# Curvacious Beauty - 110 Photos of loveliness...



## mattjonescardiff (Dec 12, 2006)

My best friend's father was begrudgingly changing his Jaguar XK for an estate due to family commitments, so as I owed him a favour I offered to help prepare it. Mike's an enthusiast owner, washes the car weekly and hand applies AutoGlym Super Resin Polish every few months, so the car was in good condition to start.

Here was the car as I found her on Sunday morning backed out of the garage:








First job was giving the engine a little degrease to remove any dust and grime:
















Tools for the job: a microfiber pad, detail brush, long brush and Meguiars Super Degreaser:








Super Degreaser sprayed liberally and agitated with the brushes:
























And then rinsed on a 'rain' setting of the hose. Next job before the main wash is the wheels using the following array of kit:








Cleaning from back to front of the wheel, firstly using a long handle titan brush:








Meguiars All Wheel Cleaner sprayed on with each stage: 








Next a Megs Wheel brush for the front of the dish:








A Detail brush for the nut recesses:








And a common or garden bog brush and APC to clean out the arches:








I normally use a bendy brush for behind the spokes but due to the massive size of these 20" beasties it was easy to get in there with a mitt:








A stiffer brush wash needed to really get into the nuts on the rim:








All then rinsed with the Pressure Washer, especially thoroughly up around the arches:








Mike asked me to take a look at a scratch on the boot.








It needed paint so I filled it using a ****tail stick (perfect to get a fine nib to direct the paint into a scratch). This was left to dry for a while, then accelerated with a hair dryer, a second coat applied and warmed with the dryer for around 10 minutes.








Chemical Guys Citrus Degreaser applied as a pre-wash to the lower panels:








Rinsed:








A strong snow foam mix applied:
































And rinsed:








Re-foamed ready for the main hand wash. Details cleaned with a brush and APC firstly:
















Onto the main wash. Meguiars HyperWash in a wash bucket, a rinse bucket and a sheepskin wash mitt:
























And rinsed off:








The next stage was a clay bar treatment to remove bonded contaminants. Two balls of clay prepared:








Megs Last Touch sprayed liberally as lubricant:








A piece of clay then rubbed over the roof first:








Not much contamination there as you'd expect:








Lower panels then showing a lot more contamination being removed:
























The lower sections of the doors being the worst:








Car re-rinsed and then dried:
















I took a break from washing the body and did the footmatts. Here they are before:








CG Fabric Clean sprayed evenly:








Worked in with a stiff brush:








Extracted with a Vax Wet Vac:
















Stripes added:








CG Fabric Guard applied to protect them:
















Interior vacuum cleaned:








Glass cleaned:








Aerospace 303 Protectant applied to interior trim:
















A new product to me - a Simonez air freshener and odour eliminator applied to the carpets:








Time for the polishing stage. I set up the Makita rotary polisher with a small 4" pad and some Megs #83 polish:








Only a few small areas needed this stage. One was a patch of small scratches on the 'a' pillar which have built up from passing admirers leaning on the car to take a look at the interior. Mike says he regularly comes back to the car in a car park with someone peeking in!
















The whole of the car was then prepared by polishing with the UDM random orbital polisher, a Megs polishing pad and Zymol HD-Cleanser fluid:








































Ever get the feeling you're being watched?..............








The wheels were waxed with CG Wheel Guard:
















Tailpipes polished with wire wool and autosol, then Megs Metal Polish and a foam pad to refine:
































Tyres dressed:








HD cleanse buffed off with a microfibre and body wiped down with Last Touch. It was then all ready for waxing. The XK was being treated to a coat of Zymol Concours Wax to be applied by hand:








A pea sized amount warmed in the palms of my hands to aid spreading and bonding to the paint:
























Buffed after curing for about 15 minutes:








Left for a while for the wax to fully cure then buffed again with Zymol Field Glaze :








And that was the process just about finished. Here's the finished photos:
































































































Leather treated with Zymol Leather Conditioner:








































































Engine Bay plastics treated with Megs Hyper Dressing to finish it:








































Thanks for reading. Any comments welcomed as usual.
Matt


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## -Kev- (Oct 30, 2007)

sterling work Matt  good to see another member with a vax 6131 :thumb:


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## Spoony (May 28, 2007)

Great job on that, those are by far the most prolific stripes I have seen - good work. Was there any issues machining the glass? I was always of the understanding that this was a job not to be undertaken lightly due to heat build up and chances of cracking/warping the glass?


