Mobile-Image : Ingolstadt's finest...

[Carn]

Just a quick one this time around as I didn't want to be spending too much of the long weekend working

My client at the Michelangelo took delivery of a nearly new Audi R8 V10 in artic white. With a little over 5000km on the clock, I figured it couldn't be in that bad shape...


No real befores as the car wasn't excessively dirty. The usual road film and grime was the order of the day and I got started much the same as I always do.

Wheels, tires and arches were cleaned with Sonax and 5:1 APC before being rinsed. The engine bay was next, with the client asking for a once over considering it is visible and was looking a little dusty...




The engine was cleaned with 5:1 APC and rinsed at low pressure before being left to idle for a few minutes while getting the wash equipment ready.

Wash stage was a typical 2 bucket affair which followed after a foam and rinse with CG's Citrus Wash Clear. After rinsing and prior to washing I tool care of the small details like panel gaps, vents, tailpipes, etc



Rear spoiler was also raised to clean properly...



With all the nooks and crannies cleaned the car was re-rinsed before being washed and rinsed again. Claying followed and was taken care of by Smartwax Smartclay before I put my new Carpro Iron X (Iron Cut) to the test.

Having clayed the surface and found very little in the way of bonded contaminants, I wasn't expecting the Iron X to do much, if anything at all.

Following the instructions I lightly misted all the panels and left the product to dwell for a few moments while I cleaned and rinsed out my buckets and brushes.

After around 6 or 7 minutes I was greeted by this...







The rear end showed more contamination than the front and horizontal surfaces pictured below





It was really interesting to see how many iron particles were dissolved by the Iron X, despite having clayed the car before hand. The product definately seems to offer a further step in paintwork decontamination and I look forward to using it more in the future, especially on older, more neglected vehicles!


With the cleaning stage completed the car was rinsed once again before being dried and parked for the paint correction step...

With the car being new, I figured it wouldn't be in too bad a shape. With the paintwork properly cleaned however, the surface was noticeably dull and lifeless and covered in nasty swirls!

Couple of the defects I managed to capture from around the car...

















As usual I started off by trying to find a suitable combo to knock back the swirls and restore gloss and clarity to the paintwork.

Once again, I had some new products to try out so I got started with some of Optimum's new liquid Hyper Polish on a yellow 3M polishing pad.



Aside from knocking back some of the lighter defects, this combo didn't perform all that well. I switched over to a green 3M compounding pad with the same polish which delivered marginally better results, but still not decent enough to use on the whole car. With the polish being new to me, and not wanting to waste much more time I put the lack of results down to a lack of experience with the product (to be tried again at a later stage).

Next up I tried the traditional Menz 106FA on a yellow pad, followed by a green pad, then SIP on yellow and finally SIP on green, which after 2 passes yielded around 80-90% correction. With the paint laughing off almost everything I threw at it up until this point, I elected to go the full 2 stage polish route and got stuck in compounding the car with a combination of Menzerna S100 and my remaining 3M FCP.

Having worked my way around the car with the compounds, I set about refining the finish with a combination of SIP and 106FA on yellow 3M pads.

A few pics from around the car during the correction stages...















Some final post correction pics before I packed it in for the day at a little after 1:30am on Friday morning (thankfully Friday was a holiday )
















After sleeping in a little on Saturday, followed by a trip out to Centurion to meet Billy and have some breakfast with family, I returned to the towers to finish off the car.

Due to the heavy polishing there was a fair amount of polishing dust on the car, which necessitated the traditional post polishing wash and rinse. With the car dried I set about dressing the engine bay using a combination of 303 for the plastics, and CG's Fade 2 Black for all the exposed hoses and cabling.

Tires were treated to Wheelwax Extreme Black and the few unpainted exterior plastic trim bits were given a once over with Satin Prot.

When it came time to pick an LSP I was faced with a few choices. Typically I would opt for the Werkstat Acrylic duo of Prime and Jett, but I once again had some new products to try out. On the menu was Aquartz Reload and their nano Sealant, Menzerna's new Powerlock synthetic sealant, or some Optimum Poli Seal I got in to play with.

At the end of the day I decided to give the Powerlock a go and here are some of the results!

Couple of indoor shots...












Arty farty one



With there still being sufficient daylight available I took the car down the road to a quiet spot for some final photo's...

Completed wheels and tires







Engine bay shot (I forgot to take some inside when I finished up!)



Some full shots of the complete car...












Some semi close-up pics































And finally a few close ups and reflection shots...









Carbon side blades came out really well!











Final shot...



With a touch over 19 hours logged on this amazing machine, I really think she came out beautifully!


As always thanks for looking

[Lambchop]

Thanks for polishing my new car Dave
You did a awesome Job

[Carn]

(29-09-2010 08:59 PM)Lambchop Wrote:  Thanks for polishing my new car Dave
You did a awesome Job

You're an engine and a half short ol pal

[calypso]

Great work as always

[Rayner]

Nice work there David. Love the finish. Any comments on your experience with the Powerlock compared to your tried and tested werkstad?

