Rich H
Member
Registered: 26th Oct 05
Location: West Sussex Drives: E46 M3
User status: Offline
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I was contacted by the owner last month - he'd recently purchased the car, and wasn't happy with the dealer preparation, and felt it could look much better.
I inspected the car prior to making a booking, and it was clear that the vehicle could indeed be improved on - it appeared very hazy and almost grey in some lights. It was clear the car had been subjected to machine polishing in the past, and paint readings confirmed this - a car that would normally have healthy readings of ~120 - 130 microns was struggling to make it into 3 figures! :doublesho
With this in mind, and the fact the car lives right next to the sea so will pick up wash marring throughout the year regardless of how carefully it's washed, the car was booked in for a customised version of my Enhancement Detail with anti static sealant for LSP to try and make the paintwork as slippery as possible and prevent dust and sand building up on it too easily!
4 weeks on, and I finally had space in my diary to tackle it.
Upon arrival:
No engine bay on this one as the service was tailored to suit budget, and the paintwork was the main focus.
Tyres and arches thoroughly cleaned & degreased with the new formula Autosmart G101 (great stuff!) wheels with Autosmart Smart Wheels - needed to be removed to make a better job of them, but came up pretty well with a decent scrub with various brushes.
Pre-rinsed at high pressure, then foamed with ValetPro Orange pre wash and left to dwell whilst I cleaned the fiddly bits with a detail brush, and door shuts with Megs APC:
Re-rinsed, and washed using the 2 bucket method and ValetPro concentrated car shampoo - a brilliant shampoo, but will be off my list once finished with, as it dries my hands out something chronic! 
Re-rinsed, and CarPro Iron X applied and left to work it's magic:
Not all the visible on black, but you could just about see in this shot it was working well:
Re-rinsed again, dried, and de-tarred with Autosmart Tardis, and clayed with Bilt Hamber Regular clay which pulled off a fair bit of contamination:
Re-rinsed again, and dried with Autosmart Waffle weave towels, revealing the true state of the paintwork:
and once of the more noticeable bits of burn through:
Numerous pad & polish combo's were tested, I eventually settled on Menzerna 203s on a 3M yellow pad which after an average of 3 hits per section was yielding some pretty good results:
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
and 50/50:
and complete:
by no means perfect, but this is an enhancement detail after all!
Some pretty bad bird etchings remained on the bonnet, but with an average of 90 microns present, I didn't fancy pushing it!
Some nasty nail scratches around the handles were improved on greatly with the same combo:
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
50/50:
Before:
After:
By this point, time was pressing on, so the photo's stopped, and the head went down!
Paintwork was cleansed and a few light hologrammes knocked out using Zaino PC-Fusion via the DAS-6 Pro, followed by a coat of Z-AIO, and topped with 2 coats of Chemical Guys Blacklight (with Zaino Z6 wipe downs inbetween) and a final wipe down with Zaino Z8.
Glass cleaned with Espuma Crystal Blue (Screen sealed with Carlack Twins) Wheels sealed with FK1000P, Tyres dressed with FinishKare TopKote tyre dressing, arches dressed with Autosmart Rubber & Plastic.
Kidney grilles tidied with Carlack NSC, exhaust polished with fine wire wool and autosol.
10.5 hours later, the car was looking a little more lively:
Badges removed during detail at owners request:
And a couple I had waiting in my inbox this evening from the owner using his SLR 
The car is now signed up to quarterly maintenance 
Don't forget you can keep up to date with my day to day movements on Facebook and Twitter!
Thanks for looking,
Rich
[Edited on 07-04-2011 by Rich H]
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Steve
Premium Member
Registered: 30th Mar 02
Location: Worcestershire Drives: Defender
User status: Offline
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good work blud
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Jambo
Member
Registered: 8th Sep 01
Location: Maidenhead, Drives: VXR Arctic
User status: Offline
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Excellent work Rich.
The nail scratches where particularly interesting i wouldnt have thought you would of been able to get them out! I tried using some G3 on the M3 and it made an improvement but wouldnt get rid
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Steve
Premium Member
Registered: 30th Mar 02
Location: Worcestershire Drives: Defender
User status: Offline
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easily as good as polished bliss, 1/3 of the price, bargain
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SetH
Member
Registered: 15th Jul 01
User status: Offline
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Great Detail, really enjoy your write ups
Disgusting Car IMHO but thats neither here nor there 
BTW your facebook link doesn't work, I wish to keep an eye on your activities please.
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Rich H
Member
Registered: 26th Oct 05
Location: West Sussex Drives: E46 M3
User status: Offline
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Danke.
Jambo - in all honesty, I wasn't expecting them to come up as well as they did! At certain angles they were still slightly visible, but nowhere near as bad as they were. Some are too deep to remove on some cars though.
Steve - 
Mark - Cheers! And oops, try this: http://www.facebook.com/refinedetail.co.uk
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Tomnova16
Premium Member
Registered: 21st Jan 06
Location: Gerrards Cross Drives: Porsche 911
User status: Offline
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That really shows your skills off well my son. Top work.
