Sorry guys, been lagging on these write-ups..

The first one is a "maintenance' detail I did on a mid-00's Volvo Cross Country ('03 I think?). Anyways, the client was really interested in getting the color back in to the faded bumpers. And just clean up the inside/outside. No correction work was done on the car, and no real deep cleaning on the inside.

When I first arrived:










(notice lack of gloss)



First thing I did was clean the wheels/tires/wheel wells. The rims were cleaned with CG Sticky Wheel Gel undiluted. The Tires and Wheel Wells were degreased with Megs APC 3:1.

After:



After the wheels were complete, and before starting the normal wash, I decided to deep clean the bumpers. They were sprayed with Megs APC 7:1 and agitated with a Megs Stiff Bristled tire brush.



I didn't take many process pics as it was just a simple clean up and wasn't going for a full blown write up. After I had deep cleaned the bumpers, I foamed the car with 1oz of CWC in a 22oz bottle filled with DI water. Then I put 2oz of CWC in my wash bucket, and proceeded to wash the car. After I finsihed washing the car I dried it off, then clayed with Riccardo Yellow and LUBER as clay lube. The glass was polished with Werkstat Prime Acrylic and followed up with Werkstat Acrylic Glos. The paint was cleansed with Werkstat Prime Strong, followed up with JS109 for two coats. I was going to use the rest of the Werkstat LSP's, but it was acting up in the high heat (88*F that day). So I went with the easy to use JS109. Tires/wheel wells were dressed with Megs HD 3:1. Plastic bumeprs were also polished with Werkstat Prime Strong, then protected with 303 Protectant.

Afters:

 

Next up is a WRX Impreza. I was contacted by the owner to take a look at the car and see what can be done. After assessing the paint, and seeing it's neglected state over the years I had let him know a good full detail would benefit the paint greatly, as well as really bring the gloss level up. Then after discussing with the owner how it is fairly neglected during the year (sometimes sees a "down the street wash", sees the snow, and will start seeing the track) it was then in both of our best interests to just give it a one-step. The reason I ended up choosing this process for the owner is I didn't want him to waste all the money on a full 95%+ Swirl removing detail, if it could be ruined by one trip "down the street". With the one step, I was able to remove about 75-80% of the swirls, while really amping up the gloss--which is what the owner really wanted!

Here's the car when it first arrived:















First up were the wheels. The owner had brought an extra set of prodrives to get cleaned up as well. How nice it was to clean wheels off the car! Wish I could do this with all the cars!

The spare wheels were cleaned with Autoglym Custom Wheel Cleaner that I got from Ken to try out. All I can say is WOW. I would say this is almost better than P21S wheel gel. More on this when I post up a massive wheel gel test I did last weekend. Anyways, the tires were scrubbed with Eimann Fabrik Tire Cleaner.

Before:





During:





Of course I forgot afters...

The wheels on the car were cleaned with P21S Wheel Gel (to do another back-to-back test) and the tires/wheel wells were cleaned with megs APC 3:1.

The engine bay was VERY dirty. So I pressure rinsed the area at a safe distance, and then doused the entire bay in P21S TAW. Let it sit for about 5 minutes, and agitated with various brushes. The I dressed with with 303 Aerospace Protectant.

Before:



After:





The car was then pressure rinsed down, and then foamed with CWC at paint work cleansing ratio, and then pressure rinsed off, before washing with the 2bm and CWC again.



After the wash, I pulled the car inside and clayed with Megs Mild (Blue) Clay, and LUBER. This was after a 2'x2' section of the hood, pretty bad!



After claying the car I decided to tackle the faded headlighs. I used M105 on a LC 4" Flat Orange Pad x2, followed up with PO106fa on a 4" LC Flat Black Pad. Then they were sealed with Werkstat AJT then Glos.

Before:



After:



Tail lights got the same attention.

Before:



After:





The paint work was next. I didn't get any befores, as you could see in the first pics it was overcast in the morning. It stayed like this until about 2pm after I was already starting to polish. But I hit the car with the Makita, GI 5.25" backing plate, 3M UK Yellow Pad, and Menzerna PO106fa over the entire car. I then Polished the paint with Acrylic Prime with the Flex DA and an LC Flat Black Pad. Followed by 2 coats of Acrylic Jett Triger, and 2 coats of Arcrylic Glos.

The Tires were dressed with Megs HD 3:1, wheel wells got Adams Undercarriage Spray, Glass was polished with Werkstat Prime Strong, followed by Werkstat Acrylic Glos and DI Water.

The interior was cleaned, but I forgot to take afters--so befores are kinda pointless :

Anyways, here's the afters! Total time on the car was 10 hours.


















That's all!

C&C Always Welcome!



Aaron

 

good turn around on the trim of the volvo. so just a little APC and brushing helped to restore the look that much?

 

Thanks! nah, after APC and Brushing I polished it with the Flex DA+ Werkstat Prime and LC Flat Black pad and then followed up with 303. it's in the write up somewhere

 

They look great Aaron. Of course, yours always do. That Subaru in particular looks like a completely different car.

Ended up with 303 on the plastic trim huh? Well, it looks like it worked great. But I'm telling you, Auto Balm will look the same, and it'll last months, not days. My truck lives outside, and the mirrors still look just as black as they did in my after photos from the writeup. Plenty of rainstorms around here lately too.

Looking forward to meeting you in person next week. JL doesn't think he'll be able to make it - he's about an hour and a half from me, so unless we decide to do dinner, he won't be joining us.