Seat Leon FR - Detailed by Lawrence

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lawrence
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Seat Leon FR - Detailed by Lawrence

Post by lawrence »

The weekend before last I detailed a customer's Seat Leon Cupra and this weekend past he bought his wife's Seat Leon FR to me for some love. What was supposed to be a relatively normal detail for me turned into a bit of a nightmare as on Sunday morning at 05:30 I picked up where I left off the previous evening physically correcting the paint (defect removal via machine polisher) only to find at 08:00 the power to my neighborhood went off.

It only came back on at 20:00 on Sunday evening and I managed to squeeze in another 3 hours of polishing before calling it a night :yawn: Fortunately the client was not in a rush for the vehicle and I therefore had the opportunity to finish it off during the day yesterday (was at home anyway as the spawn's school was closed for Diwali).

So, onto some pics and details ('scuse the pun :lol: )

On arrival the vehicle was covered in surface dirt
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First order of business was to get the car jacked up and on axle stands and the wheels off so I could clean the wheel arches
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Then I moved onto the wheels themselves. They were in relatively good condition but did have a few curb rashes, the odd scratch and a few random stains around the valves.

Before
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After wash with dedicated wheel cleaner
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Looking good right.... wrong

On closer inspection a few tar spots were found and these were then removed
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and then some more 'nasties'.... a buildup of embedded brake dust and other iron particles
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Iron remover sprayed on
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Starting to react with the iron
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Once all were cleaned they were then clayed and polished and then finally sealed and tires treated
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I then moved onto the engine bay
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Once this was completed it was time to clean out the door and boot jambs, petrol cap, around badges and emblems etc
Before
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After
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So with all the 'dirty' work out the way, it was time to give the car a proper wash. It was pre-washed with the foam cannon and a mix of products designed to clean and strip off any existing protection and then thoroughly washed using the 2 bucket method
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After drying off the vehicle it became glaringly obvious that some hack detailer had had his way with the client's car before. You will notice a lot of buffer trails / holograms in the pics below, caused through poor polishing techniques. In discussions with the owner upon collection of the vehicle, I was told how the rear end was repainted (bumper work) and we assume that the body-shop decided to polish out the whole car, presumably under the assumption that they would be doing the client a favor by having his car all nice and shiny..... well, all they did was screw up his paint. Gotta love you a good bodyshop/hack detailer.. :cry: :mad:

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So, next up I removed all the tar spots from the vehicle itself, finding some right up to the bottom of the windows - it is unreal how many little spots of tar find their way onto your vehicles paint!
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this was followed by a complete removal of all the embedded iron particles from the entire surface of the vehicle
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The vehicle was then thoroughly rinsed in preparation for claying. I did not snap any pics of the claying process itself, however I can tell you that the amount of bonded contaminants on the vehicle is pretty much on par with what you would expect from a 5year old daily driver - so after a solid 12 hours of work behind me, I had finally got all the crud off the top of the paint, and everywhere else was now clean and the wheels were put back on the vehicle.

So now we can see what the condition of the paint is REALLY like.... :fear:
Swirls and light scratches
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Some deeper scratches
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And then I think that one that will scare all of you into removing bird crap and bugs immediately....
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Yip, that damage (which was too deep to safely polish out BTW) was caused by the acid in bird crap and / or bugs.... it literally etches (eats its way through) your clear coat.... ouch!

Paint correction itself then got underway...
Before
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After
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The entire vehicle was then corrected and treated to a combo of Chemical Guys Blacklight/Collinite #845/Chemical guys V7 as the LSP. Windows were clayed, polished and sealed, all exterior trim was treated, the car was vacuumed and all interior panels cleaned etc.

Lastly the tailpiece was also given a quick polish
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Some after shots
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Total time spent on vehicle = 26 hours

Thanks for looking
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Re: Seat Leon FR - Detailed by Lawrence

Post by smoothscott »

Good job guy!
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Re: Seat Leon FR - Detailed by Lawrence

Post by DazzG_177 »

BEAUTIFUL!!! :drool: :drool:
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Re: Seat Leon FR - Detailed by Lawrence

Post by SHABSFS »

Fantastic job as always :cool:
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Re: Seat Leon FR - Detailed by Lawrence

Post by lawrence »

thanks guys - appreciate the comments :hug:
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Re: Seat Leon FR - Detailed by Lawrence

Post by Mc3103 »

Amazing transformation dude. Very well done.
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Re: Seat Leon FR - Detailed by Lawrence

Post by lawrence »

aslam325 wrote:fok thats brilliant work
Thank you
Mc3103 wrote:Amazing transformation dude. Very well done.
Thanks.

