# Rescued from the scourer !



## Blueberry (Aug 10, 2007)

I posted this on my owners group so apologies if it's a little disjointed. It's a long read !

I picked up my R on Saturday 7th October in Aberdeen after a long drive from East Yorkshire to collect him.

Although the car appeared to be mechanically sound, his appearance left a bit to be desired. He obviously hadn't been pampered by his previous owners as it looked like he had been scoured judging by the paintwork. I had a full week off work (coincidence) so I had lots of time to spend on getting him up to some kind of respectability. And boy did I need it !!!!

Monday 9th October
Time to start detailing !














































As usual I started by cleaning the alloys. This involved power washing the alloys down, then using a variety of brushes, Chemical Guys Citrus Wash and Gloss shampoo and water and 2 buckets (one for washing, the other for rinsing the brushes) plus Carbon Collective React (iron contamination remover). I use a small detailing brush for the outer face, a Carbon Collective wheel wand for the barrels, dooms wheel wash pad for getting behind the spokes, an Optimum wheel mitt for the wheel arches and a stiff brush and APC to scrub down the tyres to remove any remains of tyre dressing to get them really clean. The wheels would be taken off later in the he week to have the barrels properly cleaned and then be Ceramic coated.










Next it was on to pre washing the car. To ensure pre wash got into all nooks and crannies, I snow foamed the car with KKD Blizzard Force, using around one inch of snow foam in the foam bottle before topping with water. This was then applied to the whole car using my Nilfisk P150 power washer.

Whilst it was dwelling on the car I worked around the car with a small detailing brush and Meguiars APC and Auto Glanz bug remover getting into all nooks and crannies, door shuts, petrol cap, edge of all the windows, window rubber trim, all edges etc etc.

After 5 minutes it was thoroughly rinsed off.

Next it was onto my next pre wash, which would really give the paintwork a deep clean. Koch Chemie Green Star diluted 1:20 into a garden chemical sprayer, as shown.










This is sprayed all over the car and left to dwell for 5 minutes before being thoroughly power washed down, rinsing from the bottom, upwards.

Then it was on to physically washing the car. Here I used 2 buckets (different from the wheel buckets), one for the shampoo and water (Gyeon Bathe shampoo) and the other bucket with water only for rinsing my Dooka wash mitt. It's super soft this wash mitt and thick, so less chance of scratching the paintwork.

The car was thoroughly washed starting with the roof and working down, including in the door shuts, boot and lastly the engine bay and under bonnet, using an old Dooka wash mitt. The car was then dried using the huge Wooly Mammoth drying towel.

At this stage, the engine bay was sprayed with 303 Aerospace Protectant and left. I wouldn't revisit this until Saturday !

Decontamination :
The car was power washed down and dried before it was on to the decontamination process. First I started with removing tar, using Autosmart Tardis, the best tar remover in my opinion. This is sprayed on and left for around 4 minutes, agitate if required, ensuring its thoroughly rinsed off. This was done panel by panel, working around the car.

Next it was on to removing iron contaminants by spraying Carpro Iron X and Carbon Collective React onto the paintwork. Waited for it to turn purple/red which isn't easy to see on a black car, leaving it no more than 4 minutes or so, then thoroughly power wash down. Again I did this panel by panel.

Claying :
Now on to the final step of the decontamination process, claying.

Using my favoured clay bar, Meguiars, I break it up into several pieces. Then using my clay lube which is Chemical Guys Synthetic Quick Detailer I ensured the paintwork was thoroughly sprayed with the clay lube as well as the actual clay bar, before moving my hand slowly back and forth across the paintwork, cupping the clay bar in in my fingers without applying any pressure. This is very important ! Never move the clay bar over any paintwork that hasn't had any clay lube sprayed on it, I then dried each panel as I worked around the whole car. Also remember to fold the clay bar to a clean side when it becomes very contaminated or every panel. The paintwork was feeling and sounding much smoother now.










Photo of bonnet









These processes had taken me 4 hours already !

Now we were ready to start machine polishing the paintwork. Now the hard work begins





































Starting with side panels first, I first took paint depth readings using my gauge to see how much paint I had to play with. Readings all around the car were very similar, average 118 microns, which is good news for me as I know there has been no re-sprays or repairs to any of the paintwork.

