# My 57 Audi S3- full detail



## amiller (Jan 1, 2009)

**I don't detail cars very often so excuse the HUGE amount of photos! **

I bought the car at the beginning of June, just in time for my birthday! 

This detail has taken 2+ months but hopefully it reads easily enough.

The car as it was delivered from Audi Edinburgh. Upon buying the car they were explicitly told NOT to wash/vacum/clean the car. They didnt! :lol:










Initial Inspection:

Notice all the polish in the panel gaps from the Autoglym Lifeshine package applied from new. 














































Fair to say that there was a lot of polish to clean up! :devil:

Arches looked a little tired too...










First up are the wheels:

Removed using these tools:









Nice and soft coating so as not to damage the wheels



























Pretty dirty, but not too bad for a 2 year old car. 









APC First Up


















And on tyres









Surfex-HD for Tyres too!










And Tyres Scrubbed









Barrels looking better, but spokes still poor









Envy Style Brush for the spokes









Some Tar Present









Autosmart Tardis









Rinsed









Quick Clay









Yikes- wasnt expecting that!









Fully Rinsed









And Dried with a Eurow Waffle









Made sure fully dried with Chemical Guys Air Drier









Prior to wheel protection- IPA wipedown









And removed









And again, fully dried









For the best protection, G|techniq C1 used (very similar to C5)


















And the fiddly bits









And buffed off









Tyre Preserve- Gloss-It


















And now, a wee trick for making it bond better- use hot air from the drier


















And buffed just to ensure zero sling

__
Sensitive content, not recommended for those under 18
Show Content



















Finished Wheel













































Arches and Brake Calipers:

Cleaned with Megs APC and Surfex HD



























Leave this:



























Very faded and rather dissapointing really.









Out comes C1 









Immediate Difference made









Rough 50/50









And finished









Much better









Calipers-faded due to acidic wheel cleaners and/or strong TFR used in the short 2 years. I was going to take them off and send them away for powder-coating, but instead, out came G|Techniq C1

Before









Whole Caliper Before









Taped up for 50:50









And applied









Wow!- I was expecting something, but not this good!


















Rest compelted


















Much happier now!









Now onto the car bodywork!

Chunky foam with Surfex HD and Megs Hyperwash























































Yuk!


















2BM wash with Dodo Juice BTBM









Clay with Auto-Clay Soft


















Bonnet Done









Door done- time to fold!









Door Jambs




































And sealed with C2





































Engine Bay

Sprayed with Surfex HD


















Agitated









Bonnet Underneath too









Rinsed and Dried with this









All plastics dressed with G|techniq. Some may see this as overkill but this car is my pride and joy and I wanted to use the best products where possible. 




























Bonnet Sealed with C2 Neat


















Exhaust Cleaning

Now, I must confess, i did this in two stages. Firstly, the tail pipes, and then I got a bit obsessed! 

Tail pipes.

Before









Cleaning




































Britemax Twins out- one a polish, one a sealant









Very happy with that!









And then I thought- what are the mechanics going to think when they see my dirty back box. :doublesho :wall: 

Just look at it!


















So, out with the rotary again, and this time, a 3M spot pad and Fast Cut+ :devil:










During









50/50 sort of


















Not idea work conditions!


















Afters! :argie:


























\

Pad ready for the bin! :lol:


















And to seal in this beautiful shine? G|techniq C1 of course! 










And back on the ground- you cant even see it! :lol::tumbleweed:










Another quick foam-watery this time, just for quickness.



















G|techniq arches doing well! :doublesho










And dried with Plush Drying Towel


















Looking better already!









Paintwork Correction

VERY difficult to find swirls on this, so please take all you can from the follow few photos (of hundreds I took!)





































I think this one shows the worst of the swirls


















Side taped ready for polishing!

Lights corrected: BEFORE


















AFTER



















Polished mainly using this Combo









After Polishing-using manual focus on DSLR to focus on paint and not light source



























Interior:



















Megs APC liberaly sprayed









And agitated



























And wiped clean with Costco MF



















Quick Vacum and dust down on the rest of the interior


















Seats cleaned and Sealed with this pair









After









Glass Cleaned


















And all glass sealed with G|techniq G1


















LSP:

Now this was a difficult one for me. I had just bought this pair










But in the end, I wanted to use something I knew worked well, so I used G|techniq C1. I will use Project Awesome in the near future though. 










On with the applicator.









And buffed quickly off- MF to be binned after! 









