Pure White VW Golf 7 Gti - Detailed by Lawrence

[lawrenceSA]

This beauty was brand new... less than 600km's on the clock..... plastics covering most of the interior.....and that new car smell - I reckon if you could bottle it, you'd be a rich man :lol:

So the objective of this detail was slightly different to my 'normal' work....

Despite the owner insisting on not having the vehicle washed by the dealer, it was.... and so the plan was to clean and decontaminate everything, give it a very light polish and protect it. The owner takes good care of his cars and really needed a decent base to work from... unfortunately 9 times out of 10, you won't get that from the dealer.

Due to time constraints, pics are not the most plentiful or best...

The engine bay and interior were untouched.

As you can see the wheel wells needed a clean

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Meeshal%20Golf%207%20Gti/IMG_9703_zpsigdhr78j.jpg

As did the tires, wheels and brake calipers

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Meeshal%20Golf%207%20Gti/IMG_9695_zpsitw5f1tm.jpg

Its important when detailing to work smart not hard. It is for this reason I clean the wheel wells first - so that any gunk that falls down lands on the tire, which gets cleaned next. Any dirt that happens to roll off the tire during cleaning will go onto the wheel, which is cleaned last. Everything only needs to be done once. You save time, energy, product and most importantly are not rubbing dirt over an area more than you need to, thereby minimizing the risk of swirls.

Its the same reason I do the wheels before the paint.... no point cleaning the paint, then potentially splashing dirty water / product residue onto you clean paint, and then having to run a wash mitt (or something) over the paint again to remove it...

This is how the rear wheel looks before

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I then sprayed some APC into the wheel wells, let it dwell a bit, agitated with a Mothers Fender Well Brush and HP rinsed it. The tires were cleaned twice with Valet Pro Billberry Wheel Cleaner and HP rinsed. The wheels were then cleaned using Valet Pro Billberry Wheel Cleaner, HP rinsed and dried. Valet Pro Citrus Tar Remover was then sprayed and the wheel wiped down with a clean MF towel. Valet Pro Dragon's Breath was then used to ensure all the embedded iron contaminants were removed. The wheel was given a final HP rinse, leaving them looking like this.

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Meeshal%20Golf%207%20Gti/dcb95829-5760-42d6-87ed-7400b6a46eee_zpsjglw2xzz.jpg

The process was then repeated on all 4 wheels.

Then it was time to wash the car.

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First I gave the whole car a thorough HP rinse working in a cross hatch pattern making around 3 or 4 passes - the idea is not simply to wet the car, but rather to try and remove as much of the 'loose' dirt as possible - once its on the floor, it can't be used to scratch the paint. Once this was done used a foam cannon and some Valet Pro Advanced Neutral Snow Foam to cover the car with a layer of foam,. You will see that I start from the bottom of the car and work my way up - this helps to ensure that the lower panels are getting clean/fresh foam on them, not the dirty stuff dripping down from above.

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The foam was left to dwell to allow it to 'soften the bond' between the remaining dirt and the paint, allowing you to HP rinse some more dirt off the car. I then sprayed Valet Pro Citrus Prewash via a pump sprayer onto the lower half of the car to help further break down and traffic film build up.... so that when I did then perform a 2 bucket wash, the paint was as cleaner than had I just stared washing.

With the car clean, it was time to decontaminate it.... and yes, it had contamination..... not a huge amount compared to what I typically deal with, but enough that Joe Public would have their false belief - that a new car has perfectly clean, defect free paint - smashed. There were hardly any tar spots, and minimal iron but there was a fair amount of 'other' contaminants that required the use of a fine grade clay mitt to remove.

Once the paint was clean I took measurements which were all healthy (avg 135µ) - so at least no undeclared fix-ups in production, or from the dealer.
Given that the car was so new and had only some light wash marring, I wanted to use something with even less cut than my go-to finishing polish, Menzerna SF4000.... so I used some Menzerna PP Ultra, which has a cut of 2 compared to SF4000's cut of 4. I paired this with a Lake Country White Hybrid on the Flex 3401. Attempting to take any 50/50's proved an exercise in futility....

The B-pillars however, being covered in a softer paint, showed some damage.

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Meeshal%20Golf%207%20Gti/IMG_9723_zps3iyk4u9j.jpg

This is what they looked like after the same combo I was using on the paint.

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Meeshal%20Golf%207%20Gti/IMG_9727_zpswmq2l2ga.jpg

Although not perfect and with some hazing, it was enough of an improvement to not push any further - they will take a beating over time (as all VW's with painted B-pillars do) and the paint needs to remain as thick as possible.