Using my favourite polishes, Scholl Concepts S20 and Chemical Guys Quantum pads and my Vertool Forced Drive polisher, I started with the general workhorse pad, white. This wasn't removing some of the deeper marks so I changed to an orange pad. Using the same polish, this combination was giving some better results on the heavier marks in the paintwork but in some cases it was taking 2 sets to achieve a finish I was happy with. 3 hours of polishing on the big panels on both sides of the car were completed before the light went. Smaller, tighter areas on the side panels or where spot polishing was required, would be dealt with using my Shinemate, later in the week. A total of 7 / 8 hours spent so far on the car.










Tuesday 10th October

I only had the morning to concentrate on the car so I started at 9am on the bonnet. Again using the Vertool Forced Drive polisher, Scholl Concepts polishes and Chemical Guys Quantum pads I started with the white pad and S20 which was finishing down nicely but the bonnet and front grill has suffered a lot of stone chips and has some deeper marks and even scratches. Deciding I needed more cut to make the marks less noticeable and/or remove them, I upped the polish to S3 and used the orange polishing pad before refining the paint with S40 and a black polishing pad. It was really hard going on the bonnet and grill and it took a little over 3 hours on this area alone to achieve the results I was after but also remembering that removing as little paint as possible was the main objective.

There were some points today where I muttered to myself, "why on earth did I buy black" because all I could see were the imperfections but my better half kept saying how good it was looking. I wasn't convinced but I could do no more today.



















Wednesday 11th October
No work on Angus today

Thursday 12th October
Again, I only had the morning to work on AngusR. This time it was rear bumper and bootlid. This was probably the worst areas of the whole car.

I used the same pad and polish combination as I used on the bonnet, which was Scholl S3 and orange pad with the Vertool polisher. A couple of sets were required all over this area. Then this was followed up by S40 and a black polishing pad. S40 adds gloss and is a finishing polish. A finishing polish is always required when using a compound (aggressive cutting polish) and coarser pad.

The bootlid and rear bumper were very hard work. On par with the bonnet. Again it took me more than 3 hours just to polish this area and get it to a finish I was happy to leave it.

That was all I had time for today.










Friday 13th October
I should really have stayed in bed on this day (note the date!) but I had to crack on with the car.

Now I had corrected and refined the larger area panels all around the car. This morning I concentrated on polishing and correcting some of the tighter, more difficult areas that required my smaller polisher and pads. For this I used the Shinemate ep803 mini rotary polisher. These included around the wing mirrors, Lower side panels, rear panels above number plate and near badges and inside the door shuts. Scholl S20 and S40 polishes were used on these areas.

Finally, the roof was polished with the Vertool polisher using Scholl S20 and white polishing pad. This combination can finish down well as long as you refine the finish by lowering the speed (around speed 2-3) after you have finished the cutting process at high speed (5-6)










Finally the polishing of the paintwork was finished, after a total of around 13 hours !

Next on the agenda was to smarten up those exhaust pipes. They were looking manky but I knew I could get them shining again with a bit of effort. The inside of the exhaust pipes on the R are painted black. I wanted to remove this, like I had with my previous R so I got my tools together.

A drill, 3 polishing cones, the Britemax Twins metal polish, Auto Finesse metal polish, some wire wool extra fine grade 0000, some wet and dry.

The polishing cones are made of foam. There are 3 colours of polishing cones and have a stiffness / coarseness as follows :

Yellow T80 Fine, Orange T60 Medium, Blue T40 Coarse

I used the blue for the majority of the polishing, before moving to the Orange. The Auto Finesse Mercury is quite coarse and works well with the blue and orange cones. The very edge of the exhausts the cones can't really get to so wire wool and some wet and dry used by hand removed the rest of the black soot that was engrained. One all the black soot had been removed including underneath the exhausts then I used the Britemax finishing metal polish to bring the shine back. This is left to haze before being wiped off and buffed up by hand.

The pipes were now looking how I liked them.




























That was complete for today.

