love bug in need of some love

[House of Wax]

Just a quick little background......I'm a complete amateur who's lurked here for years and just took care of our own vehicles. Over the past couple of months I've tossed around the idea of getting into doing some jobs on the side. I've got a good job, so I have no intentions of a full time gig, but I do really enjoy detailing and have been thinking it'd be a nice change of pace to pick up some detailing jobs as opposed to just working O.T. at my current job. I am nowhere near making a decision on this, but figured in the mean time I'd like to do some work for people i know to become better all around at every process and start building up a "resume" so to speak.

I picked up my mother in law's VW Beetle because I knew she doesn't take care of it. I was right.....it was trashed. I was completely hesitant to post this here 1) Because it's a little intimidating to say the least considering the talent that usually posts and 2) the finished product wasn't even up to my standards. Figured the only way to get better at everything including showing off the work is to just dive in and start doing it.


Products/process:

Washed with Optimum car wash using 2BM and lambswool wash mitt
Clayed with Meguiars clay using ONR for lube

All polish/sealant steps were done with a PC and various Lake Country pads

Meguiars 105/yellow cutting pad
Menzerna Final Polish/white pad
Poorboy's World Black Hole Glaze/black pad
Collinite 845/red pad

Interior was cleaned with Simple Green and then topped with Aerospace 303

Glass was cleaned with Stoner's

All interior microfibers were just random towels and the exterior ones were a variety of Pakshak towels.

On to some pictures.....


How I brought the car home:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_5949.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_5949.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_5953.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_5953.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_5954.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_5954.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_5956.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_5956.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_5959.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_5959.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_5961.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_5961.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_5963.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_5963.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_5979.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_5979.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_5985.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_5985.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_5987.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_5987.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_5989.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_5989.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_5992.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_5992.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_5993.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_5993.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_5996.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_5996.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6000.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6000.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6030.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6030.jpg.html)

[House of Wax]

After wash and clay (the paint literally felt like fine grit sandpaper all over the entire car. God bless clay bars):

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6043.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6043.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6061.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6061.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6065.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6065.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6066.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6066.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6069.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6069.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6072.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6072.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6083.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6083.jpg.html)



I won't plaster all of the defect pictures I have, but the whole car top to bottom looked like these pictures.


Here's a couple of bad 50/50 shots. I need to keep working on how to capture these shots. The difference was much more drastic in person

Hood
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6092.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6092.jpg.html)

Driver's side door
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6096.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6096.jpg.html)

[House of Wax]

And finally some after shots. This is where I got disappointed with the project. Due to some things popping up through the weekend that took up more of my time than I intended, I flat out ran out of time to get the interior done the way I wanted to and to get the after shots including the halogen shots to show the improvements made. I literally could've spent most of a day on the interior it was so bad. Anywho, it does look better so I decided to post everything up anyway:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6104.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6104.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6105.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6105.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6106.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6106.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6107.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6107.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6108.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6108.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6109.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6109.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6111.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6111.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6112.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6112.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6113.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6113.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6114.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6114.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6115.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6115.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6116.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6116.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6117.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6117.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6121.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6121.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6124.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6124.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6126.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6126.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6127.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6127.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/hoamskilet/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6130.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/media/Bug%20Detail/IMG_6130.jpg.html)

[House of Wax]

Some final thoughts on the project:

Even though it didn't turn out as well as I was intending, I'm still glad I did it. It was in by far the worst shape of any car I've ever done. I actually just kind stared at it for awhile after I got home trying to decide where to begin lol.

As far as the defect removal goes, I think I was really in need of a more aggressive type of pad. It was the first time I had ever used Meguiars 105 and the yellow pad had the most cut of anything I currently have. I went over everything twice with that combo and while it took out a lot of defects, I still didn't get it to where I wanted it. I picked up a Dewalt rotary earlier this summer because I wanted to add it to my arsenal for use on our boat and eventually cars. I figured I gotta bite the bullet and try it sometime so I busted it out on this car. I didn't end up using it long though because the pads I had bought for it were intended to be used on our boat (i haven't gotten around to that, so the pads were still new) and the size of the pads just proved to be too awkward on the small curved panels of this car. I'm really glad I tried it out though because I didn't mess anything up, I could tell the cut on the areas I used it were more effective than the PC, and I'm really interested in using if more due to it being more quiet/smoother than the PC.


I really need to work on the photography skills to better portray all the work. All in all though, it was a good experience. Bringing it back to my mother in law and seeing her almost in tears sure made the work all that much more worthwhile.


Thanks for checking my thread out. I hope none of it got too boring or long winded. If anyone has any constructive criticism or comments, please share.

[House of Wax]

Oh, and if anyone is interested in seen the rest of the pictures, here's a link for a slideshow with them all:

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/hoamskilet/slideshow/Bug%20Detail

[Chris@AutoCleanse]

Excellent work for an amateur. Nice turnaround. Car looks 100% better. Thanks for posting and sharing the pictures as it takes a lot of time to create a thread with photos and captions.

[kevincwelch]

Don't be so modest, man. I'm a weekend warrior who is just learning the ropes. Your job looks great!

[House of Wax]

Thanks for the kind words guys

[Superman0440]

great save

[BradsDetailing]

Awesome job

Although I would of removed the bears flag and license plate frame and replaced them with packers ones lol

[House of Wax]

If it was up to me they would have been in the garbage lol

[noslef]

That's a complete turnaround from when you first got it and it's a tougher car to correct for a beginner because there aren't that many flat panels. You did a great job!

[vet]

Looks good to me.

[sharpreflection]

Nice job! Looks very good!

[House of Wax]

Thanks guys!