Login    Register

Something different...

Share your car cleaning and general car care tips with everyone in here.

Moderators: WR 1mposter, The Swede, Megaman, danr55, WR1 Bro, Moderators

  • Author
    Message

Something different...

Postby Clark » Fri Jun 20, 2008 8:47 pm

I'd been looking forward to this car arriving for months and on Tuesday afternoon it finally came round:

Image


Can you guess what it is yet?...



Image



For those that may still be wondering what it is, it's a Lotus 340R. There were 340 made in total and they have an elise engine (this one is just under 200bhp) and weigh just over half a tonne - lots of fun! :D

Most have see a track day or two but this one is 8 years old and has only done 1300 miles in total! :doublesho


The car was booked in for 3 days as there is alot of little details on one of these so we wanted enough time to get them all done properly :)


As it was close to 4pm on Tuesday before it arrived i decided to give the interior a quick tidy up as there was no point starting the wash process untill the next day.


It wasnt too bad - just a bit dusty:

Image

Image



So out came the hoover and the brush attatchment:

Image


I made sure i got all the dirt out from the nooks and crannies:

Image



After the hoovering i gave all the surfaces an APC wipe down to remove any grubby marks etc:

Image



No doors to open makes some bits on these things a bit tricky to clean - like the footwells and pedals (who said a detailers job was easy?:D):

Image




This was where i left it as the interior was no doubt going to get a bit dusty over the next few days.




Wednesday - Day 1



The weather was a bit unpredictable in the morning so i covered the seats incase the heavens opened while i was washing the car:

Image



No pressure washing on this detail so i gave the car a soak with APC on the lower half and then rinsed off with the hose:

Image

Image



Wheels next: these were cleaned with Menz 7.5:

Image


Faces cleaned with a MF mitt:

Image



Inner rims done with a wheel back brush:

Image





Tyres and suspension were sprayed with Megs Superdegreaser and agitated with a brush:

Image


Image


Image




Degreaser was used on a few other bits and bobs too:

before:

Image


after:

Image




I then washed the car (after working out how to do it in a methodical manner!) with the 2BM and Shampoo Plus:

Image



A quik rinse followed before i then rolled the car inside for claying.


I used Aggressive Clay as there was alot of black overspray on the majority of the panels, i'm not really sure what from but either way it had to come off:

Image


Image

Image



The wheels were covered too:

Image




The car was then dried off with a waffle weave towel and the leaf blower.




I then removed a few bits to help with polishing:

Image

Image


Number plate removed:

Image


Wing mirrors too:

Image




The car was sporting more defects than i'd imagined for having so little miles on the clock but i guess it had been sat around gathering dust for a while and had just recently had the body off for a service etc so it was bound to pick up the odd scratch or two...



Image

Image

Image


It wouldnt be a lotus without some buffer trails, every one i've ever done has been the same:

Image




The paint was fairly healthy on all panels:

Image




Pad choice for this detail was one of our new 4" compounding pads with the Rotary. Menz 3.02 was the polish:

Image


Speeds of 1200-1500rpm's were used and temperature was continually checked due to the composite material of the car:

Image


Image

Image




Image

Image



Image

Image




Image

Image




before:

Image


after:

Image





Image

Image



Image



By 8pm i'd managed to get the entire front end corrected so i decided that was a good place to stop for Day 1.




Thursday - Day 2:




Polishing resumed on day 2:


Side skirt before:


Image


Image


after:

Image




Image

Image




The spoiler was then removed so i could gain access to the rear of the tub:

Image


Before:

Image


During:

Image


After:

Image




Onto the lower part at the back end:

before:

Image


During:

Image



After:

Image




The lower piece was one of many sections that needed the handle to be removed from the rotary to gain full acess:

Image




A quick change of pad followed (Meguiars Polishing) before i moved onto the mud guards:


Image


Image



The N/S rear one had a scuff that needed polishing out:

Image


After:

Image




Before i re-fitting the spoiler i polished the underside:

Image



Now back on the car, i corrected it with another 4" compounding pad:

Image


Not hard to see which side has been polished in this shot:

Image


After:

Image


There was a couple of really deep RDS which wouldnt have even come out with wet sanding so i didnt even bother, they can just be seen in the above pic.



I had finished up at pretty much bang on 8pm for the 2nd night running so i stopped for Day 2.




Friday - Day 3:



More polishing for the start of Friday morning, but this time it was the finishing polish. I used Menz 85RD with a 3M Finishing Pad:

Image



A 4" polishing pad was used for the tighter areas:

Image



I always have various pads already centred on backing plates, this makes for a quick and easy change over :)

Image



The 85RD left a super sharp finish:

Image

Image




Once the second polishing stage was done i went over the paint protection film with Blackfire Gloss Enhancing Polish to freshen it up a bit:

Image

Image




The tailpipes were easy to get to so i used the PC and a 4" Compounding pad with Blackfire Heavy Cut Metal Compound:

Image


This was followed up with a polishing pad and Raceglaze metal polish:

Image

Image


Werkstat Prime Strong was used with a 4" polishing pad to clean up the silencer:

50/50:

Image




Prime Strong came in handy again, this time for the perspex side panels:

Before:

Image


After:

Image




The Superdegreaser had slightly stained the metal surfaces during the wash stage so i polished these up by hand with Raceglaze metal polish:

Before:

Image


After:

Image




Before:

Image


After:

Image





I then dusted down all surfaces with our wool duster, gave all the paintwork a wipe down with Menz Top Inspection and then applied Vintage, which was the customers choice of LSP:

Image



This was then buffed off with a PB Ultimate Mega Towel.


