# Audi S3 (8L) Black - 106FA/BH/SN/Z8



## Jim W (Feb 3, 2007)

How I miss my S3! Having previously owned 2 A3's and the S3, you'd of thought by now I know this shape off the back of my hand. Wrong! I still managed to spend 13 hours on it, that's the clean/prep stages and a minor correction. Some 85% correction was achieved with 106FA (..*waiting on my 203s*)

*Product!*
•	303 Aerospace Protectant
•	AutoGlym Glass Polish
•	AutoSmart Tardis
•	AutoSmart G101
•	Autosol - metal polish
•	ChemicalGuys JetSEAL109
•	ChemicalGuys New Look Trim Gel
•	Dodo Juice Born To Be Mild
•	Dodo Juice Limeprime
•	Dodo Juice Supernatural
•	Meguiars All-Season Dressing
•	Meguiars Super-Degreaser
•	Menzerna 106FA
•	Zaino Z8

Pre-detail:



















Post-detail:



















I first saw the car at Kettering's "Audi in the Park" show last month - a fellow Audi-Sport member that I'd known for some time. The car was wearing the Blackfire kit, and, I began to wonder if it even needed the work! Overall, it appeared to be a well presented/looked after car. It has however been 'mopped' at some point in its life. Typical bodyshop 'doings' and buffer-trials all over the place. We'll touch this a bit later..

Inspection photos:





































































A few rough areas on the paintwork were seen through the dirt once the sun was out... A series of random marks down the driver's side and the usual kamikaze bugs dotted around on the front end.

Wash: ValetPRO Snowfoam. Dodo Juice Born To Be Mild. Two buckets with grit-guards

I must say, I was impressed by the water repellent that had been applied to the windows! Nothing would stick to it, not even my foam 





















































The front end had G101 sprayed liberally all over it - helped to loosen the embedded flies from the bumper/grill and mirrors




























After the foam was taken off, signs of Blackfire's protection were promising!










Re-foamed and washed.



















Small sponge used for the under-carraige:



















Rinsed, and, again, I'm mighty impressed with the Rain-X (or equivalent!) that is on the windows:










S3 was moved into the garage for the claying stages; the sun was beaming down and I wanted to avoid watermarks if possible. (Quite warm today!!)

















Claying wasn't too bad - the above was the worst I could pick up (roof)

Rinsed.










Open-hosed to remove majority of standing water..










Which left this:










Easy!

Dried with the Miracle Dryer. Now, at this angle, it looks stunning already!










However, flip-reverse it and put it in direct sun-light, we're left with this lot:





































Roof was in a bad way!























































Hazy patch on driver's door:










Good. Well.. At least there's something to get stuck into!

Some higher than normal paint readings around.. The bonnet, tailgate and both rear quarters had seen fresh paint.


























Plenty to work with here..



















Working my way to the passenger side..

Before:



















After:










Fiddy fiddy 




























Rear quarter reading:










As opposed to the door:



















A shame really, but, once polished, you could see a colour difference between the two panels:










Passenger door before:










Passenger door after:




























Up and on to the roof (original paint..)

Before and after:

















The bonnet was lovely and, well, lovely and hazy!










50/50:









Before:










After:










I had to add a little Limeprime to the equation here to extend the work time. The pad was drying up and didn't want to play ball.. Colour transfer to the pad (only from the bonnet..) odd!




























Nice and sharp now.

50/50 along the driver's side:




























Love the black/blue/white combination going on here.. Tempted to leave the tape on!



















Taken back outside to rinse (dust build up in nooks and crannies etc)



















Dried off again and put back in for the night..

Glazed with PoorBoys Black Hole via DA and a 3M blue finishing pad:










Dodo Juice Supernatural:










And that's the end off day one!


























Exhaust tips were badly pitted. Struggled to fully recover them, but, Autosol and wire-wool didn't do a bad job.

