A shiny red Audi, and a new owner turned into a proper detailer! 2004 Audi S4

This car belongs to a good friend of mine who was interested in learning more about detailing. He has slowly started to collect some detailing supplies per my recommendations, and has adopted the proper 2 bucket method of washing, but now wanted to learn his way around a DA buffer. His car was a good car to learn on because it was kept in pretty good condition, but had enough of the typical defects that you would expect on a 9 year old car, so the difference was very visible after correcting the paint. The car turned out great, and the owner will be putting in an order with me for a polisher of his own so he can keep it looking great for many more years.

Process
Wheels: CG Diablo Gel (4:1) agitated with several brushes, followed by Iron-X
Tires: Tuf Shine Tire Cleaner & Tuf Shine Tire Brush
Wash: CG Citrus Wash and Gloss
Dry: DI Waffle Weave MF Towels
Decontaminate: Iron X (clay not needed)
Tape: 3M Blue Painters Tape
Paint Thickness Readings Taken
Correction: Meguiar's D300/M105 Mix on MF Cutting Pad via Rupes LHR21ES (5.5" pads) & PC7424 (3" pads)
Glaze: CG EZ Creme Glaze
Sealant: Menzerna Power Lock
Final Wipe Down: Optimum Car Wax


During

Wheels and tires were cleaned. Here is the Iron X reacting with the remaining iron deposits after the wheels had been cleaned with CG Diablo Gel. Iron X is a clear liquid that turns purple as it reacts with iron, and then works to safely remove these iron deposits from the surface.

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After the paint was washed and decontaminated with Iron X (no clay was used, as the car passed the 'plastic baggie test' since the owner had clayed it fairly recently), I began testing different polishes and compounds on the hood to determine the best course of correction the paint. Here is the test spot before correction.

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As expected, the Audi paint ended up being quite hard... I started with M205 + Orange Light Cutting Pad and was not pleased with the results, so after a few more tests, I worked my way up to M105/D300 mix (great combo to control the dusting and improve working time of M105!) paired with the MF cutting pads and saw a pretty good reduction in defects and also a very nice finish.

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Door before correction

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and after correction

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50/50 shot of the B Pillar (The owner of the car went around the entire vehicle with the 3" pads as I handled the 5.5" pads... this was a great time saver)

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Here is Matt (the owner of the car) working with the PC7424XP and the 3" pads

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A nearly flawless finish on the C Pillar after polishing

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Evidence of buffer damage was found on the rear driver's side door and quarter panel. There were pigtails (DA damage) and what appeared to be sanding marks all over the place.

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Here is a really bad area

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50/50 shot of the rear driver's side door

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The driver's door had some pretty deep scratches which I did not feel were worth chasing, but you can still see the improvement in this 50/50 shot.

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The tail lights needed some work, too. The right side has not been corrected, you can see the haze due to the swirls and scratches. The right side has been polished and looks great!

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The clear bra was a mess, as usual.

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I was able to clean it up a bit with M205 on a white polishing pad, but it was still pretty dull.

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Exhaust tips had not seen polish since he bought the car a little less than 2 years ago (and who knows if they were ever polished before he bought it). They were very dirty, dull, and oxidized.

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They cleaned up great though!

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This picture shows the left hand exhaust tip and muffler polished and the right side unpolished... this photo does not do it justice. The polished metal looked amazing! It really tied the look of the car together.

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After

I am consistently being blown away by how great red cars look when they are properly detailed. Red seems to be just as reflective as black, however the vibrant color just adds to the dripping wet effect of the deep, glossy finish the paint now has. I found myself staring at the car as I walked around it to snap a few after shots.

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I had planned on doing a photo shoot with the car when we were completed, so we drove to a near by location that the owner had in mind. Just as I finished setting up my lighting, it started to rain... so I got 2 good shots in before we had to grab all of my gear and hop back into the car.... at least I got to see how well the water beaded on the paint!

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As always, thanks for looking! Comments are greatly appreciated!

Wow Zach cool story!

That car looks great for its age for sure. That's a very wet looking red! As always great job:dblthumb2:

Very nice job!

Great job! what did you use on the muffler tips?

The car looks great. I'm detailing a Dolphin Grey S4 this weekend and I'd like to know how you polished those tips up too.

Nice work! :xyxthumbs:

That red paint looks wet!

Like always, fantastic work:)

very nice work!

I have a side question for you if you don't mind.

Do you find that when you have to inspect the car outside (when there are no garage) brinkmann maxfire light does the job really well? I'm deciding whether to purchase one or not since I cannot see swirls sometimes with my 1000W halogen lights or in the sun

Very nice indeed! Great work.

Damn, Zach, every car you work on and every picture you take all look absolutely perfect, pristine... I can't think of any other words, lol. Great job.