# Polished Bliss: Show Car Prep for Ultimate Dubs...



## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

I'd have liked to have found the time to have posted this before this weekend seeings as thats when the show is but never mind, better late than never i guess!

*Day 1 - 9am*

This is Martin's recently acquired Mk4 Anniversary Golf sporting its rather tasty BBS LM's 



















As always, up first was the wash stage and this gave me the chance to play with our latest toy, a switchable foam lance from Karcher which allows you to select either the foam mode or plain water and high pressure at the flick of a switch 










The car was foamed with Hyper Wash and level 4 (out of 6) on the lance at 60 degrees 










This was left to dwell for 5 or ten minutes...










...then rinsed off at high pressure:










The hot foam seemed to do that bit extra in removing the layer of road film on the paintwork and the car was pretty much dirt free after this stage alone:










Wheels were next - i used Menzerna 7.5 Tyre and Wheel Gel:










A MF mitt was used for the faces and our new wheel brush was used for the inner rims...










The odd tar spot was removed with Autosmart Tardis and the arches were cleaned with Meguiars Superdegreaser.

The engine bay was then cleaned, although it wasnt overly dirty to begin with in all honesty:



















I soaked the engine with Meguiars Super Degreaser and left for a minute...










...before rinsing at medium pressure @ 40 degrees.

Back to the paintwork now and i firstly foamed the whole car again (including shuts) before washing with the 2BM and Meguiars Shampoo Plus...










I then rinsed off at high pressure before removing any tar spots with a MF towel and Autosmart Tardis. There was only the odd spot or two though so nothing too bad:










I then put the car inside and clayed with Meguiars Aggressive Detailing Clay before giving it one final rinse off before drying with a waffle weave towel and the leaf blower 

Total Wash time: 4 hours.

*Polish*:

Defects wise - the car was pretty bad, not so much in terms of swirls but for some pretty hefty random scratches, including some really bad ones across the bonnet.

I did my best to capture them on camera but the pics dont really show the true extent of how bad some of the panels were - my camera kept focusing on the light reflectors on the roof instead of the paint 





































The car was then taped up and side repeaters removed ready for polishing...










...and then i took detailed paint readings...










The gauge revealed that the entire car bar the roof and rear end had been painted (to a very high standard i should add), these areas were around the 280 micron mark:










The original areas were a healthy level, no scary low bits anywhere on the car:










Given the defects and healthy level of paint all round, plus the fact that i wanted as perfect correction as possible i went for an aggressive approach using 3M Fast Cut Plus (with a mix of Ultrafina) and a new Compound Pad Rich had given me to try - this pad is near identical to the 3M one but seems to be slightly more robust, plus its cheaper :thumb:

Each section got at least 2 hits (some got 3) @ 2000rpm's to get a high level of correction, again alot of patience was needed but its always worth it in the end:



















Some areas still showed signs of the deeper scratches but i decided to correct the whole car and then hopefully with any time remaining i could attend to these via wetsanding later on - bare in mind this was me being stupidly fussy and most people would never even notice them 

So, i carried on round the car:



















I stopped for day 1 at around 6pm.

*Day 2*:

The correction work continued:



















*N/S rear 1/4 before*:










*after*:










*C-Pillar before*:










*after*:










*N/S front wing before*:










*After*:










*Top of front bumper before*:










*After*:










*Lower half before*:










*After*:










*Top of rear bumper before*:










*After*:










The tailgate was quite bad for scuffs/nicks etc, particularly around the VW badge and handle:



















Correction was good but not great after machine polishing, so i went a step further - using a combination of a mirka 2000 pad by hand...










...and by machine...










which had been soaking in Hyper Wash for 24 hours+:










*After sanding*:



















*And then after polishing (4" pad and Fast Cut Plus @1800rpms)*:



















Much better :thumb:

A few of the other areas that were still affected by heavier scratches were sanded back aswell but some parts were just too deep to fix, most noticeably the bonnet where there were a couple of long scratches. Those of you who may have been at the show and are now reading this after looking at the car may have seen these scratches in question and will know what i'm talking about - there's only so much you can do in a given space of time and even then its not always possible to completely fix them 

It was around 10:30pm now so i left it at that for another day.

