Detailed car, tips etc.

[JohnBu]

it was Xmas day and i had a few hours to spare before Xmas dinner..

my car is a 2003 astra turbo. the paint was in good but not fantasic condition, average for a 2.5 yo car.

- washed down with high pressure waterhose..

- cleaned with morning fresh detergent to get rid of the old wax on the car.

- next step was to clay bar her down

http://img387.imageshack.us/img387/6118/dsc005195kx.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

hard work, but worthwhile, the claybar was white, after prob a 50cm square section, u can see the colour has changed taking off the layer of crap, fall out, tree sap, etc the 2.5yo paint. P :)

http://img387.imageshack.us/img387/2629/dsc005183fd.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

after the clay is dirty, fold it in and move onto the next panel, this process took about 2 hours!

next step was to fill in all the swirl marks, and polish off the slight scratches..

http://img387.imageshack.us/img387/9788/dsc005217gb.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

the 3M poduct above was purchased from a panel beater.. good stuff. cost about $40 from mem a few years ago.

apply onto the paint, but hard work polishing off.. i mean hard work.

- go over the car with tar & bug remover.

- wash the car again with morning fresh to take off any bits leftover from the above process..

- wax the car, this is the easiest part..

http://img387.imageshack.us/img387/1972/dsc005224jn.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

quick application, let me dry and buff off..

results below..

http://img387.imageshack.us/img387/1701/dsc005237ih.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img387.imageshack.us/img387/8052/dsc005248uj.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img387.imageshack.us/img387/9881/dsc005282cw.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img387.imageshack.us/img387/7937/dsc005263fl.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img387.imageshack.us/img387/4742/dsc005251ee.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

i'll repeat the process in 6 months.. :)

but the clay bar was amazing.. didnt believe it until i used it and saw what was coming off my already clean duco.

oh, i waxed the alloys also.. therefore the brakedust should be easier to wipe off next time.

[InSaNe^Sna1L]

Looks very swish...you interested in washing my car :)

But I must ask...who washes there car on Xmas day? And you have done it up nice enough to see the BMW reflecting in the paint job.

[woody]

I'd love to get around to cleaning my car by hand, washing, waxing, polishing and buffing her up into an oblivion of shiny bits...

Maybe thats my new years resolution.. make time to make her shine...

Guess i'll have to get those scratches sorted out then!!

[JohnBu]

family was overseas during Xmas.

oh the whole process took about 5 hours

started @ 10am, had 1hr lunch, finished @ 4ish.. quick shower and off to xmas dinner with friends..

not that hard, just time consuming and boring.. haha

[sparks]

wow looks a million dollars amazing shine well done...i waxed mine during the week with nxt wax + put leather protection on the interior..came good..
i do mine every 12 weeks to keep it looking brand new...

[InSaNe^Sna1L]

by the way...can i have your house...you can see it in the reflection and its HUGE!!!

[BA55UP]

awsome finish man :) good thing i like about silver though, even when you dont go to that trouble the car still looks clean :P those things are hard get dirty compared to most other colours.

maybe i should give the car a nice wax and buff down, would be good for her hehe

[mr_sikma]

my gfs car is silver and never looks dirty. only the windows!

my black car is a pain in the ass. even one little drop of water looks dirty on it :(

[Bernard Siong]

geez man from the first pic your car was so dirty it looked like a beemer


looks good, your car doesnt even have dents either! do you always park far from other people or just never park in public places?

[Turblue]

More info on this Mehuiars clay stuff please.....

Sounds interesting.....

[JohnBu]

geez man from the first pic your car was so dirty it looked like a beemer


looks good, your car doesnt even have dents either! do you always park far from other people or just never park in public places?

my car has had more than its fair share of few scraps etc from other ppl :(

just the other day some F*(ker driving a white car scraped my bumper in my parking spot.. scratched my paint size of a small football.. i buffed most of it out with the 3M product above. still has the mark where the paint has been scratched down to the plastic

i drive my car everywhere and park it normally, ideally away from cars with baby seats or scrapes where the doors open. i take good care of my car but dont baby my car if u know what i mean. if we were going shopping, my SRiT would be my choice over the BMW.

i find the astra body very strong & resistant to dents compared to many other cars... dont know how many times i've buffed away paint left behind from careless ppl opening their doors. the 3M stuff is as good as Scratch X to remove scratches, swirlmarks and paint.

Wayne, the Clay Bar is getting very popular these days.. best analogy ive heard so far is an eraser for your paint.. very good stuff to get your paint work as smooth as glass... after going over the car, the paint was smoother than glass top stuff..

i heard autobarn is having a sale.. $35 for the kit, less 20% off.

oh.. instead of wasting the lubricant they supply, i prefer to use a 5L bucket of soapy water to lubricate the clay bar.

the clay bar IF used properly with soapy water will NOT scratch your paint or create swirl marks

[Petey]

I too did a quick wash of the 4 cars at home on x-mas morning!

I dropped a brother & his girlfriend off at the airport at 5.30AM & when I got home couldn't get back to sleep, so thought I'd wash my car, which led to my Dad's, brother's and Mum's! But it was a spectacular morning, sun, no wind, perfect day!

But I didn't clay, polish or wax them. That's a true enthusiat!!! Oh, and a lot of hard work... I do do the whole bit twice a year, before summer & before winter...

Your car looks great, will have to try Meguiars cleaner wax...

BTW, drop the 3M hand glaze from your routine as the dishwash detergent wash & cleaner wax will remove any benefits that it provides & it'll save you a lotta time and energy getting that stuff off.

Nothing like a clean car...

[JohnBu]

Petey re: the 3M, its not just a polish/overspray remover (its intended job).. but it really does an awesome job ridding swirl marks from the paint, prior to polishing..

95% of swirls marks all but dissapear.

2 weeks after doing it... gave the car a quick wipe down with water, i.e. damp microfibre cloth or old PJs rinsed in big bucket of clean water, and the car came out 99% again.. u can really feel the paint is smooth.

clean the paint regularly and u dont have to wax so often....