[Woodie]

Fantastic work on a fantastic car Dave. The white looks really glossy and wet - combination of professional surface prep and a good sealant.

Besides the magic trick of dissolved iron particles turning purple with the application of IronX, was there any visible or tactile difference in the surface after applying this product?

I glad you got some decent after shots outdoors, because the lighting in the basement wasn't doing the after pics any justice.

[Wayno]

WOW, absolutely AWESOME!!!!! GREAT work once again David...... and damn, thats a sexy car.....

[Jughead]

Awesome work on a monster of a vehicle... Wow !!!

... Are those standard rims?

[Vincent]

Yowzer Man Dave thats unreal. Your work never ceases to amaze me.
I watched the Top Gear test on this car and Mr Clarkson rates this machine very highly.
His only draw back on the car was that it was too good... and not fun to throw around.

Great Great Work.
and how do you rate the PowerLock against the Werkstat?

[PaulVW]

As always Dave - Awesome work on an awesome car!

I am always amazed by the paint defects on such a fairly new car.

Well done!

[Delta]

Great work Dave, thanks for sharing.
would the paint be ceramiclear?

[Carn]

Thanks gents, appreciate the comments

(30-09-2010 07:19 AM)Rayner Wrote:  Any comments on your experience with the Powerlock compared to your tried and tested werkstad?

(30-09-2010 09:16 AM)Vincent Wrote:  ...and how do you rate the PowerLock against the Werkstat?

In terms of application it is faster because the Powerlock is a single step product (ie no need for a base layer and subsequent topping with another product). Removal is easy as can be and the residue really came off with almost no effort at all.

The surface feels slicker than with the Werkstat and is silky smooth....I love it!

Visually they are both similar and offer crisp, sharp refelctions. The Powerlock does seem to have a slightly 'wetter' look, whereas the Werkstat seems more crisp and reflective...It's difficult to say for certain without seeing both side by side in the same conditions, but those are my immediate impressions based on this initial application

(30-09-2010 07:37 AM)Woodie Wrote:  Fantastic work on a fantastic car Dave. The white looks really glossy and wet - combination of professional surface prep and a good sealant.

Besides the magic trick of dissolved iron particles turning purple with the application of IronX, was there any visible or tactile difference in the surface after applying this product?

I glad you got some decent after shots outdoors, because the lighting in the basement wasn't doing the after pics any justice.

Sean nothing I could 'see' or 'feel' with my bare hands. Perhaps running my fingers over the surface wrapped in cellophane may have yielded some tangible differences, but nothing I could distinctly notice after the application.

With the car being white I suspect that this additional step would help to alleviate the inevitable rust spots that typically appear as evidence of embedded iron particles.

Outdoor shots are always nice. The lighting in the underground wash bay is pretty poor indeed!

(30-09-2010 12:26 PM)Delta Wrote:  Great work Dave, thanks for sharing.
would the paint be ceramiclear?

I can't say for sure as I have no way of telling what specific paint was used, but judging by the hardness and products required to correct the paint I would hazzard a guess and say yes.

TOGWT posted an interesting piece a few weeks back highlighting the differences in hardness, etc. I will see if I can dig it out and post it here for you

[springbok]

That Powerlock sealant has given a magnificent finish.
Nice job BTW

[onyx]

Nice work Dave!

I'm pretty impressed with the 'gunk' that the Iron Cut managed to dissolve/lift

[Rayner]

Hi David.

Is there any pricing available on the Iron x and Menzerna Powerlock synthetic sealant?

[Carn]

Thanks again gents!

@ Rayner, not really as I only got in some samples. I paid around R400 and R580 respectively for the sample bottles.

[Rich]

Nice... Nice. 100% for write up!, 99% on Pictures... lost 1% because there was a shortage of pic's!!! RESPECT D!!! Did sound in one last week... ok cars, but still a cousin of the Golf 1

[Carn]

(13-10-2010 04:51 PM)Rich Wrote:  Nice... Nice. 100% for write up!, 99% on Pictures... lost 1% because there was a shortage of pic's!!! RESPECT D!!! Did sound in one last week... ok cars, but still a cousin of the Golf 1

Thanks bud...

You do know the GTR has cousin as well eh?

1 x Nissan Chomp esse

[Vincent]

Thats like saying the worst and most unreliable cars in the world come from France but at the same time the Worlds best motoring Achievment the Bugatti Veyron also hails from France.

[Rich]

(13-10-2010 06:45 PM)Carn Wrote:  

(13-10-2010 04:51 PM)Rich Wrote:  Nice... Nice. 100% for write up!, 99% on Pictures... lost 1% because there was a shortage of pic's!!! RESPECT D!!! Did sound in one last week... ok cars, but still a cousin of the Golf 1

Thanks bud...

You do know the GTR has cousin as well eh?

1 x Nissan Chomp esse

AISH!!! Like Ferrari and Fart, sorry, I meant Fiat