'98 Corolla - Detailed by Lawrence

[lawrenceSA]

So this past weekend I detailed a '98 corolla.

The paint was in very poor condition, with loads of swirl marks, some really deep RIDS and a few water spots and etching marks and was generally very dull in appearance.

some before shots.







First up as always were the wheels.
These were rinsed using a HP washer and then sprayed with Turtle Wax Wheel cleaner which was left to dwell and was then agitated using various brushes. The wheels were then rinsed, dried, polished with Meguiars NXT All Metal Polish and given a coat of Smartwax Rimwax and the tires dressed with Meguiars Endurance Tire gel.
Before



During

After



Total time spent on wheels = 1h30

Then the car was washed.
Firstly APC was sprayed around all the emblems, trim and petrol cap, left to dwell and then agitated with a brush.
The car was then foamed using a combination of APC (to help strip any existing wax - not that their seemed to be any) and Maxi suds
Washing was done using the 2 bucket method with a chenille wash mitt and Meguiars Gold Class Shampoo
Rinsed and dried







You can clearly see the lack of beading (and therefore the lack of any existing wax) in this shot

Looking cleaner

Total time spent washing/drying = 0h35

Next up was claying
For this car I used the Meguiars clay that comes with their smooth clay kit, and some Meguiars QD as lube.


Total time spent claying = 1h00

[lawrenceSA]

This then revealed the true condition of the paint







Next up was the cut and polish
Cut using Menzerna PF2500 on an Orange LC pad on setting 5.5
Polished using Menzerna SF4000 on a Green LC pad on setting 4
Before cut

After cut

Total time spent cutting and polishing = 4h40

I then had to give it another quick wash to remove all the polishing dust etc. I wonder what my neighbors must have thought seeing me with the HP washer and foam lance attacking the car at 22:00 on Sat evening :lol:

Total time spent washing/drying = 0h45

Waxing
Prior to waxing the car wax glazed using Chemical Guys Wet Mirror Finish
Waxing was taken car of with my trusty Collinite #845
Total time spent glazing/waxing = 1h45

Interior
Vacuumed and all trim treated with SmartWax Smart Dressing

Total time spent on interior = 1h00

Onto the after shots....

Before

After




And some reflection shots...






Total time for detail =11:15

Thanks for looking

[vet]

Wow! Brought back from the dead!

[lawrenceSA]

Thanks vet - appreciate the comment!

[ForceField]

You do realize you're not supposed to get the car repainted right?

And as long as you got it repainted, why not paint the bumpers too?

Next time, just wash and wax ok? You don't expect to stay in business repainting all the cars for the same cost as a detail do you?

[lawrenceSA]

You do realize you're not supposed to get the car repainted right?

And as long as you got it repainted, why not paint the bumpers too?

Next time, just wash and wax ok? You don't expect to stay in business repainting all the cars for the same cost as a detail do you?

[TheCougarGuy]

Holy crap!

[Father87]

amazing, I so prefer these details of real DD cars over exotics. any more pics of after polishing but before wax? thanks for all the step by step pics!

[lawrenceSA]

amazing, I so prefer these details of real DD cars over exotics. any more pics of after polishing but before wax? thanks for all the step by step pics!

Thanks Father87

Unfortunately no other pics for no reason other than:

1. My photography skills and camera leave a lot to be desired, but this is an area I am looking into
2. the lighting in my garage is not really that great (again an area I need to upgrade ASAP) and so with me finishing the polishing late in the evening the lighting wasn't great to get some 'before wax' pics.

With this being a hobby (I only do 1 detail like this a weekend) and not a full time business, I am still getting into it, and as such am still ironing out my routine and sometimes forget when I need to take pics

[fahoumh]

First thought is

You did an amazing job.