Clark @ PB

Second detail of the week and the third Porsche in a row, this time a Cayman S, pictured below after the long trek north from Glasgow:










The car was in for a 2 day correction and even though i'd only got around 4 and a bit hours sleep since finishing the Boxter i was surprisingly awake and ready to go!

So, Day 1 - 8:30am:



Pre foam with Hyper Wash @ 60 degrees first:




After a couple of minutes this was thoroughly rinsed off at high pressure, removing the majority of the grime from the car:







I then started on the wheels, using Meguiars Wheel Brightener (10:1) and one of our wheel brushes...




...Then scrubbed the arches and tyres with a brush after spraying with Megs Super Degreaser:





Back to the paintwork:

I filled up my buckets, one with plain water and the other with Shampoo Plus:




I then foamed the car again to aid in lubricity whilst washing:




The shuts were also washed with the mitt as they weren't too dirty, then i gave the car a quick rinse.


The paint and wheels were covered in a lot of tar, so Autosmart Tardis was applied and left for 5 mins, here you can see the tar beginning to disolve and run:








The wheels took forever and i spent close to 30 mins on each one to get them spotless, and over 3 litres of Tardis was used in total!!





The final step in the wash/clean stage was to clay all paintwork and glass. Megs Aggressive Detailing Clay was used to remove quite alot of bonded contaminants:




One final rinse with hot water followed, and then the car was dried off with a waffle weave and the leaf blower.


Total time so far: 5 hours.





Polish:



The car was taped up with 3M 3434 masking tape, and i also removed the badge from the bonnet...




...then took paint readings,everything was fine and healthy




The high flake content in the paint makes the defects appear quite light:



This angle helps to show them in their true condition slightly better:





As some of you are aware, this week i have had nothing but trouble with sticky paint and this one was no different :censored: The masking tape struggled to stick to the paintwork at times and you could actually feel an "elasticy" surface as you ran your hands over the paint. However once a panel had been machined it felt squeaky clean. This definitley leads us to think it has something to do with a certain product that has been applied to various cars, whether it be supaguard/diamondbrite etc and resists anything you can throw at it when it comes to paint cleansers/IPA/Tardis etc - definitely further investigation needed!

Anyways, as with the Boxter - i settled on Megs #83 and Megs Cutting Pad:




At times this worked perfectly...








...at times it was a complete pig and it welded itself to the paint leaving these white patches which you've to pretty much scrub off and marr the $hit out the paint...





I'd started to get a bit tired from the previous night so after correcting the bonnet and roof i called it a night at around 6pm (i think it was about then anyways).





Day 2:



An early start again and a looooong day and night was ahead of me with pretty much a whole car to machine twice, so straight back into correcting the paint i went:





Before:




After:






50/50 on the door:





The bumpers were done with a compouding pad and Fast Cut Plus @ 1500rpm's, using the weight of the machine and no more in order to keep temperatures down but to achieve the desired level of correction:









Finally the correction was done, but i then had to go over the whole car again to refine the finish and nip out any marring/trails left from the polish problems. I used Menzerna Po85rd on a 3M finishing pad @ 1500rpms but even though the paint now felt nice and clean, the polish still didnt work perfectly and i could feel the pad grabbing at the paitwork and not gliding effortlessly like it should. This resulted in full concentration in breaking down the polish without heating the paint up too much and then multiple passes (much more than i usually would) at low rpm's to refine. I closely inspected my work with my LED torch to be 100% sure the finish was perfect - roll on the delivery of the 3M Sun Gun next week!

The G220 would have been an easier choice but A) It gives me numb hands after a while and B) The Rotary gives a slightly sharper finish than the oribital machines. It may only be 1 or 2% but every little extra helps to achieve that dripping wet look!



All machine polishing was completed by around 9:30/10pm.


I had a cup of coffee and a packet of crisps and then dusted the car down:




Then to ensure the paint was free from any polishing oils, i went over the car with Menzerna Top Inspection:




LSP was different to the norm. We've been sent a couple of the Raceglaze waxes to try out, so i went with 55. Initial thoughts are very VERY good...





