# Lotus Carlton, full correction with Swisswax Best of Show



## Ti22 (Mar 24, 2009)

Here's a full correction on a car I've been looking forward to opening the doors of Ti22 towers to for a while now:

I'm sure not many cars even today can match it for presence!

Unfortunately it arrived on tuesday - a day we were once again getting rain like noah did when he was building the ark. Not perfect for washing cars in, so sorry for the lack of outside washing pictures!

1st off - arches cleaned with G101










Wheels given a little going over with G101 I didn't go too mad as they were coming off soon. Then the rain came, whilst I did the shuts, inside the fuel cap, all the badges etc. .

Then stopped whilst the car was foamed :










The car was then washed with the 2 bucket method and car bath, then moved inside so we could both get dry!

All bonded contaminants removed with Swissvax paint rubber:










And paint/ clearcoat measurements taken all over the car (including the bumpers) to ensure we were clear for paint correction. (which we were)










So, off for a look at the paint under the no-so forgiving lights in the unit. This exercise revealing a uniform covering of scratching, swirling and Random Deep Scratches :-




























The Bonnet vents were then removed, the holes covered and the washer jets popped up to gain complete access to the bonnet for correction.










In nice and early, and on with the machine work. A large variety of pads and polishes were used, including Swissvax Cleaner Fluid Strong, Megs 105, Megs 85 and 83 as well as compounding, polishing and finishing pads, depending on the panel and the defects present.

Some 50/50's, showing the correction acheived before refining to remove hologrammes with Swissvax cleaner fluid Professional.




























The boot lid before :










And after correction, (note hologram marking just visible from the light source - later removed during refining)



















The wheels were all removed to clean inside them better, seen here as removed:










After wheel cleaner, and with tar remover dwelling to break the tar down:










Tar remover washed off, and dried. Whole wheel polished with Swissvax cleaner fluid pro by hand:










Then waxed all over with Swissvax Autobahn:










Wax polished off:










Wheel bolts copper greased:










And torqued up with the wheel back down on the floor.










The sun finally came out so I could check how the finish was coming along, the flake really showing now there were no scratches hiding it:










With the whole car refined, Swisswax best of show was applied and left to cure for an hour or so while I applied Pneu to dress the tyres and cleaned the windows, and dressed the interior.

The car was then polished off and rolled outside to check it over and take the finished photos before the customer arrived to collect, 16 hours of work later. .























































EDIT: Just looking at this last photo and wanted to add that the lines in the bonnet are plane trails in the sky, NOT buffer trails!

Hope you enjoyed reading, feel free to post/ email/ PM me any questions as ever!

Many thanks to the owner for allowing me to post this writeup and photos (it's not always the case that this is allowed.)

James


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## mattsbmw (Jul 20, 2008)

Fantastic work, i really fancy owning one of those


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## -ROM- (Feb 23, 2007)

Nice work.

Number plate still visible in pic 2.


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## Ti22 (Mar 24, 2009)

rmorgan84 said:


> Nice work.
> 
> Number plate still visible in pic 2.


Thanks :thumb: Sorted.


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## FrazzleTC (Jul 4, 2009)

That's an amazing job on an a phonomenal car, beautiful finish with that imperial green paint. It looks brilliant.


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## Jody 4444 (Mar 12, 2009)

Stunning work mate :thumb:


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## five£wash (Oct 12, 2008)

great work on a truely great car....


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## StuaR32t (Jun 6, 2009)

Beast, nice 50/50's... good job!!!!


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## Al_G (Aug 11, 2008)

Wow, just wow!

Absolutely love these cars! Reminds me of my childhood


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## CupraRcleanR (Sep 2, 2007)

Great work. The old girl looks like new. Great attention to detail. Owners gotta be well pleased.


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## Cornish (Jun 20, 2008)

Absolutely fantastic, both the detailing and the car.


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## Silver Scooby Sport (Feb 21, 2006)

Great work there James.... I did a double take on the wheel pics before and after that is quite amazing to see that difference. The paintwork has really come to life as well I bet the owner was suprised to see the car when you had finished with it.


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## WHIZZER (Oct 25, 2005)

Looks great - owner should be pleased


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## dew1911 (Jun 9, 2009)

You have taken my favorite car of all time and made it look better than even the factory did.

I don't think any car can ever match the presense and image the Lotus Carlton carries with it.


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## glyn waxmaster (Dec 20, 2006)

Great work mate.


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## Fastmonkey (Aug 4, 2006)

Superb, as before some brilliant 50/50's in there.........


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## RRobert (Aug 10, 2007)

very rare to see, and looks well after after your efforts. i didnt think you were going to make such an impact on the inside of the wheels - result!


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

Quite a car in terms of presence that is for sure! Very nice work


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## wfenix (May 13, 2007)

Fantastic work on one of my favourites fello welsh detailer, Superb.


