# Abbot racing saab



## cool (Jan 18, 2011)

hey guys
i had an enquiry from a fellow detailing world member, agent gibbs, on how to use various polishes with his new DAS6pro.
the brief wasnt full correction or even an enhancement detail just to have more confidence in using his machine and how to maintain the look on his stunning vehicle.
so we are going to do this slightly different from the norm.
instead of me doing the write up im going to hand over to agent gibbs aka keith to show you the work he put into his saab.
in total we spent 7 hours on his car and we will let you judge for yourselves the final outcome on his car.
comments always aprreciated :wave:


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## ROMEYR32 (Mar 27, 2011)

?????????


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## dooka (Aug 1, 2006)

My father has an Abbots Racing 9000 Carlson. A little long in the tooth now, around 20 years old. Single stage black. The paint marred even with a rotary just looking at it ..

I too had to go the DA route to correct..

His Scab, sorry SAAB is now for sale now, if you are interested..


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## agent gibbs (Jul 23, 2010)

Some of you reading this may or may not know that I own a rather special black Saab 9-5, which since I've bought the car last Aug, I've started to take more than a passing interest in car detailing and every Sunday morning (weather permitting) I'm out on the driveway, doing my usual thing, … washing/drying looking after the alloys etc, I think you all know what I mean.
Anyway…. I decided that I'd try and move myself to the next level in detailing which to me is, learning and using a DA polisher, and understanding the different pads and polish that are used and just learn the basic of using the machine.
I bought a DAS6 Pro Machine Polisher Kit, and with it came 2 bottles of Meguiars - the Speed Glaze (No 80) and the Dual Action Cleaner/Polish (No 83) plus 3 machine pads - White, Yellow and Black, which at the time meant nothing to me at all. I just plugged the machine to make sure it worked, after that, everything else was beyond me!!
So, next task, learn how to use my new tools - By search the web site 'Detailing World' and asking question and looking at various threads and asking more questions, I eventually ended up being put in contract with Eric,
who has a company in Manchester. We talked over the phone to make the necessary arrangements and Eric came across as a person who not only knows what he's talking about but also was very confident in what he was doing
My day of learning arrives, I was at Eric premises for 10am and after a welcome brew and a walk around the car we started. The walk round showed the following


















































































The first job was to put APC on the grill, lights, petrol filler cap, window surrounds and badges



















After that, we used Wolfs cleaner on the alloys, which was left for 5 mins and then agitated with an alloy wheel brush. Until now I'd never seen a car alloys turn purple.
I would also add that my alloys had a full refurbish about 3 months ago and the Wolf cleaner made it feel as if i'd got a brand new set of alloys all over again, once the cleaner had been washed off the difference really was noticeable



















The car was then jet washed and dried and the next step was to clay the car, using Sonus clay bars and Autobrite berry blast as lube. After that we de-tarred the bottom of the car using Autosmart Tardis. We then dried the car down again and then got ready for the next stage - Coffee Break.

Finally now, onto what the day was all about for me, the DA Polisher - before we used the polisher we had to tape the car up using the 3m tape.










We used the Mequiars #83 Dual Action Cleaner/Polish with a 3m Yellow pad which would give the car a mild correction as you have to remember this was all about me learning to use the DA Polisher so we were doing an enhancement detail, not a full correction. We could have also used some of the 3m products that were available on the premises, but after talking it over, decided to stick with the Mequiars #83
We started on the boot with Eric doing one side and then I'd copy what he'd done on my side of the boot. Eric watch over me as I placed my pad on the boot, making sure my start up speed was correct and then checked to make sure that the movements of the DA mirrored as closely as I could to his. I must admit I was a little be apprehensive doing this for the first time, but was able get my half of the boot done successfully. Next we did the roof, again half each but this time only doing a quarter of each side in turn, again I followed Eric lead and he in turn watched what I was doing. We then moved onto the passengers front and rear doors with Eric doing the passage front and I took the rear door. I worked the rear wing as Eric moved onto the front wing and then onto the bonnet and finished off on the passenger's front wing. As he did that I started on the driver's side doing both doors and the rear wing. I left the rear of the car to Eric, as we'd both been using 6"pads but thought it best to use 4"pads for the rear of the car but I didn't have the correct backing plate for this part of the job.
Next - Coffee Break

