Arctic White Audi A4 (B6) - Detailed by Lawrence

[lawrenceSA]

Friday evening

Interior - 6 hours
Products used
Cyclo CM30
Smartwax Smartleather
Smartwax Smartdressing
Various brushes
MF Cloths
Foam Applicator pads

I started by blowing out all dirt from the dash/vents/interior and followed this with a vacuum. The leather seats were fairly dirty and so I started with an APC clean - to illustrate just how much dirt was lifted I snapped a before pic of the MF cloths I was using to clean the seats
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6229_zps010d75d6.jpg

I then cleaned the passenger seat using the Cyclo CM30 at 20:1 (only the part your bum goes on, not the back rest section) and the cloth on the left shows how much dirt came off on the first attempt. It took 2 attempts over each section to get the seats properly clean.
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6230_zps76164dd1.jpg

Once that was done, and AIO leather cleaner/conditioner was applied, which as you can see below looks quite wet/greasy on application, but quickly soaks into the seat leaving a dry matte finish
Before
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6252_zps2385711b.jpg
During
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6253_zpsf1fffe80.jpg

Once completed with the seats, all the plastic trim/ dash were dressed.
Before
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6261_zpsd3d88a65.jpg
During
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6264_zpsb1f9c982.jpg

After
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6610_zps0bd88c45.jpg

Saturday

Wheels and arches - 3 hours
Products used
Cyclo CM30
Turtle Wax - Platinum Series Revitalising Tyre Dressing
Sonax Extreme Wheel Cleaner
Autofiness Oblitarate
Autofinesse Iron Out
Collinite #845
Various Brushes
HP washer
MF cloths
Foam Applicator pads

These wheels were cleaned on the car in an attempt to save some time on the detail as the owner originally wanted me to restore the headlights on the car too as it would seem that someone else had previously attempted this, making a complete hash of it in the process, however as you will see later on in the write up paint correction took a lot longer than expected and I never landed up with the time to get to the headlights anyway.
What the headlights looked like :eek: :fear:
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6526_zpsad867532.jpg

On arrival the wheels showed the usual build up of road grime, tar and embedded brake dust
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6293_zps72152e7b.jpg

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6299_zps14646320.jpg

The arches and tires were first scrubbed clean and an initial clean then performed using the Sonax Wheel Cleaner which removed some of the embedded brake dust, however as can be seen below, the Iron-Out definitely pulled out a lot more contamination. All the tar spots were also removed from the faces of the wheels.
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6309_zpsd4a34690.jpg

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6310_zpse17e3345.jpg
Once cleaned the wheels were treated to some Collinite and the tires dressed

Badges/Emblems/Door Jambs/Boot jamb - 1 hour
Products used
Cyclo CM30
Autofinesse Oblitarate
Various Brushes
HP washer
MF Cloths

Before
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6313_zps9e3b920f.jpg
After
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6611_zps811a587b.jpg

Before
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6322_zps75e1ab71.jpg
After
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6616_zps72dc19fc.jpg

I was also asked to remove 2 reflectors which were stuck on the back bumper. When removing the one on the right it revealed a hole in the bumper and so I am assuming these reflectors were initially placed on the bumper to hide the hole.
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6383_zps476413fb.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6385_zps79b1901a.jpg

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6386_zps8fb08c5e.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6388_zps6f16b43c.jpg

Engine Bay - 2 hours
Products used
Cyclo CM30
Sheen Natural Plastic/Vinyl/Rubber Care
Various Brushes
HP washer
Nilfisk Blower
MF Cloths

Before
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6360_zpsfa4f9f06.jpg
After
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6586_zps3dead3ec.jpg

Before
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6366_zps55ac3978.jpg
After
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6597_zps37afbc9d.jpg

Before
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6370_zps29c3af51.jpg
After
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6595_zpsa8fe1a03.jpg

Wash/Dry - 1 hour
Products used
Cyclo CM 30
Cyclo Polymer Hand Wash
Chenille Wash Mitt
2 buckets
HP washer
Foam Cannon
The entire car was then snowfoamed and washed using the 2BM

Decontamination - 4 hours
Products used
Autofinesse Oblitarate
Autofinesse Iron Out
Clay Magic Clay (Blue)
Optimum No Rinse
MF Cloths

First all the tar spots were removed
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6382_zps2fe6f25b.jpg (http://s1217.photobucket.com/user/polo_playa/media/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6382_zps2fe6f25b.jpg.html)

[lawrenceSA]

Once that was done all the paint and glass surfaces were subjected to a full iron decontamination
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6395_zps938c4e91.jpg (http://s1217.photobucket.com/user/polo_playa/media/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6395_zps938c4e91.jpg.html)

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6394_zps6df56b82.jpg (http://s1217.photobucket.com/user/polo_playa/media/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6394_zps6df56b82.jpg.html)

