# Renault Clio Tuition Detail - First Car Gets Treatment it Deserves!



## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

It really doesn't matter to us what the car is - big small, cheap run about or expensive supercar : if its got paint (or not!) we'll polish it  ... There is something particularly awarding for us to an every day car that arrives with every day marks and being able to turn it around and make it stand out alongside all the other every day cars is hugely rewarding 

p3asa contacted us on the forum about organising a tuition detail, and the car chosen was his daughter's Renault Clio: a good plan, as her first car gets a makeover while he learns to machine polish over the course of a tuition detail 

The car turned up with general winter road grime across the paintwork...





































We started the detail with out traditional wash methods ensuring wheels, arches and bodywork were cleaned and then clayed ready for the machine polishing. Before starting on the machine polishing, it was out with the scrap panels to work with Steven on the machines. Steven was interested in rotary polishing so we started with that, starting with the ideas of machine control... Steven seen here under the watchful eye of Gordon working on different machine control techniques:



















A slight tendancy to life the machine up at the back...










which Gordon worked on to ensure Steven's technique was smooth and effective - many people learn the use of tools "kinesthetically", ie by feeling the right and wrong methods so plenty of practice goes a long way to building confidence and ability on the rotary...










Similarly for the DA, as Steven spend time with me on the G220...




























Once more confident with the machine polishers, it was time to start on the car itself 

Starting with the bonnet before...



















we can see some general light to moderate swirls...





































And some deeper RDS... (not the strip light used to best highlight these):



















We kick off here with a paint assessment - seeing what the car requires to deal with the marks in the paint with as little paint removed as possible... we start with a lightly abrasive combination and work up through the grades, assessing removal rates as we go to ensure safety, until the desired level of correction is achieved. So, a test section before:



















First up was Menzerna PO106FA Final Finish on a black Chemical Guys Hexlogic finishing pad... largely getting forgotten about this product in favour of the newer 203S which if you ask me is a great shame indeed, as 106FA represents better flexibility when paired with 85RD3.02 Intensive Polish in my opinion, the 106FA being capable of tenable correction but with also a superb finishing ability. Don't discount it, just because something new has come along as it is an excellent product that is, for me, certainly not bettered by 203S! Application was Zenith Point Technique, that is where the speed is increased to working pace, and then product broken down before working back down through the speeds to refine, roughly as follows:


Spread at 600rom
Begin working at 1200rpm, building a little heat in the panel to get the weax residue evenly spread
Work at 1500 - 1800rpm until residue goes clear with moderate pressure and steady machine movements - will take a good three minutes of continued working
Refine at 1200rpm, a few passes with light pressure
Burnish at 900rpm, couple of passes, light pressure and slow machine movement

The end results show a very effective correction of the swirls...



















But look more closely... we can still see the RDS:










We continue to work up, based on paint removal rates being inside the error of the gauge here (low)... PO85RD3.02 Intensive Polish on a white Chemical Guys Hexlogic pad worked using the Zenith Point method described above delivered much better correction of the deeper marks...



















and as expected the swirls are fully removed...



















Some deeper marks required a little bit of localised heavier correction...



















3M Fast Cut Plus on a Chemical Guys Orange Hexlogic (4") spot pad was used, with the Festool RAP-80 by spreading the compound and working at 2000rpm until the marks were removed...



















Refinement was carried out using Menzerna PO85RD Final Finish using a Zentih Point methods as described above, with more passes made at the burnishing stage to ensure the best clarity in the end finish. The bonnet afterwards...



















And under the lights...





































Gordon and Stewart worked down the passenger side of the car, Stewart under Gordon's watchful eye  ... The side before:




























and under the lights, where the reasons for the slightly grey looking black paint become apparent...








































































































































A rough 50/50 shot shows the difference being made - no refinement or even proper wiping of residue here, just a quick pick to show the differences being made :










Gordon and Stewart working away...



















