# Cueball presents..... 2011 Jag XF S



## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

Afternoon all.....

A bit of a special car for me to work on this weekend..... 2011 Jaguar XF S...

This belongs to my MD, and after lots of thinking, he has decided to hand back his company car, and purchased this as his new toy... and what a :argie: car it is....

The plan is for me to get her as nice looking as possible, so that he can clean and maintain the shine with as little hassle as possible.....

Some pictures to start with...
































































The interior wasn't too bad, although he has a dog, and it had recently been sick... it has all been tidied up I was told...  :lol:





































And finally the engine:



















^^ Note the red cap the wrong way round :wall::wall: I hate things like that! :lol: 

It was going to be a long weekend, but I was looking forward to it... great car, the newest and dearest I have ever worked on...... funny how quickly things can change eh.... 

Anyway, let's stay positive for the moment, and show the snowfoam pics.... I'm now using CG no touch foam, and really like it... 



















This was left to dwell as I ran about with G101 and some brushes dealing with all the little bits n bobs that collect the hidden dirt... door shuts etc.... I then washed using the 2BM and concours Oro shampoo...

My usual 2 stage decon routine was next, Wolf's Decon spray, tardis the claying with Zaino clay and poorboys spray n shine as the lube.... and another wash left me with this:




























At this point, is all good... I haven't done anything with the wheels, as they are coming off the get properly cleaned and sealed... so the car is dried and brought into the unit to get it jacked up....

Eh....... no anti theft bolt.... it's missing.... :wall:.... this, in hindsight was the start of my problems... but I didn't know it then.... so, back out with the car to clean the wheels the best I could, I'll get them off and sealed another time...

The Wolf's Decon gel doing it's thing...



















With that done, back inside to start the polishing..... work through a couple of combos on the front wing, and settle on 3M extra fine on the yellow pad.... and get to work....

Move to the bonnet..... the rotary bounces of the car... nearly rips my arms off.... I try again... nope not happy.... I switch to the blue finishing pad... add a little 3M ultra fine.... no chance.... this rotary had turned into a bucking bronco.... it's all over the place...

I try the roof... it's the same..... by this time, I'm actually in pain trying to control the machine... not good... I sudden feel right out my depth here... 

Thanks to Simon and Chris for suggesting a few things after a small moan on Facebook about it.... Simon has worked with a car like this with sticky paint too... so I'm feeling a bit better...

I switch over to concours perfecto, and go back to work.... it's not getting the perfect cut and flawless paint that this car deserves... but I'm using all my tools, products and experience, so it's the best I can do...

When all is said and done, it's not too bad.... managed to get some swirls and RDS out, and restored as lot of gloss in the paint.... some shots to hopefully show this:









































































So, I kept working away... finishing at midnight on Saturday (after starting at 8am)....

Next day, trying to be a bit more positive about the whole thing, I finish off the engine, interior and little details as well as coating the whole car in concours ceramishield for easy maintenance in the future for the owner...

The interior was done with my AS Tornador gun, and Dr leather wipes, then hoovered out...





































My normal process for the engine was followed, sprayed and agitated with G101, then hosed off, engine started then covered in 303 aerospace and left for a few hours before wiping off, to leave this finished engine:




























^^and the red cap the right way! :lol:

And onto the final shots... as I said, I'm quite annoyed at this, and the car deserves more than me, but it was the best I can do, I do think it looks a bit better, but a car as :argie: as this deserves a beter detailer.......:buffer:























































And some final reflection shots to end...




























Thanks for looking, and as always all comments and criticism most welcome...

:thumb:


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## Parafilm (Jun 6, 2010)

Very nice! The paint came up very nicely, and plus 1 on the 'cap on the wrong way', that sort of thing riles me up proper!

I do love a good Jaaag, especially the way the gear selector moves up when you switch it on! 
Nice car and nice work, just make sure he keeps it that way!


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## SteveTDCi (Feb 8, 2006)

Nice work, the xf looks great in black


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## Goodfella36 (Jul 21, 2009)

Nice work and love the cap being put the right way round its the little details that make it detailing :thumb:


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## Ben_ZS (Sep 28, 2008)

You've done a cracking job there mate! 

Don't beat yourself up about 'not giving it what it deserves', as you have made it look stunning, and who's going to notice a few small imperfections?

Plus I can guarantee it looks better than 95% of the Jags out there! :thumb:


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## Yowfailed (Mar 14, 2012)

You can come to my place and annoy yourself on either my wife's or my car anytime Cuey, Great job mate


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## spursfan (Aug 4, 2009)

Cuey, i had the same problem with sticky paint on the top of the doors of the Mazda, what was suugested to you to get round the problem?

