Limestone Grey VW Golf 7 Gti - Detailed by Lawrence

[lawrenceSA]

This was a special detail for me.... Not only was it the 100th full detail I have done, but I got to do it on a car I love.

This particular one is still new with less than 6000 km on the clock. The car was dirty when it arrived, but once cleaned the paint was in fairly decent shape, but definitely needed attention. There were not many swirls, but there was some light wash marring, and unfortunately quite a bit of water spots on the bonnet and roof. Contamination was high given the age of the vehicle and the wheels were swirled quite badly, as were the b-pillars.

As always I start with the dirty stuff and progressively work clean....

Engine Bay
Clean with Cyclo APC and various brushes and MF towels. Blown dry and protected with Aerospace 303

Before



After



Before



After



Arches
-HP rinse
-Clean with Cyclo APC using a Mothers Fenderwell Brush
-HP rinse
-Dressed with Aerospace 303

Tires
-Clean tires with Valet Pro Billbery Wheel Cleaner @ 1:6 and a Mothers Tire brush.
-HP rinse
-Repeat tire cleaning
-HP rinse
-Dressed with 2 coats of Optimum Tire Sheen 12 hours apart

Wheels
-HP rinse
-VP Bilberry Wheel Cleaner @ 1:6, Daytona and Daytona Jnr brushes and Valet Pro Boars Hair Brushes
-HP rinse
-Dry
-Remove tar using VP Citrus Tar Remover
-Spray with APC and HP Rinse
-Dry
-Remove bonded and embedded ferrous contaminants on wheels and brake calipers with Autofinesse Iron Out, Daytona (big and small) brushes and Valet Pro Boars Hair Brushes
-HP Rinse + flood rinse
-Dry
-Polished with Meznerna FG400 and a MF applicator by hand
-Protected with Collinite #845

Before



Before correction



After correction



Completed



Door/Boot Jamb/Petrol Flap
-HP rinse
-Clean with Cyclo APC and Valet Pro Boars Hair Brushes
-HP rinse
-Autofinesse Tripple

How the rest of the car looked













Wash
-HP rinse



-Gyeon Q2M Foam - mixed at 1:5 (1000ml / (5+1) = 167ml foam + 833ml warm water) / MTM Hydro / Karcher K7 .







-HP Rinse
-Un-named sample shampoo
-2 Buckets
-Grit Guard
-4 x Lambswool Wash Mitts
-HP rinse
-Flood rinse
-ONR at QD ratio
-Waffle weave drying towels

Decontamination
-Shield Heavy Duty Clay / ONR

Paint correction
Paint Readings
-109µ to 164µ
Bumpers
-Flex 3401
-5" Lake Country Hybrid White / Menzerna 3-in-1
Door handles
-Meguiars Ultimate Compound / MF applicator
B-pillars
-Shield DA
-Menzerna PF2300
-4.5"Lake Country White
-Menzerna SF4000
-4.5"Lake Country Grey

Before



After



Plastic section around sunroof
-Flex 3401
-5" Lake Country Hybrid White / Menzerna 3-in-1
Remainder of vehicle
-Flex 3401
-6.5" and 5" Lake Country Hybrid White / Menzerna SF4000

Before



After



Before



During



After


Inspection/Pre-Sealant Cleanse
-Gyeon Prep
Tailights
-Flex 3401
-Menzerna PF2300
-5"Lake Country Hybrid White

Protection
-Menzerna Powerlock
-2 Coats Chemical Guys Pete's 53

Glass
-Shield Heavy Duty Clay / ONR
-Glossworx Glass Cleaner
-Wynns C-Thru

Badges
-Autofinesse Tripple
-Cotton buds

Door rubbers, window rubbers, exterior plastic trim
- Cleaned using Shield Heavy Duty Vinyl and Rubber Cleaner
- Protected using Aerospace 303

Before



After



Interior
-Blower
-Autofinesse Spritz
-Autofinesse Hide
-Collinite #855
-Vacuum (Flex)

Badges
-Autofinesse Tripple
-Cotton buds

Exhaust Tips
-Menzerna Polishing Cream

Before



After



Finished pics





































Total time spent = 27 hours

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

:hi:

[FrankS]

Nice work Lawrence!

[Sicoupe]

Amazing work again Lawrence! Your work and pics are fantastic my friend

[noslef]

Great work as usual!

[emmjay]

Great looking car!!

I love this post as it is the same car that I just did haha. Just beautiful, Limestone was my original order but got delayed.

