Rich H
Member
Registered: 26th Oct 05
Location: West Sussex Drives: E46 M3
User status: Offline
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Not posted on here for while, been flat out 7 days a week still since the beginning of April!
Not really had the time to construct proper write ups of late, so been posting a few "catch up" threads. Also been carrying out a lot of maintenance & intensive valeting work rather than actual details (don't worry, there's some of those to come over the next couple of months!)
First up was a client I originally went to as a one off booking around 6 months ago. Then out the blue got a call from them again to make a booking for last week. I've only pictured 2 of the cars, but there were 4 in all, so I got my friend and fellow valeter, Tom from All That Gleams along too.
No before's of the Mazda, but it was covered in tar and sap spots and lots of grime in the door shuts, and just general road grime, pitting on the wheels etc. They live literally in the middle of nowhere up a filthy track which takes its toll on the cars.
Wheels with Espuma Revolution, tyres and arches with Autosmart G101 and lots of scrubbing.
Doorshuts cleaned with Autosmart G101 and detail brushes, then rinsed off via the Kranzle.
Bodywork pre rinsed with Autosmart Hazsafe, then washed via TBM and Autosmart Autowash and rinsed off.
2/3's of the car misted with Autosmart Tardis and left to do it's thing for a minute or so, before being wiped off and rinsed off again and dried with Refined Detail waffle weave cloths.
Surprisingly a thorough wash technique had shifted the sap spots too, so it was straight to a decent hand polish. We chose Zaino AIO for this.
Wheels were sealed with Chemical Guys Jetseal, tyres dressed with Nielsens Brilliance, Arches with Autosmart Rubber & Plastic. Trim dressed with Autosmart Trim Wizard, Exhausts polished with Peek and fine wire wool, glass cleaned with Espuma Blue Crystal.
Tom did a great job on the interior too, but it was too dark in the late afternoon light to get a decent shot of this. Thoroughly hoovered, wiped down with Megs APC, floor mats cleaned with Megs APC too. Piano Black dash polished with Carlack NSC.
Next up was the Jaguar XF which was looking particularly sorry for itself - very grey, dull, grimey and showing signs of car wash and poor valeting techniques.
A very similar process to the MX5 above, but the wheels took a couple of hits with Meguiars Wheel Brightner and a lot of elbow grease courtesy of Tom. These were later polished and sealed with Carlack NSC rather than Jetseal. The paintwork was polished with Autosmart Platinum instead of Zaino AIO as I find it works really well on dull, swirly paint thanks to its chemical cleaning and filling ability.
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And a final after:
I also teamed up with Tom the next day on a straight black Lexus RX400h that had been subjected to careless decorators - they'd managed to cover it in white paint splatters! No real pics of this at all as time was of the essence. After an extensive claying session to remove all the splatters, the paintwork was given a 2 stage machine polish to leave these results (excuse the poor phone pic):
And finally to end the week, an enhance & protect detail to a VW T5 camper conversion (Neils Dagens Dad )
Again no large amount of photos due to the unpredictable weather, but here's a couple of finished shots courtesy of my friend Stu who joined me for the detail to lend a hand and takes some photos with his SLR:
Again, the usual Refined Detail wash method, chrome work later cleaned and sealed with Carlack NSC, paintwork decontaminated with Iron X then Bilt Hamber soft clay, enhanced and cleansed with a mix of Poorboys White Diamond mixed with Autosmart Platinum and sealed with Collinite 915.
Thanks for looking, apologies for the large amount of photos!
Rich
EDIT: Forgot to say I'm now on twitter, follow me @refineddetail
[Edited on 09-11-2010 by Rich H]
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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, wish i had some money to pay you to come and clean mine again needs it sooo bad
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BluKoo
Member
Registered: 8th Apr 02
Location: Stonehaven (Scotland)
User status: Offline
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I like the last two pics of the van.
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Aleex
Member
Registered: 21st Jul 09
Location: Plymouth
User status: Offline
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how much do you charge, out of curiosity ?
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Rich H
Member
Registered: 26th Oct 05
Location: West Sussex Drives: E46 M3
User status: Offline
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Thanks guys, Murray, yeh my mates getting quite handy with the camera even though he's not had it long!
Aleex - All varies depending on the car, the condition its in and the level of service opted for!
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AndyKent
Member
Registered: 3rd Sep 05
User status: Offline
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I ADORE the XF
I will own one!
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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 Jambo
Excellent work Rich, wish i had some money to pay you to come and clean mine again needs it sooo bad
This, except to just clean it might have to venture down your way when the summer approaches.
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Daveskater
Premium Member
Registered: 29th Apr 08
Location: Oxford, UK Drives: Jap wagon
User status: Offline
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Rich
Top job as always Jag looks spanking No pics of Neil's van though?
I keep forgetting to ask you about trim dressing. I'll fire a u2u over your way eventually
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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Rich H
Member
Registered: 26th Oct 05
Location: West Sussex Drives: E46 M3
User status: Offline
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Ta muchly all
Yeh the XF's are stunning - massive improvement in build quality and innovation over earlier Jags as well imo.
Got another client who is toying with the idea of swapping his 335 for a XF-R (iirc? the sporty one anyway!) - really hoping he does!
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