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As a thank you for being my advanced driving observer, I offered to detail Iain's Volvo S80 V8... But as part of the fun of detailing, we organised a small team to work on the car: myself, Gordon (caledonia), Iain himself, and Craig. The plan was to do a full detail on the car, and enjoy the day at the same time with some good detailing banter 
First thing was first on this car... starting on the wheels. Outsides of the wheels looked very nice and clean, but it was a different story on the insides when they were removed and carefully placed on sleepers so as not to mark the alloy:
The wheel arches needed a little bit of attention too, but nothing major...
Large region of tar on inside of the alloy...
After washing the insides of the alloy with Bilberry cut 2:1 first off, Wheel Brightener used on the worst parts (where safe of course, as being highly alkaline you have to be sure that the wheel you are using it on can handle it, and that you avoid things like plastic centre caps (removed here)). We see the tar spots, being sorted out with some Tardis:
It took about 4 - 5 hours all told working on the wheels and arches, ensuring we got the best possible finish on them. Protection was FK1000P. End results on the insides...
Through the spokes...
And back on the car...
Gordon used APC on the plastics and rubbers round the car to thoroughly clean them
:
Once the wheels and arches were complete it was time to foam and rinse the car, one of my favourite parts of the washing process, the foam lance - still a certainly child like amusement to its use!
Rinsed off...
Water beading nicely on the freshly protected wheels...
After claying with Bilt Hamber soft clay, it was time to assess the paint... The results of the assessment very promising - the paint was in very good condition save for a little etching:
but the general finish was very good indeed as far as swirls go...
. The aim of the paint correction work here was to enhance the clarity of the paint, bring the flake out a little more and remove any deep RDS that were also on the paint.
Technique and polishes used: Menzerna PO85RD3.02 Intensive Polish applied as follows:
Rotary:
DA:
The point of the day was for everyone to get stuck in and be involved ... Here's Craig working away on the bottom of the doors...
Me working away on the bonnet:
Gordon tackling the rear of the car...
Refinement was carried out using my finishing polish of choice - Meguiars #205. Flexible to the point of allowing various techniques to be used to perfect the finish, application technique for this car was as follows:
The Volvo paint responded well here to a basic Zenith point method, with varied pressure, resulting in clarity in the finish that I was very happy with (and so was Iain :thumb
Before shot of some defects...
After correction...
Numberplates removed so Iain could correct the whole bumper:
Door mats were cleaned using the Tornador with Tornado Cleaner (Autosmart) - Iain and Craig like their Autosmart products and were keen to see how well the Tornador would work - well, it would have been rude not too! .. The mats before...
And cleaning during and afters...
We all got stuck into every aspect of this detail, a really enjoyable day Iain getting stuck into the plastics, cleaned with APC in preparation for the dressing with Black Wow:
See the dirt being pulled out of the plastic...
Ready for dressing
After machine polishing and refining, the paint was showing its flake more clearly with a deeper gloss to the oyster grey metallic paint. Switched my camera here courtesy of mad dad popping along to get his car washed So now I can play with the focal points, a little on that later 
The clairty of the paint allowing the flake to ping through:
Most cameras seem to focus automatically on the flake in metallic paints, but this actually means the bulb reflection is out of focus... on solid paints you generally see the bulb focussed as the camera picks up on it when using an automatic focus... The flake and the bulb reflection are at different focus lengths, so a little play with the manual focus allows you to focus on the bulb of the Sun Gun...
You can see that the flake is now out of focus, but this technique is ideal for taking pictures of RDS in the paint which sit on the top layer, rather than being in the flake. Anyways, just a little aside on the photography of paint from my perspective, back to the detailing
Numberplate removed at rear for correction...
Tight spots corrected too
More of the machine finish:
And some pictures of the paint finish after the machine polishing stage only...
Now, applying and removing Jeffs Acryllic Prime, the choice of cleanser and first LSP layer for this car:
Leaving...
(Not sure what Iain is doing here :lol
Tail pipes before...
And after Briliant Premium Metal Polish applied by hand...
LSP of choice was Valentines Concours Wax.
Tyres dressed with Meguiars Endurance.
Glass cleaned with Clearkote Vanilla Moose Wax Hand Glaze by hand (you'd be amazed how effective a glass cleaner this is).
Plastics and rubbers dressed with Black Wow...
The end results, taken inside the unit on the day of the detail as the keen eye will notice that we didn't finish until nearly 2am!
Arches nicely cleaned and dressed with Meguiars All Seasons Dressing:
Clean wheel
The "debris" of the day! :lol:
Iain returned to the unit on Tuesday evening, so we could get som nice daylight afters ... A quick foam and rinse of the car to get rid of the dust and road film of the couple of days, and then rolled outside for some sunshine afters:
Renaissance Wax giving nice beading action on the tailpipes
Quick foam and rinse of my car so it could join the party
Couple of arty shots...
Then the haar rolled in over the hills...
So back inside for the last after shots of the car, and the engine bay (cleaned using the Tornador):
This was a great detailing marathon, very enjoyable day Huge thanks must go to Gordon who came up for the detail, and didn't get home until 3am! Above and beyond the call of duty for sure, but great again to be working with Gordon - expect to see a few more details from this particular tag team
First thing was first on this car... starting on the wheels. Outsides of the wheels looked very nice and clean, but it was a different story on the insides when they were removed and carefully placed on sleepers so as not to mark the alloy:
The wheel arches needed a little bit of attention too, but nothing major...