RAP-80 is a superb little machine for sills, pillars and other small intricate areas...










After shots down the side, show the colour restored to its original depth and lustre...














































No machine polishing would be right without thorough assessment under the Sun Gun and Metal Halides though :







































































































































































































Down the driver's side got a similar treatment from me.  Some general before shots showing the slightly greyed paint finish...




























General before shots under the lights...








































































































































The front wing afterwards...
































































Around the door pilar, some deeper marks existed...




























These were removed with Fast Cut Plus on a spot pad...




























The rest of the door was corrected with Intensive Polish and refined using Final Finish (85RD) as described above to give the following...













































































































More deep marks on rear pilar...



















FC+ corrected...



















Rear 3/4 after correction and refinement:




































































































The roof was the worst panel on the car with a lot of deep RDS across the panel...









































































The whole roof was corrected using 3M FC+ at 2000rpm using a Chemical Guys Yellow Hexlogic Cutting Pad, then followed with Intensive Polish before being refined with Final Finish to give...
































































Bootlid before...





































and after...














































Once the machine polishing stage was completed the paintwork was then protected using Meguiars #16 wax for its durability  Tyres were dressed using Espuma RD-50, wheels protected using FK1000P. Trim dressed with Chemical Guys New Look Trim Gel, arches also with RD-50. Glass cleaned with Stoner Invisible Glass inside and out.

The end results of a day's hard work, and from our point of view, very successful tuition for Steven, a lot of the work you see in the afters was produced by Steven himself ....



























































































Thanks for looking  A long writeup this one, with lots of pics but I do like to add plenty of detail and information to my writeups where I can which I hope has been useful :thumb:


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## -tom- (Jan 27, 2009)

simply stunning as all ways


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## alx_chung (Aug 13, 2006)

Nice one! :thumb:
See you guys on Tuesday! 
Alex


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## ads2k (Jul 12, 2006)

Great work again guys and looks like you've made another 'detailer' there Dave .

I do have a question Dave - Is the heater I see in the reflections there to keep 'you' warm or to give some heat to the panels to aid in the Menzerna working easier or both ?


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## NickTB (Feb 4, 2007)

Love it! And another great, informative write up


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

ads2k said:


> Great work again guys and looks like you've made another 'detailer' there Dave .
> 
> I do have a question Dave - Is the heater I see in the reflections there to keep 'you' warm or to give some heat to the panels to aid in the Menzerna working easier or both ?


Its there to keep me warm  ... The heat for working the polish comes from working the polish with the rotary


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## EthanCrawford (Jan 7, 2010)

looking very nice i think i might need to book my slef in for something like this


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## Matt B (Feb 21, 2010)

Excellent write up :thumbs: Can't wait for my machine polish experience.


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## wrxmania (Apr 15, 2007)

Looks great


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## frank520 (Apr 9, 2008)

Another great job from the dynamic duo. I'm sure Steven benefited greatly from working with you and Gordon.

I hear you did a great job on a neglected BMW 5 series recently.............................


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## wedgie (Apr 5, 2008)

Very nice results as usual Dave/Gordon, no doubt steven has picked up loads of tips from you both :thumb::thumb:



Just out of interest, was Ross trying to get in as many pics as possible????:lol::lol::lol::lol:


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## -Ally- (Mar 6, 2009)

Needs more pics  

Only joking..Good work as usual Dave & Gordy.


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## ads2k (Jul 12, 2006)

Dave KG said:


> Its there to keep me warm  ... The heat for working the polish comes from working the polish with the rotary


I thought that was the case Dave, has been a bit cold up in your part of the world recently so obviously your shaggy hair and jumper aren't keeping you warm enough :lol:


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## Dipesh (Oct 12, 2007)

Great write up Dave!


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

frank520 said:


> Another great job from the dynamic duo. I'm sure Steven benefited greatly from working with you and Gordon.
> 
> I hear you did a great job on a neglected BMW 5 series recently.............................