From the minute I see a car for the first time I immediately start wondering how it will eventually look once done and keep thinking about it during the detail until the car is finally corrected. It's a really rewarding experience to see the change after each step of the process, and then (hopefully) to see a big smile on the customer's face upon collection. It's part of the reason why I do this.

:cool:
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Re: Seat Leon FR - Detailed by Lawrence

Post by Mitch »

Cant see pics...but sure its flawless.
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Re: Seat Leon FR - Detailed by Lawrence

Post by Eviltoy »

MOOI!
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Re: Seat Leon FR - Detailed by Lawrence

Post by Crawler »

Great work, pity bout the power though
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Re: Seat Leon FR - Detailed by Lawrence

Post by devZo »

top stuff lawrence!
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Re: Seat Leon FR - Detailed by Lawrence

Post by hubbly_bubbly »

Lovely stuff!

When can we import you to JHB Lawrence? :D
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Re: Seat Leon FR - Detailed by Lawrence

Post by Boep »

hubbly_bubbly wrote:Lovely stuff!

When can we import you to JHB Lawrence? :D
+1
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Re: Seat Leon FR - Detailed by Lawrence

Post by 1point9 »

Nice work again, Lawrence. Amazing change hey! Just a quick question though ... what do you use to get the door jambs and hinge area so clean? That area always gets a big build-up of gunk and it is usually so hard to get clean.
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Re: Seat Leon FR - Detailed by Lawrence

Post by lawrence »

Thanks guys

@1point9.... Some all purpose cleaner (something like clean green although I use a Different brand). Spray on, agitate with a brush, rinse. Seal with same wax you would on your car.


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Re: Seat Leon FR - Detailed by Lawrence

Post by katotter »

Why don't we have a '**** in my pants of amazement' smiley?

Great job man!

Is this the one that was held up by Eskom?
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Re: Seat Leon FR - Detailed by Lawrence

Post by lawrence »

Thanks buddy. Yip, same one that got delayed on Sun


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Re: Seat Leon FR - Detailed by Lawrence

Post by SHAUN »

Actually just saw this thread on the seat forum and wanted to PM you.

You sir are a legend at car detailing. Well freaking done man.
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Re: Seat Leon FR - Detailed by Lawrence

Post by lawrence »

SHAUN wrote:Actually just saw this thread on the seat forum and wanted to PM you.

You sir are a legend at car detailing. Well freaking done man.
:oops: Thanks buddy - appreciate the kind words! :hug:
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Re: Seat Leon FR - Detailed by Lawrence

Post by TimTDI »

That is sexy as hell, very nice car wow! I love the Seat Leon FR.

One thing I want to note here, your photography skills are just as leet as your detailing! I am not an avid cameraman, but damn nice pics dude! Got a good eye!

I wish you were in JHB firstly and secondly wish I had moola to get it done *sigh*

Brilliant job dude!
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Re: Seat Leon FR - Detailed by Lawrence

Post by lawrence »

TimTDI wrote:That is sexy as hell, very nice car wow! I love the Seat Leon FR.

One thing I want to note here, your photography skills are just as leet as your detailing! I am not an avid cameraman, but damn nice pics dude! Got a good eye!

I wish you were in JHB firstly and secondly wish I had moola to get it done *sigh*

Brilliant job dude!
Geez thanks very much bud.... I have only owned my DSLR camera for a few months now and am still trying to figure it all out so I am well chuffed that you dig the pics.... have had some guidance from a few of the okes on here (you know who you are :hug: ) and with practice I am sure I will keep getting better.

Thanks again
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Re: Seat Leon FR - Detailed by Lawrence

Post by Belix »

top notch as always, need to plan me a KZN trip sometime.
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Re: Seat Leon FR - Detailed by Lawrence

Post by carapau »

Great work once again Lawrence, I saw the cupra and it was spotless,so much so that even after a few days of rain , a simple rinse and it was back has u left it :hurray:
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Re: Seat Leon FR - Detailed by Lawrence

Post by dbndude »

awesome, cant wait to get my caddy treated :grin:
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Re: Seat Leon FR - Detailed by Lawrence

Post by lawrence »

carapau wrote:Great work once again Lawrence, I saw the cupra and it was spotless,so much so that even after a few days of rain , a simple rinse and it was back has u left it :hurray:
thanks - yeah that's the thing hey... once it has been detailed properly and surface dirt should come straight off at the next wash without any harsh chemicals or aggressiveness cleaning, meaning less damage to the paint and a car that looks 'shiny' for longer.
dbndude wrote:awesome, cant wait to get my caddy treated :grin:
thanks Neelesh.... can't wait to do the caddy :drool: - (you have PM BTW)
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