Next lady in for some love was this beauty. I’ve always been a fan of this R, and I was seriously looking at buying one but that’s another story. I am very partial to the Lapiz Blue flagship colour but this is easily one of the best colours I’ve ever worked on. It’s hard to capture on camera but the colour just pops as you see it in the sun and the amount of flake in this pearlescent option is just amazing
Car arrived dirty as winter was in full swing here, but I always encourage my clients to bring the cars as they are as they’ll be getting a thorough wash regardless:
First up, wheels, these rims really suit the car and the gloss black look compliments the Oryx White. They were recently fitted onto the car and this made for easy cleaning, arches, wheels and tyres were cleaned before the wheels were fully decontaminated before all were dressed/protected.
Process:
Arches: Cyclo CM30 @5:1 | HP rinse | Cyclo CM30 @5:1 which was agitated using a Mothers Fender well brush | HP Rinse
Tyres: Cyclo CM30 @5:1 | HP rinse | Meguiar’s All Wheel and Tire left to dwell then agitated with a Mothers tyre brush | HP rinse | Dressed (later) with multiple coats of Gyeon Tire
Wheels and callipers: Cyclo CM30 @5:1 | HP rinse | ValetPro Bilberry Wheel Cleaner @ 1:5 agitated using Wheel Woollies and other brushes | HP rinse | Dry | Gyeon Tar | Wiped away | Gyeon Iron | HP rinse | flood rinse | Clay using CarPro medium clay and ONR as lube | Cyclo CM30 @5:1 | HP rinse | HP rinse | Dried | Protected with Menzerna Powerlock
Before:
During:
After:
Next up, the powerhouse, the underside of the bonnet was cleaned, polished and protected. The bay itself was blown out, plastics were cleaned and dressed and painted surfaces were polished and protected.
Process:
Under Bonnet: Paint cleaned with Cyclo CM30 @ 5:1 | Polished using Auto Finesse Tripple on a MF hand applicator pad
Engine Bay: Clean with Cyclo CM30 @5:1 using various brushes | Wiped with wet MF cloths| Dried with MF towels and air | ] Paint cleaned with Cyclo CM30 @ 5:1 | Polished using Auto Finesse Tripple |Plastics dressed using Auto Finnesse Dressle
Before:
50/50:
After:
Onto the wash, removing as much dirt as possible before touching the paint should always be the goal, and as such I started by applying a prewash which I let dwell before rinsing as much of the loose dirt away as I could. Next up the car wash pre-foamed in an attempt to remove even more dirt before she was given another rinse and a final foam in prep for her wash. A 2 bucket wash followed, using a few mitts as well as grit guards in each bucket. The car was then rinsed and dried off and this was followed with a chemical decontamination using tar and iron removers before being clayed to remove the remaining contaminants.
Process:
Wash: Pre-wash mix sprayed onto vehicle using ValetPro Citrus Pre Wash | HP Rinse | Pre-Foam using Gyeon Foam | HP Rinse | Foamed again using Gyeon Foam | Panel Gaps, emblems, petrol flap and door jambs brushed using ValetPro Detailing brush | 2 Bucket wash using Gyeon Bathe and various mitts with 2 grit guards per bucket | HP Rinse | Dried using various drying towels and ONR
Decontamination: Gyeon Tar | Wipe with MF towels | Gyeon Iron | HP Rinse | Flood rinse | Clayed using Shield Heavy duty Clay and ONR | HP Rinse | Dried using various drying towels and ONR
The last order of business for the first day was to complete a test spot and after testing various combinations I settled on Menzerna FG400 on a Rupes blue MF pad which had a surprising amount of cut against this damaged VAG paint. For refining, I used CarPro Essence on a yellow Rupes foam pad. Gloss black areas as well as the tail lights were polished with a combo of Menz PF2300/Cyclo Green Foam then Menz SF4000/LC Black Foam.
Process:
1st step: Menzerna FG400 on a Rupes Blue Microfiber pad | SHC300 in some areas
2nd step: CarPro Essence on a Rupes yellow foam pad
Pillars and rear lights: Menzerna PF2300 on a Cyclo green polishing pad | Menzerna SF4000 on LC black finishing pad
Before:
50/50 after cutting:
Before & After:
B-Pillar 50/50:
Tail light correction:
The paint was then protected with 2 coats of Menzerna Powerlock, applied 3 hours apart. In this time sundries were tackled such as exhaust tips, glass and rubbers.
Process:
Paint Protection:[/bMenzerna Powerlock
Exterior Plastic trim: Menzerna Powerlock
Rubbers: Cleaned with Shield heavy duty Rubber and Vinyl Cleaner | Protected with Aerospace 303
Glass: Cleaned using Meguiar’s Perfect Clarity Glass Cleaner | Coated with Soft 99 Glaco
Exhaust: Cleaned using Cyclo APC @1:5 | Polished and protected with Gtechniq M1
Exhausts before and after:
Garage and sun shots after the first layer of Powerlock:
Complete:
Thanks for looking! There are more pictures on Flickr here:
https://flic.kr/s/aHskDRhzEu
Until next time