Back to the car, next job was to wash the car down to remove the dust that had be created by the Mequiars #83, dry the car off and repeat what we'd just done with DA Polishers but this time using Dodo Juice Lime Prime - still using the 3m Yellow pads, which had been suitable washed and dried, ready for the Lime Prime. The pictures below are before we used Lime Prime on the car



















Next step was to put some PoorBoys Blackhole on the car, using the black pads - the more we did the more my confidence grew as i used the DA polisher.
To finish off, we used Optiseal on the car body and the wheels as our LSP (last stage protection) and then used Autosmart Highline as our tyre dressing

The pictures below are the car finally completed




























The final picture shows what over 7hrs of work achieved on the car, or as we said on the day *"Stand back and admire"*










Gibbs


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## cool (Jan 18, 2011)

great write up agent gibbs....sorry we didnt get many pictures as we had hoped..i just dont know how you pro's take so many pics...AND get the cars looking so good lol
dooka....i tried twisting agent gibbs arm to part with the car in exchange for my bmw 530isport lol 
can we get a shot of under the bonnet keith? 

this message will self destruct in 30 seconds :devil:


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## agent gibbs (Jul 23, 2010)

Ok Mate 
Try these -




























  

Gibbs


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## Naranto (Apr 5, 2007)

Stunning results, especially like the underside polished bonnet effect :thumb:


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## agent gibbs (Jul 23, 2010)

Naranto said:


> Stunning results, especially like the underside polished bonnet effect :thumb:


Thank you

Gibbs


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## Prism Detailing (Jun 8, 2006)

Saw it up on UKSaabs good work  and given me a bit or inspiration for my own saab


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

Yes, that does look nice and shiny - with no light shots other than sun on a contour one cannot really judge the correction, enhancement or machine clarity left in the finish but it looks nice and shiny so if that was the aim, well done :thumb:

If I may, a small piece of advice regarding product choice - I notice you chose to use Meguiars #83 for your enhancement. This is fine, but if you were short setting (which you would need to be to do a car that sized in 7 hours) then I wouldn't personally recommend using #83 - it is a moderate cutting polish with a very slow abrasive that takes a long time to break down, and needs the long sets in order to fully work it... You may not be aiming for full correction in which case the correction of the product is of less interest, but the refinement will always be a concern and if you do not fully work #83 it will leave subtle micromarring even by DA - this can be hard to spot unless you know what you are looking for and requires light sources such as the Brinkman or Sun Gun to highlight it most clearly, but in the flesh it does rob a finish of its clarity somewhat. #83 benefits from long slow sets, let the residue go clear and then return before then working until it lightly dusts - there should be no large amounts of dust, if there is you are using too much product. On small areas requires to really get #83 to work, that is no more than 1' square so the boot in four to six sections, it would take a considerable amount of time to really give #83 a chance to do its work by DA on that car. Following with Lime Primeis fine, so long as you do ensure that you fully work this too as in my experience it can fill quite extensively and remaining marring from #83 would be a prime candidate for filling - fine if this is then intention, and there is nothing wrong with that so long as yu understand that you are likely achieving some of the results through this filling process.

I hope this makes sense and my post taken as it is intended - to offer friendly advice for those who are new to the DA... it is not just a case of short setting if you are less worried about correction, marring in the finish through not properly working products should always be a paramount concern as well. If you are looking to just use a one step enhancement, use something that only requires you to go round the car once and is quite forgiving to set lengths such as Menzerna PO85RD Final Finish or if you don't mind filling, Autoglym Super Resin Polish.

The car does look very shiny, that is for sure, and as above it is impossible to comment further than that as to the quality of the finish on the paintwork without seeing detailed lighting shots. But as said at the very start, if basically shiny was the aim, then that is what has been achieved


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## JBirchy (Oct 9, 2010)

dooka said:


> My father has an Abbots Racing 9000 Carlson. A little long in the tooth now, around 20 years old. Single stage black. The paint marred even with a rotary just looking at it ..
> 
> I too had to go the DA route to correct..
> 
> His Scab, sorry SAAB is now for sale now, if you are interested..