Large region of tar on inside of the alloy...
After washing the insides of the alloy with Bilberry cut 2:1 first off, Wheel Brightener used on the worst parts (where safe of course, as being highly alkaline you have to be sure that the wheel you are using it on can handle it, and that you avoid things like plastic centre caps (removed here)). We see the tar spots, being sorted out with some Tardis:
It took about 4 - 5 hours all told working on the wheels and arches, ensuring we got the best possible finish on them. Protection was FK1000P. End results on the insides...
Through the spokes...
And back on the car...
Gordon used APC on the plastics and rubbers round the car to thoroughly clean them
:Once the wheels and arches were complete it was time to foam and rinse the car, one of my favourite parts of the washing process, the foam lance - still a certainly child like amusement to its use!
Rinsed off...
Water beading nicely on the freshly protected wheels...
After claying with Bilt Hamber soft clay, it was time to assess the paint... The results of the assessment very promising - the paint was in very good condition save for a little etching:
but the general finish was very good indeed as far as swirls go...
. The aim of the paint correction work here was to enhance the clarity of the paint, bring the flake out a little more and remove any deep RDS that were also on the paint.Technique and polishes used: Menzerna PO85RD3.02 Intensive Polish applied as follows:
Rotary:
- Spread at 600rpm
- Begin working at 1200rpm, ensuring the residue nicely spread out and the polish is working
- Work at 1800rpm until residue goes clear, medium pressure over the head of the machine. Fast machine movements were found to work best on this paint, keeping heat a bit lower but still achieving the desired results
DA:
- Spread at speed 2
- Begin working at speed 5 with medium pressure, pad rotating at a couple of cycles per second
- Finish working at speed 6, when residue goes clear, machine stopped.
The point of the day was for everyone to get stuck in and be involved
... Here's Craig working away on the bottom of the doors...Me working away on the bonnet:
Gordon tackling the rear of the car...
Refinement was carried out using my finishing polish of choice - Meguiars #205. Flexible to the point of allowing various techniques to be used to perfect the finish, application technique for this car was as follows:
- Spread at 600rpm, for a couple of passes to get the residue well spread, light pressure
- Begin working up to speeds, increasing the pressure as the speeds increase up to 1500rpm
- Refine at 1200rpm, light pressure only
The Volvo paint responded well here to a basic Zenith point method, with varied pressure, resulting in clarity in the finish that I was very happy with (and so was Iain :thumb
Before shot of some defects...
After correction...
Numberplates removed so Iain could correct the whole bumper:
Door mats were cleaned using the Tornador with Tornado Cleaner (Autosmart) - Iain and Craig like their Autosmart products and were keen to see how well the Tornador would work - well, it would have been rude not too!
.. The mats before...And cleaning during and afters...
We all got stuck into every aspect of this detail, a really enjoyable day
Iain getting stuck into the plastics, cleaned with APC in preparation for the dressing with Black Wow:See the dirt being pulled out of the plastic...
Ready for dressing
After machine polishing and refining, the paint was showing its flake more clearly with a deeper gloss to the oyster grey metallic paint. Switched my camera here courtesy of mad dad popping along to get his car washed
So now I can play with the focal points, a little on that later The clairty of the paint allowing the flake to ping through:
Most cameras seem to focus automatically on the flake in metallic paints, but this actually means the bulb reflection is out of focus... on solid paints you generally see the bulb focussed as the camera picks up on it when using an automatic focus... The flake and the bulb reflection are at different focus lengths, so a little play with the manual focus allows you to focus on the bulb of the Sun Gun...
You can see that the flake is now out of focus, but this technique is ideal for taking pictures of RDS in the paint which sit on the top layer, rather than being in the flake. Anyways, just a little aside on the photography of paint from my perspective, back to the detailing
Numberplate removed at rear for correction...
Tight spots corrected too
More of the machine finish:
And some pictures of the paint finish after the machine polishing stage only...
Now, applying and removing Jeffs Acryllic Prime, the choice of cleanser and first LSP layer for this car:
Leaving...
(Not sure what Iain is doing here :lol
Tail pipes before...
And after Briliant Premium Metal Polish applied by hand...
LSP of choice was Valentines Concours Wax.
Tyres dressed with Meguiars Endurance.
Glass cleaned with Clearkote Vanilla Moose Wax Hand Glaze by hand (you'd be amazed how effective a glass cleaner this is
).Plastics and rubbers dressed with Black Wow...
The end results, taken inside the unit on the day of the detail as the keen eye will notice that we didn't finish until nearly 2am!
Arches nicely cleaned and dressed with Meguiars All Seasons Dressing:
Clean wheel
The "debris" of the day! :lol:
Iain returned to the unit on Tuesday evening, so we could get som nice daylight afters
... A quick foam and rinse of the car to get rid of the dust and road film of the couple of days, and then rolled outside for some sunshine afters:Renaissance Wax giving nice beading action on the tailpipes
Quick foam and rinse of my car so it could join the party
Couple of arty shots...
Then the haar rolled in over the hills...
So back inside for the last after shots of the car, and the engine bay (cleaned using the Tornador):
This was a great detailing marathon, very enjoyable day
Huge thanks must go to Gordon who came up for the detail, and didn't get home until 3am! Above and beyond the call of duty for sure, but great again to be working with Gordon - expect to see a few more details from this particular tag team
TOP
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very good car
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