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Polished Bliss®: "Where experience counts" - Impreza RB320
Another one in for some correction work :)
This particular RB is the Original Press car and is actually the exact one that EVO Magazine reviewed and drove rather swiftly in this video below: So understandably the paint was looking rather sorry for itself as Motoring Journalists aren't really know for their passion of car care! In the shade the car looks pretty good on arrival: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB001.jpg However, if we go to the other side we can see all sorts of defects lurking: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB002.jpg https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB003.jpg https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB004.jpg https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB006.jpg https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB005.jpg https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB007.jpg The owner was going offshore so the car was left with us for 2 weeks which meant I could work on it in between other jobs and not have to worry about finishing to a strict deadline. First up I decided to remove the wheels as I could see there was alot of old weight stickers and residue which were going to be a pain to remove if the wheels were still on the car: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB009.jpg https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB008.jpg The process was as follows: Sprayed with R222 wheel gel https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB010.jpg Agitated with a Swissvax Wheel Brush... https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB011.jpg ...and Wheel Woolie. https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB012.jpg A rinse followed before Autosmart Tardis was applied to remove some tar spots: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB013.jpg This was rinsed off and Wolfs Brake Duster was applied and agitated after a few minutes: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB014.jpg https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB015.jpg A combination of Tardis and the Heat Gun was used to remove the old residue: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB016.jpg https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB017.jpg Swissvax Cleaner Fluid and then Autobahn were applied to each wheel and buffed off: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB018.jpg https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB019.jpg The arches were cleaned with Meguiars Super Degreaser while each wheel was off but I never took pictures as they weren't too bad to begin with in all honesty. With all 4 wheels cleaned, protected and back on the car it was time to crack on with all the other details: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB022.jpg Foamed first at a temperature of approx 60/65 degrees: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB023.jpg Thoroughly rinsed at the same temperature: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB024.jpg Engine bay sprayed with Meguiars Super Degreaser and a Swissvax Brush: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB025.jpg Followed by a rinse at medium pressure: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB026.jpg The car was then left to idle for 5 minutes. Boot, door shuts, exterior trim etc cleaned with Meguiars APC: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB028.jpg https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB027.jpg The car was then washed with the 2 bucket method, lambswool mitt and Meguiars Shampoo Plus before Autosmart Tardis was applied to all paintwork and glass: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB029.jpg This was rinsed off after being wiped over with an old MF towel. Wolfs Brake Duster was then applied and wiped over with a MF towel the same as Tardis before a final rinse off. Now inside, I clayed with an Autosmart Clay I'd been given to test and water as lube: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB030.jpg Despite the chemical cleaning during the wash stage there was still a considerable amount of contamination coming off the paintwork, this is after half the roof: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB031.jpg Once fully clayed I dried the car off with a PB Luxury Drying Towel and the Black Baron. Now clean and free of any products that may have been filling any defects the true condition of the paint could be seen: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB032.jpg https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB033.jpg https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB035.jpg https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB036.jpg https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB037.jpg https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB039.jpg https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB038.jpg https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB040.jpg A couple of bits were removed to make polishing easier such as the side repeaters and washer jets: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB041.jpg I then took detailed paint readings which showed the car had a consistent level of paint, unfortunately it was consistently thin! On average it was between 75-85 microns with a couple of high spots just touching 3 figures. Fortunately, despite the severity of the defects present in the paintwork I was confident I could achieve excellent results with minimal paint removal as experience has shown Subaru’s of this age are incredibly soft and sticky (my own car being true to form!). So with that in mind, I tried a very mild polish and pad combination - 3M Ultrafina and a 3M Polishing Pad. The paint was extremely sticky but the oily nature of UF and slowly building the RPM's of the rotary helped keep panels temperatures to a minimum. Here’s the result after my test section with a total paint removal of 2 microns: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB070.jpg https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB071.jpg Many people would have went for a stronger combination when looking at the defects but it just goes to show what can be done with the right pad and polish! A couple of panels in I swapped to green Lake Country Polishing Pads as the 3M pad was starting to grab a bit when loaded with polish and the LC one ran a bit cooler while still cutting well. Some more correction shots, in no particular order: A-Pillar before: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB077.jpg After: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB078.jpg Rear quarter before: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB075.jpg After: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB076.jpg Window spoiler before: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB068.jpg After: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB069.jpg Lights before: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB054.jpg After: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB055.jpg Boot lid before: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB058.jpg After: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB059.jpg Before: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB056.jpg After: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB057.jpg N/S door before: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB079.jpg After: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB080.jpg I think this 50/50 should show just how much clarity the defects were