Saturday 14th October

Another early start to the day. This morning is where I apply all the coatings to the paintwork, glass, alloys and interior.

✔Starting with the paintwork, which has all been wiped down with Gtechniq Panel Wipe to remove all traces of polishing oils and give a pure, clean surface on which to put the coating. This also helps the coating adhere to the paint as it needs a squeaky clean surface to perform to its best potential. My favourite coating is Fireball Nano Coat. I use the professional version but the version available to the public is just as good and a little easier to apply. The professional version gives slightly better gloss, beading and sheeting. I love the pure round beads Fireball products give me. It's amazing. This is a spray on coating and will last a year or more but it's so easy to apply, you can top it up if you require it. I spray it on to a clean M.D. cloth, spread and then wipe with a clean my.

✔Glass coating: 
Next it was time to coat the glass all round. For this I used Gyeon View. One coat was applied to the windscreen, side windows as well as the rear window. Again, being careful not to let it dry.

Before applying the coating, the glass was clayed, using Meguiars clay bar. This was then polished with Gyeon glass polish which comes as part of the Gyeon View kit. Gtechniq glass cleaner was then applied to make sure all glass was really clean. Using the application block which comes with the kit, the glass coating was applied in straight lines, horizontally and then vertically on the windscreen, to ensure even coverage. The residue is then buffed off. The same process is applied to all the glass.

✔Alloy coating
At this point the car was jacked up and the alloys removed to deep clean them. Koch Chemie Green Star diluted 1:20 was sprayed on them, iron contamination remover, React and also Tardis sprayed on to remove tar and alloy weight glue residue. The alloys were fully dried and then wiped down with Gtechniq Panel Wipe before Carbon Collective Platinum Wheels was applied to the barrels and front spokes.

The alloys will require a full refurbishment during the wintertime to make them look like new again. The front spokes have no curbing so they look ok in that respect but they need to be improved.










✔Alloys
Whilst the alloys were off the car, the rear drums and guard were painted silver.










The engine bay which I sprayed with a nice finish. down and buff


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## suspal (Dec 29, 2011)

A lot better needed some tlc,nice touch.:thumb:


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## c87reed (Dec 9, 2015)

That's looking in much better shape now. The exhaust tips make all the difference too.


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## neilb62 (Jul 30, 2007)

Just-wow....... What a stunning transformation, great photo's too.... :thumb::thumb:


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## alfajim (May 4, 2011)

great job. you've earned a sit down after that.


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## JoeyJoeJo (Jan 3, 2014)

Brilliant transformation and write up


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

Looks great.

What happened to your other RCZ-R?


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## nbray67 (Mar 22, 2012)

Loving the transformation but the pics were huge on my laptop which kinda spoilt the full read/viewing.


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## Ads_ClioV6 (Apr 27, 2014)

Excellent job


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## Andyblue (Jun 20, 2017)

Wow, that looks superb


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## dchapman88 (Mar 17, 2016)

Very nice write up, and those beautiful reflection shots. 
Good job


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## steelghost (Aug 20, 2015)

Black's a lot of effort, but it does look the business when it's done :thumb:


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## Chris Donaldson (Jun 26, 2016)

Good results! You really see the effort that's gone into that. Well done.


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## Stu Mac (Aug 18, 2014)

Great transformation, enjoy


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## GSI-MAN (Sep 12, 2017)

Well worth every minute spent on that.
I reckon that looks a million times better.
I take my hat off to you.


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## HEADPHONES (Jan 1, 2008)

Great turn around.
I never understood how people with nice cars neglect the gorgeous tailpipes.
Easiest and quickest part to keep ontop of yet I even see Ferraris and Lambos with tailpipes looking like they've been dug outta a coal mine!


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## Blueberry (Aug 10, 2007)

HEADPHONES said:


> Great turn around.
> 
> I never understood how people with nice cars neglect the gorgeous tailpipes.
> 
> Easiest and quickest part to keep ontop of yet I even see Ferraris and Lambos with tailpipes looking like they've been dug outta a coal mine!


Yeah me neither ! They really make or break a car. Thanks for the kind comment.