*Day 3*:

With the majority of the correction work left, i only had a few bits left to do, mainly an area on the O/S rear arch that was heavily swirled:

*Before*:










*After*:










Pretty happy with the correction work, i now set about refining the finish.

For this i used Menzerna 106FF and a Meguiars Polishing Pad. I used this combination instead of a finer polish and softer finishing pad purely due to the level of aggressiveness i had gone at the car for the correction stage, the chances of any compounding marks etc were slim to none (as you can see from the correction pics above) but when the car was going to be on display at a show i wasnt about to take any chances - especially as even Halogen & LED lights can be pretty forgiving when it comes to spotting defects 

I worked the polish @ 1800rpm's making sure i throughly worked it to get the maximum results:










This method takes slightly longer than the likes of Ultrafina on a finishing pad so i finished the final polishing at around tea time.

There was a fair bit left to do though so no time to rest!

The car was dusted down:










I then dressed the engine bay with 303 Aerospace Protectant:




























A blinging show car deserves a blinging wax 










This was applied to the whole car and left to cure while i attended to the wheels/tyres.

The wheels were firstly polished with Jeffs Prime Strong:










They were then sealed with PB wheel sealant before i dressed the tyres with Blackfire Long Lasting Tyre Gel. The arches werent dressed as 1) You could hardly see any of them as the car is so low and 2) it was getting late and i couldnt be bothered to jack the thing up 

It was now approaching 11:30pm so i had a quick coffee to keep me awake before finally buffing off the Vintage. I then gave the car a final wipe down with Field Glaze as i wasnt going to get much of a chance in the morning as the next car in the diary had already arrived for the following day.

So here's the final results 






















































































































And finally moved over a bit to get the other car inside overnight (yes, we can actually get 2 cars inside!)










As it was such a nice day the next morning, i couldnt resist taking a few more pics to try and capture the finish of the car!
































































Even better, as when i moved the car to let me get the next one washed - the sun made a full appearance 
































































Martin couldnt pick the car up untill night time so i got a couple as the sun disapeared again...



















Total Work Time: 35 hours+

Hopefully anyone that may have seen the car in the metal over the weekend will appreciate that you dont always see quite the true finish in the pics 

Thanks for looking :thumb:

Clark


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## conor.pharrell (Oct 18, 2006)

Great work, how did you apply the Vintage?


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## Waller (Jan 2, 2008)

Great turnaround Clark, Do PB stock Mirka?


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## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

conor.pharrell said:


> Great work, how did you apply the Vintage?


Applicator pad 



Waller said:


> Great turnaround Clark, Do PB stock Mirka?


Not yet


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## andyollie (Dec 5, 2005)

AWESOME job


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## Trist (Jun 23, 2006)

:argie: Amazing job!!! :thumb: I wish my red was like that!

btw, does that lance work on normal Karchers?


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## Deanoecosse (Mar 15, 2007)

Clark I had to laugh when I saw the pic of you with the Mirka hand pad on, at a quick glance I thought "f**k sake, the boy with the feather duster has put his flip flops on now!"
Cracking work on the car but I just dont understand this trend with the VW's of stretching the tyres onto wide rims. Lovely finish tho


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## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

Skyliner34 said:


> :argie: Amazing job!!! :thumb: I wish my red was like that!
> 
> btw, does that lance work on normal Karchers?


