# SIM 180 vs Mitsubishi L200 ('100th Detail').........



## Baker21 (Aug 7, 2007)

Hello all..........:wave:

Well this write-up is my '100th Detail', granted this in nothing in comparison to the numbers that all those pro's complete but still a large amount of motor's that I have been lucky enough to work on.............:buffer:

It's amazing for me how many different motor's I have worked on but more so how many I have done over the time with my first detail being on my friend's Audi A4 back in November 2007:

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=50311

I am very thankful for DW and this community as I have always been keen to own a clean car but over the months I have read many useful threads on here and tried a few things for myself with some success and well what can I say, here I am now 3 years down the road...........

It's safe to say that I have done a few Skoda's within those '100 Details' and it looked like the 100th would have been one however due to delivery dates of the car it didn't quite work out that way, instead it was time to for something a little different............:doublesho

Still linked to Skoda's however, I had completed Steve's Octavia vRS MK1 back in April 2010:

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=163109

Still in contact with Steve, seeing what he was modifying on that engine of his and after an eventful 'spin' around Castle Combe, his Dad was quite impressed with the outcome of the Octavia so asked if I would be interested in a 'Big Challenge', of course I agreed and on a dry Saturday I was greated early in the morning to this:






















































































































That's right a lovely Mitsubishi L200, his work horse and it looked in pretty good condition overall.........:thumb:

*The Detail Process:*

Now the plan for this detail was exterior only, no wheel removal either, to be fair I was thankful...............:lol:

Sorry to say that Jules wasn't really needed on this detail and was working so she won't be making appearance or maybe she will...........

So leaving the wheels on the car I wasn't too fussed about as they looked in pretty good condition, first up they were rinsed:










Also paying attention to those arches:










Megs Wheel Brightner was applied:










This was aggitated with the EZ Wheel Brush:










The front face of the wheel was aggitated with a Detailer Brush:










For inbetween the wheel bolts I used the AG Wheel Brush:










This was then rinsed, back to the arch I applied some Megs APC:










This was aggitated with the Megs Large Brush:










I then applied some AS Tardis:










AS Tardis doing it's thing:










Wiped off with a Microfibre Cloth:










The car was washed using Powercraft Pressure Washer, Snow Foam with HD Elite Lance, 2BM consisting of Megs Hyper Wash, Megs Buckets and Gritguards and Lambswool Wash Mitts:










Rinsing first:










Then the car was foamed:










I then attended to some choice areas on the car with some Megs APC and a Detailer Brush - Front Lamps and Grille:














































Bonnet Vent:










Petrol Cap:



















Door sills:



















Then the car was rinsed and foamed again, then into the wash bucket with a Lambswool Wash Mitt and washed a few panels:










Washed a few panels:










Then into the rinse bucket:










This was repeated all over the car and looked as follows:










Then I rinsed the car:










I then decided to clay the car using some Elite Fine Poly Clay with Megs Last Touch as lube:










Pretty evident this had never been done but plenty to remove:










The car was then rinsed again:










Megs Last Touch was then applied:










Then dried with a Waffle Weave Drying Towel:










Time to move the L200 inside and unfortunatly, the unit is undergoing some office extension work which has made it a little tight for me to work around any car, let alone the L200, still it was cover so I squeezed it inside ready for some machining:










As you can see the swirling was pretty evident now:



















My first port of call was to remove the 'Fields' sticker on the rear tailgate:










Out with the Heat Gun for a brief spell:










Nice and easy does it:










Job done to be tidied up later on:










Deciding to work on the Passenger Side first I taped up some small areas:










Then I broke out the Halogen Lamps to see what we could see on the Passenger Front Door:



















Now time for one of only two detailing related purchases from our recent trip to the USA:










So taking a reading on the left hand side of the panel:










Not a great amount on here and being Mitsubishi paint I worked with a Megs Polishing Pad using Megs 205, then changing to a 3M Finishing Pad and with Megs 205 again achieved the following:



















Quick re-check:










And some 50/50's:



















Then completing the rest of the panel:



















Not bad, not perfect but not bad, now most of the correction shots will be on the green sections of paint as that was a lot easier to capture the defects on the camera, also some areas had been re-painted so required a step up to Megs 105 and then back down to 205 for refining.........:buffer:

Passenger Rear Door - Before:



















After:



















Also attended to the C / B Pillar's - 50/50:










After:










Passenger Front Wing - Before:










Help's to remove Side repeater's if you can as well:










After:










Passenger Rear Wing - Before:










After:










Moving onto the Bonnet - Passenger Side - Before:










After:










Driver's Side - Before:










After:










Onto the Rear End it was clear the tailgate had been painted, one there was no 'Animal' logo but also the readings were a little high:



















Before:



















After:



















While inside I attended to the exhaust, not sure what I could achieve here but decided to give it ago anyway with some Wirewool and Autosol - Before:










After:










Back outside now and it was getting pretty later into the evening, the L200 looked as follows:



















I then rinsed the car:










Megs Last Touch applied:










Then dried with a Waffle Weave Drying Towel:










For some reason having spoken to Steve I was under the impression that the L200 was going to be black so bought my trusty Blackfire kit with me, oh well, this would have to do, having not used it on Silver or Green before, I guess it would be a good test..........

