I was supposed to be spending today prep'ing my mates Megane 250 for its imminent sale, but he couldn't get a lift back home and back over, so I decided to offer my mate Greg some love on his VW Bora. I wanted to have a play with Auto Finesse Glide and a few other new bits, so it seemed the ideal opportunity. I like putting the Megs MF system through its paces too, on hard paint... although it wasn't quite as useful on this car...
Some befores:
P1060434 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1060437 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1060438 by RussZS, on Flickr
Wheels as ever, we first up, treated with G101 and Smart Wheels with various brushes. Tyres and arches with G101. No pics I'm afraid.
Next up, I degreased the front end of the car with Auto Finesse Citrus Power:
P1060440 by RussZS, on Flickr
Then snow foamed with Auto Brite Magi Foam:
P1060441 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1060442 by RussZS, on Flickr
The car was then rinsed and washed with Auto Finesse Lather and lambswool wash mitt, then rinsed again.
Next, I used Tardis and Purple Rain to decontaminate the paintwork, ahead of claying:
P1060443 by RussZS, on Flickr
Purple Rain doing its thing:
P1060444 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1060446 by RussZS, on Flickr
Tardis doing its thang:
P1060450 by RussZS, on Flickr
Claying was next!
I had some new clay lube to try out for the first time - Auto Finesse's Glide Clay Lube, which I used along with Auto Finesse's Clay Bar (my current fave!)
P1060452 by RussZS, on Flickr
Now, you could say that clay lube is clay lube, but Glide seemed to do something very differently to most lubes I've tried. The best way I can explain it, is that it seemed to feel as though a layer of "slime" had been added to the car and the clay bar just "glided" (hence the name I guess!) over the surface! It was very impressive. I'm not a massive fan of claying, but this made it bearable tbh!
However, the current version I have, which I believe is changing, left me with green staining on my hands and around my nails, so make sure you wear gloves if you have this version! Also, I used about 125ml, so "cost per car" is pretty high, but presumably a concentrate will be released eventually
Very promising product though, and brings something new to the clay lube world IMO!
Tree sap!
P1060453 by RussZS, on Flickr
The car was then refoamed, rewashed and dried, ready to assess the swirling.
During wahsing, I'd noticed it was pretty bad, but look at this...
P1060462 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1060464 by RussZS, on Flickr
11 years worth of poor washing... and some of these were DEEP.
I whipped out the Megs MF System (5" Cutting Disc and D300) and cockily started correcting the bonnet assuming that it'd be perfect after a single set and I could get the bonnet corrected pretty quickly - remember I only had this car for 5 hours, but that bonnet I was determined to sort properly, then pick and choose the worst bits from the rest of the car, in the time I had left.
However, after a set with D300, I'd say it was correcting 60% at best... this paint was HARD! I tried another set, which improved things further, but still only about 70% corrected or so!
This had become personal, and I was getting very conscious of the rising temps, so didn't want to start using foam on Rotary. So, out came the "big guns"!!
P1060465 by RussZS, on Flickr
Scholl's superb S3 and Dodo Juice SN Wool pad...
P1060468 by RussZS, on Flickr
:doublesho:buffer:
MUCH better! It needed some refining still, but I was getting happier with the finish.
P1060473 by RussZS, on Flickr
After refining with S17+:
P1060466 by RussZS, on Flickr
Not 100%... but not bad, given how hard the paint was!
However, I was running out of time, so I decided to prioritise the top half of panels, so went around the car with Scholl S17 and a white SSP:
P1060478 by RussZS, on Flickr
After:
P1060477 by RussZS, on Flickr
Not perfect again, but remember I only have 5 hours!!
P1060480 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1060495 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1060499 by RussZS, on Flickr
I finished up polishing by 4pm, and spent the next 90 mins or so cleansing the remaining panels with Auto Finesse Tripple, on DA with 3M Blue Pad. This added a nice wetness to the paint, but did very little to correct the swirling, on this rock hard paint (as expected really)
LSP for today was Auto Finesse Tough Coat:
P1060519 by RussZS, on Flickr
I used Opti Seal on the wheels:
P1060520 by RussZS, on Flickr
Tripple was used on the front and rear bumpers by hand, to give them a quick cleanse (look at that MF pad!!!)