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6396_zps6eaf32aa.jpg (http://s1217.photobucket.com/user/polo_playa/media/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6396_zps6eaf32aa.jpg.html)

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6397_zps1277918f.jpg (http://s1217.photobucket.com/user/polo_playa/media/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6397_zps1277918f.jpg.html)

All remaining bonded contaminants were then removed through claying
Paint correction - 8 hours
Products used
Menzerna FG400
Lake Country Orange CCS pads
Meguiars Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner
MF Cloths

Audi's have a reputation for having quite hard clear coats and having polished out only 1 before (A sprint Blue S3) I was expecting the going to be a little tough but not as tough though as the Mercedes with a ceramic clear coat that I detailed a while ago. Well I can tell you that this car's paint was as hard ( if not harder) than the Merc's.... :bang:

The combination of some fairly deep defects and hard clear meant that I had to hit a lot of the panels with a 2nd application of FG400. Yip, 2 hits, and even then there was a fair amount of swirls/RDS left behind :cry: It was also very obvious that someone else had attempted to polish the car before, and in all honesty, did more damage than good.... I also found many areas where it looked like someone had tried to remove some form of dirt with one of those kitchen sponges with the hard green stuff on the one side :crazy:

So defect removal on this car took a long time - around 11 hours to be exact..... and by midnight on Saturday I had to call it a night and get some much needed sleep. I completed the correction first thing on Sunday morning. I did not land up taking a lot of pictures during the paint correction process as the going was slow and every minute counted.

The bootlid before
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6330_zps6ad8fcfb.jpg
After
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6498_zps3dcdb004.jpg

The bonnet before
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6336_zpsdcdc4e50.jpg
After
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6472_zpsa43c0222.jpg

The front fender before
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6341_zps66261e07.jpg
After
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6480_zps3b065ad2.jpg

The roof before
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6326_zpsae034f58.jpg
After
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6461_zpsa06f9b7b.jpg

Some of the other damage
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6425_zpsfcc8298c.jpg

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6430_zpsf0fd844d.jpg

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6288_zpsb627aea1.jpg

Sunday

Paint correction continued - 3 hours
Products used
Menzerna FG400
Lake Country Orange CCS pads
Chemical Guys Blacklight
Menzerna Black Finishing pads
Meguiars Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner
MF Cloths

I continued with swirl removal before a final polish with chemical guys blacklight

Paint Protection - 2 hours
Products used
Collinte#845
MF cloths

2 coats of Collinite were applied

Glass - 1.5 hours
Products used
Clay Magic Blue Clay
ONR
Autoglym Fast Glass
C-Thru
Various MF Cloths

All the exterior glass surfaces were clayed and then the exterior and interior cleaned and lastly then windscreen was treated. The front windscreen was in terrible condition - this is the first time I have seen swirl marks like this on glass
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6502_zps72f64e7f.jpg

Exhaust Tips - 0.5 hours
Products used
Meguiars NXT All Metal Polish
Terry Towels

Both exhaust tips were given a polish

Exterior Trim - 0.5 hours
Products used
Smartwax Smartdressing

All exterior plastic trim was treated

Onto some after shots (not the best pics I know - I am finding it quite difficult to capture the life in the white paint whilst not overexposing it or the background - more practice is needed)

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6728_zpsef2de228.jpg

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6485_zps9c87bef1.jpg

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6432_zpsab1dd263.jpg

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6547_zps2d8e31db.jpg

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6578_zps5b939480.jpg

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6581_zpsf97d0742.jpg

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6436_zps54ce0c93.jpg

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6777_zps78d28d06.jpg

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6708_zps71b56159.jpg

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6696_zps9c818eb7.jpg

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6675_zps9f1fad87.jpg

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6672_zpsf9bb42f9.jpg

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Nash%20Audi/IMG_6644_zpsb97a735c.jpg


Total time spent = 32.5 hrs

Thanks for looking

[zmcgovern45]

Wow... amazing work! Very, very thorough! Great attention to all of the details!

[dorkiedoode]

My my it sure does look like you spend a whole week on it. Nice job.

[lawrenceSA]

Wow... amazing work! Very, very thorough! Great attention to all of the details!
Thank you very much


My my it sure does look like you spend a whole week on it. Nice job.
Thanks - I wish I had a whole week to do it....the reality is that I have a normal 'day job' and only detail on the weekends (usually 3 out of 4 per month).

This means I am usually busy from 18:00 on a Friday evening to around 22:00, then from a Saturday from 06:00 to 22:00 and then a Sunday from 06:00 to around 16:00. It is a long hard slog to get a full detail like this done in time as it is just me working on the car

As anyone who has done a full detail like this knows it is HARD work, but VERY VERY rewarding, and the finished product always makes the aches and pains and hard work well worth it.:buffing:

:dblthumb2:

[JSou]

One of the top threads I've read. Very realistic in times too. The car is beautiful with the work you've put into it.

[02accordSE]

Those headlights would have made a world of difference. But overall great detail!