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## adam87 (Dec 11, 2008)

Great job :thumb:

You really need a new megs wheel brush though :lol:


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## ChrisST (Jul 19, 2009)

Fantastic work, those have to be the best carpet mat stripes yet.:thumb:


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## ChrisJD (Apr 15, 2009)

Stunning detail. An amazing amount of clay removal there.

Great write-up.

Chris.


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## -Kev- (Oct 30, 2007)

do you use the CG fabric cleaner and protectant neat or diluted Matt?


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## dsms (Feb 1, 2008)

This is not only great detail work but this is some of the best documentation Ive seen, very thorough and well done.

The Jag looks perfect!!!


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## Cullers (Sep 29, 2009)

great job Matt. Lovely car as well. That shot of the boot looks better than brochure shots! Mind, the shot of you holding the UDM looks weird with your thumb *brrrr*


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## mattjonescardiff (Dec 12, 2006)

Spoony said:


> Great job on that, those are by far the most prolific stripes I have seen - good work. Was there any issues machining the glass? I was always of the understanding that this was a job not to be undertaken lightly due to heat build up and chances of cracking/warping the glass?


Thanks for the kind words. The UDM machine doesn't generate much heat, but even so - I'd be incredibly surprised to hear of cracking windows from polishing! Have you seen this happen? I'd be very interested to hear where this has happened.



adam87 said:


> Great job :thumb:
> 
> You really need a new megs wheel brush though :lol:


Well christmas is coming. We shall see if santa's kind to me!



fiestadetailer said:


> do you use the CG fabric cleaner and protectant neat or diluted Matt?


Most definitely diluted! (It's very thick in the bottle). I think the dilution ratio is 1:16 IIRC.


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## Rasher (Mar 6, 2006)

cracking job


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

A lovely turnaround on a beautiful car


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## RefinedDetails (Dec 17, 2006)

Cracking work there mate, lots of attention to detail.


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## Guest (Nov 16, 2009)

love it:thumb:


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## rob750 (Apr 17, 2006)

Hi Matt 

Great job . That is HD Cleanse you are using on the windows?


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## Dunkwho (Jan 23, 2009)

Looking lush in every regard - cracking job


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## Leemack (Mar 6, 2009)

Nice work mate,

I'd have tardis'd the lower halves before claying though :thumb:


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## mattjonescardiff (Dec 12, 2006)

rob750 said:


> Hi Matt
> 
> Great job . That is HD Cleanse you are using on the windows?


Cheers. Yes it is HD. 


the_knight said:


> Nice work mate,
> 
> I'd have tardis'd the lower halves before claying though :thumb:


In hindsight I agree. I didn't think there was much tar on there at first but when I was claying I kept finding it!


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## mwbpsx (Jun 23, 2006)

Yet another knackered Meguiars Wheel Brush

Off to start a thread


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## Bratwurst (Jan 23, 2009)

Tremendous work on a lovely machine!

Cracking, detailed write-up too!


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## dbaillie (Apr 6, 2009)

cracking detail mint how u got the mats perfect :thumb:


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## mattjonescardiff (Dec 12, 2006)

mwbpsx said:


> Yet another knackered Meguiars Wheel Brush
> 
> Off to start a thread


To be fair to Megs, the brush has seen some action over the years! But in contrast, some of my other brushes have held up to the abuse much better.


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## Jody 4444 (Mar 12, 2009)

What a great write up and a fantastic turn around :thumb:


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## Wmffra (Oct 30, 2005)

Nice one :thumb:


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## rds1985 (Mar 7, 2009)

Nout wrong with that-top notch job particularly liking the matts!


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## PaulN (Jan 17, 2008)

Great work there, shame there wasnt any sun to show off your handy work more.... :thumb:

Cheers

PaulN


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## Taaffy (May 9, 2006)

Nice work.......I live at the top of the close so must have passed you hard at work ......shame mike is selling the jag...it makes a lurvelly growl.