Is there a link to a site where i could have a look at this? I might be interested. My car is for sale and im looking for something a bit different


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## agent gibbs (Jul 23, 2010)

Hello Dave,
It was a learning curve for me and Eric did a very good job watching over me.
When you say 'long sets' using the #83, i'm guessing you mean the amount of time and speed settings we used with the DA? - (Still learning the jargon)
There was dust created by the #83, but very little - when the Lime Prime was used the car had been cleaned of any possible dust/residue of the #83

For my first time out with a DA, i was more than happy with the end result, as my aim was to get a better understand of using a DA, different pads and types of polish etc that are available. For a novice like myself (and others) this is a real minefield and can be very off putting. The added plus to this was that the car turned out to be shiny, but this was just a bonus, not my aim for the day, but wouldn't it have done that anyway.

Overall i achieved what i set out to do, which was getting to grips with a DA and the tools that can be used with it. 

I'll look into your comments about one step enhancement, and see if its something that i might be happy with using later on as my skill and confidence improves

Thank you for your friendly advice, and your post was taken as intended, and i hope that other novices (like myself) read your comments and take your helpful advice onboard

Cheers

Gibbs


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

Hi Gibbs,

Long sets - yes, the amount of time spent working the polish... Typically with Megs #83, I would expect a set length of between 4 to 5 minutes over a 1' square section with very slow movement speeds of the polisher... This video is a typical shorter DA set at only 3 minutes and this is for Menzerna Final Finish, this is about as short a set as I would personally use:






The longer the product is worked the more the abrasives break down and this ensures that the finish is refined, and machine marring is eliminated.

Keep up the good work with the DA - a very capable machine and the more you use it, the more you find you can achieve with it :thumb:


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## agent gibbs (Jul 23, 2010)

Hi Dave,
Thanks for the video - that was what i was doing, slow speed to start of with, spread the polish, then turn up the DA speed.
I was making over lapping passes, so that each pass was overlapped by 50% and also move the DA left to right and then up and down.
As for timings, well not too sure, as i was too busy concentration on what i was doing then anything else, but i was not allowed to rush when using the DA and was following Eric's lead

Thanks for you help/advice - appreciated :thumb:

Gibbs


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## cool (Jan 18, 2011)

we did have the option of using megs 105 but i did think it was going to be a bit too harsh especially since the car had been detailed previously.
as agent gibbs had bought his DA with the meguires kit it made sense that he only got to use them as anything else just would not have given him the experience he was looking for.
great tips guys...keep em coming :buffer:


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## pimpmyc250 (May 12, 2011)

having seen your car on saturday agent giibbs, am truely impressed at the quality of detailing and condition of your motor,

waterpump just about given up on my wagon on the way home, wazzed the heater up full, and kept it at 90 degrees, in for being fixed today, so any learnings from saturday can wait till next week..

did get to iron x my wheels 1st though, awesome stuff!


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## agent gibbs (Jul 23, 2010)

Hope you get your car fixed soon
The Iron x or Wolf's does a very good job. Having seen it first hand on my own car and then on Sunday when the alloy was taken of the Golf it really does the job

Cheers

Keith


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## agent gibbs (Jul 23, 2010)

Hi Eric
A big THANK YOU as without your help i would have never won this event :thumb:

It was the Saab Owners Club National meeting at Haydock Race Course (30/7)
and the car won 'best 9-5 in the show' 

link here - http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?p=2936916#post2936916

Thank you

Gibbs


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## cool (Jan 18, 2011)

wow thats superb news matey....i dont know wot to say...im flattered that after only a short amount of time that my work has now gone recognised  and of course the effort and maintenance that you yourself have put into your vehicle.

just goes to show what can be achieved with the right know how and products....experience comes with time and i hope i can only get better at what i do.

Any queries from members about my services are welcome

www.cooltints.com


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