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## Blueberry (Aug 10, 2007)

steelghost said:


> Black's a lot of effort, but it does look the business when it's done :thumb:


Yes I always said I would never have another black car but that was way before I got into detailing


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## Blueberry (Aug 10, 2007)

Kerr said:


> Looks great.
> 
> What happened to your other RCZ-R?


Long story short, I sold it thinking I wanted another convertible. Missed the R so much, i just had to get another. Only had the convertible 5 months.

I made the right decision.


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## mike90 (Jan 30, 2016)

Absolutely stunning and a fantastic write up. Your hard work has definitely paid off!!


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## ihs0201 (Oct 11, 2016)

:thumb::thumb: Great result there


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## PugIain (Jun 28, 2006)

Very smart.
Not noticed it on the RCZ forum though 

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## davidcraggs (Aug 1, 2007)

Great work.
Does it have Continentals on one side of car and Good Year on the other though?


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## Blueberry (Aug 10, 2007)

davidcraggs said:


> Great work.
> Does it have Continentals on one side of car and Good Year on the other though?


It has one Goodyear and 3 Continentals. It should have Goodyear all round. They will be changed to Goodyear in due course. And thank you !



PugIain said:


> Very smart.
> Not noticed it on the RCZ forum though
> 
> Sent from my VFD 710 using Tapatalk


Thanks Iain. I haven't been on the Forum in a very long time I'm afraid.


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## Jue (Aug 1, 2016)

That’s a stunning job :buffer: :thumb:


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## Cookies (Dec 10, 2008)

That's simply outstanding. Fantastic work on a really lovely car. 

Health to enjoy btw!!

Cooks


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## muchoado (Dec 5, 2016)

beauty


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## Venkman (Apr 22, 2013)

Great turnaround, nicely documented!


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## JayMac (Sep 4, 2016)

Class results, lovely car and great write up!


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## chongo (Jun 7, 2014)

Beautiful finish on that paint:argie: and a lovely looking car:thumb:


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## Megs Lad (Nov 27, 2012)

Looks brand new great shine


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## transtek (Mar 2, 2007)

Gorgeous finish on that and looks like a great joint effort!
BTW, where in the East Riding are you from? I'm originally from Beverley! (small world and all that!)


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## Blueberry (Aug 10, 2007)

transtek said:


> Gorgeous finish on that and looks like a great joint effort!
> BTW, where in the East Riding are you from? I'm originally from Beverley! (small world and all that!)


Thanks. My OH is a big help with all the little jobs 

I'm from Cottingham. Small world indeed !


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## wylie coyote (Jul 15, 2007)

Great read from start to finish. End result, superb transformation!:thumb:


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## camerashy (Feb 9, 2014)

Really enjoyed reading your write up, lovely transformation and it will be getting lots of tlc from now on


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## DLGWRX02 (Apr 6, 2010)

Wow, my wife always wanted an RCZ. That was one hell of a turn around, and a great write up.


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## Blueberry (Aug 10, 2007)

DLGWRX02 said:


> Wow, my wife always wanted an RCZ. That was one hell of a turn around, and a great write up.


This is my 4th RCZ and second R ! I just love them. The perfect car for me.

Thank you for your kind comments


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## andyfish (Feb 4, 2006)

Wow! Just wow!

Worth every drop of sweat. Great work.


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## camerashy (Feb 9, 2014)

Blueberry said:


> This is my 4th RCZ and second R ! I just love them. The perfect car for me.
> 
> Thank you for your kind comments


Never fancied a TT Kerry


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## ffrs1444 (Jun 7, 2008)

top work good turn around,Not keen on the red wheel bolt covers Black would look good


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## S3 Chris (Jun 14, 2017)

Great looking car and top work! Blueberry I am local to you I am from Beverley and work on National Avenue in Hull !


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## transtek (Mar 2, 2007)

ChrisHorner said:


> Great looking car and top work! Blueberry I am local to you I am from Beverley and work on National Avenue in Hull !


Another Beverlonian!:wave:


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## JwilliamsM (Dec 20, 2011)

great work, i have still yet to see a proper R on the road, all the ones i see are dreary diseasles!


