As some of you may know, i have been absolutely dying to get my Leon detailed and up to the standard i'd like it to be for months and months now, but due to a hectic time where we've seen the diary get mega busy with customer details I only managed to get the chance on fri afternoon and all this weekend.

The car wasnt exactly bad before but the last time it was waxed/sealed was back in November(!!!), so the beading was pretty pathetic by now

So here it is, feeling all sorry for itself:



The last time the car was touched with an abrasive polish was around 8 months ago i think (it could be longer) and this was the state of the paintwork (the car was dusty so it hides some light marring):



It just goes to show that with the correct wash & dry technique you really can keep a car pretty much swirl free for long periods of time - my car gets foamed 2 or 3 times before the mitt wash and this will obviously play a huge part in keeping the paint in great shape


So, onto the detail :

The engine bay had been annoying me for ages as it had managed to collect a fair amount of dust etc:



So, first step was to soak the engine with Meguiars safe De-greaser (4:1) and left for 10/15 mins:



It was then Pressure washed and dried off before i dressed it with Aerospace 303 protectant (this was done much later on but i'll put it in here to keep things simple ):








The car was then foamed with Megs APC through the AB foam lance and left to dwell for 5 mins. I then pressure washed off before foaming again with PB Slick and Suds and then washing with the TBM & S&S.

I then Clayed the paint with Zymol Lehm Clay, rinsed it off again and then gave it a quick dry with a waffle weave to get the majority of the water off.

I then jacked the car up and removed a wheel at a time (these were sealed with PB wheel Sealant & the tyres dressed with Blackfire Tyre Gel) to get the arches cleaned out properly:

before:



I soaked the arches with Meguiars Safe Degreaser (4:1) & Autosmart Tar & Glue remover then scrubbed with a Meguiars Upholstery brush twice and then pressure washed off. Everything was then dried and dressed with Megs All Season Dressing. I also painted the centres of my discs black (hammerite) and polished up the calipers (these are getting re-furbed when i get a chance as the laquer's flaking off in bits) with Jeffs Prime Strong before applying PB Wheel Sealant.

after:




Before i started the polishing stage i touched in some stone chips i'd collected over the last 6 months or so and sanded them flat with 3000 unigrit:



These areas were then polished with Menzerna IP 3.02 and a megs polishing pad@1500rpm's to remove the sanding marks.

The rest of the car was done with Menz PO85RD and a Megs finishing pad @1500rpm's, with the lower halfs of the car and back bumper receiving 106ff & a polishing pad as the marring was slightly worse on these sections.

I then HD Cleansed the paint & glass as usual and applied Zymol Vintage by hand to all exterior surfaces including the grills/wiper blades & arms/window rubbers etc.

While this was "gassing" i polished the exhaust tip and gave the interior a quick once over before applying Poorboys Natural Look to all plastics. Normally i'd have gone for Zymol Vinyl but i decided to use the PB stuff up and save the Vinyl for customers cars

A couple of interior shots (no befores as its never really that dirty):





A couple of hours later i gave the car the mandatory final wipe down with Zymol Field Glaze to remove any smears and then rolled the car outside for the afters, along with its new number plates and alloys


































I started the car on Friday afternoon and only just finished this evening, so it wasnt really much of a weekend off from detailing, but i enjoyed it all the same seeings as it was on my car

also, what are peoples opinions on the ride height of the car? I think i'm going to lower it by another 10/15mm as i think it still sits a wee bit high...opinions?

thanks for looking!

 

Looking good Clark! I know many people that would be dlighted to have a car as clean as yours was BEFORE you started, let alone after

I wouldn't lower the car any more than it is just now - looks just about right to me, any lower and it would look silly and probably bounce you off the road at the earliest opportunity.

John

 

Fantastic

It looks perfect as it is and IMO doesnt need lowering any more! What colour did you spray your wheels with or did you get it professionally done???

Gav..

 

I just had them powder coated matt black mate, im well chuffed with them

 

That is one clean engine bay.

Think it looks low enough to me

 

is pressure washing the engine bay recommended? Always here bad stories about doing that

 

Only if you're daft and dont cover up exposed electrical bits, also - dont point the nozzle right up at componants, i had the spray at least 2-3 ft away so it was fine

Scooby engines are a bit dodgy to do though....