This one screws into the lance, its not like the AB ones that push and twist in so i would imagine its only for the higher end Karchers i'm afraid


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## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

Deanoecosse said:


> Cracking work on the car but I just dont understand this trend with the VW's of stretching the tyres onto wide rims. Lovely finish tho


you love it or hate it - personally i think it looks great, i just couldnt have it on my car for fear of wrecking a wheel! :lol:


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## Trist (Jun 23, 2006)

Clark said:


> This one screws into the lance, its not like the AB ones that push and twist in so i would imagine its only for the higher end Karchers i'm afraid


Thanks :thumb: I'll stick with my AB lance for now then


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## autoperfection (Nov 6, 2006)

Great job as always Clark

JIM


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## Dean_82 (Feb 21, 2007)

Looks stunning:thumb:


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## DE 1981 (Aug 17, 2007)

looks great as always Mr A, the wheels looked much bigger in the flesh but i love that last night shot looks amazing


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## Auto Detox (Dec 22, 2007)

Stunning work as usual Clark & some great photo's aswell

Baz


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

Stunning correction work with fantastic results!


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## Glider (Jan 10, 2006)

Great job, wish I had a hot PW seems to shave time and do a better job.


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## visor (Sep 8, 2007)

looks fantastic Clark :thumb:

i like your new toy


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## North east Car Care (Jan 14, 2008)

Simple stunning clark :thumb:


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## A20 LEE (Feb 20, 2007)

Looks awesome Clark. Have you beening worrying all week that the owner may swirl/marr it at the show like i have with my mates Mk1? He's getting a kick in the ass if he has! :lol:


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## Finerdetails (Apr 30, 2006)

A20 LEE said:


> Looks awesome Clark. Have you beening worrying all week that the owner may swirl/marr it at the show like i have with my mates Mk1? He's get getting a kick in the ass is he has! :lol:


that happened to me last year


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## Mark J (May 10, 2007)

I've run out of superlatives for your work, Clark!


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## monzablue16v (Jan 24, 2008)

Just back from Ultimate dubs and the lights in there make swirls stand out like a sore thumb I was looking as I went round at them is that the first stage of a problem. I noticed this Golf there and it looked spot on no swirls to report  that wax gives a really deep shine to it.


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## Baker21 (Aug 7, 2007)

WOW...........great work and some serious time taken to correct the paintwork......lovely car!!!


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## Epoch (Jul 30, 2006)

Cracking work mate

Time and effort shos even on the pics, would love to have seen the motor

Amazing

The Mirka foam backed pads are the nackers arn't they


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## Detail My Ride (Apr 19, 2006)

Great work Clark. Awesome correction work. :thumb:

Where did you get those little sanding pads with the finger grip from?


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## davidmk4 (Feb 6, 2007)

WOW!! That work is awesome! I have the same problem on my golf bootlid with the swirls.. I was thinking of removing the badge to get at them safely.


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## Racer (Oct 27, 2005)

Words dontdo justice to your work, Clark your job its an inspiration to us all :speechles 



> and a new Compound Pad Rich had given me to try - this pad is near identical to the 3M one but seems to be slightly more robust, plus its cheaper


I think the same, 3M compound pad dont lasts long and its very expensive here in Portugal, almost 20 euros a piece...with discount 

Can you give more info about the switchable foam lance??

Regards


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## TeZ (Oct 28, 2007)

Top work mate,

Maybe now you can buy you new car...


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## DieselMDX (Apr 18, 2007)

amazing amazing amazing

i learn SO Much just reading your posts!


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## jonnie5 (Jul 21, 2007)

Beautiful.


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## mouthyman (May 1, 2006)

stunning, :thumb:


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## wannabe painter (Mar 6, 2007)

Cracking work. I love show care prep jobs, they always have this edge over "standard" supercar details I think.. 

Anyway, just wondered what backing plate you are using on the makita mate, Im after one identical to that. just dont know what they are called.


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## petenaud (Feb 17, 2008)

unreal.


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## GTste (Jul 19, 2007)

excellent work! if only those wheels fitted the LCR!


