So, here we are at the kick off, 11am at my mate's unit, EuroPerformance:
Bit dirty, so the car was pre-rinsed with the karcher and meguiars safe degreaser, then washed with Duragloss 901 via two bucket method and a lambswool mitt.
Wheels were looking a bit grubby around the inner vanes and bolts, so these were cleaned with Duragloss all-wheel cleaner, worked in with a meguiars soft brush. This is awesome stuff as it's safe to use on polished splits, and forms a light gel that clings to to the intricate bits, but also rinses away easily. Results:
Car was dryed with meguiars last touch and a jumbo drying towel, then wheeled inside for the real fun to start.
First up was the front mask, sporting a nice smattering of stone chips.
These were touched in then flatted back with Menzerna Power Gloss and then Intensive Polish on an Elite Coolfoam pad via rotary, working up to around 3000rpm then back down finishing at 900.
Results:
So, on to the rest of the paint. The main issue here (at least on initial inspection) was oxidisation, leaving the paint dull, milky and lacking reflectivity or gloss:
Using the same products and techniques as the front panel this was sorted out, leaving a crisper, glossier finish.
At this point my halogens 'threw a rod' and totally failed, so I couldn't get any decent improvement pics. The Metal Halide lights in the unit meant that I still had a good view of the paint thankfully!
Bonnet before:
Bonnet after, notice how much clearer and sharper the reflections are:
On to the rest of the car, and after about 5 hours we were getting there. Who says white paint doesn't reflect?
Once polishing was finished the whole car was wiped down with Menzerna Top Inspection solvent to remove any polish residue, ready for a coat of Zaino. I thought I'd try the Z2pro on the paint as it's impressed me every time I've used it so far, plus I wanted to see how it performed on single-stage paint. The Zaino was applied and left to cure for an hour while I polished the wheel centres with Belgom Alu on the PC, and then sealed them with Poorboys wheel sealent. The Z2 was then buffed off with the help of some Z6 detailer, and finished with a coat of Z8 sealant.
I then packed up and taped the front mask up to avoid bug guts and stones damaging it on the drive up to the show. Gimp mask anyone?
So, was I happy with the result? Yes and no. Whilst the gloss and colour was dramatically improved and the finish felt great after the zaino, the removal of the oxidisation revealed some really deep marks in the paint I didn't have time to fix, so these will need more attention soon. Also, the vinyls on the roof meant that I couldn't do much more than tickle them!
Still, I made it to edition38 with no drama, and with another coat of Z2 and Z8, and some dressed tyres, arches and plastics the car went down quite well. Failed to get any pics of my own, but courtesy of Bobman, MartyP G2Tand Whining-Roots we have some - cheers guys!
