2014 Audi A6 - exterior detail - nasty holograms

[lane5515]

What I thought was going to be an easy exterior only detail turned into one of the more difficult turn arounds to perform. This Audi is owned by a coworker of mine who was looking to get the holograms removed that were present when he purchased the vehicle and bring back the shine with some protection.

We discussed his expectations and agreed upon a thorough exterior only cleaning and one step polish and sealant. He told me that the car will continue to see automatic car washes so a full correction wasn't necessary. I told him the holograms will be removed along with some other deep scratches and scuffs prior to the AIO polishing step.

Here are some pictures of the car upon delivery



The front and mirrors were covered in bugs



Here are some shots of the paint condition upon delivery



Nasty buffer trails





Bad scratches and scuffs





The front fender looked gray compared to the door. After taking PTG readings it ranged from 210 to over 400 microns!! This fender had definitely been repainted. When I put the lights on it you could see the sanding marks.



I took PTG readings on the rest of the car and found the passenger doors were also very high - 200 to 500+ microns

The clearcoat was also popping by the top chrome moldings which wasn't visible until I put the LED lights on that area. The hood, roof and rest of the car had PTG readings around 125 microns

I started the process by cleaning the wheels and tires. I ended up using Megs Wheel Brightener, Super Degreaser, Tar X and Iron X along with Wheel Woolies and my new MicroFiber Madness wheel mitt to clean. After the initial cleaning they were sprayed with CarPro HydroFoam to seal. Tires were dressed with CarPro Perl 1:1

Before:




After:





The rest of the car was washed with Optimum Car Wash and Adam's wash pad. PoorBoys Bug Squash aided in cleaning the bugs. After the initial wash, Iron X and Tar X were used to decontaminate the paint.

Now is when it got interesting... I rinsed the car and began to clay with a NanoSkin Fine Towel - this didn't get me anywhere. I ended up using a medium grade NanoSkin Wash Mitt, Pinnacle Clay and NanoSkin sponges to tackle the overspray and contaminants that covered the entire vehicle. This was by far the hardest clay job I had ever performed.

The car was then dried using my MasterBlaster and Uber drying towel.

Time to correct some holograms.

I used my Rupes 15 MKII, GG Boss MF pads and Menz FG400

50/50 shot of one of the doors



After tackling the worst part of the job I completed several test spots and settled on HD Speed using my Rupes 15 MKII, Rupes Mini and Buff and Shine Orange foam pads. This was my first time using HD Speed and I ended up really liking it. Menzerna PowerLock+ was applied as the LSP.

Completed Pics













Thanks for looking. All comments, suggestions and other feedback is appreciated!

[coles_paint_correction]

Wow, great turnaround on that audi!
The buffer trails/holograms were terrible on that car, surprised on how many cars leave the body shop/inexperienced detailers.

[Trip]

Very nice

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Incredible transformation bringing that black Audi back to life. Nicely done.

Thanks for sharing.

[lawrenceSA]

Lovely turn around - thanks for sharing

[emmjay]

That is a great save! Interested to see how long powerlock lasts on top of speed as I have both products in storage too.

Just need some clarity - did you use FG400 and MF pads on all panels or just the ones you pointed out - and then Speed all over?

Or was it FG400 for cutting and Speed for polishing.

[idriveblackcars]

great results!

[precisionmobile85]

Wow that paint was beat upon delivery to you. Great transformation. Looks awesome!

[Setec Astronomy]

Great 50/50 on that door.

[ResQRy]

Superb job! Your co-worker must have been thrilled. Love the last pic.