Then , after applying C1 to the whole just the day before- it rained! :devil:


















































































Quick Rinse and dried off- G1 not doing too bad on window!









Then applied this for some extra bling!



















Some final afters! :doublesho














































Shadows Removed in iPhoto. :argie:




























If you have made it this far- thank you very much for reading. Everyone's help and enthusiasm on the site is much appreciated by me even if I don't click the magic 'thankyou' button as much as I should. :thumb:

Cheers guys,

Andrew


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## Raymond (Jul 31, 2010)

Very thorough detail, well worth it!


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## Ste T (Jul 17, 2008)

I nearly lost the will to live by the time I'd finished scrolling down......

Nice job, looks really elegant, and you have done it justice.


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## coopersworks (Dec 8, 2009)

Very nice write up indeed. Quality read and a quality motor !


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## toosmiles (May 5, 2007)

Bleeding hell m8 thats an awesome detail
that shine is unreal


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## amiller (Jan 1, 2009)

20RSport said:


> I nearly lost the will to live by the time I'd finished scrolling down......
> 
> Nice job, looks really elegant, and you have done it justice.


I nearly lost the will to live cleaning the blooming thing! :lol:

Thanky ou all! :thumb:


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## gally (May 25, 2008)

Lovely write up, surprised at not using the c4 on the plastics though. Would have been a dedicated product.

Looks fantastic and the beading shot with the C1 is an advertisers dream.

Where in Edinburgh are you mate?


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## dooka (Aug 1, 2006)

The last few pics look like they are pixelating, but it is just the reflection..
Nice job, especially on the zorst..


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## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

Well done mate, I enjoyed that :thumb:

I'm the same as you when it comes to cleaning the underside of the car. No one sees it but it looks good when it's on the MOT ramp


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## terrymcg (Mar 19, 2007)

Nice one mate!! I need to get round to doing my S3 that I got a couple of months back. May Just have to attempt my backbox too! One thing I noticed mate from your picture, as I had this on mine. 


amiller said:


>


Your drivers door looks like it has dropped on the hinges, due to the weight of the door. Audi re-adjusted mine under warranty, as it bugged the hell out of me and it stops the small rattling you get from the door going over bumps. Maybe yours is okay, but it does look like the trim is not lining up in a few pics.


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## supercharged (Feb 1, 2008)

WOW! Very impressive!!!


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## stewartmak7 (Oct 26, 2009)

nice job mate, the after shots really look good , better than the dealer would do anyway


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## amiller (Jan 1, 2009)

gally said:


> Lovely write up, surprised at not using the c4 on the plastics though. Would have been a dedicated product.
> 
> Looks fantastic and the beading shot with the C1 is an advertisers dream.
> 
> Where in Edinburgh are you mate?


Just in Morningside mate, but moving to Newcastle at the end of the month! :doublesho :lol:



terrymcg said:


> Nice one mate!! I need to get round to doing my S3 that I got a couple of months back. May Just have to attempt my backbox too! One thing I noticed mate from your picture, as I had this on mine.
> 
> Your drivers door looks like it has dropped on the hinges, due to the weight of the door. Audi re-adjusted mine under warranty, as it bugged the hell out of me and it stops the small rattling you get from the door going over bumps. Maybe yours is okay, but it does look like the trim is not lining up in a few pics.


:doublesho I didn't even notice that! Damn big heavy doors! :wall: :lol:


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## Goodfella36 (Jul 21, 2009)

Great write up andrew and great detail you went to nice one :thumb:


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## Edward101 (Jun 5, 2009)

Get write up and cracking work on the car, I love Gtechniq stuff, extremely good! Very nice work on the backbox too :thumb:


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## MadOnVaux! (Jun 2, 2008)

Holy christ thats some some shine mate, brilliant work, well done 

Very good write-up too


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## Miglior (Feb 12, 2006)

i thoroughly enjoyed reading that mate! well done


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## drew 007 (Nov 12, 2008)

JPC said:


> i thoroughly enjoyed reading that mate! well done


Snap, me to, very thorough job matey, top job :thumb:


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## J3FVW (Sep 28, 2009)

What a stunning car, fantastic and thorough detail on it, and a brilliant and enjoyable write up. Cheers :thumb:


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## slrestoration (Nov 11, 2009)

Great stuff Andrew, fantastic work on the wheels & exhaust!!!
Very tidy write up & pics:thumb:


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## Bensenn_GER (Mar 24, 2010)

Well that's massive! And great results as well! :thumb:


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## Prism Detailing (Jun 8, 2006)

Andrew, amazing results, how long did it take to do the whole car ?


