Detailing the new ride

[Woodie]

The weekend couldn't come quickly enough for me. I was itching to get stuck into the new ride. Unfortunately my wife had other plans and told me that she had confirmed our attendance at a braai with some friends at 4pm. This seriously compromised the time available and the attention to detail. That being said, I still had several hours and an enthusiastic Siya, so there was no holding back.

Due to the time constraints, I decided to tackle the interior on Friday evening, so that the available time on Saturday could be spent on the exterior. We experimented with several products combinations (Meguiars Ultimate Compound, Meguiars M105, Meguiars M205 & Menzerna SIP)on the paintwork before settling on the one that provided the best results under the circumstances.

Interior
Carpets were brushed and vacuumed
All interior surfaces, excluding seats, were wiped down with a MF and a very weak solution of APC
Cleaned surfaces were then treated with 303 Protectant - applied with a foam applicator, left to dry and then buffed off with a clean MF
Seats were treated with the Meguiars Aloe 2-step product - Step 1 = Leather Cleaner and Step 2 = Leather Conditioner

Engine
Engine bay wasn't very dirty, so it was just wiped down with a MF and APC
Treated with Meguiars Hyper Dressing at 3:1 dilution and left overnight

Wheels & Tyres
Wheel wells cleaned with APC and the Mothers Fender Brush
Wheels cleaned with Sonax Xtreme Effect Wheel Cleaner
Cleaned wheel wells dressed with Adams Invisible Undercarriage Spray
Wheels waxed with Smartwax RimWax
Tyres dressed with Meguiars Endurance Gel

Glass
Cleaner with Meguiars Glass Cleaner Concentrate

Exterior
Soaped with a strong dilution of Meguiars M62 Shampoo using the Karcher pressure cleaner and foam attachment
Washed with M62 Shampoo
Clayed with a combination of fine and mild clay
Correction was done with Menzerna SIP together with the Lake Country Orange and Meguiars Burgandy Cutting pads. Siya also alternated between the Makita DA and Makita rotary depending on his mood.
I followed Siya with Meguiars M205 and Lake Country Orange pads on the G220 DA
This was followed by Blackfire Gloss Enhancing Polish applied by hand
LSP was Blackfire Wet Diamond Paint Protection - also applied by hand

Some photos:

Interior (After)





Engine (After)



Siya the snowman







After wash and clay







50:50 - this was after M205, which still left some swirling and random scratches after a single pass. We decided on a double hit process using Menzerna SIP followed by M205. Still not perfect, but a good base to work with as I strive for perfection over the weeks to come.





Close ups after LSP









Final product











Thanks for looking.

[KevSTer]

Looking awesome Woodie

[08micsta]

Looks awesome!!

Love that new shape of mazda. Looks so silky smooth....

[Carn]

Lovely work you guys, love the close up's of the flake. Looks like the Blackfire leaves a terrific glossy finish

[Starvekos]

Again, beautiful car and great choice on the colour Woodie. Pity time was not with us to top the sealant with a carnauba.

I am looking forward to seeing the Mazda again in the "show and shine" section as you test more products.

[calypso]

Great work, nice to see the cars true colour coming out. Did you manage to see a big difference from the M205 after the SIP. I often struggle (on light coloured cars) to notice much of a difference.

[springbok]

It looks great. Well done guys.

Amazing swirls in those pics. You would never have said so in those earlier photos you posted.

[calypso]

(22-02-2009 10:30 PM)springbok Wrote:  It looks great. Well done guys.

Amazing swirls in those pics. You would never have said so in those earlier photos you posted.

Thats why the worlds best detailers are photographers

[Woodie]

(22-02-2009 08:38 PM)calypso Wrote:  Did you manage to see a big difference from the M205 after the SIP. I often struggle (on light coloured cars) to notice much of a difference.

I must admit that any difference that the process may have brought was very slight - possibly slightly more clarity. The biggest plus in my books of the SIP followed by M205 process was the benefit of a 2nd pass over the area. With our test spots, we noticed that a single pass of either SIP or M205 provided quite a bit of correction but still left some of the deeper defects behind. We probably could have achieved the same results with two passes of either of the products, instead of one after the other.

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(22-02-2009 10:30 PM)springbok Wrote:  Amazing swirls in those pics. You would never have said so in those earlier photos you posted.

(23-02-2009 07:01 AM)calypso Wrote:  Thats why the worlds best detailers are photographers

It may be a tongue in cheek comment Calypso, but it's so true. Taking photos in lower light conditions means that there is no harsh light to highlight the swirls. This is one of the reasons that cars done by the waterless carwash guys at malls look good in the undercover parking areas. The true state is only revealed once the owner drives into the natural light.

The posts that get my attention and respect are those where the detailer posts after photos of the car taken in direct sunlight and the true correction achieved is displayed.

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[freerider]

Great work guys, that blue is a really nice colour!

So woodie, how are you enjoying this car compared to the hopal

[Carn]

(23-02-2009 07:30 AM)Woodie6250 Wrote:  The posts that get my attention and respect are those where the detailer posts after photos of the car taken in direct sunlight and the true correction achieved is displayed.

I agree with you wrt full sunlight but have to admit that the halogens show alot more defects that any amount of direct sunshine. Suffice to say that they are a worthwhile tool and anything that looks good under the lights should be great in the sun. The only place where sunlight has a major advantage over the halogens is in terms of spotting holograms, nothing beats the sunlight in my experience when it comes to halo's

[calypso]

Case in point:

Car from far, looks pretty good.


Up closer


Same effect could have been done outside by positioning the sun.

[Carn]

Cool pics Calypso

[Woodie]

(23-02-2009 09:27 AM)freerider Wrote:  So woodie, how are you enjoying this car compared to the hopal

Having great fun - by no means a performance machine but fun nevertheless. It's nice to have a few more creature comforts that were missing from the Astra.

[08micsta]

What Astra did you have previously?

[Woodie]

(24-02-2009 07:50 AM)08micsta Wrote:  What Astra did you have previously?

2002 1.8 CSE

[JLs Detailing]

Great job on that car guys. I have not tried the 205 yet as I have not seen a great deal of talk about it. The paint looks incredibly better now.

One question for you guys, does everyone have a fence around their yard there?

[springbok]

(27-02-2009 07:53 PM)JLs Detailing Wrote:  One question for you guys, does everyone have a fence around their yard there?

Yep. Most people do. What you don't see in the photos are electrified fences which are also very common. You have no idea of how bad the crime rate is here.

BTW we don't call it a yard here. We call it a garden or "the property". A yard is a paved area, outside the kitchen where you hang up the washing.

[Carn]

(27-02-2009 09:45 PM)springbok Wrote:  

(27-02-2009 07:53 PM)JLs Detailing Wrote:  One question for you guys, does everyone have a fence around their yard there?

Yep. Most people do. What you don't see in the photos are electrified fences which are also very common. You have no idea of how bad the crime rate is here.

BTW we don't call it a yard here. We call it a garden or "the property". A yard is a paved area, outside the kitchen where you hang up the washing.

Pretty much so JL, the only folks without fences are either those who feel lucky or the perps themselves

I would disagree on the term yard Alistair, a courtyard would be the washing line area but a yard is a garden to me

[calypso]

Big walls and burglar bars are a way of life here, even in quiet PE. Though a friend of mine has no bars, but she does have a Lynx in the garden.
True African story.