's own scratches):
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So i passed over with the SSR2 after.

Once the car was fully corrected, I cracked on with this:
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Poorboy's Black Hole Glaze & finishing pads.
This stuff is probably my favourite ever product. It's amazing.

Look at this picture, you can actually see the colour difference it makes to the paintwork! The lighter section on the right hand side is the paintwork before the glaze, the rest is after
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So this is where I'm at now, the car is fully corrected and glazed over, I'm really really happy with the results!

There's still various scratches and chips around the car, but they're not fixable without a respray or running the paint too thin. Most of the them are on the front, but I am planning on getting that redone so it's all good.

Anyway, the results:
various drivers side
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Rear bumper
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Bonnet
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Couple of before and after shots:
before
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after
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before:
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after
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before
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after
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before
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after
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front bumper
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I like this shot of the bonnet, shows the pearlescant paint at it's best!
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tailgate
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Tim_GTi
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Re: Black Polo GTi Full Detail

Post by Tim_GTi »

Continued.

Once the paint was corrected, attention to the doorshuts was due

Before: all pretty greasy and scratched
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Look at all the polish dust on this one!
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You wouldn't have guessed these were cleaned a few weeks prior to the machine polish.

Here they are after machining the sills, degreasing cleaning and waxing them all
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Oh & my new de-locked door handle for the passenger side:
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Then got onto the waxing, applied three coats of Collinite 476s, it came out really well. Dead happy with the results

Sucks because I hadn't actually finished the car when these pictures were taken, I still had the plastics to dress and 2 coats of collinite to go! But I didn't have a camera on the last day haha.

So this is the car after 1 coat of wax, it's since had two more, and the plastic grills and window rubbers yet to be fully dressed

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Well it took a really long time but got there in the end! The car fully detailed (although I do still have to do the plastics), but I really did just take my time so I wouldn't get bored and slack on it.

comments of course welcome
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Torq-Al
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Re: Black Polo GTi Full Detail

Post by Torq-Al »

Now that is total dedication! Bet the arms ached after a few days of using the d/a & polishing! :lol:

The results are fantastic. 8)

You'll have to post how the shine holds up, & how easy to maintain.
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Tim_GTi
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Re: Black Polo GTi Full Detail

Post by Tim_GTi »

cheers mate. yeh i'll have to get some new ones up soon, done a couple more mods since too. my dads cameras gone off your repaair unfortunately though, so may not be for a couple of weeks :(
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Re: Black Polo GTi Full Detail

Post by chrisjames »

I just wish I could take my car of the road for a bit and polish it properly like you. How much lower are you hoping to drop the front of the car?
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Tim_GTi
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Re: Black Polo GTi Full Detail

Post by Tim_GTi »

probably another 10mm or so. will see when the monos go back on i think!
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vw55raz
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Re: Black Polo GTi Full Detail

Post by vw55raz »

nice work there tim.
i found this guide on the web http://www.matey-matey.com/auto-detailing.shtml

and i calculated that its going to me around 130 quid to get all the polishes and what not together lol.. but im gonna give it a shot some time
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Re: Black Polo GTi Full Detail

Post by h4r1s »

Its worth the £130 all day long if your car is quite bad for swirls, scratches etc. your car will come out gleaming underneath.

That poorboys blackhole stuff is absolutely amazing, couldn't recommend it enough! :mrgreen:

good job on the detail Tim!
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Tim_GTi
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Re: Black Polo GTi Full Detail

Post by Tim_GTi »

Cheers mate. Yeh Black Hole really is quality 8)
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Re: Black Polo GTi Full Detail

Post by wheelmanwayne »

eh mate that looks stunning!!!!

very intrested in having this done! im in birmingham but work in tamworth staffs any good to ya?
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Tim_GTi
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Re: Black Polo GTi Full Detail

Post by Tim_GTi »

wheelmanwayne wrote:eh mate that looks stunning!!!!

very intrested in having this done! im in birmingham but work in tamworth staffs any good to ya?
I live in South Wales, and all my car cleaning stuff is down here. The problem is I don't have an easily accessable and suitable garage to carry this out down my way. What's the situation at yours in terms of garage space?
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Re: Black Polo GTi Full Detail

Post by ash man »

much better. why do they always look so good in the showroom but as soon as they leave they havethose ring things.
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Re: Black Polo GTi Full Detail

Post by Tim_GTi »

What ring things?
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Re: Black Polo GTi Full Detail

Post by emma_88 »

Tim_GTi wrote:What ring things?
I think he's referring to swirl marks?
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