First attempt at Detailing.

[Tashveer]

Hi Guys,

Having known that my car was in desperate need of a detail, I decided to speak to Kyle to assist me by putting together a little kit that would help in getting my car looking decent again, obviously the entire detail was not done as well as how the likes of Kyle, Lawrence etc. would do it but I gave it a shot and it actually worked out quite well for me. The kit that Kyle put together included the following:

1. Auto Finesse Iron Out
2. Auto Finesse Glide (Clay Lube)
3. Auto Finesse Clay Bar
4. Auto Finesse Tripple

Please forgive me for the pics, I had to use ImageShack as Photobucket is giving me issues.

Having already had Microfibre Cloths, Meguiars NXT Car Wash and an Applicator Pad, I obviously didn't require much more from Kyle.
So this past Monday I decide t take the day off and enjoy the long weekend and started working on the car around 10am.

First up was the normal 2 Bucket Method wash, I don't have a foam cannon etc. so I had to do it the old school way.





After giving the car a complete wash, I wiped it dry using a microfiber cloth and then pulled the car into the garage and sprayed the Iron Out all over.
Kyle said to me that I should do so in the shade and give it about 10 minutes to settle on the car, thereafter using the same soapy water and wash mith, just run through the car with that so as to 'massage' in the Iron Out.








You'll notice the wheels were obviously in a terrible state and although I have used the Iron Out on them, they still haven't come out too clean. I think I will need to visit Kyle for this to obviously see if some of his other products can remove the dirt etc.
On the overall body, the Iron Out worked like a charm, the body was not as contaminated as I thought it would be so there wasn't a lot of purple around the car.Lol.

Thereafter, I got the car out the garage, gave it a complete hose off and rinsed off the Iron Out completely, immediately I could see and feel a difference in the cars paint work. It felt really smooth once this was done.
After wiping it down again, I pulled it back into the garage to start Claying. I divided the clay bar into 4 pieces as per Kyle's advice and used only 1 piece on the entire car. At first, the clay was kinda tough to work with but after a while, it eased up and for a noob, I didn't drop the clay, although I kept a sheet of paper beneath each panel just in case I did.
I didn't take any pics of this process so apologies for that. Once done, I gave the car another wash using the 2BM and then wiped dry and taken back inside to start polishing.

As per the advice received, I applied the Tripple to 1 panel at a time, I let it dry for about 5 minutes and then polished off using a microfiber cloth, all by hand. The Tripple really goes quite far, as probably with a little drop or two, you would be able to cover an entire panel.

Some after pics below...please forgive me as they are shots inside the garage, its a pity as soon as I was done, I pulled the car out the garage and it started to rain, so I drove back in as I didn't want to see my hard work screwed up already lol.






The next day I tackled my little brothers car, same steps followed, except his car turned out a lot better than mine...lol. Don't have any before or during shots, just some afters:





That's all folks, a huge thanks to Kyle for organising me products as well as for answering any stupid questions that I may have had during the process, guy is a legend.

Thanks for looking

[Kyle]

Well done tash, iron out really does wonders on white paint

Yellow car looks nice and bright as well

[Tashveer]

Yip it did make a huge difference in bringing out the colour of the paint. Hopefully you can see it this weekend and give me your honest opinion. I did find it quite rewarding to do.
Just need to get the rims cleaned proper, so hopefully during my leave I can bug you and you can give it a shot for me with some of your products? I don't mind paying for it.

[hostility]

Looks great bud...Cake Kyle also helped me with mine....and damn loving the results.
The AF/Meguires combination is working for me right now.....

[lawrence]

Nicely done bud - nice to see more people starting to take care of their cars!!!!

[Life160]

Well done.
Huge improvement from before to after. Makes me miss my white Citi all over again.

How much effort did you put into applying Tripple?

[Tashveer]

@Hostility - Thanks buddy. Its good that people with knowledge are willing to share their tips and tricks with us noobs.

@Lawrence - Much appreciated. It was actually nice doing it, I just need to expand my products slowly but surely. I need something to remove the swirl marks as those are rather annoying now.

