Dre's Megane - Detailed

[scratcher]

Dre asked me to have a look over his new purchase. It was in pretty good shape, but some scrote had keyed one side of it
The order of the day was to wet sand and machine polish out as much of the scratch as I could while maintaining clear coat. And a full Winter Protection Detail.

There was some drama with the car but I'll let him tell you about that

No before pictures as there was some bigger issues to hand...
Tar removal anyone?



So after the car was washed, nooks and crannies cleaned - door shuts, boot, grills, rubbers, etc. Tar removed and clayed.

Onto the key marks.







Some of it was right through the base coat and some parts were too deep to remove without compromising the lacquer so it couldn't be removed completely.

Wet sanded.









I then machine polished the sanded areas, and all the high points along the sides of the car to improve the gloss and depth of shine.









The entire car was then hand polished and a glaze applied to improve gloss further. A synthetic sealant was then applied for long term protection (6 months+).







A high quality carnuaba wax was then applied to the whole car to protect further, and add some warmth to the finish.

[Trevhib]

Very nice.

Scratcher, how long is the following process taking you on a car this kinda size - washed, nooks and crannies cleaned - door shuts, boot, grills, rubbers, wheels, etc, (forget claying), polish and wax incl, windows and wheels?

I look after my Mrs' 2004 Focus (in a thorough but amateur fashion). If the car is filthy and if I do what I consider to be a full job on the exterior, it can be 4hrs of solid graft.

I use Autoglym stuff. I got a red Autoglym valet case last year. I know it's not top stuff but what a difference to what I was using before!

My process is (all by hand):

Bucket/sponge/cloth shampoo wash, incl wheels and tyre scrub
Bucket/sponge/cloth water/rinse down
Chamois dry (bad I know but I don't have the time to wait and this car is worth £2k)
Apply polish to bodywork
Buff polish
Apply wax/protector
Buff protector
Apply/buff glass polish
Apply tyre dressing
Apply alloy wheel protector (spray)
Apply vinyl and rubber protector to trim, door handles and window rubbers
A bit of detailing if I haven't keeled over.

It's a decent workout, I can say that much.

This is the car (grainy out of focus phone pic). I know polish hides a multitude of sins, especially on silver but it's at least the best looking and best looked after old Focus around here

[scratcher]

Cheers Trev

A car of this size will usually take anywhere between 6 - 8 hours for this sort of treatment. This one was A little longer for the machining and wet sanding stages.

There's nothing wrong with Autoglym products. They're very good quality and easy to get hold of their Super Resin Polish is still one of the best all in one products out there.

It looks like you've got some good results there. Silver is great because it doesn't show up defects as much as other colours but it's hard to get it to really "pop".

[Dre5gtt]

You done a great job as always mate, still looking mint will post up later what happend got a few photos to lol I just say french and electrics lol

[Trevhib]

Cheers Trev

A car of this size will usually take anywhere between 6 - 8 hours for this sort of treatment. This one was A little longer for the machining and wet sanding stages.

There's nothing wrong with Autoglym products. They're very good quality and easy to get hold of their Super Resin Polish is still one of the best all in one products out there.

It looks like you've got some good results there. Silver is great because it doesn't show up defects as much as other colours but it's hard to get it to really "pop".

Ah ok, so I'm not doing too badly at 4hrs, lol. The people who live near me think I've got issues

Yeah the Autoglym stuff has been really good so far. The polish went off though. It went all runny. I only had it 7months before it did that! Got some more coming at Christmas.

Thanks mate.

[scratcher]

That's weird, I've got a bottle that's a couple of years old and still going strong. Saying that, it's been a while since I've used it.

4 hours is pretty good going, the decontamination and polishing stages are the time consuming parts.
With the AG polish, you can layer it to make the most of the fillers in it. Next time you use it, try 2 layers and see if you can tell a difference

[Trevhib]

Funny you should say. I used two layers of polish this last time for the first time ever. However I used the protector on top for the first time too, so I don't know if the improvement is to due one, the other, or both Either way it's been brilliant at beading this time round, I have to assume that's the protector, in fact I can tell that it is.

[Mr Raider]

Looks excellent, so Dre has also got a Megane now aswell, must have more Renaults than me!