Good job by the way, looks cracking now:thumb:

Kev


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## CraigQQ (Jan 20, 2011)

oooh.. I thought this was the new cueball mobile when I read the title..

I do like the new Jaguars.. especially the interior.. very much like the range rover vogue SE.. brilliant comfy cars inside.


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## Serious (Mar 19, 2008)

Looks stunning, don't sell yourself short.

The air vents that spin round so they don't collect dust when not in use are a stroke of genius!


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## Demetrios72 (Jun 27, 2011)

Great work :thumb:


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## Aucky (Oct 3, 2008)

What a machine. Real soft spot for Jags. 

Nice work


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## tonyy (Jul 26, 2008)

Great work


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## bigslippy (Sep 19, 2010)

Great job Cuey :buffer: I'm sure owner was delighted with the end results , they are a lovely car too:doublesho , thanks for sharing:thumb:


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## Soul Hudson (Jul 5, 2011)

Nice work, great to see a clean Jag. You brought some nice flake pop and reflections out of the paintwork.


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## McClane (Dec 9, 2010)

Looks great CB... and a nice honest write up as usual. I like the way you share the trials and tribulations - as for all us hobbyists its sometimes the most useful information!

:thumb:


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## Derekh929 (Aug 28, 2011)

CraigQQ said:


> oooh.. I thought this was the new cueball mobile when I read the title..
> 
> I do like the new Jaguars.. especially the interior.. very much like the range rover vogue SE.. brilliant comfy cars inside.


Yes thats exactly what i thought when i seen the thread, but hey the Fait 500 is just as good:thumb:


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## zippo (Mar 26, 2008)

if you think there was more to come Cuey then fair enough. To be honest though it looks smart as is 

Darren


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## Derekh929 (Aug 28, 2011)

Cuey a real stealth car that one and so smooth with it hidden in what looks like a normal salon, great motor had a drive of one and sounded fantastic as well, good work


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## Kobeone (Dec 14, 2011)

Cueball, you have done a blinding job on the jag so well done mate :thumb:
I love these cars, not been a fan of jags but the XF is in a class of its own and i would take one of these over an Aston anyday!!


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## AaronGTi (Nov 2, 2010)

Looking good nice work


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## pete5570 (Jun 11, 2010)

I love Jags, and these XFs really look the business, especially now it's got the clean up it deserves. You should have left the cap on upside down for the final pic, just to see the reaction of everyone on here! :devil:


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## cotter (Aug 31, 2008)

Stunning cars, looking great!


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## transtek (Mar 2, 2007)

Great work, and I see the S8 is working again!
But IMHO I think you missed a trick:

"Cueball presents... a sticky finish, lots of wax and a missing nut"

would of sounded a lot more intriguing as it really does remind me of the "Debbie does..." sort of films!


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## simonpj145 (May 7, 2007)

Great finish, having just done my own & posted in here somewhere. I agree it's hard to get a finish you are 100% happy with but it really does look great. Good photos too, its really hard to bring out those flecks.

My next challenge is stone chips, ant seems quite susceptible but this one seemed pretty clear, is it low mileage?


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## magpieV6 (Jul 29, 2008)

pukka Cuey, my luv


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## init6 (Mar 28, 2012)

The XF looks so good in black - even better after a bit of TLC . Good job.


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## awallacee30 (May 4, 2011)

Lovely car ! :argie:

My old boss used to have one of these. I was always itching to have a go, even just to park my butt in the drivers seat and have a nosy around would have been nice :lol:

You've done a smart on that. Looking great, you should be proud of your work !

:thumb:


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## leemckenna (Oct 11, 2011)

stunning job


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## DMH-01 (Mar 29, 2011)

Looks very nice, you've done a good job there mate :thumb:


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## SwordfishCoupe (Oct 18, 2010)

Hi Cueball,

I am really glad I saw this posting, I am a proud owner of a supercharged XF the same colour as the one you did, Ultimate Black. I have recently switched from a DA to the rotary and did my two front wings and my bonnet on Friday, I found just like you the paint was a nightmare with 3M pads with Maxolen CP 500 or Carpro Fixer polish. Please could you let me know what you did to overcome this? I have not heard of concours perfecto and google'ing it did not find much.

Many Thanks
Steven


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## Manxman302 (Jul 25, 2011)

I too have an Ultimate Black XF...and once it's been washed etc the paint looks 'wet', deep and full of reflection.
Good job!


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## JBirchy (Oct 9, 2010)

Lovely work Cuey, it looks ruddy great mate! Don't get too hung up on the sticky paint issue, it will make you a better detailer and that's prob where the Megs MF system would work quite well with a DA (although i don't like it that much myself!)

Looks lovely in the afters mate, interior looks mint!