@Life - Thanks buddy. Yip there is an improvement as the car does look much more whiter.
I did put in a little effort when applying the triple as Kyle did tell me to 'work it' into the paint. Really chuffed with the results.

[lawrence]

Yeah look Tripple IMO will simply not have enough 'bite' to remove 'typical' swirling on harder VAG paint, especially if being worked by hand. This is pretty much true of all AIO type products, some of which will yield some fairly decent swirl removal when worked by machine with the appropriate pad.

I am not sure what your intentions are in terms of getting a machine - if you do plan on getting one, then IMO you open yourself up to a wider range of potential polishes.... some polishes really require a decent working time (with a decent force behind it) to properly break down the abrasives, and by hand, this can often be a lot of hard work.

So for hand polishing I will typically recommend a SMAT based polished - think Meguiars Ultimate Compound and Ultimate Polish - SMAT means Singular Micro Abrasive Technology and means that for as long as you can work the product (i.e. before the lubricating oils etc dry out), the abrasive particles remain the same size. This means that you can stop polishing as soon as you see the results you want, and that the paint will finish out at a certain gloss level regardless of where you stop in the buffing cycle.

The opposite of this type of polish is what is called DAT (Diminishing Abrasive Technology) - polishes of this nature require a buffing cycle that is long enough for the abrasives to breakdown in size (hence the diminishing). So if you start using a DAT polish and only make for example 2 passes over the area, the abrasives have not yet broken down properly, meaning that the polish will not finish as glossy as if you had to work it for another 3 or 4 passes....

So IME SMAT based polishes are 'easier' to use by hand....

On VAG paint a good starting point for SWIRL REMOVAL is Megs Ultimate Compound. You can then follow this with either Megs Ultimate Polish (if you want to stay with the same brand) or use a finer polish or AIO like Tripple, SRP, PP Ultra etc afterwards to maximize gloss....

[Tashveer]

Thanks Lawrence, that is quite informative. I do have a polisher unfortunately I do not have the correct polishing pads hence I did not use it.
The machine came with that Fluffy type pad but I was told by my bro that it also came with an attachment to use the Velcro type pads.
As much as I hate the swirls, I think that I may have to liv with it as my car was resprayed and without a PTG, I wouldn't want to attempt removing the swirls only to realise that I have burned the paint or whatever.
As an aside though, the Polishing Pads that you guys use, obviously there are a couple, but in general, what are the lifespans of these pads? And for us noobs, which ones would you recommend we get?

[Kyle]

Thanks Lawrence, that is quite informative. I do have a polisher unfortunately I do not have the correct polishing pads hence I did not use it.
The machine came with that Fluffy type pad but I was told by my bro that it also came with an attachment to use the Velcro type pads.
As much as I hate the swirls, I think that I may have to liv with it as my car was resprayed and without a PTG, I wouldn't want to attempt removing the swirls only to realise that I have burned the paint or whatever.
As an aside though, the Polishing Pads that you guys use, obviously there are a couple, but in general, what are the lifespans of these pads? And for us noobs, which ones would you recommend we get?

I wouldn't attempt using the rotary as a first attempt at removing swirls tash...

[Tashveer]

Thanks Lawrence, that is quite informative. I do have a polisher unfortunately I do not have the correct polishing pads hence I did not use it.
The machine came with that Fluffy type pad but I was told by my bro that it also came with an attachment to use the Velcro type pads.
As much as I hate the swirls, I think that I may have to liv with it as my car was resprayed and without a PTG, I wouldn't want to attempt removing the swirls only to realise that I have burned the paint or whatever.
As an aside though, the Polishing Pads that you guys use, obviously there are a couple, but in general, what are the lifespans of these pads? And for us noobs, which ones would you recommend we get?

I wouldn't attempt using the rotary as a first attempt at removing swirls tash...

Thanks bud. I doubt I would go that route as I am really scared of screwing it up. I would rather live with it until I can afford to use your services or Lawrence etc.