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## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

that is something else :doublesho

that is a very tasty car and you have turned it into a real thing of beauty - that wet finish is something to behold


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## Padtwo (Apr 11, 2007)

Awesome mate. Got a red car myself, wanted a flat colour this time so I could really work on the wet look. Unfortunately it's had a fairly poor respray on the front end, wet sanding marks (bumper), sanding marks under lacquer(anywhere that the panels aren't completely flat), black specks in the paint, loads of polish left behind the bumper (REALLY slopped it on), and what I noticed today were quite a few nice scratches in the headlight lenses:doublesho . Looks ok from a distance tho lol! Almost on the point of giving up but it's seeing results like this that pick me up and make me carry on. Cracking looking car and a great job!


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## dubnut71 (Jul 25, 2006)

monzablue16v said:


> Just back from Ultimate dubs and the lights in there make swirls stand out like a sore thumb I was looking as I went round at them is that the first stage of a problem. I noticed this Golf there and it looked spot on no swirls to report  that wax gives a really deep shine to it.


Yup the lights in the halls there were VERY unforgiving!!! But the Mk4 was looking superb Clark!!


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## Dan Clark (Jun 25, 2007)

Oh my word...speechles!! Awesome, simply awesome!!


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## atomicfan (Jan 21, 2008)

Which backing plates did you use on the makita?

Small an large one which types are these??


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## Grizzle (Jul 12, 2006)

Cracking job.

Thought you guys ahd to have the pool to catch the water??


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## Pro-detailing (Jul 6, 2006)

Awesome results on that red :thumb:

LMs are the shizzle


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## chr15barn3s (Apr 10, 2007)

Looked great at the show today :thumb:


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## 182_Blue (Oct 25, 2005)

looks superb that


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## TwinSport (Aug 5, 2007)

:argie: Car seems to be wet but it's defenetly dry?  Nice effect! 

One of the best finishes I've seen on here :buffer: :thumb: .


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

Cracking work Clark as per :thumb:


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## scooby73 (Mar 20, 2007)

Mark J said:


> I've run out of superlatives for your work, Clark!


AGREED:thumb:


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## Auto Finesse (Jan 10, 2007)

Great work Clark, your work is always bang on and of another level, i really was not in the mood to be working today but that just inspired me to get going .


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## ads2k (Jul 12, 2006)

Another cracking job there Clark  Looks amazing, truly wet and glossy.


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## saxoboy07 (Oct 20, 2007)

Top job on the golf absouletly gorgeous car:thumb:


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## shane_ctr (Dec 17, 2006)

looks amazing as always clark, is that a bit of scuffing on 1 of the alloys? i would be gutted as the lm's are so expensive


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## surgemaster (Jul 5, 2006)

Gaz W said:


> Great work Clark. Awesome correction work. :thumb:
> 
> Where did you get those little sanding pads with the finger grip from?


I got mine here daz


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## bbigman2000 (Aug 28, 2006)

Very impressive work as always gents.


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## Ultra (Feb 25, 2006)

absolutely stunning


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## GlynRS2 (Jan 21, 2006)

Some seriously stunning work and an amazing finish :thumb:


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## tompinney (Jan 29, 2006)

Blingin' Clark. We've come to expect nothing less


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## KKM (Dec 10, 2007)

Thats spot on yet again Clark.

How did you find the new lance then?

My mate Greg picks up his 355 tomorrow, will be in touch about next Friday....

Great work, keep it up

:thumb:


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## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

A20 LEE said:


> Looks awesome Clark. Have you beening worrying all week that the owner may swirl/marr it at the show like i have with my mates Mk1? He's getting a kick in the ass if he has! :lol:


I'm always slightly concerned about any car once its out of my hands but once you've given all the necessary advice there's not a great deal more you can do - Martin seems pretty switched on though 



wannabe painter said:


> Cracking work. I love show care prep jobs, they always have this edge over "standard" supercar details I think..
> 
> Anyway, just wondered what backing plate you are using on the makita mate, Im after one identical to that. just dont know what they are called.


The larger backing plate is a 3M one (available from us) and the smaller one is being added to our online store this week!



dubnut71 said:


> Yup the lights in the halls there were VERY unforgiving!!! But the Mk4 was looking superb Clark!!


