This one was my most challenging one yet, patience, combos, care, research, testing tricks etc.
It has spent most of its life outside, from hail to extreme sunlight.
I had worked on this car before (About 2 years ago) where I did a quick pre-wax glaze & wax on the exterior. I kept the amount of correction to a minimum, as it had been polished aggressively before by a bodyshop.
When I got it back again this weekend, the paint was dead & dull. It also got some hail damage from the last summer season, as well as some ugly deep scratching. This will be covered further down.
To tackle:
- Engine oil leak repair
- Cambelt & tensioner replacement
- Runner pulley & ancillary belt replacements
- Engine bay detail
- Remove mags & install steelies, spray OEM wheel caps, and fit wheel caps
- Full exterior detail
- Interior detail
1st night I stripped off the cambelt & replaced that, together with the tensioner. Replaced the runner pulley & all ancillary belts.
Replaced tappet cover gasket which was sweating oil quite badly.
Cleaned engine bay:
- HP rinsed & Foamed with CD Foam cannon
- Carchem citrus APC diluted 1:5, various brushes, agitated
- HP rinsed again & blown dry with compressed air
- Pushed the car to its overnight sleeping spot & left for the whole of the next day to dry completely
- Dressed with Carchem trim & tyre dressing
Before & After:
Following afternoon after work, I climbed into the little car's paintwork. It was extremely dirty, with a lot of bird cr@p & tree sap all over
Process & kit used:
- HP rinse
- Carchem Citrus APC 1/4 & Carchem luxury shampoo 1/4, Warm water 1/2
- CD Foam cannon & left to dwell
- All grills, emblems, joints & jambs agitated with various brushes
- HP rinsed again
- Washed with Carchem luxury shampoo & wash mitt
- HP rinsed again
- Clayed with a medium clay & lots of soapy water
- HP rinsed again & dried with MF towel
- Pulled into the garage & blew out all gaps with compressed air
- Taped-up all black trim & rubbers
- Wet-sanded the headlights with 800, 1000, 1200, 1500, Polished & sealed
- Firm pad, DA, Quick detailer, Shield polishing Glaze (Light-medium compound with a lot of lubrication for the soft paint) to remove the dead oxidised paint, medium pad to smooth over the deep scratching with QD &hield polishing glaze, finished off with finishing pad & pre-wax glaze, Sealed with Colllinite #845 after each panel correction
- HP rinsed, 2BM wash with Carchem luxury shampoo, HP rinsed & dried
- Coated with Collinite #845 again, left to sit for 45 min & buffed off
- Rubbers & trim heated with a heatgun to bring back original natural shine/colour, coated with Turtle wax bumper & trim gel. Buffed off excess with MF Towel
- Windows given a run over with a blade, and finished off with C-Thru
Used the bonnet as a test spot, as it seems to have been polished aggressively before, which I'm guessing was a bodyshop, as the front end & rear bumpers & bonnet had been repsrayed. As you'll see on the bonnet test spot, they had polished through the paint already on the high point of the bonnet. The trim on the bumpers & doors also has a few spots where they ran their polisher over it, and damaged the strips.
After doing a test spot & removing the dead layer of paint, I noticed some extremely deep scratching, which can only be assumed to be from washing the car with a hard bristled broom, or even a scotchbrite scourer. This was present throughout the entire car
The paint is extremely soft, and the care taken on this car was painful & careful. I could not remove the deep scratching completely, as it was too deep. I decided to try get them better, without taking off more paint than was already done.
I used a medium pad, with Shield polishing glaze, & a lot of quick detailer to keep the paint lubricated as much as possible through the correction phase. This of course made a lot of polish sling all over the car, but it got rid of a lot of the scratching & brought back the shine to the paint.
Before & After:
Interior:
- Vacuumed seats, floor & roof lining
- Steam cleaned all the door panels, dash, & other interior bits
- Seats sprayed with an APC solution 1:20, agitated with a brush, Steamed & wiped down with a dry MF towel
- Carpets sprayed with APC 1:5 solution, steamed, agitated, steamed again & dried with a dry MF towel
- Interior dressed with DNA chocolate dressing, left to sit for an hour & excess buffed off with a clean MF towel
- Carpets & seats sprayed with Megs odour eliminator
- Windows wiped off with Megs fast glass on the inside
- Car left to sit in the sun for 4 hours to dry out interior moisture with the windows left open ever so slightly
Before & After:
All-in-all, I was about 25-26 hours in on the little car.
The soft paint was tricky, but with just enough compound & detailer, I managed to almost “move” & even out a lot of the deep scratching & minimising the amount taken off.
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