Summer detail (56k go away)

NathanE · 8 Jun 2008 at 17:38

This is my first detail and as you can see from the products I'm more in it for paint protection than show car finish.

Came up looking like new though

Managed to polish out 2 or 3 big blemishes that have always bugged me too.

Tom|Nbk · 8 Jun 2008 at 17:42

Looks nice. Come and do mine, it's swirl city.

Howard · 8 Jun 2008 at 17:48

Lovely Elise. Can you bring it back to my house now please, I want it. Thanks

Tom|Nbk · 8 Jun 2008 at 17:52

Whats your process and how much did the stuff cost. I may have to try it out for myself.

T1rez · 8 Jun 2008 at 17:57

very nice..
followed a lotus elise today... had a spoiler though.
it was handling the bends sooooo well. my car felt like it was gona roll and i was going slower.. the lotus just looked solid..
I would love to take one on a track!

NathanE · 8 Jun 2008 at 18:03

Hi mate.

The products cost about £30, plus some applicator pads, and buffing towels etc.

My process was quite simple... one panel at a time (I did the front and rear clams in 2 halves each). Spend about 30-40mins polishing the panel using the Meguiars Speed Glaze. Use a strobe light to show up the blemishes, scratches and swirls so you know where to add more elbow grease. May need to buff off the panel once or twice to get it back to basics so you can look for more defects. Once satisfied. buff it off with a towel.

Then I applied the first part of the Carlack which is a cleaner, chemical polish and a weak sealant (3 months or so). Wipe it on with a applicator pad. Leave 1 minute. Then buff off with a towel.

Then apply the 100% acrylic sealant (2nd part of the Carlack). Exact same process as above. This sealant lasts 12 months sometimes longer. It is designed for boats and planes as well as cars!

Tom|Nbk · 8 Jun 2008 at 18:18

So you did this by hand?

Was it effective in moving the majority of swirl marks etc then?

NathanE · 8 Jun 2008 at 18:28

By hand yup. To be honest there was barely any swirl marks to remove. I have always used the 2 buckets method, looks like it paid off.

The polish was good at removing just about everything. The blemishes needed some serious elbow work but it has, quite frankly, worked wonders. I wanted to get the car resprayed before I did this. Now I don't want to at all!

My front clam was a complete mess (not swirls, just blemishes and stuff). My front left indicator popped out on the motorway back in the winter which caused lots of marks on around that area (from where the dislocated indicator was bouncing around and impacting the clam). The polish has got rid of ALL those marks.

Very very pleased and can't wait to get out and drive the ******** off it

Also looking forward to some rain to see the beading

Tom|Nbk · 8 Jun 2008 at 18:30

Going to order some of the Meg's stuff then to start attacking some of the swirlies on mine.

Logsi · 8 Jun 2008 at 18:57

Tom|Nbk said:
Going to order some of the Meg's stuff then to start attacking some of the swirlies on mine.

Have you ever clay barred your car?

Made a huge difference to my car, which is also silver. Doing a clay bar then a polish makes the paint feel to smooth!

Josh

gillywibble · 8 Jun 2008 at 19:08

Looks good. Any pics showing the whole car?

Tom|Nbk · 8 Jun 2008 at 19:36

5bjoshua said:
Have you ever clay barred your car?

Made a huge difference to my car, which is also silver. Doing a clay bar then a polish makes the paint feel to smooth!

Josh

Clay bar won't help with swirls though.

1CE · 8 Jun 2008 at 19:43

You want a polishing machine for that

.

Elise is looking awesome! Great job!

Doonhamer · 8 Jun 2008 at 19:51

Looks good, inspiring me to do the same but the A4 isnt a small car to do by hand.

Duke · 8 Jun 2008 at 19:54

Very nice sir :cool:

Twentymac · 8 Jun 2008 at 19:54

that a chip or something in this photo ?

NathanE · 8 Jun 2008 at 20:05

Nah it is in fact a reflection of a street light opposite the house!

NathanE · 8 Jun 2008 at 20:06

Doonhamer said:
Looks good, inspiring me to do the same but the A4 isnt a small car to do by hand.

You really should. I have been hoofing and arring over doing this for a year. I am sooo glad that I finally decided to just go for it. It's not as hard as people make out. And once you've done your first panel to get an idea of how good it looks it is actually quite fun and pleasurable to do the rest of the car.

Liverpool-Lad · 8 Jun 2008 at 20:08

Nice job. Some direct pics in the sun would show us the end result better.

NathanE · 8 Jun 2008 at 20:09

gillywibble said:
Looks good. Any pics showing the whole car?

Hopefully take some later this week if I get a chance. I don't want to move it out of the garage yet as the acrylic sealant I put on takes 24 hours to completely set.