Glad to hear it got passed marks 



james b said:


> Great work Clark, your work is always bang on and of another level, i really was not in the mood to be working today but that just inspired me to get going .


Thanks again mate, much appreciated :thumb:



shane_ctr said:


> looks amazing as always clark, is that a bit of scuffing on 1 of the alloys? i would be gutted as the lm's are so expensive


They were 2nd hand so they had a couple of very light marks, however he got a pretty damn good deal after he told me what he paid for them 



bbigman2000 said:


> Very impressive work as always gents.


Cheers Glen, just sent you a PM regarding those scooby WR1's  

Thanks to all for the comments etc, always appreciated to get feedback


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## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

KKM said:


> Thats spot on yet again Clark.
> 
> How did you find the new lance then?
> 
> ...


New Lance is ace - hot foam = complete touchless wash 

Let me know about the 355 when you can :thumb:


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## Jono Sutcliffe (Dec 6, 2007)

Where abouts can i get one of them karcher foam lances from? Been looking all over the net and cant find one anywhere!! lol


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## ST dan (Mar 25, 2007)

autobrite direct mate


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## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

ST dan said:


> autobrite direct mate


Its not an AB one, its an actual one from Karcher - cost around £150 i think.

I'm currently trying to find info on it from the Web but cant find much, i'll ask Rich tomoro if i cant find it


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## Ray in Kingwood (Feb 16, 2008)

Simply ......stunning


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## drive 'n' shine (Apr 22, 2006)

Very nice work :thumb: it must be so rewarding being able to the hours in to get a car to that level.

Sorry for the hijack a link for K'Archer lance

http://www.bestpressurewashers.co.uk/product_info.php/cPath/3/products_id/77


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## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

drive 'n' shine said:


> Very nice work :thumb: it must be so rewarding being able to the hours in to get a car to that level.
> 
> Sorry for the hijack a link for K'Archer lance
> 
> http://www.bestpressurewashers.co.uk/product_info.php/cPath/3/products_id/77


nice one mate!

This is the lance - http://www.bestpressurewashers.co.u...id/77?osCsid=77105ae4a90a0cf3e0e7a5468b242a39


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## CHAOS (Feb 24, 2008)

wow. thats all i can say.


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

Write ups that never fail to impress! And of course work that never fails to impress! Excellent correction work, and a cracking gloss level from the machine finish got that red glowing! :thumb:


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## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

cheers Dave


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## Tobster (Dec 13, 2007)

top job ;P


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## tdekany (Jul 22, 2006)

Another fantastic job from you Clark.

I am a huge fan of stretched tires and the vw scene.

Well done!


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## Finerdetails (Apr 30, 2006)

Clark said:


> Its not an AB one, its an actual one from Karcher - cost around £150 i think.
> 
> I'm currently trying to find info on it from the Web but cant find much, i'll ask Rich tomoro if i cant find it


I think Rachel at Auto Rae Chem can supply these, I remember her using one on a demo. She also can supply adaptors so they can fit the lower machines, but think they have to be from commercial range as a min.


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## Eurogloss (Jan 22, 2008)

Clark said:


> I'd have liked to have found the time to have posted this before this weekend seeings as thats when the show is but never mind, better late than never i guess!
> 
> *Day 1 - 9am*
> 
> ...


Clark , simply stunning job as usual ! Mario


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## Phil H (May 14, 2006)

Stunning work Clark what more can i say!

Any news on when the spot pad backing pads are availible with the foam?

cheers


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## BMW540i (May 2, 2007)

U guys are the SHIZNIT.....Awesome job!!!!!!


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## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

Phil H said:


> Stunning work Clark what more can i say!
> 
> Any news on when the spot pad backing pads are availible with the foam?
> 
> cheers


Tomoro or the next day hopefully


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## martin 25th (Feb 25, 2008)

I knew i'd find the thread somewhere on here!!! 