The batteries in my camera were just about dead so no pics of the interior/wheels etc but i managed to get a couple of the tailpipes before i put them on charge:

Before :




After Mirka 2000 sanding discs, BF Heavy Cut Compound and Megs NXT:





By the time everything was done it was now the back of 2am(AAAGGHHH!!!!) so i left the final wipe down till the morning in order to give me 10 mins to get some pics taken in case the owner was early in collecting the car in the morning......














































I then got outside to the car to find it had been snowing heavily for the last few hours, so it was after 3 before i was home and asleep



And that brings us up to this morning. I gave the car a wipe down and a final inspection to make sure i hadnt missed anything the night before







The weather outside was crap but the sun was still shining through the clouds slightly and into the studio...





Fortunately by the time the owner had arrived to collect it, the weather had perked up a wee bit so i got a last few remaining pics...
















Technically today was meant to be a day off but i've decided to do another car over the weekend so i got it washed and dried this morning before taking the rest of the day off to re-charge and get the sound of the Makita out my head!

It's been a hard and challenging week but when i look at the final results i know it was all worth it, especially when the customer expressed his delight at the final outcome



As always, thanks for taking the time to read


Clark

alpha charlie

Nice one matey!!

I just dont get why folk buy a really expensive car then treat it like cr*p

Still it keeps you pro's in a job
Cheers
AC

Schumacher

Clark, are you sure you're not a Terminator? Brilliant work, once again.

Big Andrew

Superb

Andy

C_WRX

iTrader: (2)

Lovely work as usual. Owner must've thought it was a new car.

mickaldo

not much chance of you turning into a fat bloke clarke, you never stop working. stuning job once again

oobster

Stunning results.

Averroes

Great work, two questions however.

When you spray the wheel brightner on, do you also use shampoo on the wheels whilst working the WB in. Reason I ask is that in the photo where you show the brush working the WB into the wheels theres is lots of foam so im assuming your dipping the brush in some shampoo prior to working in.

Also a general question, what on earth is the difference between the Cayman and the new Boxster

hoskib

iTrader: (1)

fecking hell, you ever heard of burn out guys? the hours you put in

being an anorak i do like these write ups, great to see a car looking so good

one thing, do you use the tar remover to save time or is it better than claying off? tar spots are the bloody bane of my life with my white car, but i've found it fairly easy going to clay them off luckily. tried autoglym tar remover but wasn't exactly blown away with effectiveness of it, is there a better product? (like the tardis you mention?)

Averroes

hoskib, youll be amazed with the result of tardis. You spray it on and almost instantly you see the tar dribbling and within two minutes you can wipe the tar spots off.

scooby-tc

iTrader: (2)

Stunning work that man..........where do i sign

MaDaSS

I wish i could get my car to you. Alas you are too far north for me i fear. LOL.
Notts to Aberdeen! I think not.
But i would dearly love a detail like that on my car no matter the cost.

hoskib

iTrader: (1)

sounds good do you use this stuff neat or water down?

and you literally spray it over the car and then wash it off 5 mins later?

almost sounds too easy

Averroes

Yup you spray on neat, no mixing with water as that will kill it off

You dont really spray over the whole car. What you do is spray it over the areas where the tar spots are visible and almost immediately youll see the tar spots begin to dribble down. After about two mninutes you can wipe them off with a microfibre towel. Now there are cases which ive experienced where some smaller tar spots wont remove, that is down to two reasons. One is that the tar spots have hardened or they are not tar spots hence the reason youll need clay.

And finally, yes it is as easy as it sounds, i was astonished with the results. The amount off time youd normally spend removing a single spot and then the smudge it creates is ridiculous

Rich @ PB

iTrader: (3)

Just foam left over from one of the foaming stages probably; we don't use shampoo with the WB

Rich @ PB

iTrader: (3)

We favour tar & glue remover for removing tar as it makes short work it it and is quick, but claying almost always needs to be done too, in order to remove bonded contaminants like industrial fallout and overspray, etc. Tar and clay is a time consuming mix, and kills clay quickly, hence the two stage appraoch to decontamination.

JimmyBFC

Very impressive as always mate, I know I get a lot of satisfaction when Ive done and dusted cleaning and detailing the motor, im sure you do too, great results from a great company, wish you were closer..

SirFozzalot