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

spursfan said:


> Cuey, i had the same problem with sticky paint on the top of the doors of the Mazda, what was suugested to you to get round the problem?
> 
> Good job by the way, looks cracking now:thumb:
> 
> Kev


cheers mate.... it was other polish/pad combos that were suggested.... unfortunately I didn't have any..... I seem to have got the 3m and stopped looking at the new developments... but the polish was just not working on this paint....

:thumb:



simonpj145 said:


> Great finish, having just done my own & posted in here somewhere. I agree it's hard to get a finish you are 100% happy with but it really does look great. Good photos too, its really hard to bring out those flecks.
> 
> My next challenge is stone chips, ant seems quite susceptible but this one seemed pretty clear, is it low mileage?


cheers, it's on something like 7k IIRC..... no stone chips.... yet!

:thumb:



SwordfishCoupe said:


> Hi Cueball,
> 
> I am really glad I saw this posting, I am a proud owner of a supercharged XF the same colour as the one you did, Ultimate Black. I have recently switched from a DA to the rotary and did my two front wings and my bonnet on Friday, I found just like you the paint was a nightmare with 3M pads with Maxolen CP 500 or Carpro Fixer polish. Please could you let me know what you did to overcome this? I have not heard of concours perfecto and google'ing it did not find much.
> 
> ...


i think for sticky paint, you normally either try a different polish/pad combo or go back to using a DA....

you can get the concours stuff here:

http://www.concourscarcare.com/shop#ecwid:category=1680189&mode=product&product=9432175

:thumb:

thank all for the comments.... 

:thumb:


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## SwordfishCoupe (Oct 18, 2010)

Thank you for the information and URL, excellent result though.

Cheers
Steven


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

Cheers Steven... hope you get the same, or better!

:thumb:


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## Bratwurst (Jan 23, 2009)

Looks mighty fine to me Mr C :thumb:

Don't you think the MD dude will see it and have no idea of the wee things you're doing this :wall: for?... his brand of perfect will not be the same as your brand of perfect, so any wee slight niggles you couldn't sort are probably invisible to him.

I reckon he'll see what we're seeing, which is a damn fine car looking very good indeed.


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## jamesgti (Aug 9, 2007)

Great work mate.


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## herbiedacious (Sep 27, 2010)

Ace job on a fine car.Good job the wheel badges were already lined up with the valves,'cos without a wheel nut key to put it right 'that would have driven you (and me) potty.


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

it's the little things Herbie...... all in the details and all that jazz.... :lol:

:thumb:


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## BigMart (Jan 14, 2007)

Nice one Cuey,

I feel your pain with the sticky paint.:wall:
I have an XF , also 11 plate which Baz from Autodetox machine polished last year for me (paid for by the dealer which was nice!) :buffer:

He had the same machine skipping problems and had to resort to using a DA which took a lot longer but turned out fine.
I've done some remedial work on it since using a PC DA and menz polishes , no problem.

I find the Jag paint quite soft, not as bad as honda but still soft.

The wheels bled like I dont know what, very impressive.
Good job,
Mart


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## cleancar (Sep 21, 2006)

I can't see any of the pics ?


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## Mr Face (Jan 22, 2009)

Great work Quey, I feel for you brother, I will execute the next person that tells me there is no such thing as sticky paint, the s2000 has had me in agony several times over the last few weeks. 

As said, dont sell yourself short, it looks 1000 times better than the day it was driven out of the showroom :thumb:


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## BigAshD (Feb 23, 2012)

Looks amazing - don't beat yourself up or sell yourself short. Doubt you'll see a better one out there.


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## VW Golf-Fan (Aug 3, 2010)

cleancar said:


> I can't see any of the pics ?


Same here.........


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

WTF!!?!?

where are my pics!?!? :lol:

bl00dy photo bucket......

:wall:


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## BigAshD (Feb 23, 2012)

I right-clicked open in new window for each one, then closed the windows and reloaded and they were all visible


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

just upgraded to pro... pics should be back up and running 

:thumb:


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## VW Golf-Fan (Aug 3, 2010)

Yup, pics are working now Boss.


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## shuggett (Oct 27, 2010)

Great job on a nice car.

Steve


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## Beancounter (Aug 31, 2006)

A good honest write up CB :thumb:
As said, it's a cracking job and will look better than 99% of cars out there.

One thing though, you lt your MD by a Jag after all your troubles with the XKR...tut tut :lol:


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## Leemack (Mar 6, 2009)

Cuey, Stop being so bloody negative. It looks great mate. 

Some nice attention to DETAIL and looks class !!


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

:lol:

cheers guys... yeah, a few people have spoke about how good it looks, so maybe being a bit hard on myself.....as usual.... 

:thumb:


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## Trip tdi (Sep 3, 2008)

Very nice result there from yourself, I really do like the new shape Jaguars, they are spot on the money for design.


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