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## Blueberry (Aug 10, 2007)

camerashy said:


> Never fancied a TT Kerry


Lol you don't ever say that to a RCZ owner 

I love the mk1 TT but always preferred the curves of a RCZ


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## Blueberry (Aug 10, 2007)

ffrs1444 said:


> top work good turn around,Not keen on the red wheel bolt covers Black would look good


They are oem black but I changed them to red. I prefer them


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## Blueberry (Aug 10, 2007)

JwilliamsM said:


> great work, i have still yet to see a proper R on the road, all the ones i see are dreary diseasles!


Not many Rs around. Less than 300 in the UK


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## LeeS (Jan 27, 2014)

JwilliamsM said:


> diseasles!


 :lol::lol::lol:


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## Forsh (Jun 13, 2014)

Well the myth about infamous Scottish midges is busted - can't be many left after your drive home!

Nice job!


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## Blueberry (Aug 10, 2007)

Thank you for all the kind comments. Makes it all worthwhile when it’s appreciated by others.


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## GaryKinghorn (Dec 10, 2017)

Great job, well done.

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk


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## Blueberry (Aug 10, 2007)

GaryKinghorn said:


> Great job, well done.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk


Thank you


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## bazz (May 15, 2007)

great job done on that


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## Matt1982 (Apr 24, 2012)

Well done, Looks great


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## Blue (Sep 15, 2008)

Awesome work!

Spreading it out over a few days may be the answer, I'm afraid by the time I'm closing in on the end of a polishing session I've normally lost any inclination to mess about with exhausts etc!


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## Blueberry (Aug 10, 2007)

Blue said:


> Awesome work!
> 
> Spreading it out over a few days may be the answer, I'm afraid by the time I'm closing in on the end of a polishing session I've normally lost any inclination to mess about with exhausts etc!


Spreading it across a few days means you don't rush and you can take the time to get the results you are after. It makes it much more enjoyable I find.


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## vo04lan (Sep 5, 2011)

Great job looks so much better going to do my Rcz again soon once I have had front bumper resprayed









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## ibiza55 (Feb 22, 2008)

Gotta love a Peugeot, especially in this form.


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## PugIain (Jun 28, 2006)

Can I post a pic of my beauty too 

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## Blueberry (Aug 10, 2007)

vo04lan said:


> Great job looks so much better going to do my Rcz again soon once I have had front bumper resprayed
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Going to be getting my bumper resprayed too and the wheels refurbed come Spring then having some bits fitted


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## vo04lan (Sep 5, 2011)

Blueberry said:


> Going to be getting my bumper resprayed too and the wheels refurbed come Spring then having some bits fitted


Mines full of stone chips so never been completely happy can't wait to get it done

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## TonyH38 (Apr 7, 2013)

A very nice job done there looking good


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## Blueberry (Aug 10, 2007)

vo04lan said:


> Mines full of stone chips so never been completely happy can't wait to get it done
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


Yeah the front of mine is and part of the bonnet. For a 3 year old it looks bad. Going to get a front splitter fitted and other bits done.


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## PugIain (Jun 28, 2006)

My RCZ is pretty good with regards stone chips, certainly a lot less of them on it compared to my 508 GT. That's was lathered in them.

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## vo04lan (Sep 5, 2011)

Blueberry said:


> Yeah the front of mine is and part of the bonnet. For a 3 year old it looks bad. Going to get a front splitter fitted and other bits done.


Got to get side skirt done at same time as I caught it on a curb going into a car park

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## wanner69 (Mar 14, 2010)

Brilliant work Kerry, you've brought it back to life like it deserves, well done:thumb:


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

Welcome back to the forum.

Still got the R? How's the second one going?

Luckily I was complimentary in this thread and don't need to edit my post. :lol:

An impulse buy 3 months ago I bought one.










Not all sailing so far, but all good now. Hopefully.


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## c16rkc (Apr 15, 2010)

Cracking job - looks stunning!

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## MAW73 (May 20, 2011)

Superb work, that car looks great also in black also.

I like the tools you used to clean the exhaust. I have never come across that before.


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## Makalu (May 7, 2013)

Awesome job!


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