Once the polishing was completed I topped the PP Ultra with some Collinite 915 to really make the paint pop.

All the exterior plastics and rubbers were cleaned using Shield Heavy Duty Vinly and Rubber cleaner and protected using Aerospace 303. The exhaust tips were cleaned using some APC and MF towels, then polished using Meguiars NXT All Metal Polish. The glass was then cleaned using Glossworx Glass cleaner and MF Towels.

Here are a few pictures I took as the owner was collecting and the sun was dissapearing over the horizon.

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Meeshal%20Golf%207%20Gti/IMG_9730_zpsky2dynmf.jpg

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http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd393/polo_playa/Detailing%20-%20Meeshal%20Golf%207%20Gti/20150502_162729_zpsiyltaskn.jpg

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Total time spent = 14 hours

Thanks for looking and as always and comments or questions are welcome.

:hi:

[Kamakaz1961]

Beautiful work!!!

[Sicoupe]

Fantastic work Lawrence!:)

[FrankS]

Beautiful work again Lawrence! :dblthumb2:

Thanks for sharing.

[Loonysup]

Amazing work as always Lawrence. You are a true artist.

Question for you: I used Collinite 915 for the first time this weekend and I absolutely love it. I'm curious what your preferred method of applying it and removing it is?


David

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Top notch mate!

Thanks for sharing.

[lawrenceSA]

Thank you all very much for your kind words :dblthumb2:

@Loonysup - for 915 I take a clean foam applicator pad and get it nice and damp...not dripping wet, just damp.

Then make a swipe in the tin of 915 and start working it onto the paint.... it should spread pretty darn easily and a little goes a long way....

Repeat until I have applied it to the whole car and then once done, go back and buff everything off with a few clean MF towels.

[Aaryn NZ]

Nice one Lawrence. :dblthumb2:

Sharp looking GTi, pleased to read the owner wanted you & you only to touch it! :props:

Beautiful work yet again mate - love the explanations of why you do it the way you do also. Useful info for the less experienced Autogeeks here.

Awesome Lawrence, thanks for sharing.

Aaryn NZ. :dblthumb2:

[lawrenceSA]

Thanks Aaryn...

When I compile the write up's the first place they are posted is my local VW Club forum, with the hope of trying to educate the guys as much as I can, and so there is some info that will obviously be well 'known' among us 'Geekers' but hopefully the less experienced on here will be able to pick up a few tips too.

By the way, I hope you weren't negatively affected by the earthquake bud.

Thanks again for your kind words:dblthumb2:

[Aaryn NZ]

Thanks Aaryn...

When I compile the write up's the first place they are posted is my local VW Club forum, with the hope of trying to educate the guys as much as I can, and so there is some info that will obviously be well 'known' among us 'Geekers' but hopefully the less experienced on here will be able to pick up a few tips too.

By the way, I hope you weren't negatively affected by the earthquake bud.

Thanks again for your kind words:dblthumb2:

Yup! "Each one - teach one". :props:

Not only explaining what order works best but the "why" behind it will have a few "light bulbs" going off I'm sure.

I rather like that GTi, I know white is a bit boring for a detailer to want as a personal car but I really like the GTi in white - would be my pick I think. That one sits a bit high at the moment but once it relaxes a bit she'll be perfect. Are the tints factory there Lawrence or after market?

Earthquakes are dumb! Not a fan at all mate. Apart from scaring the poop out of us - all good, no damage etc. Thanks for checkin' in though Lawrence. :dblthumb2:

Aaryn.

[Loonysup]

Thank you all very much for your kind words :dblthumb2:



@Loonysup - for 915 I take a clean foam applicator pad and get it nice and damp...not dripping wet, just damp.



Then make a swipe in the tin of 915 and start working it onto the paint.... it should spread pretty darn easily and a little goes a long way....



Repeat until I have applied it to the whole car and then once done, go back and buff everything off with a few clean MF towels.


Thanks for the detailed reply. I debated applying it by hand but ended using the DA instead. I'm going to try it your way when I do my wife's car next weekend as I think using the DA used more product than necessary.


David

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[TFTADetail]

White is a tough color to see the results, but you certainly pulled it off.
Great job!

[lawrenceSA]

Thanks guys

[kecko]

Excellent write up! Car looks great.

[emmjay]

Love seeing the new GTI's that you are working with, bit biased here haha.

Great work :D