P1060522 by RussZS, on Flickr
Some befores:
P1060434 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1060437 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1060438 by RussZS, on Flickr
Wheels as ever, we first up, treated with G101 and Smart Wheels with various brushes. Tyres and arches with G101. No pics I'm afraid.
Next up, I degreased the front end of the car with Auto Finesse Citrus Power:
P1060440 by RussZS, on Flickr
Then snow foamed with Auto Brite Magi Foam:
P1060441 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1060442 by RussZS, on Flickr
The car was then rinsed and washed with Auto Finesse Lather and lambswool wash mitt, then rinsed again.
Next, I used Tardis and Purple Rain to decontaminate the paintwork, ahead of claying:
P1060443 by RussZS, on Flickr
Purple Rain doing its thing:
P1060444 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1060446 by RussZS, on Flickr
Tardis doing its thang:
P1060450 by RussZS, on Flickr
Claying was next!
I had some new clay lube to try out for the first time - Auto Finesse's Glide Clay Lube, which I used along with Auto Finesse's Clay Bar (my current fave!)
P1060452 by RussZS, on Flickr
Now, you could say that clay lube is clay lube, but Glide seemed to do something very differently to most lubes I've tried. The best way I can explain it, is that it seemed to feel as though a layer of "slime" had been added to the car and the clay bar just "glided" (hence the name I guess!) over the surface! It was very impressive. I'm not a massive fan of claying, but this made it bearable tbh!
However, the current version I have, which I believe is changing, left me with green staining on my hands and around my nails, so make sure you wear gloves if you have this version! Also, I used about 125ml, so "cost per car" is pretty high, but presumably a concentrate will be released eventually
Very promising product though, and brings something new to the clay lube world IMO!Tree sap!
P1060453 by RussZS, on Flickr
The car was then refoamed, rewashed and dried, ready to assess the swirling.
During wahsing, I'd noticed it was pretty bad, but look at this...
P1060462 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1060464 by RussZS, on Flickr
11 years worth of poor washing... and some of these were DEEP.
I whipped out the Megs MF System (5" Cutting Disc and D300) and cockily started correcting the bonnet assuming that it'd be perfect after a single set and I could get the bonnet corrected pretty quickly - remember I only had this car for 5 hours, but that bonnet I was determined to sort properly, then pick and choose the worst bits from the rest of the car, in the time I had left.
However, after a set with D300, I'd say it was correcting 60% at best... this paint was HARD! I tried another set, which improved things further, but still only about 70% corrected or so!
This had become personal, and I was getting very conscious of the rising temps, so didn't want to start using foam on Rotary. So, out came the "big guns"!!
P1060465 by RussZS, on Flickr
Scholl's superb S3 and Dodo Juice SN Wool pad...
P1060468 by RussZS, on Flickr
:doublesho:buffer:
MUCH better! It needed some refining still, but I was getting happier with the finish.
P1060473 by RussZS, on Flickr
After refining with S17+:
P1060466 by RussZS, on Flickr
Not 100%... but not bad, given how hard the paint was!
However, I was running out of time, so I decided to prioritise the top half of panels, so went around the car with Scholl S17 and a white SSP:
P1060478 by RussZS, on Flickr
After:
P1060477 by RussZS, on Flickr
Not perfect again, but remember I only have 5 hours!!
P1060480 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1060495 by RussZS, on Flickr
P1060499 by RussZS, on Flickr
I finished up polishing by 4pm, and spent the next 90 mins or so cleansing the remaining panels with Auto Finesse Tripple, on DA with 3M Blue Pad. This added a nice wetness to the paint, but did very little to correct the swirling, on this rock hard paint (as expected really)
LSP for today was Auto Finesse Tough Coat:
P1060519 by RussZS, on Flickr
I used Opti Seal on the wheels:
P1060520 by RussZS, on Flickr
Tripple was used on the front and rear bumpers by hand, to give them a quick cleanse (look at that MF pad!!!)
P1060522 by RussZS, on Flickr
