Juicy Detailing Audi S3

You may remember back in December 2010 I mentioned in my blog that we purchased maa 58 plate Audi S3 in black shapphire. At long last I have completed my mammoth detail and she is now once again a black beauty. This car has been my most mentally and physically challenging detail so far and redefined alot of the techniques that I have used in the past to adapt to make this one work.

Both Andrew and I were shocked with the state of the paintwork that we had seen in at showroom. It was agreed with the dealer that we got a reduced price and that we would collect the car unprepared from the garage, however they seemed to of ignored this last request. So here's the story of how the car has evolved over the last three months when I've have time inbetween running Juicy Detailing, working for DTUK, the house, the kids and the new black labrador pup!

Process started off as usual, Juicy snow foam, rinse, 2 bucket wash using Chemical Guys Maxi Suds Shampoo and a EuroW Lambswool wash mitt. For inside the doors, inside the petrol cap, around badges etc I used Juicy APC and a small detailing brush to get in all the nooks and crannies on the car, detared where required and then a final rinse

Leaving the car wet it was then clayed using a fine yellow poly clay bar and Juicy Lube, washed again using 2 bucket method and then brought in to the unit and dried using Chemical Guys Wooly Mammoth Drying Towel.

It was now time to assess the state of the paintwork and to be honest some of it you didnt even need the halogen lights for. This is a good example of how black can look lovely and shiny but when you REALLY LOOK

The Bonnet

Passenger Front Wing

Drivers Side Wing

Drivers Side Rear Quarter

Passenger Side

Roof

Paint readings were then taken from all panels and they varied vastly from 64 up to 143. This mean't that each panel had to be treated carefully to ensure that the levels were not taken too low and cause detrimental damage to the paintwork. Some areas could not be corrected to the extent that I would of liked without compromising the paint therefore you'll see that the end result still shows some scratches.

So moving on the car was taped up ready to move to the correcting stage...

Phew! think its tea break time

The polishes that were used was 3M Fast Cut Plus, 3M Extra Fine and 3M Ultrafina in combination with a range of 5.5" and 4" wool, Hex Logic and 3M pads depending on the areas that were tackled. The weapon of choice was Dodo Juice Spin Doctor and at the end testing out a Festool to see how the machines compared and how the results differed. Some areas needed the use of the dual action Kestral DAS 6 polishing machine for refining.....I encountered various issues such as the cloths scratching (on the bonnet) the paint even though Audi is a hard paint so changed to using EuroW Shag weave buffing cloths which helped alot, micromaring where I was unable to refine down enough, but eventually resolved due to changing techniques, so all in all this was a very interesting car to work on. Each panel was wiped down with IPA several times to ensure that the oil's were not filling the swirls and a final wipe down on the whole car at the end.

Couple of 50/50 from the bonnet - left hand original and right hand corrected

(not sure what the white mark is perhaps something on the camera??)

Flecks starting to pop and you can notice that the black has been restored rather than looking dull and flat

Side Panel

I unfortunately didn't take any further photo's from now on as it was proving a tough task and some one kept nicking my cloths to hide in her basket...cheeky girl. The wheels were also given some tlc...covered in tar and general muck...these were detarred using Dodo Juice Tarmalade and clayed using fine poly clay. Ideally the alloys would of been removed, however I am looking to get them replaced so it was just to give them a bit of a tidy up.

Protected with a couple of coats of Chemical Guys Jetseal 109 and they are all done

So as this correction had been done over a long time the car has some fairly hard specs of polish so decided to give it a gentle wash using Chemical Guys Glossworkz Gloss Enhancing Shampoo and a detailing brush to get in all the edges, badges, grill etc that were holding on to the polish. It was then taken back into the unit and dried.

I then applied a coat of Chemical Guys Ez Creme Glaze using a EuroW Microfibre Applicator and buffed off using EuroW Shag Weave Cloth and finally to give the car the treat it deserved used Swissvax Crystal Rock (this wax was developed by Paul Dalton from Miracle Detailing and retails for £695)

And this is how she stood in the end definitely now a sparkling stallon....

Passenger Wing

Passenger Side

Drivers Wing and Door

Drivers Side

The bonnet - unfortunately it still have some bad scratches in it and numerous chips....in the long run this will need a respray

And the roof (the specs are fine dust particles)

Few nice random photos.....the paint flecks

As I finished the car late on in the day the sun was beginning to go down so the outside shots are not quite as good as they could be...however it does show the quality of the correction in the shade

Oh and for all those that experience this comment all the time....'you missed a bit'

The final touch...

Thanks very much for reading and I hope that this has perhaps inspired some of you to consider the next step on to machine polishing and how much of a difference it can make. We have plenty of kits available but if you ever need some help I'm always on hand either via email in the Ask Me Anything section.