robbing the paint!... https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB072.jpg https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB073.jpg https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB074.jpg Fortunately I got a break from the sticky paint when it came to polishing the plastics. These were slightly harder and thicker than the metal panels so Wolfs WP-5N with a Tangerine LC HT pad were used for these: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB042.jpg https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB043.jpg Before: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB045.jpg After: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB046.jpg Before https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB047.jpg After: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB048.jpg https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB044.jpg Rear bumper before: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB049.jpg 50/50: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB051.jpg After: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB050.jpg Number plate recess before: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB052.jpg After: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB053.jpg Side skirt before: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB066.jpg After: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB067.jpg The headlights were slightly weathered: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB064.jpg After: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB065.jpg Front bumper wasn't too bad for defects as it had been painted at some point, although there were quite a few bug etchings: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB062.jpg After: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB063.jpg Before: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB060.jpg After: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB061.jpg Along with the front bumper, the bonnet and wings had been re-sprayed too but were the complete opposite to the original paint, they were pretty hard and at an average of 190 microns fairly thick. For these panels I used a Cyan Lake Country HT Pad with Wolfs WP-6H to achieve the following results: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB081.jpg https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB082.jpg After IPA: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB083.jpg In between all the polishing I'd called Martin from Dent Devils in to take care of a few dings on the N/S door: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB084.jpg Martin at work: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB085.jpg And literally 2 minutes later - all gone! https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB086.jpg With all the correction work done I put the car outside to give it a thorough rinse down. Ultrafina wouldn't usually dust much but when you're dealing with sticky paint you're dealing with dust like it or not! :D Looking much better already: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB087.jpg After drying with the Black Baron I refined the paint with Ultrafina again but this time with the DA and some LC HT Finishing Pads: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB088.jpg This was a time consuming step which took a whole Saturday to do as I had to make sure the polish was completely broken down and then avoid marring the super soft paint when buffing the polish off (which tends to want to weld itself onto the paint on sticky panels!) Eventually I got there (after re-doing a couple of panels as a result of inflicting some light marring) though so after a light dust down and IPA wipe down I applied Blackfire All Finish Paint Protection: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB089.jpg https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB090.jpg This was left for 20 minutes until I could leave a clean swipe with my finger: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB091.jpg Buffing off with a Poorboys DMT: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB092.jpg I then completed the rest of the car which included the interior glass with Swissvax Crystal (love this stuff!) https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB093.jpg Vents etc dusted out before thoroughly hoovering and then wiping down all surfaces with APC: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB095.jpg Matts cleaned and protected: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB096.jpg https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB097.jpg |
Credit where it's due Clark,nice work mate:thumb:
I use the Ultrafina in my workshop too. |
That is truly amazing how good those results are from using such little paint correction (2microns). Really enjoyed reading that, especially as it was on a RB320, nice one. :thumb:
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I am ALWAYS stunned at the results :cool:
TX. |
Superb as always!
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Good job, amazing turnaround :)
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nice work
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Great work. Was looking forward to seeing this write up as I'd seen a few pics on Twitter :thumb:
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Thats one of the best corrections ive seen:eek: Looks like it had been washed with a brillo pad before:lol1:
Top work:notworthy:notworthy |
The RB looks mint,especially with the blue flek shining through....
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That is a great looking car!! Great work done there!
Doug |
wow what a state and what a recovery, mightily impressed!
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Again that transformation is amazing. I have a black blob with the paintwork in the same sorry condition and would love to get it back up to scratch. Can I ask how much that would cost to have done?
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Originally Posted by scoobydog63
(Post 9972466)
Again that transformation is amazing. I have a black blob with the paintwork in the same sorry condition and would love to get it back up to scratch. Can I ask how much that would cost to have done?
http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acata...e-options.html :) |
Looks really smart top job!
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that's truly amazing, what a transformation :thumb::thumb:
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Enjoyed reading that brilliant thread!!
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Originally Posted by John @ PB
(Post 9972781)
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that is simply stunning,
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That was a good read/write up :thumb:
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Good work Clark, the effort you put into these cars is apparent in the condition they pop out of the other end ;)
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looks great, loving the the reflection/pose shot :D
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...B320/RB118.jpg :lol1: |
Thanks guys!
Originally Posted by scoobydog63
(Post 9973102)
Which option did the customer go for?
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Originally Posted by Clark @ PB
(Post 9974097)
Thanks guys!
It was a 3 day Correction Detail (although it ran into 4 as I took the wheels off) which comes in at £840 + VAT. |
Superb results, I bet the owner was over the moon with that! :cool:
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