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Ford Focus RS - Fixing Dealer Prep

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  • Ford Focus RS - Fixing Dealer Prep

    This detail has been a little while in the pipeline for writeups, but with recent events we had to prioritise ensuring that issues were fully addressed before resuming normal service

    The owner of this new Focus RS was unhappy with the way the car was delivered from the dealers... and after our standard wash procedure it was very easy to see why! Starting with the bonnet, under the Sun Gun, you can see clearly the swirls in the paintwork:













    Things actually got worse under the daylight striplights, lights which are superb at capturing the deeper marks often masked by the bright glare of the Sun Gun - camera used in manual focus mode to capture fully the defects...







    Although correction of the swirls was quite easily achieved with a finishing polish (this Ford paint proved pretty soft as assessed by the removal rates), we had to step up to remove the above deeper marks... Menzerna PO85RD3.02 Intensive Polish was the chosen polish, on a Chemical Guys Hexlogic White pad applied roughly as follows:
    • Working a roughly 1' x 1' square area (large work areas adversely affect both the available correction and the quality of the overall finish)
    • Spread polish at slow speed, and build the speeds to the working speed of 1800rpm
    • Steady passes with moderate pressure, monitoring the panel temperatures to esnure they do not become too hot
    • Work until residue clear


    No refinement stages were made here, as Intensive Polish was used simply for correction, with refinement left for a dedicated finishing polish stage. Level of correction achieved (pictures taken to focus on the surface of the paint to highlight the level of correction achieved, note how the light bulb reflection is out of focus for this!):







    This deeper mark...



    Required a single hit with 3M Fast Cut Plus on a 3M Green Spot pad to remove...



    Following the correction stage the full panel was then refined using Menzerna PO85RD Final Finish on a Chemical Guys Black Hexlogic finishing pad, applied as follows:
    • Work a roughly 1' x 1' square area
    • Spread the polish at slow speed and gradually build to the working speed of 1500rpm
    • Steady passes with light to moderate pressure until the residue goes clear
    • Step back down through the speeds, 1200 then 900rpm, with lightening pressure to refine and jewel the finish


    End results of correction shown above, the quality of the machine finish (clarity and hologram free) is then best assessed using the Sun Gun:

















    Moving on to the sides, and we start with the passenger side front wing and door befores...























    After shots, following both correction and refinement:

























    Rear 3/4 on the passenger side before...



















    and after...

















    The driver's side was much the same - front wing before...











    and after...













    Onto the driver's door and driver's side rear 3/4 before...































    The door sills were pretty bad, as you can see from the strip light shots, deep marks to be removed...





    Alas, following two hits of 3M Fast Cut Plus, we decided that the removal of paint from this was significant and that further correction was not safe or in the best interests of the long term life of the paint finish - so an improvement, but not 100% correction on these sections...





    Following correction and refinement on door and rear 3/4 (including the sills):

































    In our humble opinion, this is how the paintwork should have looked when the owner first got it!

    The paintwork was waxed for protection, wheels protected and tyres dressed, plastics and rubbers dressed and the glass cleaned... not outdoor afters owing the the late finish time unfortunately, but we did get some indoor shots of the car ...






















    This is the first of three Focus RSs to writeup - the next two are white and will be up soon :thumb:
    "A thing of beauty is a joy for ever: Its loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness; .... "

  • #2
    Re: Ford Focus RS - Fixing Dealer Prep

    Holy pics!

    That car is ridiculous. It looks perfect! Have any interior shots?
    -James
    2012 Chevy Silverado ECSB. Z71 4x4. 5.3


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    • #3
      Re: Ford Focus RS - Fixing Dealer Prep

      That's a lot of pics!

      Incredible job on that car. If you don't mind, how much (ball park) did you charge for that detail?



      Tedrow's Detailing
      845-642-1698
      Treat Yourself to that New Car Feeling

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      • #4
        Re: Ford Focus RS - Fixing Dealer Prep

        As usual fantastic job. The Focus looks flawless.

        I agree with you it is a shame that people all over take delivery of a new car with the dealers option of swirls installed. All that money foe a swirl mobile.

        Well, great work once again.
        quality creates its own demand

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Ford Focus RS - Fixing Dealer Prep

          Awesome turnaround Dave.
          Learning new things everyday

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Ford Focus RS - Fixing Dealer Prep

            Good work there, but # of pics .. ouuch.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Ford Focus RS - Fixing Dealer Prep

              Excellent work, doesn't even look real... Very nice!

              Hey Ford, you're an American company. Make the Focus look like this in the States! (Well, the new ones aren't bad, but have this option please!)
              1998 Supermarine Blue Pearl Honda CR-V

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Ford Focus RS - Fixing Dealer Prep

                thats a sweet focus and you made it very sexy! good work!
                Last edited by Markus Kleis; Jul 27, 2010, 11:33 AM. Reason: Family friendly language

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                • #9
                  Re: Ford Focus RS - Fixing Dealer Prep

                  WOW! Great job. The pics speak louder than words for sure!
                  2017 Honda CR-V

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                  • #10
                    Re: Ford Focus RS - Fixing Dealer Prep

                    Cheers for the kind words - I do like a lot of pictures, helps tell the complete story in my opinion

                    Its quite a Focus, the RS - uses a 2.5 litre 5 cyl Volvo engine, tuned to 300bhp which in a car of that size and weight makes it super quick!
                    "A thing of beauty is a joy for ever: Its loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness; .... "

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Ford Focus RS - Fixing Dealer Prep

                      That was terrible, great recovery.

                      I have a pearl black car that is 4 yrs old and t.b.h it has less swirls than
                      the focus.

                      Thanks for cheering me up,

                      Rappy

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Ford Focus RS - Fixing Dealer Prep

                        Originally posted by techjazz View Post
                        Excellent work, doesn't even look real... Very nice!

                        Hey Ford, you're an American company. Make the Focus look like this in the States! (Well, the new ones aren't bad, but have this option please!)
                        The reason we didn't get the RS was because generally speaking Americans aren't even remotely close to as excited about performance hatches as Europeans.

                        That said, expect some hi-po Focus models to come to the U.S. in the near future. An EcoBoosted 2.0-liter (twinturbo) is first up as a Focus ST, followed by a NEW RS... rumored to be powered by an EcoBoost 20-liter 4 cyl AND electric motors in the rear for AWD.

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