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## dsms (Feb 1, 2008)

Superb work man!


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## tim (May 2, 2006)

Very nice writeup Andrew, a few very nice read. And stunning results!

I see you're almost like me then, once you've applied C1.. all I want it to do is rain :lol:


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## paddymk5 (Aug 7, 2010)

i enjoyed readin through and lookin at the pics mate well done credit to u


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## Scrim-1- (Oct 8, 2008)

very good job indeed mate


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## Juicy Jen (May 4, 2010)

I wasn't bored at all reading through that write up it was very intriging to see what was coming next and the great use of Gtechniq products :thumb:

Nothing wrong with good old Newcastle


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## SimonBash (Jun 7, 2010)

Very thorough indeed, some dedication. Interesting write-up thanks and very well done!


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## amiller (Jan 1, 2009)

Wow- was not expecting half as many replies, and all very nice ones as well! 

I know I am not the best detailer on here, but I do enjoy doing it and I enjoy being part of the DW community so thanks for the support! :thumb:




How long did it take? - Hmmm, it took 2 hours per wheel, so I'm guessing around 20 hours in total! :doublesho :detailer:


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## -Kev- (Oct 30, 2007)

cracking work/write up Andrew :thumb:

(fair to say you like the Gtechniq range then? )


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## tt509 (Jan 7, 2009)

looking good mate


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## Hoppo32 (Nov 18, 2008)

Amazing write up on one of my favourite cars :thumb:
I was actually quite disappointed when i got to end as i was really enjoying reading it.
Nice to see the G technic products being used, not seen em in too many write ups.


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## scottgm (Dec 27, 2009)

Amazing work mate! Loving the under-car action shot :lol:


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## -tom- (Jan 27, 2009)

that takes it to a new level simply stunning :argie: but why two project awesome?


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## markito (May 19, 2010)

Τhat's a real good job :thumb:


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## O`Neil (Aug 13, 2007)

Inspirational :thumb:


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## Maxym (Apr 27, 2007)

Really nice mate. Quite the best-looking S3 I've ever seen. :thumb:


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## james_19742000 (May 8, 2008)

Superb detail mate, looks superb, just one question, did you just use the Megs finishing polish on the paint? As we all know VAG paint is very hard. Just curious really as I have two cars to do in the next two weeks, mine which I have had for about a month, very similar swirls, plus my brothers, a 12 month old A5, again swirled but not too serious, just wondered how you found working with just a finishing polish on it, plus what pads did you use, a finishing, polishing etc etc??

But, gotta to be honest, this is an inspirational thread, excellent work, and the car just looks awesome!


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## Alan W (May 11, 2006)

Superb Andrew! :thumb: Great write-up, photos, finish and attention to detail! 

Good luck with the move to Newcastle.

Alan W


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## Dan Carter (Jun 21, 2008)

Great write up, enjoyed that


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## FrazzleTC (Jul 4, 2009)

Absolutely wonderful work! Superb!


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## deeds (Aug 18, 2009)

Fantastic write....saving this one to read again ..oh and very nice car..


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## SubtleAggressiv (Jul 17, 2010)

This is a great write up, like all the best it felt like I was there with you actually cleaning or taking photos lol :buffer:
The car looks absolutely sparkling and so clean I could eat my dinner off it, but that would jst make it dirty again. You have a very cute dog, I wonder if he/she eats Cesar dog food 

I need to get to this level of detailing, brilliant!


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## Ultimate Shine (Jun 3, 2008)

MR Miller you are the man that was quality.

Now you start on Monday @ 9am sharp bring some old clothes and your 5 gal drum of C1.:lol:

By the way i could not resist.










:thumb:


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## scottgm (Dec 27, 2009)

haha ^^


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## TEGBOY (May 30, 2009)

I did lol at that


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## gtechrob (Sep 11, 2006)

good work andrew - loving the shot of the c1 bottle in amongst all the water beads it has created :thumb:

real quality motor - build quality on audis never fails to blow me away (this coming from a BMW fan!)