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## gt5500 (Aug 6, 2008)

Amazing car and a great job, when you torqued the wheels were you using a wet torque value? Something you need to very carefull of as many cars specify a dry torque value, if you torque up to the dry value with a wet (lubed) bolt you can easily overtighten it. On my car the value is 120nm some owners have wet torqued to that spec and a few weeks later ended up with broken bolts.


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## Planet Man (Apr 12, 2008)

These are like hens teeth, nice to see a bit of old school:thumb:

Top work as well mate


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## neilb62 (Jul 30, 2007)

:thumb: Beautiful, a top job well done....


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## Perfection Detailing (Nov 3, 2007)

Very nice James:thumb:


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## Rowan83 (Aug 21, 2007)

Wow, what a beast. :thumb:

The wheels came up very, very well! 

Paintwork looks stunning now.


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## Planet Admin (Jul 11, 2009)

Great job mate:thumb:


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## paddy328 (Mar 4, 2007)

awesome work.


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## RedUntilDead (Feb 10, 2009)

gt5500 said:


> Amazing car and a great job, when you torqued the wheels were you using a wet torque value? Something you need to very carefull of as many cars specify a dry torque value, if you torque up to the dry value with a wet (lubed) bolt you can easily overtighten it. On my car the value is 120nm some owners have wet torqued to that spec and a few weeks later ended up with broken bolts.


Was going to mention that too, so well pointed out:thumb:
Its not always recommended to "lube" wheel bolts and in this instance the amount of lube was a bit excessive. Not knocking anyone, just saying.

Top, top job on the Carlton, very impressive

Si


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## packard (Jun 8, 2009)

God i love those cars (Still!) - re the yellow wheel brush for arches - any known make of brush?


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## Ti22 (Mar 24, 2009)

Thanks for the tips on Wheel nuts. Having an engineering degree, I know to check and set them to the 'wet' torque. 

The threads will only take so much copper grease anyway so any excess just stops corrosion. 

Commets much appreciated. It's an awesome motor.

P.S. I think it's a silverline brush. They fall apart, but you can put them back together


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## detailersdomain (Sep 13, 2006)

wow awesome what a great car!


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## taffy (Nov 10, 2005)

Great work on a lovely car.


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## scooby73 (Mar 20, 2007)

Stunning!:thumb:


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## ALANSHR (Jun 29, 2007)

Very nice job indeed, those alloys were very clean for a 20 year old.


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## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

stunning


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## qwertyuiop (Jul 3, 2009)

more pictures,more pictures, snaffle, drool, snaffle!!!


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## dsms (Feb 1, 2008)

Killer work!


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## Trophy#185 (Jan 28, 2008)

Amazing, love the Lotus Carltons and love their colour


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## rich vrs (May 7, 2008)

fantastic work, and car, maybe some wider shots of the car though next time please???


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## Linco (Mar 20, 2009)

Excellent work on one of my top 3 cars of all time. Imperial green looking better than i have ever seen it!


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## s28nhb (Aug 25, 2008)

Good job.:thumb:


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## RP Stevie (Jan 24, 2007)

fantastic, I didn't think the wheels would come up that well either. Stunning.


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## colarado red (Jun 5, 2008)

now there's a blast from the past probably rarer than a rs 500 now:argie::thumb:


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## Select Detailing (Feb 19, 2009)

Thats a truly classic car.

Fantastic results on one of my all time fav cars. 

Regards

Gareth


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## gt5500 (Aug 6, 2008)

Ti22 Vehicle Services said:


> Thanks for the tips on Wheel nuts. Having an engineering degree, I know to check and set them to the 'wet' torque.


Ahh thats cool then, a lot of people do not understand the fundemental difference between a wet torque figure and a dry torque figure. I know people mean well by putting grease on the bolts but it can end in disaster. A bit like the people that seem intent on paint machined faces and will not be convinced that even something as thin as paint can cuase run out.


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## Ti22 (Mar 24, 2009)

rich vrs said:


> fantastic work, and car, maybe some wider shots of the car though next time please???


OK Mate, will try. .

I should also mention that the wheels have been refurbed, but I don't know when.


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## Atlantean (Feb 20, 2006)

Absolutely amazing job! That car looks stunning!


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## ChrisJD (Apr 15, 2009)

Brilliant job that man. Great to see these cars, truly a classic. This one certainly needed your attention, great job.

Chris.


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## Auto Detox (Dec 22, 2007)

Now that's a nice motor ! 

Baz


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## Supercop (Sep 11, 2008)

One of my all time greats! Awesome stuff!


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## ahaydock (Jan 4, 2007)

Very nice indeed :thumb:


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## chris141 (Jun 5, 2008)

Top job there mate, legend of a car!!


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