First up the Black Fire Wet Diamond All Finish Paint Protection via the supplied Applicator Pad:










This was followed by some Black Fire Midnight Sun Wax via the supplied Applicator Pad:










This was followed by the Black Fire Deep Gloss Spray:










Some Megs Hyper Dressing was then applied to the arches:










Finally the tyres were dressed with some AS Highstyle via a Paint Brush:










*The Results:*



































































































































































And that was that, finished at around 7.30pm, granted it was getting dark but the finish looked pretty good, always tough on silver sections but I think the day's work had bought some life back to the 'Racing Green' like colour..........:thumb:

Tough task really but enjoyable in many respects, arches easy to access, panels at the perfect height for machining, although the ladders were needed for the roof..........:lol:

Massive thanks to Steve and his Dad for letting me attack the L200 and it's always nice to do something different, especially on the 100th Detail.

Also big thanks to Chris_vRS for his thoughts during the day after a quick phone call, finally to all DW member's for their knowledge and hard work, I have learned a lot while being on here but plenty more still to learn...........

Finally those that have been suggesting my details have been lacking something of late, granted Jules hasn't been around but here are a few choice snaps from our recent trip to the USA, this was pretty much Jule's normal position for most of the trip:










She did however let herself go while away, eating a few too many 'burgers':










And finally one last pic that both Jules and I couldn't resist, for all those 'haters' out there, excuse the bad hair...........:










Thanks for reading if you have got this far and watch out for the '101 Dalmation Detail' coming soon, comment's good or bad welcome as always........


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## slrestoration (Nov 11, 2009)

The usual top job buddy, some great pics in the ever high standard of write up :thumb: not to mention the nice selection of holiday snaps:lol:


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## -Kev- (Oct 30, 2007)

cracking work again Simon :thumb: at least you've had some decent weather where you are - been raining most of the weekend here :wall:
btw, that isn't a hairband your wearing in the pic of the door mirror is it? :doublesho


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## james_death (Aug 9, 2010)

Congrats on the century, good report and pics the railing reflecting in some shots meant that from a distance it looked to have buffer trails down the side.


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## mdk1 (Jun 19, 2006)

Top work Simon.


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## paddymk5 (Aug 7, 2010)

what pad and polish did u use mate?

great work!!!!


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## [email protected] (Jun 12, 2010)

Wicked Job matey & great write up!


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## Summit Detailing (Oct 9, 2006)

Baker21 said:


> Not a great amount on here and being Mitsubishi paint I worked with a Megs Polishing Pad using Megs 205, then changing to a 3M Finishing Pad and with Megs 205 again achieved the following:
> 
> Not bad, not perfect but not bad, now most of the correction shots will be on the green sections of paint as that was a lot easier to capture the defects on the camera, also some areas had been re-painted so required a step up to Megs 105 and then back down to 205 for refining.........:buffer:


:thumb:



paddymk5 said:


> what pad and polish did u use mate?


L200_Steve would be proud fella:thumb:..good stuff, did you tape up the window scraper mouldings out of curiosity?

+1 on the hairband question?!

Here's to the next 100 eh


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## HC1001 (May 27, 2007)

Great work Si on a swirly beast...........:thumb:

Have a good time on hol's fella?

H


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## mattsbmw (Jul 20, 2008)

Congrats on reaching 100, always enjoy your write ups.


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## sim L (Jan 3, 2010)

Looks great mate! :thumb:

The more I see you use Blackfire the more I'm tempted to give it a whirl! 
Better than your Zaino method?


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## Detail My Ride (Apr 19, 2006)

Nice work, thats a lovely green colour. Looks fantastic.

Can I ask where you picked up that gauge in the states? Am over in a few weeks and am looking for a spare.


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

Looking good mate, they are big beast to work on!!

Here's to the next 100!!!

:thumb:


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## PaulN (Jan 17, 2008)

Great work.... your getting a the hang of this now!!! :thumb:


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## Warwickshire Detailer (Oct 11, 2009)

Great turnaround Si...I bet that was a long day!