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## dan89 (Apr 27, 2010)

Nice work :thumb: looks wicked


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## horned yo (Feb 10, 2009)

Thats a really good write up enjoyed that. Am starting to love the look of that Gltechniq gear


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## Drakey (Jan 2, 2009)

Fantastic write up mate and a cracking looking car :thumb:


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## LJB (Dec 28, 2008)

Excellent work there mate, finished result simply stunning, how much c1 did you manage to get through? Ive heard Gtechnic's shares have went through thr roof ! lol


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## monkeyone (May 22, 2007)

Nice work. Good results with the Gtechniq stuff.


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## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

Vey nice.... S3-DAVE has one of these, I'll point the thread out to him. I know a couple of months ago he spent a week cleaning just the wheels and arches. His comes with the Recaro Seats and 19" wheels (black and silver)...


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## EthanCrawford (Jan 7, 2010)

Nice car. A Good write up as well :thumb:


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## Eddy (Apr 13, 2008)

Very good write up and also interested to know how much c1 you got through?


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## amiller (Jan 1, 2009)

-tom- said:


> that takes it to a new level simply stunning :argie: but why two project awesome?


After Paul banging on for months at how good it was I decided to get one for me and one for my dad. :thumb:



Maxym said:


> Really nice mate. Quite the best-looking S3 I've ever seen. :thumb:


 Like many comments on here, very generous of you to say! 



Alan W said:


> Superb Andrew! :thumb: Great write-up, photos, finish and attention to detail!
> 
> Good luck with the move to Newcastle.
> 
> Alan W


Thanks mate. Not sure what the detailing community is like in the NE but hoping it is as friendly as in Scotland. :driver:



Ultimate Shine said:


> MR Miller you are the man that was quality.
> 
> Now you start on Monday @ 9am sharp bring some old clothes and your 5 gal drum of C1.:lol:
> 
> :thumb:


Funny guy! :lol:

Seriously though, thanks for your many many words of advice on all the products used. A true gent and whose details are inspiration for my write-up. :thumb:



Eddy said:


> Very good write up and also interested to know how much c1 you got through?


I'm not actually too sure, although it isnt as much as you might expect. At a guess I would say 75ml in total! :doublesho

If you haven't used the C5 Wheel Armour, or the C4 Plastic Permanent Trim Restorer (similar to the C1) you really really need to- now! :thumb: 

Again, many thanks for all the comments- they are very much appreciated.


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## Eddy (Apr 13, 2008)

C4&5 are going to be ordered very soon :thumb: The thing is, you used c1 in place of c5 & c4 right? any reason? also its only available for pro's I believe so did you have to twist Mr Gtech's arm?


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## raitkens83 (Jun 7, 2009)

Nice work mate and amazing car!


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## amiller (Jan 1, 2009)

james_19742000 said:


> Superb detail mate, looks superb, just one question, did you just use the Megs finishing polish on the paint? As we all know VAG paint is very hard. Just curious really as I have two cars to do in the next two weeks, mine which I have had for about a month, very similar swirls, plus my brothers, a 12 month old A5, again swirled but not too serious, just wondered how you found working with just a finishing polish on it, plus what pads did you use, a finishing, polishing etc etc??
> 
> But, gotta to be honest, this is an inspirational thread, excellent work, and the car just looks awesome!


Ooops, missed this one! Megs 205 has a very good level of cut if you vary the pressure you work with and the speeds. I would say it can cut all the way up to something like Menzerna Intensive Polish, and can finish down very well. I actually used IP a few times on the detail and certain times I had to use 3M Fast Cut+ (as a last resort).

I went over the car with G|techniq P2 after all the polishing was done as IMO this is the best finishing polish and super super easy to work with. :buffer:

Oh, and the polishing pad pictured (the green one) is actually a prototype all the way from Clever_Nickname in Hungry! (and very good it is too!) It has very similar cut to the Megs Polishing pad but seems to last longer. :thumb:


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## chillly (Jun 25, 2009)

Andrew that Detail and write up is as good as it gets mate!! 

Stunning:thumb:


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## amiller (Jan 1, 2009)

Eddy said:


> C4&5 are going to be ordered very soon :thumb: The thing is, you used c1 in place of c5 & c4 right? any reason? also its only available for pro's I believe so did you have to twist Mr Gtech's arm?


Twist it? I had to break it into 100 pieces! :devil:

The dedicated products do much the same job, if not better, than C1 (honestly), so I would go for that if I were you. I've had a few PM's about the the use of C4,C5 and C1 and I tell everyone that they should buy the dedicated products as they are easier to use with the same levels of protection. :thumb:

And if the Pro's fancy C1, give Rob a call, he doesn't bite....much. :doublesho


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## Mini 360 (Jul 17, 2009)

Very impressive! Top detail! Lovely car too :thumb:


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## jonjay (Feb 28, 2008)

What an amazing detail. One of the best I have seen/read.

