*** The Car Cleaning Thread ***

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MrRockliffe

MrRockliffe

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Hi all

My mother was looking at a detailing service for her 09 Audi A5 that has a stunning dark blue metallic paint that has faded a little and is fairly scratched due to the years of petrol garage car washes from the previous owner. She was quoted a price of £150 but I suspect that doesn’t include a proper prep clean and treatment. This is also exterior only.

I have, instead, offered to do it for the cost of materials. I have a machine polish already, and have been doing basic detailing for a year now, so I can probably do 80% as good. I also have a large double width garage with LED lightning so I can do the restoration part inside.

Im looking to do:

  • Rinse, snow foam, wash and dry - I use bilt hamber for this - happy with what I have
  • Surface decontamination, clay bar - again, bilt hamber
  • Chrome restore - will need recommendations
  • Cut and restore with a machine polish - will need recommendations for good stuff, only have cheapy stuff from Halfords
  • Interior clean and restore - need recommendations on a good interior trim restore
  • Interior leather restore - I have the restore wax but need recommendations for cleaner
  • Alloy wheel protection - need recommendation

Thanks in advance :)
 

Muska

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MrRockliffe said:
Im looking to do:

  • Rinse, snow foam, wash and dry - I use bilt hamber for this - happy with what I have
  • Surface decontamination, clay bar - again, bilt hamber - Maybe consider something for Tar removal. While clay will remove this too it will save using the clay too much/harshly. I'd recommend Autosmart Tardis.
  • Chrome restore - will need recommendations - Is it definitely chrome, or polished/brushed aluminium?
  • Cut and restore with a machine polish - will need recommendations for good stuff, only have cheapy stuff from Halfords - worth doing your research here. Are you looking at single stage or multi? For single, I've seen lots of good things said about Scholl S20 & their Spider Pads. Have a look over on Detailing World for more info.
  • Interior clean and restore - need recommendations on a good interior trim restore - Clean: APC diluted to required ratio, Dress: CarPro PERL
  • Interior leather restore - I have the restore wax but need recommendations for cleaner - I've used Gliptone
  • Alloy wheel protection - need recommendation - GTechniq C5 Wheel Armour, a proper ceramic coating that should last 12 months. I've also used Polish Angel Supersport PTFE wheel sealant on top to great effect. I never have to use chemicals on my wheels now, although they're cleaned at least weekly including all inner barrels etc.

Thanks in advance :)
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I hope that helps a bit :)

A couple of new bits arrived today, including my first Zymol product, a Graphene spray coating. I'm going to try it out against Gyeon CanCoat on the bonnet of my Wife's car as it's a brand new product and I'm keen to see how it performs before it potentially goes on my car.

50301255876_8e9ac10e49_c.jpg
 
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MrRockliffe

MrRockliffe

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Muska said:
I hope that helps a bit :)

A couple of new bits arrived today, including my first Zymol product, a Graphine spray coating. I'm going to try it out against Gyeon CanCoat on the bonnet of my Wife's car as it's a brand new product and I'm keen to see how it performs before it potentially goes on my car.
Click to expand...

Yes, perfect thanks :) Will be going for a single stage as main purpose is to remove swirlies, give a good hard coating and add some gloss

I’ve spoken to a mate who originally got me into machine polishing and he has some 3M stuff he’s happy to give me :)
 

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Jokester said:
I don't get this - why bother having a fake tip if they then still direct exhaust gas through it to soot it up?
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Pretty sure we did this before in a dedicated thread, and someone suggested that a possible reason could be damage limitation in the event of a minor shunt.

@MassiveJim - I was going to suggest using something like brake cleaner to get the worst of it off first. Autosol will shift it, but I tend to think of that as more of a finishing product rather than a cleaner. And brake cleaner is cheaper :p Although only worth it if you have some lying around.
 

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Dis86 said:
That doesn't explain why you wouldn't put a downward bend on it though
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True. Unless you intentionally want to make sure the fake tips get coated in carbon to add to the illusion. No point having "fake" tips if they remain spotlessly clean and give the game away instantly :p

Personally I'd be happy if we didn't bother showing exhausts at all on most cars - just hide them behind the bumper pointing down and be done with it. But we have a curious obsession for styling what is essentially a waste outlet.
 

Dis86

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Conscript said:
True. Unless you intentionally want to make sure the fake tips get coated in carbon to add to the illusion. No point having "fake" tips if they remain spotlessly clean and give the game away instantly :p

Personally I'd be happy if we didn't bother showing exhausts at all on most cars - just hide them behind the bumper pointing down and be done with it. But we have a curious obsession for styling what is essentially a waste outlet.
Click to expand...

I had a clio in 2003 that did just that!
 

Kenai

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Most manufacturers are at it these days in one form or another, at least there are actually exhausts behind the trims unlike the diesel version :p

As well as damage limitation, presumably it's simply cheaper to keep stylised tips a separate item to the actual exhaust system and have them more easily interchangeable between models and trim levels. On my super duper special vRS for example, the trims are gloss black rather than silver, even though the actual exhaust system is almost certainly totally identical. I'd imagine cost is even more of a factor for anything that isn't round or oval shaped too.

Personally, i'd rather have the exhaust gases flow through the trim pieces than point at the floor and be visibly odd looking from behind.
 

MassiveJim

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Just went outside to have a go at this and it started raining, I've done the left side however, turned out pretty well, there are a few bits I can't shift mainly around where the exhaust TRIM rolls over at the end
MXl3IYW.jpg

EDIT
It stopped raining so done the other side now

eA3lED6.jpg
 
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