[Kuvi]

Some realy nice results there bro!

[lawrence]

Yeah a rotary in the wrong hands can easily munch through all your paint

On the other hand, using a DA machine is MUCH safer (still not fool proof) but much safer.

As for pads, there is such a wide variety to choose from that it is almost impossible to give a definite answer as to which ones to use. I can offer the following advice though:

The smaller the diameter of the pad the more cut it offers at the same machine speed (the opposite is true on a rotary). Typically 5.5" pads are ideal for a typical DA style machine (megs/shield etc) with smaller 4" pads being nice for very concave panels and places like A pillars

The thinner the pad, the more rotational force is transferred to the working face of the pad, therefore the more cut you get

1 Pad will NOT polish a whole car - you need to swap out to a clean pad often to minimize residue buildup in the pad, which not only increases the chance of micro marring (the paint you have polished off re-scratches the paint) but also adds weight, and thus the pad slows down, reducing its effectiveness. Therefore ensure you have enough pads to complete a car....

Flat pads work better with DAT polishes and CCS pads better with SMAT polishes

CCS pads will spin marginally faster than flat pads of the same diameter (there is less frictional drag on the CCS pads as the working face is smaller due to the dimples in the CCS pads)

Generally speaking, these will be your typical 'type' of pads, going from least aggressive to most

Foam finishing pads
Foam polishing pads
Foam cutting pads
Foamed wool cutting pads (for a DA)
Microfiber pads
Wool pads (for a rotary)

Out of all the contributing factors to the finish, pads are the least important.
-The most important is the abrasive technology
-Followed by the tool (rotary/forced rotation DA, short throw/long throw DA) and your technique
-Lastly the pad type

Personally I am a huge fan of the Lake country hydrotech pads in 5.5" for my Shield DA, although this has now been relegated to use with 4" pads only

And for use on the Flex, the Lake Country Hybrid pads, in 5" and 6.5"

Hope this helps a bit....

[Tashveer]

Thanks Lawrence, quite Technical Information there. I guess I will give it a pass and just live with swirls. I may probably try Megs Ultimate Compound in the near future and see if I like the results.
Much appreciated once again.

@Kuvi - Thanks dude

[Life160]

Thanks Lawrence, quite Technical Information there. I guess I will give it a pass and just live with swirls. I may probably try Megs Ultimate Compound in the near future and see if I like the results.
Much appreciated once again.

@Kuvi - Thanks dude

Thanks Lawrence - tons of new information!@Tashveer - I've just gone through the process of using Ultimate Compound on my cousins G5 - by hand. It's seriously dufficult and I only managed to make a small improvement. A DA is the only way - unless you have a LOT of free time for hand polishing...

[lawrence]

Thanks Lawrence, quite Technical Information there. I guess I will give it a pass and just live with swirls. I may probably try Megs Ultimate Compound in the near future and see if I like the results.
Much appreciated once again.

@Kuvi - Thanks dude

Thanks Lawrence - tons of new information!@Tashveer - I've just gone through the process of using Ultimate Compound on my cousins G5 - by hand. It's seriously dufficult and I only managed to make a small improvement. A DA is the only way - unless you have a LOT of free time for hand polishing...

Yes hand polishing is tough going, but remember you can increase the cut of any polish by:

Increasing the aggressiveness of your applicator (mf>foam)
Decreasing your working size
Increasing your pressure
Increasing your arm speed

And obviously paint hardness (e.g. German>Jap) and the DEPTH of the damage will also factor in to how much paint needs to be removed to remove the swirls....

[Kiran]

very nice work bru, car looks great

[YusGTI6]

Top results man. Job well done

[JunoM]

Car looked nice and bright on Saturday Tash. And I must add this thread has been Very informative , thanks guys

[Nikz_tsc]

Well done Tash. The car turned out beautiful! Even the yellow sub looks gorgeous!!

After looking at the pics of the 'iron out' on the wheels, i realised.....

Car is still too high

[iLy]

Brilliant thread, as a newbie who only just started playing with clay etc this gives me hope!