The owner of this car was not happy with the finish of the paintwork, swirl marks were very noticeable when the sun was shining and the brake caliper/disks were not up the standard, he wanted them painted in a colour closely matching the wheel colour. The exhaust tips were also looking tired, if possible we were to restore them also.
The weather was very bad so getting outside photos of the finished project was near impossible. This is a small write up on the process, i hope you enjoy!
As with every other exterior detail the vehicle needs to be washed then any bonded and embedded contamination is removed leaving behind a super clean exterior ready for machine polishing or protective coatings, waxes or sealants. First step was to strip all dirt, grime and wax from the exterior, a medium strength traffic film remover was applied and let dwell for three minutes.
The exterior was thoroughly pressure washed then a foam pre-wash was applied to lift any remaining dirt followed by another rinse.
The hard to reach areas, door ledges and greasy hinges were cleaned with a mild all purpose cleaner and soft detailing brush.
Next a soft hand wash was carried out before rinsing the exterior.
The wheel arches and suspension components were hiding a lot of dirt. After pressure washing the heavy dirt away we used an strong all purpose cleaner followed by a good agitation with a wheel brush, rinsed again and the arches are clean, dirt and salt free.
The hard to see areas were hiding a lot of tar deposits which were removed using a bodywork solvent and soft microfiber cloth.
The final stage of the 10 step wash and clean was to remove any ‘invisible contamination’. First, iron fallout and then the paint and glass were clayed.
With the car dried off and inside we could see how bad the paintwork was, very dull and scratched. Not good for a vehicle only two years old.
Next morning we cracked on with the two stage machine polish, painting the calipers/disks and detailing the wheels.
Finally the wheels and paintwork were protected, locking in the finish from the winter weather.
Very nice clarity in the paintwork now.