50/50










Nipped round the corner to check my progress.. (when I see the sun and a clean car, I get a bit trigger happy - I do apologise)
































































You've probably just spotted the area on the tyre that wasn't dressed. Aye, that was facedown on the floor at the time, later went back and corrected this 

So, tyres dressed with ChemicalGuys New Look Trim Gel. Alloys sealed with JetSEAL109 and a final Zaino Z8 wipedown..





















































Obligatory 'thumbs up' shot.




































































































































Excellent. A nice transformation here - enjoyed this one thoroughly.

So, does anyone want to buy an Audi A4 Avant? ( I need my S3 back!! :argie: )

As per, thanks for bearing with me.

Jim


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## -Kev- (Oct 30, 2007)

nice work again Jim  was this just an exterior detail, no interior?


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## MadOnVaux! (Jun 2, 2008)

Bla-hoody nice work Jim as ever , looks very sexy.

What are those rims off though?, they are not the original S3 rims AFAIK, they looks great though and really suit it.


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## jonjay (Feb 28, 2008)

Your details never fail to impress Jim. Amazing work.


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## toni (Oct 30, 2005)

Wow!

It looks ... BLACK, deep black!  Nicely done, Jim.

IIRC The wheels are Nuvolari design.


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## Perfection Detailing (Nov 3, 2007)

Nice work Jim:thumb:


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## Phil1971 (Sep 3, 2007)

Great work there :thumb:

I just love black cars...it's just shame they're such a git to keep as nice as this...

Lovely job.


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## Ian_W (Apr 6, 2008)

Looks brilliant. Need my S3 de-swirled next year :buffer:


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## Jim W (Feb 3, 2007)

Thanks Neil - hope you're well.



fiestadetailer said:


> nice work again Jim  was this just an exterior detail, no interior?


Jason had asked if I could look at the interior, but, we ran out of time and I'd prioritized my time for the paint. :thumb:



MadOnVaux! said:


> Bla-hoody nice work Jim as ever , looks very sexy.
> 
> What are those rims off though?, they are not the original S3 rims AFAIK, they looks great though and really suit it.


Thanks fella.

I've seen the wheels on a few A3/S3's now over on Audi-Sport.net, unsure of the name, but, 'toni' (below) seems to have a good idea. 



toni said:


> Wow!
> 
> It looks ... BLACK, deep black!  Nicely done, Jim.
> 
> IIRC The wheels are Nuvolari design.


Thanks for that. (after a quick google, yeah, I think thats the ones)


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## Guest (Sep 13, 2009)

Stunning work Jim, your write up and pics top notch as always too.

Shame about the colour match on the rear qtr though....

Paul


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## mccalia1 (Mar 1, 2008)

cracking finish, some excellent shots as well.
What's your average time per panel?


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## S-X-I (Sep 6, 2006)

Stunning work!

Love your photography!


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## N8KOW (Aug 24, 2007)

Jim = Different league of class.


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## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

very good work as always mate.....

i'm gonna get around to "shadowing" you one day  see if there's anything I could learn


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## ahaydock (Jan 4, 2007)

Excellent work as normal and I like those wheels :thumb:


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## Refined Detail (Nov 27, 2006)

Spot on once again Jim :thumb:


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## Trist (Jun 23, 2006)

Stunning work :thumb:


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## Rasher (Mar 6, 2006)

Superb work


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## Jim W (Feb 3, 2007)

Again, thanks everyone. 

A few larger images:


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## HAWKEY_SKYLINE (Mar 23, 2008)

awsome work matey ........realy gotta get my A3 done !!!! new rims going on tomorrow so might be an insenive to get my finger outta my ar5e :lol::lol:


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## yetizone (Jun 25, 2008)

Very nice indeed - cracking work on a truly lovely car :buffer:


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## Rickymx (Sep 12, 2009)

:argie: great job...wonderful sun pics!


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## KKM (Dec 10, 2007)

Nice work. 