The wheels were sealed with PB Wheel Sealant:

Image


Tyres were done with Blackfire Long Lasting Tyre Gel:

Image


The inner walls were done too ;)

Image



I then gave the interior another quick hoover to remove any dust. The mats and plastics were dressed and protected with Werkstat Satin Prot and the windscreen was cleaned with Megs Glass Cleaner Concentrate.


Image

Image

Image

Image




A wipe down with Last Touch was the final job on the list before taking a few after pics :)



Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image




Total Work Time - 33 hours




Thanks for looking and hopefully you enjoyed the write up, it took bloody ages to upload all those pics! :D :lol:


Clark
Going round corners just got a whole lot faster...
User avatar
Clark
 
Posts: 764
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 9:34 pm
Location: Aberdeen

Postby WR 1mposter » Fri Jun 20, 2008 9:45 pm

:roll: :roll: :roll:

still waiting for you to do ours :roll: :roll:










:lol:
2007 BMW M5
2004 Petter Solberg STi
User avatar
WR 1mposter
 
Posts: 14095
Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2005 12:04 am
Location: Sunny Falmouth

Postby Clark » Fri Jun 20, 2008 10:14 pm

ok ok ok, i'm working on it.... :lol:


I noticed we've got a WR1 booked in for a protection detail in around 5 months time, dunno who's it is though!
Going round corners just got a whole lot faster...
User avatar
Clark
 
Posts: 764
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 9:34 pm
Location: Aberdeen

Postby Houdini » Sun Jun 22, 2008 11:55 pm

Wow! Absolutely stunning, Clark :bow: I don't really go in for the show'n'shine stuff much but your posts with your detailed work are absolutely stunning 8) Don't stop posting!
User avatar
Houdini
 
Posts: 2484
Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2006 6:25 pm
Location: Warwickshire

Postby danr55 » Mon Jun 23, 2008 6:56 am

stunning indeed!

I've always fancied having a go in one of these after the first time I saw one. Must be great fun to drive 8)
Image
User avatar
danr55
Site Owner
 
Posts: 12444
Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2005 12:07 pm

Postby Megaman » Tue Jul 01, 2008 11:45 am

that is an absolutely top class job there mate, well done. out of interest how much does it cost to get your car detailed roughly?
User avatar
Megaman
Fords Number 1 Fan
 
Posts: 4206
Joined: Wed Feb 27, 2008 11:40 pm
Location: Leeds

Postby Clark » Tue Jul 01, 2008 7:04 pm

A 3 day correction detail from us is from £595 + Vat. A 2 day one is from £395 + Vat.

Prices vary from detailer to detailer but without sounding like i'm blowing my own trumpet,in my eyes there's only 1 or 2 others in the UK that are working to the same level as us at the moment, hence why we aren't cheap :)
Going round corners just got a whole lot faster...
User avatar
Clark
 
Posts: 764
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 9:34 pm
Location: Aberdeen

Postby WR 1mposter » Tue Jul 01, 2008 10:20 pm

Clark wrote:A 3 day correction detail from us is from £595 + Vat. A 2 day one is from £395 + Vat.

Prices vary from detailer to detailer but without sounding like i'm blowing my own trumpet,in my eyes there's only 1 or 2 others in the UK that are working to the same level as us at the moment, hence why we aren't cheap :)


Stupid question where are you based Clark ?

Will be probably coming up to Scotland around the 18th of this month for a long weekend, so a I either pay a the lithuanians a fiver for a clean or you a tenner :lol: :lol:
2007 BMW M5
2004 Petter Solberg STi
User avatar
WR 1mposter
 
Posts: 14095
Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2005 12:04 am
Location: Sunny Falmouth

Postby Clark » Wed Jul 02, 2008 9:18 am

Our Premises are in Kintore, which is 10 minutes north of Aberdeen :D


And i dont wash cars for a tenner :lol:
Going round corners just got a whole lot faster...
User avatar
Clark
 
Posts: 764
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 9:34 pm
Location: Aberdeen

Postby WR 1mposter » Wed Jul 02, 2008 9:32 pm

Clark wrote:Our Premises are in Kintore, which is 10 minutes north of Aberdeen :D


And i dont wash cars for a tenner :lol:




Sorry bud I meant 10 scottish pounds :lol: :lol: :lol:
2007 BMW M5
2004 Petter Solberg STi
User avatar
WR 1mposter
 
Posts: 14095
Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2005 12:04 am
Location: Sunny Falmouth

Return to Car Care

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 12 guests

cron