! June Show n Shine Winner !
 

Congratulations to Tim Mason of Stockport for winning our June show n shine. Tim is fairly new to detailing, and only recently became enlightened to the perils of using a single bucket and sponge after signing up on Detailing World. After spending a little time reading up on techniques and purchasing new products, Tim decided it was time to tackle the swirls on his Focus RS. He started out by thoroughly washing his car using Meguiars NXT shampoo, a foam gun, a Meguiars wash mitt and the two bucket method. After rinsing off with an open ended hose, Tim dried everything off using a Meguiars drying towel. With the fingertip test confirming the presence of bonded surface contaminants on the lower panels, Tim then proceeded to clay the paint, using Meguiars Quik Clay. He was careful to use plenty of lubricant, and was pleasantly surprised with the results. After another quick wash to remove any clay residue, Tim then set about correcting the swirls with his newly purchased Porter Cable 7424 dual action polisher. After taping off, Tim set to work on the bootlid, which was one of the worst affected areas on the car. In order to gain confidence, Tim worked on a small test area with Menzerna Final Polish II using a Sonus 4” white polishing pad. After one attempt, Tim was pleased with his progress, but realised a more aggressive polish was needed to shift the swirls, so he moved on to Menzerna Intensive Polish, again using a Sonus 4” white polishing pad. This did the trick, and he then proceeded to do the whole car with it, following up with Menzerna Final Polish II in order to restore the best possible finish. With the swirls corrected, Tim put down the PC and then applied Blackfire Gloss Enhancing Polish, Blackfire Wet Diamond All Finish Paint Protection, and Poorboy’s Natty’s Blue paste wax all by hand. To finish off, Tim cleansed and sealed his alloys with a basecoat of CarLack 68 topped with a coat of Poorboy’s Wheel Sealant, and dressed his tyres with a long life tyre dressing. The results speak for themselves; a fantastically rich, wet looking finish, with great depth and clarity – and check out that beading!

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2.../show-jun2.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2.../show-jun3.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2.../show-jun4.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2.../show-jun5.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2.../show-jun6.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2.../show-jun7.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2.../show-jun8.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2.../show-jun9.jpg

Congratulations also to Chris Bland and Chris Bennett and his mob for coming close seconds – once again it was really hard to pick the winner this month. Chris Bland’s determined work on his girlfriends Clio is simply superb for a novice effort, while Chris Bennett and his mob turned a badly swirled 3-Series into a pure work of art. Nice work guys, well done all of you.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...show-jun10.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...show-jun11.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...show-jun12.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...show-jun13.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...show-jun14.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...show-jun15.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...show-jun16.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...show-jun17.jpg

And thing to note for future months – please try to send in before, during and after pictures plus a description of what you did, and your order number. We are receiving a lot of final result pictures, but few process pictures and descriptions. Have a look at previous winners in our show n shine section for ideas and examples. Cheers!

Where can I get a foam gun from and will it be any use to use one with the Poorboys slick and suds

Is beading good then?
I was under the impression that beads are bad cause if you don't get rid of them it eats into the wax/paintwork?

beading is good, as you can then drive fast and they all fly off ;) :D

Beading is just a characteristic of wax coatings. Natural waxes swell when they get wet, closing the pores and forcing moisture upwards - hence why bead height is very high immediately after a coat of wax (as above). Some enthusiasts love big beads, but as you say, if they dry in situ they can lead to water spotting. Synthetic sealants on the other hand are unaffected by moisture levels, so do not create tall beads - instead they sheet water off, which is better in my opinion, as there is less chance of water spotting.

Foam guns can be bought in Halfords for ~£15, and work excellently with Poorboy's Slick n Suds - it's my shampoo of choice for my own foam gun, and I simply dilute it 1:4 (shampoo:water) for best results.

:)

I was expecting before & after pics of the Focus when I saw a pic of the cobwebbing - did they get corrected? I'm assuming they did seeing as he's taped the car up.

Well just been into local Halfords and B&Q and could see anything, I'm after one that will fit direct to a hose not a presure washer if this helps, something like this


http://www.cleanandshiny.co.uk/Produ...roductID=10013

But don't really want to be spending that sort of money if I can help it

Si

Try looking on www.seriousperformance.co.uk, ALex does Aquatouch foam guns for hoses for around £20 iirc. :)

The focus was corrected, but the pics weren't great. The pic showing right side done, left side untouched is much clearer at it's original size and the correction can be clearly seen. :)