Nice write up too :thumb:


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## Baker21 (Aug 7, 2007)

-Kev- said:


> cracking work again Simon :thumb: at least you've had some decent weather where you are - been raining most of the weekend here :wall:
> btw, that isn't a hairband your wearing in the pic of the door mirror is it? :doublesho


The weather hasn't been great in the UK but it was way too hot in the USA to be detailing anything, not sure how those guys do it, Air con on full I reckon...........:doublesho

Good spot Kev, sure is, what can I say, long hair gets in the way during the day, I think it's pretty clear I am comfortable with my sexuality..........:lol:



james_death said:


> Congrats on the century, good report and pics the railing reflecting in some shots meant that from a distance it looked to have buffer trails down the side.


Thought someone might pick that out, no buffer trials but yeah certainly does look that way............



paddymk5 said:


> what pad and polish did u use mate?
> 
> great work!!!!


As quoted by Chris_VRS mate........:thumb:



Chris_VRS said:


> :thumb:
> 
> L200_Steve would be proud fella:thumb:..good stuff, did you tape up the window scraper mouldings out of curiosity?
> 
> ...


Window Scraper? What the heck is that, only taped up the door handles and some rubber around the windscreen IIRC.......

Sure waas mate you can see it first hand next weekend..........:car:



HC1001 said:


> Great work Si on a swirly beast...........:thumb:
> 
> Have a good time on hol's fella?
> 
> H


Much like yourself I am sure Howards although I only bought two detailing items back from the US with me...............:lol:

Looks like you bought loads back...........:doublesho



mattsbmw said:


> Congrats on reaching 100, always enjoy your write ups.


Glad they are of interest to you Matt.........:thumb:



sim L said:


> Looks great mate! :thumb:
> 
> The more I see you use Blackfire the more I'm tempted to give it a whirl!
> Better than your Zaino method?


I think Zaino is more durable and I just love Z8 but Blackfire is a little quicker to apply and certainly adds depth and gloss to the finish, tough call, I just like alternating between the two to be honest.........



Gaz W said:


> Nice work, thats a lovely green colour. Looks fantastic.
> 
> Can I ask where you picked up that gauge in the states? Am over in a few weeks and am looking for a spare.


Many thanks Gaz and I have been asked buy another forum member about the PTG so will direct you here:

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=187377



PaulN said:


> Great work.... your getting a the hang of this now!!! :thumb:


Still plenty to work on and learn Paul but I do like doing the odd motor now and again........:lol:


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## DNZ 21 (Feb 10, 2009)

Always enjoy a read through your posts mate. Fantastic work with a great write up to go along with it

Congrats on the big 100 and hope there is plenty more to come :thumb:


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## cfherd (Jan 14, 2010)

Cracking work mate, and the car aint bad either! lol.

Seriously, great finish on such a big car in just (what I think was) a day. :thumb:


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## Baker21 (Aug 7, 2007)

cfherd said:


> Cracking work mate, and the car aint bad either! lol.
> 
> Seriously, great finish on such a big car in just (what I think was) a day. :thumb:


:lol:

I should confirm that I started at 8.00AM and finished at just before 8.00PM.........:thumb:


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## ryand (Jul 18, 2008)

Nice one again, massive truck though! Nice results and good to see the PTG on its first outing!


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## si74 (Sep 18, 2008)

Fantastic work as always.. I learn so mush from these wright ups.


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## littlejack (Jun 11, 2008)

WOW!!!! Great write up with some great pics:thumb::thumb:


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## Goodfella36 (Jul 21, 2009)

Always enjoy your write ups keep up the great work


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## robbo51 (May 1, 2007)

Superb as usual Baker!!


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## Leemack (Mar 6, 2009)

Nice work mate - looks great. Congrats on the 100


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## paulmc08 (Feb 3, 2009)

Firstly,congrat's on your 100th Detail:thumb:

Another fine piece of work fella


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## srmtor (Jul 12, 2008)

As always fantastic write up, and some very good photos as well!


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## Baker21 (Aug 7, 2007)

ryand said:


> Nice one again, massive truck though! Nice results and good to see the PTG on its first outing!


I am pretty pleased with the PTG mate, don't know about you but I reckon it was a good buy? Hey?



si74 said:


> Fantastic work as always.. I learn so mush from these wright ups.


Glad they are of help to you.........:thumb:


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## *MAGIC* (Feb 22, 2007)

Mate thats some great work on such a big motor :thumb:


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## Baker21 (Aug 7, 2007)

*MAGIC* said:


> Mate thats some great work on such a big motor :thumb:


Thanks Robbie, the pic of Jules was for you and you only really as I know you had been missing her..........:lol:

And before you ask, no 50/50's of Jules either!!!


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## Wardy (Jan 16, 2006)

Nice one. Good result, it came up well - nice deep shade of green :thumb:

Here's to the next 100!

Steve


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## toosmiles (May 5, 2007)

youve worked your magic again m8


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