When i picked the car up i was blown away by the finish, i could not believe it, was so deep and wet looking i was over the moon

It made it to Ultimate Dubs thro a rain and hail and washed up without swirling(i hope) and was washed again tonight, stiill looks good after just a wash and dab dry,

I work in a pretty grim atmosphere so i will try my very best to keep it scratch and swirl free, cheers for all the positive comments Clark has made a fantastic job of the car i just cant believe how bad it was


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## Phil H (May 14, 2006)

Clark said:


> Tomoro or the next day hopefully


nice one cheers! will have one when u got one.


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## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

martin 25th said:


> I knew i'd find the thread somewhere on here!!!
> 
> When i picked the car up i was blown away by the finish, i could not believe it, was so deep and wet looking i was over the moon
> 
> ...


I saw the car when i was going down anderson drive the other day and it was sitting gleaming in the sun - keep it up with the safe washing and drying, you have no excuse now you've registered on here! :wave:


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## mk2golfvalver (Jul 29, 2006)

amazing


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## Mossman (Jan 10, 2008)

Lovely job! Marrrrveeeeeelllllous!


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## Alexjw (Oct 24, 2007)

Finerdetails said:


> I think Rachel at Auto Rae Chem can supply these, I remember her using one on a demo. She also can supply adaptors so they can fit the lower machines, but think they have to be from commercial range as a min.


Omg, that lance was the bain of my life for about 2x months!!!

I advised my boss to buy one for his karcher HDS601 Eco from bestpressurewashers.co.uk.

After roughly 6 weeks of farting about with the lance and ordering extra connectors & valves i was finally informed by karcher that it is only compatible with some of the more top of the range pressure washers.

Although the HDS601 which we had costs £1335 it still is not of high enough spec to support this lance!!! You need a pressure washer that can pump through detergant @ high pressure as the karcher foam lance has no detergent bottle attatched. So that means at least the HDS745 which is £2000!

We had to send the lance back in the end and get the ****ty karcher easy foam set which was £70 more expensive and rubbish.

Bought the autobright daddy lance aswell and none of the karcher stuff compared to it. The foam is like 1inch thick hot shaving foam.

Just out of interest, which karcher do you have clark?


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## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

HDS601 Eco mate


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## ChriS3 (Feb 28, 2007)

martin 25th said:


> I knew i'd find the thread somewhere on here!!!
> 
> When i picked the car up i was blown away by the finish, i could not believe it, was so deep and wet looking i was over the moon
> 
> ...


Evenin Moby! (and damn you, I was going to slag off your daft rear stretch, but I'll just have to insult you face to face next time I see you. Nice motor by the way )

Top job Clark (again, yawn ). You've got me thinking about a new pressure washer now. It was bad enough when I saw the results with the hot water, but hot water and a foam lance is soooooooo tempting. :lol:


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## Mark M (Nov 29, 2006)

ChriS3 said:


> Top job Clark (again, yawn ). You've got me thinking about a new pressure washer now. It was bad enough when I saw the results with the hot water, but hot water and a foam lance is soooooooo tempting. :lol:


Get it done Chris, it really looks superb 

A serious amount of coin though...


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## Miglior (Feb 12, 2006)

brilliant job. It was my favourite car at Ultimate dubs! im bias tho, i own an anni too. and that one was amazing!


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## 439vRS (Feb 25, 2008)

WOW. How much would that set me back to have it done to my 04 skoda fabia vRS?? (its a solid Red) except rims...


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## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

439vRS said:


> WOW. How much would that set me back to have it done to my 04 skoda fabia vRS?? (its a solid Red) except rims...


If it was Including Vintage then it would cost you £695+ VAT (£595 for the detail and a £100 charge for the Vintage application) and would be done over 3 days


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## rydawg (Apr 25, 2007)

Superb job! I know what it is like working long late nights day after day. Your a real trooper:thumb: 

I must have to say you take some of the best capture pics I have seen.


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## vpricey (May 8, 2006)

Clark, I'm speachless again mate!!:thumb: I love that shot as the sun's goin down with the blue sky being reflected!! Awsome!!!


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