Also I'm very sorry but my car somehow ended up in the car wash today . I'm too busy to clean it.
See you tomorrow
http://www.lemass.co.uk/ for all your automotive/bodyshop needs
Located in Chalfont st Peter
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Tomnova16
Premium Member
Registered: 21st Jan 06
Location: Gerrards Cross Drives: Porsche 911
User status: Offline
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Oh need an estimate tomorrow on an astra that's had a fight with some hedges for a few years
http://www.lemass.co.uk/ for all your automotive/bodyshop needs
Located in Chalfont st Peter
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DansCorsaSXi
Organiser: Yorkshire
Premium Member
Registered: 13th Jan 10
Location: Worksop
User status: Offline
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Really good work Rich
Star silver C20XE SXi Project thread
Smoke Grey Corsa GSi Project thread
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Jambo
Member
Registered: 8th Sep 01
Location: Maidenhead, Drives: VXR Arctic
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by Tomnova16
Also I'm very sorry but my car somehow ended up in the car wash today . I'm too busy to clean it.
See you tomorrow
FPMSL
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Rich H
Member
Registered: 26th Oct 05
Location: West Sussex Drives: E46 M3
User status: Offline
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Tom  I don't blame you though - you should see my van atm!  See you tomorrow sunshine.
Cheers Dan
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Fad
Member
Registered: 1st Feb 01
Location: Dartford Kent Drives: 330cd
User status: Offline
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Excellent work mate....i'm trying to motivate myself to do mine but still fighting tree sap
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Jambo
Member
Registered: 8th Sep 01
Location: Maidenhead, Drives: VXR Arctic
User status: Offline
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Nitromors Fad.
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Fad
Member
Registered: 1st Feb 01
Location: Dartford Kent Drives: 330cd
User status: Offline
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At the moment Jambo I am trying high concentrate Isopropanol, I have to take a break after 5 mins its not good 
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Ellis
Member
Registered: 11th Sep 07
Location: Aberdeenshire
User status: Offline
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Good results, nice work also getting him signed up for quarterly maintenance
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Chris C
Member
Registered: 2nd Jan 05
Location: Hemel Hempstead
User status: Offline
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Excellent work as always rich
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adiohead
Member
Registered: 28th Sep 01
User status: Offline
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you made that car look sexy!
fantastic work
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Mike GSi
Member
Registered: 3rd Jan 07
Location: Ipswich, Suffolk Drives:Astra VXR
User status: Offline
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Great work as usual Rich. How much would you charge for this sort of correction? Also how far do you travel? Just got a new car and it is in need of a similar enhancement. Inbox me
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Daveskater
Premium Member
Registered: 29th Apr 08
Location: Oxford, UK Drives: Jap wagon
User status: Offline
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That was horrendous before  Amazing after 
Numberwang!
Originally posted by AlunJ
I like you Dave, you are a man of men
Originally Whatapp'd by Neo
Dave's maybe capable of a drive-by cuddle
Look at my pictures
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deano87
Member
Registered: 21st Oct 06
Location: Bedfordshire Drives: Ford Fiesta
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by Daveskater
That was horrendous before Amazing after
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Graham88
Member
Registered: 16th Apr 07
Location: South East Kent Drives: E46 M3
User status: Offline
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Awesome work, I think it shows you need to invest in an SLR to show off your work better aswell
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Rich H
Member
Registered: 26th Oct 05
Location: West Sussex Drives: E46 M3
User status: Offline
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Cheers guys
Nice little testimonial from the client too:
"A pleasure to meet a true gent with a professional work ethic that many would do well to emulate. The job he did on my BMW E91 was simply stunning. If the devil’s in the details, then Richard is the exorcist. Many years ago I worked in the vehicle refinishing game, so I know a little about the skill and sheer graft involved. I knew from initially speaking with Richard that I was dealing with a dedicated, knowledgable man, but there’s only so much one person can achieve in a day and I was well aware of some problem areas that would throw up a few challenges. I was expecting to see a significant improvement, but after putting in a solid 10-hour day the result Richard achieved blew me away. I’ve now signed up for a regular maintenance program."
Mike, I'll u2u you.
Graham, cheers, and yes an SLR does need to be invested in, but I'm in the process of purchasing a new van atm, so got to prioritise things
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Tomnova16
Premium Member
Registered: 21st Jan 06
Location: Gerrards Cross Drives: Porsche 911
User status: Offline
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http://www.lemass.co.uk/ for all your automotive/bodyshop needs
Located in Chalfont st Peter
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Ste
Premium Member
Registered: 5th Mar 03
Location: Taif, Saudi Arabia
User status: Offline
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Who won?
I would rather lose by a mile because i built my own car, than win by an inch because someone else built it for me.
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Rich H
Member
Registered: 26th Oct 05
Location: West Sussex Drives: E46 M3
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by Ste W
Who won?
Charlie Sheen
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