Yes, I heard that  ... Writeup coming along soon for that :thumb: Getting through a backlog of them at the moment.


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

wedgie said:


> Very nice results as usual Dave/Gordon, no doubt steven has picked up loads of tips from you both :thumb::thumb:
> 
> Just out of interest, was Ross trying to get in as many pics as possible????:lol::lol::lol::lol:


Cheers mate. 

Its Liam (liammc) that is in the pics by the way :thumb:


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## ross-1888 (Feb 22, 2009)

very good write up again kg. love that colour and how it turned out. 


yeap i was there but not in the photos. that was my brother liammc on here on dw. i was nabbed by a local in the industrial estate for a quick valet.


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## scottgm (Dec 27, 2009)

Amazing Job again lads & Steven of course

Really good detailed write up :thumb:

Scott


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## GlynRS2 (Jan 21, 2006)

Superb work and another stunning finish :thumb:


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## wedgie (Apr 5, 2008)

ross-1888 said:


> yeap i was there but not in the photos. that was my brother liammc on here on dw.


Sorry mate, my bad


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## BurningFeetMan (Mar 9, 2010)

Tell you what, thats some lovely work. Variants of black must have the best results when before and after are compared, but, at least to me, require so much more effort!

My black civic needs some of this treatment, but the paint is so thin (known Civic issue, although denied by Honda) im scared to end up with bare metal 

Awesome work guys!

BFM


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## magpieV6 (Jul 29, 2008)

great work + write up


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## Matt. (Aug 26, 2007)

Cracking work there.


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## PMC (Dec 4, 2009)

Dave pretty good for learning, not punishment be able to view their training . Thanks :thumb:


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## racialist (Mar 8, 2010)

really great job cause black paint is very hard for detailing


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## gb270 (Aug 22, 2008)

Great write up


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

Cheer for the kind words guys  This detai was very enjoyable for us - very rewarding to see an every day little car being turned around to look great 



BurningFeetMan said:


> Tell you what, thats some lovely work. Variants of black must have the best results when before and after are compared, but, at least to me, require so much more effort!
> 
> My black civic needs some of this treatment, but the paint is so thin (known Civic issue, although denied by Honda) im scared to end up with bare metal
> 
> ...


You'll probably find that a very light polish is all it needs for a dramatic improvement - you do get thin paint, but we have polished Civics before with light finishing polishes and got dramatic improvements quite safely


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## NickMal (Mar 7, 2010)

Dave, incredible work - I can't PM you as not enough posts - could you get in touch with me and let me know the costs for doing my Range Rover Sport, which is Java Black.

many thanks

Nick


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## BurningFeetMan (Mar 9, 2010)

Dave KG said:


> You'll probably find that a very light polish is all it needs for a dramatic improvement - you do get thin paint, but we have polished Civics before with light finishing polishes and got dramatic improvements quite safely


Dave, im sorry for the thread hijack, but what light polish would you recommend for a black car, to be polished by hand?

Cheers for your input 

BFM


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## Jack (May 14, 2007)

Excellent write up, as they say a picture speaks 1000 words. Very good turn around


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## p3asa (Aug 26, 2009)

Dave, sorry for not replying before but my PC has been down for the last week or so.

I honestly don't know where you get the energy from. Not only did you spend well over 12 hours on the car but the write up must have taken a while to do also, thanks. You have done a first class job on both :thumb: and as such I'll let you off with calling me Stewart half way through it :thumb: 

The tuition day itself was a joy. Both yourself and Gordon make a great team and the amount of work and effort you put in is amazing. You didn't laugh at any of my silly questions and were only too willing to explain things.

The detail and transformation you both did on the car was fantastic. I think working alongside yourselves and seeing the work in progress didn't make me fully realise what a transformation was happening with the car. But the before and after pictures speak for themselves. Truly amazing. My daughter was delighted with the results.

For anyone swithering whether they should come along to either your classes or individual tuition days, all I can say to them is, go for it. You certainly won't be disappointed. It is great value for money and I'd definitely recommend it.

