So my first attempt. Black Audi S6 V10.
Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 8:16 pm
Since I got this car it has swirls/ holograms whatever people call these things and it has been greatly annoying me. I almost feel too shy to take it out to events because really it detracts from the car. I am also a bit of a lazy car washer and because this thing get dirty so easily it gets washed often at the carwash. Lately I also noticed hard water streaks on some of the doors and decided well it is time to sort this out.
Bought a almost new second hand shield machine and because it seems to be good enough for the ocassional DIY'er i bought it. It came with a whole bundle of pads and I bought a few extra bits from Crazy Detailer.
So this morning around 9 I got all the bits together and decided today is today. I got no pics of the washing but I started with some Pressure spray and diluted APC(my little karcher will draw in a fluid separately with the water and then DNA super suds - 2 buckets and a microfibe wash mitt. Got her in the garage pronto and dried it with microfibre cloths. (we have borehole water that dries with white marks if you leave it in the sun)
So then It was me and learning this clay thing. So I cut a 1/4 of the block of DNA clay and moulded and got it workable. Using the DNA detailer spray I started on the bonnet and man I could not believe the difference that made to the paint. It was immediately a LOT smoother and felt totally different and smooth. I was amazed. Honestly never seen this stuff before and it was just amazing. I did the WHOLE car including the glass. And then once you did that you actually realize how bad the paint really is. The clay came away quite dirty after each pass and I managed to keep folding it clean.
For those that want to know how much you need because nobody ever seem to address that - I managed to do the whole car with that one 1/4 block and just less than half a bottle of the spray detailer. Remember this is quite a big car.
I then taped up the bits I did not want to get polish on which is also quite time consuming and around 13:00 I was ready to get on with the machine polish. I tried the 3:1 with one of the very soft pads that came with and it did very little. I then tried a green pad that seems a lot rougher and after a go with that it seemed to work quite well to get rid of the marks I was after. So I started in sections as recommended by Mike Phillips. As you all know it is slow going but it was quite nice to see those dam swirls disappearing.
some sections needed another pass. It is probably not at any of the pro guys's standards but I am very happy so far. I also realized just how hard it is to actually photograph this. Actually video seems to do better.
I stopped at 18:00 and so far I did the bonnet, fenders, front bumper and the right front door. Will continue after work tomorrow. I suspect it will take most of the week. I will post a few of my pathetic attempts at pictures just now.
Bootlid holographs
bonnet
Right rear flank
Right front door. Hard water marks
How dirty the clay gets from a single panel pass
This much detailer was used to clay the entire car
More of the bonnet and both front fenders.
car taped up and ready to go.
bonnet piece after second test pass. I see it is basically out of focus but it looks a lot better.
Fender Before
same spot after
Bonnet was done here fender not
Righ hand fender section
pad after doing the bonnet. I swopped it at this point for a fresh one and washed this one.
Right hand door hard water mark - before
Door after.
Needed a seond pass and looked like this after.
Thanks for everybody that sold me the stuff, Lawrence for advise and my wife that kept bringing cold drink otherwise I would probably have died out there of dehydration. it is tough work. I recon something as big as this car is probably a bad idea as a first time but what the heck, It needed doing
Bought a almost new second hand shield machine and because it seems to be good enough for the ocassional DIY'er i bought it. It came with a whole bundle of pads and I bought a few extra bits from Crazy Detailer.
So this morning around 9 I got all the bits together and decided today is today. I got no pics of the washing but I started with some Pressure spray and diluted APC(my little karcher will draw in a fluid separately with the water and then DNA super suds - 2 buckets and a microfibe wash mitt. Got her in the garage pronto and dried it with microfibre cloths. (we have borehole water that dries with white marks if you leave it in the sun)
So then It was me and learning this clay thing. So I cut a 1/4 of the block of DNA clay and moulded and got it workable. Using the DNA detailer spray I started on the bonnet and man I could not believe the difference that made to the paint. It was immediately a LOT smoother and felt totally different and smooth. I was amazed. Honestly never seen this stuff before and it was just amazing. I did the WHOLE car including the glass. And then once you did that you actually realize how bad the paint really is. The clay came away quite dirty after each pass and I managed to keep folding it clean.
For those that want to know how much you need because nobody ever seem to address that - I managed to do the whole car with that one 1/4 block and just less than half a bottle of the spray detailer. Remember this is quite a big car.
I then taped up the bits I did not want to get polish on which is also quite time consuming and around 13:00 I was ready to get on with the machine polish. I tried the 3:1 with one of the very soft pads that came with and it did very little. I then tried a green pad that seems a lot rougher and after a go with that it seemed to work quite well to get rid of the marks I was after. So I started in sections as recommended by Mike Phillips. As you all know it is slow going but it was quite nice to see those dam swirls disappearing.
some sections needed another pass. It is probably not at any of the pro guys's standards but I am very happy so far. I also realized just how hard it is to actually photograph this. Actually video seems to do better.
I stopped at 18:00 and so far I did the bonnet, fenders, front bumper and the right front door. Will continue after work tomorrow. I suspect it will take most of the week. I will post a few of my pathetic attempts at pictures just now.
Bootlid holographs
bonnet
Right rear flank
Right front door. Hard water marks
How dirty the clay gets from a single panel pass
This much detailer was used to clay the entire car
More of the bonnet and both front fenders.
car taped up and ready to go.
bonnet piece after second test pass. I see it is basically out of focus but it looks a lot better.
Fender Before
same spot after
Bonnet was done here fender not
Righ hand fender section
pad after doing the bonnet. I swopped it at this point for a fresh one and washed this one.
Right hand door hard water mark - before
Door after.
Needed a seond pass and looked like this after.
Thanks for everybody that sold me the stuff, Lawrence for advise and my wife that kept bringing cold drink otherwise I would probably have died out there of dehydration. it is tough work. I recon something as big as this car is probably a bad idea as a first time but what the heck, It needed doing