Why did you tape up the edges on the hood if you don't mind me asking? I guess this is another one of those small areas I mentioned in my post. Did you also tape the panels above the windows?

Once you remove the tape, do you polish the previously taped up areas by hand and a applicator pad?

One last thing, For the exhausts, do you just use a mf applicator and scrub? Including the insides? I was a bit afraid of going into the exhausts, and even the outside would not clean as well. I used meguiars NXT metal polish and white terry cloth applicator pad.

Apologies for all the questions, as this is the very car I worked on I feel you are the best person to ask


Thanks

[emmjay]

The small thin sections I was talking about in my post, are the 2 inch thin strip on the bottom of the front bumper, 2 inch strip on the rear bumper above the sensors. Did you do this by hand as you suggested?

[tenblade2001]

another great job

[lawrenceSA]

Nice work Lawrence!

Amazing work again Lawrence! Your work and pics are fantastic my friend

Great work as usual!

Thank you all very much

Why did you tape up the edges on the hood if you don't mind me asking?

The picture doesn't show it that well, but as you know, the tape running along the right side of this pic is sitting on what is a very sharp body line.

When painted it seems logical to me that the paint would, when still fluid, succumb to gravity and thus run off the ridge, leaving you with less to work with.

Then if you think about the fact that you have x work being done (a combo of machine power, abrasive, pad, pressure being used, machine speed etc) over the whole pad surface area when polishing a flat panel with all the pad face in contact with the paint, then if you had to polish over that raised body line, the working area decreases dramatically, thereby increasing the 'work' being done.

In other words, you will abrade paint off at a quicker rate over that sharp area.recently I held a little demo day for some members of a local car club and used a BMW bonnet to mess around on - it too has a raised body line on the bonnet (hood to you guys)... although not as pronounced. I intentionally tried to burn through the edge to show them what would happen if you spent time running the polisher over such a place...

It happened a lot quicker than I thought it would, using both the Flex 3401 and a normal free floating spindle DA and so I try to avoid polishing over them. I would rather be safe than sorry....

Did you also tape the panels above the windows?

Yes. As above, wherever there are sharp edges I tape off. It adds some time to the process, and when using lighter cut polishes, perhaps it borders on the AR side of things.... but that it is the work I do. Try to get the car looking as good as I can while leaving as much paint as I can everywhere.

Once you remove the tape, do you polish the previously taped up areas by hand and a applicator pad?

I try to run the tape around 1mm from the edge into the panel I am polishing - at this width I think it becomes very difficult to see any below surface defects as the light tends to shine 'brightly' off the sharp edge, washing out anything you might otherwise have seen.

So generally speaking I think having paint there is more important to me than have 100% perfect paint on a daily driver.
But as with every detail, you have to let the paint guide you. If I was to tape off and noticed a distinct line after polishing that detracted from the look, then I would have to adjust my method to obtain the desired result, and may have to polish that area.

One last thing, For the exhausts, do you just use a mf applicator and scrub? Including the insides? I was a bit afraid of going into the exhausts, and even the outside would not clean as well. I used meguiars NXT metal polish and white terry cloth applicator pad.

I should have actually included more detail in that section. What I left out was that I first sprayed some APC onto the outside and inside of the tips, let it dwell a bit, then agitated the inside with an old soft bristled toothbrush. Then I used an old *but clean* MF Towel to wipe out that dirt residue.

Repeat if need be until they are clean. That way when you begin the polishing process, you have reduced the risk of grinding hard stuff back into the exhaust which should also help improve the finish.

Apologies for all the questions, as this is the very car I worked on I feel you are the best person to ask

You don't have to apologise for asking questions - it is how we all learn.

The small thin sections I was talking about in my post, are the 2 inch thin strip on the bottom of the front bumper, 2 inch strip on the rear bumper above the sensors. Did you do this by hand as you suggested?

Yes I did these by hand

[emmjay]

Thank you so much for the replies!! I really appreciate it man!

This gives a better idea of what I did wrong and what to avoid in the future.

You're the best

[Aaryn NZ]

Bravo Lawrence!

Nice GTi for number 100. I'd be happy to have that in my garage.

I know, a bit of a broken record but I'm gonna say it anyway! Yet again your attention to detail is outstanding Lawrence, you put the "detail" in detailing! Kinda funny but you can tell you don't do this for the money, quite clear to see you do this because you love doing it - easy to see that in the quality of the work you produce Lawrence!

Thank you for another fantastic post mate. Thoroughly enjoyed reading this. Absolutely love the pics looking down the sides, mirror image's . . . stunning!

Aaryn NZ.