Quite inspiring


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## Nanoman (Jan 17, 2009)

Excellent write-up mate. You've got a few more products than me but I'm aiming to do something similar relatively soon.

I wonder if my 2008 2.0 TDi backbox will come up as shiny as that or has the S3 got a different box to the other A3's. 

I'm off to read your post again as I just glanced at the pics last time. Maybe give me some tips for doing mine.


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## Depaip (Jan 10, 2010)

I love this car! Very nice job!


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## Buck (Jan 16, 2008)

Great work Andrew - love the time you have spent on the write up as well as the detail itself.

What colour is the S3? Looks really nice whatever it is :thumb:

So far I have used the G1 for my windscreen but the other lines look really good.


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## Baker21 (Aug 7, 2007)

Very nice work there Andrew and great attention to detail, love the work on the exhaust and have to admit, it was worth it.........:buffer:

Looks like your a big fan of 'G' brand and fair play, the final results look awesome and it's a very, very nice car.........:thumb:

Thanks for taking the time to do the write up and sharing.........


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## shabba (Sep 28, 2008)

Andrew, in France they say that the way a man treats his car is the way a man treats himself...
nice job on the car


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## ianking (Jun 6, 2007)

Wow great job and really great write up. 

Good shout not letting Edinburgh Audi touch the car. 
Unfortunately they prepped my fathers new TT when we got it althuogh we asked them not to. took us an extra day of machine polishing to sort as apposed to one day protecting the car. 

Your S3 is very nice. Im very tempted with a sprint blue S3 for my next car.


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## yetizone (Jun 25, 2008)

Superb write up throughout and a lovely car as well :thumb:


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## paranoid73 (Aug 5, 2009)

Superb detail and write up :thumb: Must give rob a call as I would love to try some C1


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## piemp (Jul 14, 2010)

WOW...great effort and dam you have spent some money on those products. that exhaust is so shiny!! great work


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## sim L (Jan 3, 2010)

Excellent work mate and a fantastic write up, really enjoyed reading that! I recently did my ST and finished with Project Awesome, it really is.. well... awesome! :thumb:


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## rds1985 (Mar 7, 2009)

one of the threads of the year in the studio thus far!


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## safreer (Feb 1, 2010)

Awesome......


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## ahaydock (Jan 4, 2007)

Excellent work and fantastic write up - thanks for taking the time to share with us :thumb:


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## wallzyuk (May 29, 2007)

Brilliant write up mate.


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## smoki1969 (Oct 10, 2006)

Great read Andrew, and a great attention to detail.

Lovely car too....


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## superdoug (Jan 4, 2010)

Possibly taking things too far? But wow!


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## Dmac1969 (Sep 12, 2010)

Love it mate , top job , best bit for me was the exhaust! Great car as well ...


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## MikeyW (Apr 9, 2010)

Absolutely cracking write up and an awesome outcome !


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## Nanolex (Jun 8, 2008)

Outstanding job! The car looks truly impeccable!


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## Guest (Sep 22, 2010)

LOVE THIS CAR! Amazing job mate!


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## gtechpete (Aug 16, 2010)

Great job, the car looks tip top!

I'm a big Audi fan myself, so really appreciate seeing one being maintained so well.

Love the beading shots too, fantastic stuff


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## Guest (Sep 22, 2010)

Looks cool,ace work!


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## Scoobr (Jan 9, 2008)

Fantastic work and a nice car :thumb:

I like this pic, now that's what I call dedication


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## glendog74 (Jan 11, 2009)

Scoobr said:


> Fantastic work and a nice car :thumb:
> 
> I like this pic, now that's what I call dedication


I love that too - might have to try that on the Beemer 

Awesome job with the S3 - that took some serious graft! :thumb:


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## Big Bru (Apr 27, 2008)

Awesome detail on a ace car!!! :thumb:
Really enjoyed reading through the write up & seeing the results you got.


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## thealphabeta (Sep 21, 2010)

HOLY MOLY! This is my first post - it had to be to congratulate you on that. How long did it take? Christ, that's patience and slightly OCD haha.


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## ALANSHR (Jun 29, 2007)

Nice job, just the kind of thing I try to do whenever I first get a new motor, really good attention to detail, well done!


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