A client got in tough with me about polishing his newly acquired E30 316i. As soon as I heard E30, red and faded panel, I was all over it :lol:
The car was dropped off this morning for me to see how much colour and gloss I could bring back to the milky-pinky-patchy-panels.
It arrived looking fairly clean.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps7359f212.jpg
But closer inspection revealed that someone had taken a machine to it before.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps67a7f2c1.jpg
:doublesho
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...psdb416fe0.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps80de3c22.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps8498ad61.jpg
Wheels were up first. I didn't take any pictures of the cleaning.
Cleaned with Auto Finesse Imperial and various brushes. APC for the tyres.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...psd8555275.jpg
The whole car was doused with VP Citrus Pre-Wash and all the niggles taken care of with APC and Envy brushes.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps87887439.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps0076d11b.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps8db2227e.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps531a6996.jpg
2 bucket wash followed using a sheepskin mitt and 3M shampoo.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps5b613b8e.jpg
Working well :thumb:
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...psf37f9ec5.jpg
Dried off and Wolf's Decon Gel applied to the paint and wheels.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...psc4230bab.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...psb87a1607.jpg
Tardis on the tar spots. There weren't too many.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...psd1f042aa.jpg
The car was rinsed thoroughly and clayed using BH regular and Zymol shampoop in a spray bottle. Not a great deal was lifted but I'd never skip it.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...psf110cad9.jpg
The car wash re-washed, dried and I had a better look at what I had to deal with.
Buffer trails.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps835ed05f.jpg
Strike through galore
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps01412dfd.jpg
The panel that had brought the car to me.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps433f40b0.jpg
The 'bleaching' looking defects were consistent along this side.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps80b59ea0.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...psdc7da993.jpg
I thought my car didn't look too bad today :) :lol:
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps87f4ba4b.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...psd381493a.jpg
I taped up the car and started checking paint depths. These ranged from 112 on most of the car to 783 on the badly faded panel. It had been sprayed and must have filler under there too.
I started trying a few combos out. With the car having been polished hard at some point before, I wasn't looking to chase every swirl but just bring back some colour, gloss and sharpness.
A few different mixes were used with the different paint types, but the majority was done with 205 on a white Hexlogic pad
Testing.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps5f7482a0.jpg
I love single stage paint :)
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps83a84fde.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...psdae9193d.jpg
This panel took a few stages of polishing. I just liked this photo.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps41efd32e.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps781a1285.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps84e4e069.jpg
I then wiped the car down with Eraser and applied a layer of Menz Powerlock for some UV protection.
I went around the car dressing the many plastic trims and rubbers with AF Revive.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps53fbd67c.jpg
Tyres dressed with RD50. I love this stuff :)
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...pseca6e8e1.jpg
I polished the glass with Auto Glym glass polish, inside and out.
Then an hour after removing the Powerlock I added a nice wax layer.
Auto Finesse recommend it for red, so lets give it a go :)
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps2e4b4953.jpg
And the afters.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps7012efff.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps6459d999.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps0f25c2d3.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...psc9bf8ddd.jpg
The badly faded panel.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...pscaf064b5.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps3ef25d98.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps734d2176.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps609e8819.jpg
A quick reflection shot of Little Blue
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps943a9806.jpg
And a very happy chappy came and collected it after 9 hours :)
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ps8e80972d.jpg
Comments always welcome.
Thanks for reading :)
detailR
