I carried out a light gloss enhancement on this little 205 for a member of another forum.
It had been stored in a barn for some years before the owner bought it around 5 years ago so it had been quite a while since it had seen any form of polish.
Unfortunately due to the way it had been stored for many years, the red pigment had failed beneath the lacquer and was a certain shade of orange so the colour could not be restored.
All panels except the passenger side rear quarter and boot lid were original paint so minimal clear coat was removed to preserve the paint for the future.
On to the car.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps03c13464.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...psc1272f0a.jpg
You can see how faded the paint is here.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...psf6b6b4f7.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...psfc5c641d.jpg
And Little Blue had a friend for a couple of days :)
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...psd06866ef.jpg
Plastics were a little faded.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps89e6df29.jpg
I started off cleaning all the tight gaps, window rubbers, plastic trims etc. with AF Verso and Envy brushes.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...psa2996e5b.jpg
Before allowing Verso to dwell on the tyres to break down old dressings.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps2610fa3d.jpg
The wheels were cleaned with Imperial before being hit with Iron Out.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps67142eb2.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps8840bba4.jpg
I love cleaning white wheels :)
The car was then washed using Meguiar's D114 and the 2 bucket method and clayed using a G3 clay mitt and Bilt Hamber regular clay.
There was several areas with paint and heavy contamination that the mitt wouldn't touch so clay saved the day again.
Leaving a nice clean car to get to work on the next day.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps2680f5bd.jpg
I forgot to take a photo of this area before but there was some thick black paint smudged across it. You'll just have to imagine it before.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps3fb73bd7.jpg
The wheels received one coat of Mint Rims on the first night. A second coat was applied the next day.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps8b8c2b90.jpg
The next day the car was wiped down to remove any dust that may have settled over night. I then checked around the car with my PDG to check for any problem areas and see what kind of paint levels I was working with.
The paint was fairly dull.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...pscac80dd5.jpg
A small patch on the bonnet had been compromised, showing the fading beneath the lacquer.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...psb873bfce.jpg
Swirling.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...psef8ae41e.jpg
The paint was generally quite dull.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...psffcb9196.jpg
Delicate trims and rubbers were masked off.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps9a782e59.jpg
Polishing was done via DA and a few polish and pad combinations.
Being original paint, I didn't chase out the deeper swirls and scratches to leave enough clear coat for future polishing.
Bonnet before.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...psc456117a.jpg
And after.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...psa32fa56e.jpg
I taped off a section of the rear quarter for a little 50/50 shot. (this is pre-refinement).
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps8a809a28.jpg
That was the whole car polished and refined.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps489f9951.jpg
A second layer of Mint Rims was applied to the wheels.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps6eb63d25.jpg
Some good levels of gloss were brought back to the paint.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps4c29c4cd.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...psa9d7bcbc.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps0f1a3294.jpg
Auto Finesse Spirit was chosen to protect the finish.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...psc3302d83.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...psbf965076.jpg
Once the first layer of wax had been removed I went around and dressed all the plastic trims with Revive.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps38acd0c8.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps26425016.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps648947c9.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...psabfe74c6.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...psb52b997e.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...psd10ae63c.jpg
The rally car exhaust tip was polished using Mercury and wire wool.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps64b89291.jpg
After.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...pscdd53ca7.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps8353a1d2.jpg
The glass was polished using AutoGlym Glass Polish.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...psc32c5910.jpg
Then a layer of Auto Finesse Illusion was added over to provide some extra ''wow factor'' as the car was heading to a show.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps5daff18a.jpg
The tyres were dressed with Meg's Endurance.
The finished results.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps01e6721d.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps1082f261.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...psbc38f3d5.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...psd52a83ac.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps2273093d.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps8b99f683.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...psb0744715.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps6ef5fe48.jpg
Thanks for reading! :)