I have a black Cayenne that will need some attention after the winter weather has left us so I'll contact you when I'm ready.


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## mattjonescardiff (Dec 12, 2006)

Taaffy said:


> Nice work.......I live at the top of the close so must have passed you hard at work ......shame mike is selling the jag...it makes a lurvelly growl.
> 
> I have a black Cayenne that will need some attention after the winter weather has left us so I'll contact you when I'm ready.


Hi there. That's an interesting coincidence! I think Ive spotted your cayenne in the street. The White R8 in the street is rather nice too. Yes, it is a shame he's selling it, he took me out in it once before and the engine note is fabulous.

Please do get in touch when you're ready for a Detail, or just want to chat about it.


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## Taaffy (May 9, 2006)

mattjonescardiff said:


> Hi there. That's an interesting coincidence! I think Ive spotted your cayenne in the street. The White R8 in the street is rather nice too. Yes, it is a shame he's selling it, he took me out in it once before and the engine note is fabulous.
> 
> Please do get in touch when you're ready for a Detail, or just want to chat about it.


Will do ....:thumb:

Can you pm me some costs.....it will need machining.


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## mattjonescardiff (Dec 12, 2006)

I'll have a think about the best package for you and send you some ideas. 

Best wishes,
Matt


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## CupraRcleanR (Sep 2, 2007)

Looks grand. Lovely motor. Like the attention to detail.


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## -tom- (Jan 27, 2009)

stunning work


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## Ronnie (Nov 15, 2006)

very very nice job loving the spirit level for the stripes!!!


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## jontawn (Dec 1, 2007)

seconded, or thirded with the comments on the stripes for the mats, great idea and something i'll be sure to do when I do mine!  nice one!


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## Huw (Feb 16, 2007)

Great work Matt. Nice write up.


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## ahaydock (Jan 4, 2007)

Very nice indeed :thumb:


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## Allblackdup (Oct 17, 2006)

Excellent work as always Matt and a top write up too.  

Really love the car, think i recognise the estate too - some lovely houses there.


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## dodger (May 20, 2006)

very nice work, did you wetsand that scratch on the boot or did you fill and leave it?


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## Mike Hunt (Jan 31, 2008)

Great work on a lovely shaguar.


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## Jim W (Feb 3, 2007)

Looks good chap, but, what's on the centre console?



















Leather cleaner that hadn't dried? Bit missing from the passenger side bolster, too.


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## mattjonescardiff (Dec 12, 2006)

dodger said:


> very nice work, did you wetsand that scratch on the boot or did you fill and leave it?


Many thanks for the compliments. The paint wouldn't have dried hard enough for a wetsand in the time I was working on the car. I got two colour coasts into the scratch, dried as much as possible with a hairdryer and slow cut it back with a 4" CCS polishing pad and Megs #83 on the Makita. It wasn't perfect but certainly much improved and took the edge off it.



Jim W said:


> Looks good chap, but, what's on the centre console?
> 
> Leather cleaner that hadn't dried? Bit missing from the passenger side bolster, too.


Well spotted! I was in the garage for most of the afternoon due to rain so a quick coat of zymol leather conditioner was applied to get some interior photos done for the cars autotrader ad during a break in the weather (hence why it's still mid-drying and shiny). It was touched up later on and a second coat applied to the usual wearing places.


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## scottgm (Dec 27, 2009)

Nice work, The mats look great!


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## supercharged (Feb 1, 2008)

Stunning work on beautiful Jag!


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## Puntoboy (Jun 30, 2007)

Nice work there. Never realised the bonnets open the wrong way on these.


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## arcdef (Apr 17, 2008)

Nice work, where did you get the mini wet vac attachment btw?


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## rallyman1978 (Aug 8, 2007)

Lovely job - stripes are awesome


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## Chris CPT (Dec 16, 2009)

Great work on a lovely car


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## carrera2s (Jun 28, 2009)

Fantastic write up and job well done!:thumb:


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## uxi1733 (Dec 11, 2006)

Amazing work!!


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