Thanks for sharing

:thumb:


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## ROBS3 (Oct 31, 2008)

Great work there Jim - very tidy :thumb:


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## Planet Man (Apr 12, 2008)

Another great result Jim. Top Stuff:thumb:


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## Roggti25th (Aug 12, 2008)

I like reading these threads with the VAG paint corrections, it helps to get an idea of what polish and pads to try :thumb:

Great finish and cracking car :argie: Almost had one of these instead of my Golf 25th Anniversary Ed, almost makes me wish I took the Audi now!

Shame about the different shades of paint. They should have blended the quarter panel into the door, it's a poor/quick job unfortunately , I had this problem on my black Diamond pearlescent Golf which annoyed the hell out of me, no matter how much you polish it you can't hide it especially in direct sunlight :wall: 

It has now been sorted properly now, so I'm happy 

You have made that look superb though :thumb:

Rog


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## Leigh K (Mar 13, 2007)

Looking very nice!


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## Baker21 (Aug 7, 2007)

Top work Jim on rock hard VAG paint, correction pictures look excellent so fair play to you there mate...........:thumb:

Looks like a nicely modified example this one but I am not sure about the Nouvilar (not sure how they are spelt) wheels, seen so many on MK4 Golf's and not sure they look good on the A3? What do you think?

Ride height looks spot on though and you can't go wrong in black.........:thumb:

Some really nice pictures there Jim, top camera work.........


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## dubster5 (Aug 10, 2009)

wow top work there, thats mega black now! So so shiney!


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## Jim W (Feb 3, 2007)

Baker21 said:


> Top work Jim on rock hard VAG paint, correction pictures look excellent so fair play to you there mate...........:thumb:
> 
> Looks like a nicely modified example this one but I am not sure about the Nouvilar (not sure how they are spelt) wheels, seen so many on MK4 Golf's and not sure they look good on the A3? What do you think?
> 
> ...


Hi Baker 

Thanks for the kind words. did you have a nice break in USA? Manage to come home with any goodies?

I know how you feel RE the wheels, but, they DO grow on you. Spending the best part of 14 hours with the car, you get more used to them. Looking back over the pics, I think yeah, they do suit. Not FAR off my RS4 rims on the Avant.

Was a lovely car, indeed. I want to track down the new owner to my S3.. see if I can get in for a bit of a detail there :thumb::buffer:

Jim


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## GIZTO29 (May 8, 2009)

Awsome work as always jim and on one of my fav cars! HAve you seen the pics of the new RS3?:argie: I tried to race an 09 S3 recently in the MiTo haha. The 50/50s are amazing!


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## billybob9351 (Feb 14, 2008)

VERY GOOD although upon review you may want to check the rear bumper pic exhaust was very well polished but the plastics were streaky


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## Thomas-182 (Mar 5, 2006)

Excellet read and work mate, cracking job


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## Jim W (Feb 3, 2007)

billybob9351 said:


> VERY GOOD although upon review you may want to check the rear bumper pic exhaust was very well polished but the plastics were streaky


Good spot Billy.

I went on to dress the side-skirts and the rear plastics with 303 aerospace :thumb:


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## Mirror Finish Details (Aug 21, 2008)

Like that Jim what a good correction. Car looks brill now.


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## GIZTO29 (May 8, 2009)

Jim W said:


> Good spot Billy.
> 
> I went on to dress the side-skirts and the rear plastics with 303 aerospace :thumb:


Hi jim, ive just bought a 1ltr bottle of 303 and was wondering how best to apply it. Its mainly for my wingmirror arms, roof rack tracks and the section below the rear spoiler on the MiTo. Do you spray onto a cloth 1st? Thanks Phil


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## Jim W (Feb 3, 2007)

I do/did, yes. Saves covering everything else in little overspray specs :thumb:


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## james_RScos (Mar 13, 2006)

Stunning mate, lost for words, thanks for pointinig me in the direction of^^^^^^


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