Creative Car Detailing Ford Focus ST detailed

[Deranged_9n3]

Shortly after Nando ( Uncle Nunda ) bought his Focus ST he got in contact with me to get it detailed. Upon arrival I was shocked to see the actual condition of the paint :cry: :cry: Seems like the car had been washed at the corner wash for a "R55 Fullhouse" all of it's life. I knew that purchasing a car in this condition can't make anyone too excited on their "newly" purchased vehicle. We had decided on a 2-step correction, simply because I knew that the paint would be dull/hazy after all the compounding that's about to go in on this detail. Nando agreed on a 2-step and also asked me to have a look at the headlights that seemed dull ( I would later confirm that it had previously been restored, and a very poor attempt to say the least )

Upon Arival
http://i.imgur.com/OxDnNtt.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/YJwuerv.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/DpDy2Ni.jpg

There you can clearly see the dull headlights and the BAD condition the paint was in. As always, I started off with the interior of the car. It was extremely clean so I did not spend much time here. I vacuumed the car, compressed air blowout, clean and conditioned the leather and then wiped the plastic trim clean. Next up was the wheels and exhaust tips.

Wheels Before
http://i.imgur.com/V18yLPH.jpg

During
http://i.imgur.com/5Oc9xj0.jpg

After
http://i.imgur.com/A3edUOu.jpg

I cleaned the wheels and wheel arches with various brushes, APC, VP Bilberry WC, IronX and HP washer. The tires got dressed later on in the process

Exhaust Tip Before
http://i.imgur.com/X9ZWuNv.jpg

After picture will be displayed later on :grin:

Next up was the engine bay. APC, Engine degreaser, various brushes and HP washer had been used to clean the bay

Engine Bay Before
http://i.imgur.com/34Ss2EG.jpg

After
http://i.imgur.com/mzaB7gG.jpg

Next up on the list was the headlights. I had noticed some sanding marks left behind on the lights, and also sanding marks on the bumper at the driver side :mad: :mad: :deadhorse: :deadhorse:

Headlights Before
http://i.imgur.com/opwDj5W.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/H4RnBVQ.jpg

PS. Notice sanding marks below headlight

http://i.imgur.com/clopljU.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/oVHNflX.jpg

After pictures will be shown with the after pics :grin:

Finally the car got washed, pre-wash, foam, 2BM wash, rinsed, dried, IronX, rinsed, dried and finally clayed. Now that I had a clean surface to work with I started doing some test spots and quickly confirmed that FG400 on orange cutting pads would be the combo used on this paint.

50:50
http://i.imgur.com/Nq9BBce.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/gUx92n5.jpg

Rear Bumper Before with Phone flashlight
http://i.imgur.com/jQGFCCB.jpg

After
http://i.imgur.com/Xhf2Lj6.jpg

Mirror Cover Before
http://i.imgur.com/aLTitZi.jpg

After
http://i.imgur.com/FAONF4A.jpg

All of these were taken after cutting only. I then followed up with PF2500 on green polishing pads and finally applied a coat of Collonite #845 tto leave the paint with a dripping wet finish. I cleaned the glass, treated all the rubbers and plastics, dressed the wheels etc. before taking the car out for a few pics.

After
http://i.imgur.com/klq4kh4.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/BuJd71X.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/rxw6AjF.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/1apPg0O.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ZtUlBLu.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ZRKrPvr.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/6BqRno7.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/4Y1GcpU.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/V1QUYkd.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/K6uJxBe.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/PhdCQ9k.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/IuGwEcL.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/xnDwSVD.jpg

Headlights
http://i.imgur.com/W6AwuTU.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/F9uR2qU.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/BC7aafm.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/nhXw2nT.jpg

Reflections
http://i.imgur.com/MHi5A6b.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/b4ddQMV.jpg

For good measure, this was the BEFORE
http://i.imgur.com/DpDy2Ni.jpg

Thanx for watching :grin:

[Mike Phillips]

Now that's a dramatic before and after transformation and you did a great job of capturing how horrible the paint condition was before you saved it.

Nice work!


:dblthumb2:

[EVOlved]

Nice save!! Definitely had to put in some hard work on that one.

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Very nice work! I love the second to last picture. :xyxthumbs:

[AZ Mike]

Beautiful work.

[Deranged_9n3]

Thanx for all the positive replies so far guys. Truly appreciate it, esp coming from the big names on here