Hey all, Took advantage of the phenomenal weather we had in the mid-atlantic this weekend and decided to have a go at my new 3. Sorry for the lack of pictures of the during process the car was already in pretty good shape so there really wasn't any 50/50 opportunities. My goal was to bring as much clarity to this car as possible. The dealer had hardly touched it (rare) so there was swirling only in spot areas. I had clayed the car earlier in the week during a wash so that saved me some time. Hope you guys enjoy. Oh yeah and while I was in the process of detailing good old FedEx showed up with a package that Billy had sent for me. I ended up using the Orange Crush as one of my LSP's. Wash: Gilmour foam gun with some Deep Crystal Two Bucket method. All stubborn areas were hit with Adam's APC Polishing: Makita Menz PF with DD Green Menz SF with DD Blue LSP: Collinite 845 then topped it with Dodo Juice Orange Crush I kind of regret this though because the paint has metallic flake and it dulled it substantially. I should have done two coats of 845 which in the past makes the flake pop like crazy. Although I do like the wet look as well. Initial soak left to dwell for a few Clean and pulled in for the day Dried and ready to debadge, I really don't care for people to know the engine size, I like the cleaner look anyway. I wanted to do it to the Mazda3 badge but there are two pins behind it. Taped up After of the hood hit with both PF and SF, made sure to do IPA wipedown to see true correction: As you can see pictures weren't going so well this is with the Brinkmann So I cut my losses, focused on polishing for the next 8 hours and here are the results. The skies were getting overcast so sunshots were a no go. These shots are from the day after since I didn't finish until night. Interior was given a quick dusting and vacuuming nothing special Thanks for looking. Chas
Thanks Billy, yeah I really like the Orange Crush the wetness it gives the paint is great. The tire dressing is just some stuff I got called "No Touch" at Costco a few days ago for a pretty good deal for a large pack. I actually like it, not too shiny but definitely gives that crisp clean look.
great job dude ... I need to get together with you sometime this Spring. I'll be organizing my garage this weekend ... fun! fun!
Great job man, she looks happy as she has a big grin on her face (haha, you know I had to say something about it ).
Thanks man, yeah just let me know man I would be more than happy to meet up. You should go to the next meet that DJ and Eric from Autopia put on, I hope they do one in the spring, it was a blast. hahaha thanks Ankeet, I knew it had to come from somebody. Shes grinnin from ear to ear. Gotta rep the red hatches :headbang: What have you found to be the best wax/sealent for red in your experience?
Red hatch crew! Red on the GTI is a non-metallic red so I dont have to worry about flake or anything but found red is hard to get to look really wet and deep but very easy to get bright, haha if that makes sense. I have liked using 845, FK1000p, WG DGPS, RBOE, Insignis, and Chaos. They all made the car look pretty good I think. Have not come across much that made it look bad, but out of those my favorites are 845, RBOE, and Insignis. I have some Menzerna PowerLock on the way so will be interested to see how that looks.
I just realized you are not that far away from me ... I was actually in your area two weeks ago. I went to the "broadway diner" right off I95 ... awesome food!!
Congrats on the new ride. Looks great. I just picked up an 07 2.3 sport sedan as my new DD. Really love these cars. Good luck with it.