Thanks again Dave and Gordon for a great detail on the car and a thoroughly enjoyable day.

Steven.


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## caledonia (Sep 13, 2008)

Your more than welcome Steven.
Even though the other guy Hughie forgot your name. :lol:

Pay back for his cheek. Really glad your daughter like all that hard work you put in also.
Gordon.


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## a.hambleton (Jan 28, 2009)

That was quite simply an amazing write up! My eyes lit up when i saw this topic, as i have a black Clio, and it was nice to see some one has the same car. Just goes to show how nice they can look with time and effort!

Really wish i had the equipment to be able to do that.

Just a question, how much would something like this cost if a customer was to bring their car in for a detail?

Very good stuff!

Al


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## Christian6984 (Dec 20, 2007)

stunning work, looks great.


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## Dave182 (Feb 15, 2008)

Awesome write up, Ill eventually get round to learning and using a machine polisher! Need to stop being a skint student first! lol


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## caledonia (Sep 13, 2008)

a.hambleton said:


> That was quite simply an amazing write up! My eyes lit up when i saw this topic, as i have a black Clio, and it was nice to see some one has the same car. Just goes to show how nice they can look with time and effort!
> 
> Really wish i had the equipment to be able to do that.
> 
> ...


Like ever thing else. Different companies charge different rates, these vary considerable. Due to over heads and whether they are full time or P/T, it also is dependant on location.

Both Dave and I, Although run a detailing business. It is not our full time occupation and when we set out to offer this service it was more to aid members. To learn and master machine polishing, and put something back into the forum.
But like everything else we have overheads too. So charge £250 for a full days training and you leave at the end with a fully exterior detailed car.

You would have had many hours learning to work and caring out machine polishing on scrap panels first then your car. So all in all we cover our over heads and the client leaves with the knowledge and satisfaction. That they have worked hard along with us to correct the paint on there chosen vehicle.
Gordon.


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## BurningFeetMan (Mar 9, 2010)

caledonia said:


> Like ever thing else. Different companies charge different rates, these vary considerable. Due to over heads and whether they are full time or P/T, it also is dependant on location.
> 
> Both Dave and I, Although run a detailing business. It is not our full time occupation and when we set out to offer this service it was more to aid members. To learn and master machine polishing, and put something back into the forum.
> But like everything else we have overheads too. So charge £250 for a full days training and you leave at the end with a fully exterior detailed car.
> ...


I actually think that £250 is quite reasonable for a days training and a fully detailed car exterior!

However, you are in Glasgow so my car would be wrecked by the time i get back to southampton 

BFM


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## p3asa (Aug 26, 2009)

caledonia said:


> Both Dave and I, Although run a detailing business. It is not our full time occupation and when we set out to offer this service it was more to aid members. To learn and master machine polishing, and put something back into the forum.
> But like everything else we have overheads too. So charge £250 for a full days training and you leave at the end with a fully exterior detailed car.


As the person who's car was detailed here, well it was my daughters but I paid for it  can I say it is well worth the spondoolies 

It would probably cost a lot more for someone else to do but you have the satisfaction in knowing you helped achieve that final outcome regardless of how small a part you played. Plus you get to experience how to work a polisher on not just any old scrap body panel but your actual own car!! So you come away with the knowledge to help you do it on your own.

I would definitely recommend it. It might initially seem like a lot of money but look at the transformation and knowledge you are picking up at the same time.

Stevie.


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## caledonia (Sep 13, 2008)

Thanks for the kind words Stevie.
But your selling yourself short. You carried out just as much as we did on the day and glad you found it beneficial.

Hand on heart it was one of the nicest gestures that anyone has carried out on a training day. Not only your daughters car. But her first car that she saved up for also.

A father cant do much more for there daughter and speaks volumes for you and the relationship you have.
Hats off to you m8 and all the best.
Gordon.


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