# Vauxhall Vectra - Hologram Horror (many pictures thread warning)



## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

Mmm, alliteration - I like it 

But more importantly, the detail for the past couple of days for Bryan, Stu and myself was a two year old Vauxhall Vectra in sapphire black... did I mention holograms? Yup, we'll get to these  However, the start of any good detail begins with the wash and preparation...

The car on arrival:























































*Wash & Decontamination*

This is a hugely important stage to any detail - the end results achieved owe themselves almost entirely to the preparation stages in a detail and this begins the second you pull the trigger on the pressure washer! A quick wash and clay taking an hour just wont do.. what follows took Bryan and I three hours to complete, six man hours in total, just to wash and clay the car but the effort here pays dividends later on 

First of all, the car was foamed using Autobrite Supa Snow Foam to remove loose contamination such as mud and dirt from all surfaces: wheels, arches, bodywork, glass:























































Allowed to dwell a few minutes before pressure washing off...




























Now with the car cleaner, what we are dealing with is more obvious and its time to start with the more serious washing...

Wheels and arches first. Initially, the whole region was sprayed liberally with Meguiars APC cut 10:1 - arch, tyre, wheel:




























This was again allowed to dwell a little time before the arch was brushed out to remove stubborn dirt, the tyre wall brushed to remove ingrained grime and the wheels cleaned with Vikan brush and sot bristle brush on the faces...



















Rinsed out with pressure washer:




























On some cars, when you are lucky, this satisfies the cleaning of these areas... but not this time, as some tar and more ingrained brake dust remained on the wheels... So time for a dedicated wheel cleaner, in this case Redberry (Bilberry) sprayed on and agitated internally with the Vikan Brush and on the faces with a soft bristle brush:




























Rinse off, and assess... tougher regions of tar on these wheels required glue and tar remover, sprayed on and left to dwell before agitating with a brush and rinsing very thoroughly... Then a second hit with Redberry to clean away any residues, rinse and the wheels and arches were ready for waxing and dressing respectively:




























A very small amount of stubborn tar remained after this process which I would have liked to remove the wheels completely and clean out with dedicated claying and polishing but this was outwith the scope of this detail.

With the wheels cleaned, it was time for the wash of the bodywork... now you could in theory use a single bucket wash and a sponge if you liked here because the car is to be corrected anyway and paint was full of swirls and holograms... but why risk making things worse by picking up a piece of grit and putting in a nasty deep scratch? So, two bucket wash method here primarily because it takes no longer to do, and is a little safer to the paintwork...





































Rinse down and leave the car wet ready for claying... This was done using Bilthamber Soft Clay, using water as a lube, gently sweeping the clay from side to side until it felt like it was running smooth. Much of the car required only little claying, but below the styling line picked up the worst - this was a face of the clay after just one door bottom:










Strangely though, the passenger side front door bottom came up clean! Hmmm... at this stage, I suspected the car had seen paint, and a quick check with the gauge confirmed this. A quick call to the owner to ask when... 2 weeks ago... okay. Polishing to continue as normal, but to err on the side of caution as depending what paint has been used and how the paint has been cured, come bodyshops recommend leaving the car 6 - 8 weeks before waxing... So err on side of caution, the painted section (passenger side front door) would not be waxed.

After claying the car was rinsed down and then dried, first with Sonus Waffleweave drying towels and then Bryan blew the water out of the gaps with the little Chemical Guys 110V blow dryer...



















May look daft, but there's little more annoying when machining than drops of water falling down on the work area, splatting up in your face! :lol:

The car was now ready for machine polishing.

*Paintwork Correction*

Starting on the passenger side, the Sun Gun highlighted that while in for paint, the bodyshop had seen fit to machine polish the whole side of the car (but not paint it, as the readings showed only the passenger door had seen paint)... Holograms anyone?



















Or some sanding marks even?!










More holograms...



















And remaining sanding marks...



















I have to say - a truly shocking finish by anyone's standards!

Time to sort it out... Beginning on the front wing, where under the halogens you could see the finish looked poor:



















A quick test section - I went for Menzerna PO106FF Final Finish on a Meguiars W8006 Polishing pad, applied as follows using a Zenith Point method:


Spread at 600rpm, 1 pass
Begin working at 1200rpm, couple of passes
Work at 1500 - 1800rpm, 10+ passes until residue clear
Refine at 1200rpm, couple of passes
Burnish at 900rpm, couple of passes

And we get the following on the test section:




























Excellent to see, Vauxhall paint being typically quite soft, was very nice to work with and corrected well here with only a light cutting polish... Onwards to complete the wing:





































A vast improvement:




























Now onto the door:










After machining:



















Rear door before:




























After:





































50/50 on rear 3/4:




























And completed:










Mercifully, the bodyshop only polished the one side... the bonnet showed only general swirling:










And under strip lighting (dim, but the contrast allows the vision of deeper marks much better than bright swirl spotting lights), deeper RDS could be seen:










Corrected using Final Finish as above though:










A picture of 106FF residue during the working stage:










Clear and ready for refining and burnishing:










Ready for removal:










Working away on the bonnet:



















After shots of the bonnet:



















Under the styling lines on the doors showed just general washing swirls:




























Corrected again with Final Finish:



















The gloss on the completed side was now impressive:























































Onto the driver's side, and a new set of challenges presented themselves - deep RDS around the door handle being the first:










A lot of these caught the nail and were down to the primer layer.. But I decided to spot correct these regions as best as possible before correcting the whole side.

First up, check the thickness:










Healthy generally, and averaging around 150um. First effort was Menzerna PO85RD3.02 Intensive Polish on a 4" spot polishing pad by rotary, as follows:


Spread at 600rpm, 1 pass
Begin working at 1200rpm, couple of passes
Work at 1800rpm until residue clear (10+ passes)

No refining here as finish would be hit with Final Finish later... The results were less than impressive:










Check the thickness...










Okay - out with the sanding discs... in the end I went for 2000 grit wet sand, followed by 4000 grit as follows: Work on PC, speed 4 with only light to moderate pressure over the head to avoid deep pigtailing, 5 passes at a time checking the thickness after each set and assessing the finish.

Spraying on shampoo solution:










Sanding:



















The resulting sanding haze after 4000 grit:










Polishing out, spot pad on rotary and IP with no attempt to refine finish:



















Assessing the thickness saw an average to average drop of 25um - enough paint me thinks, and good if not perfect correction achieved:










Further enhancement was perhaps possible but at this stage one must consider the possibilities of this car needing polishing at a later date and paint being required for this. I could have sanded more, but I like to leave a car with healthy paint thicknesses wherever possible as thin clear not only prevents further polishing but also speeds up UV damage deeper in the clear which can cause premature failure by peeling - perfection is nice, but paint life is IMHO much more important, and should be at the forefront of any detailer's mind.

These scrapes on the door:










Received a similar treatment, approx 20um drop and a vast improvement:










Now for machining of the whole side, beginning at the front wing:










106FF as described above was good for correction here by rotary:



















Driver's door:




























After Final Finish:



















Door handle scratches after refining:



















Much better -just need to cut-in by hand the inside if the handle...










Cheers Stu :thumb: (taking a brake for other machining on pilars, bumpers etc  )

Rear door here:










Deeper marks in here meaning Final Finish did not fully correct...










And neither did Intensive Polish!:










So out with Fast Cut Plus on a 4" (on a rotary, to reduce the cutting a little) cutting pad, and the marks were removed but light hologramming inflcited:










Cleared with Final Finish:










And now the door complete:



















Lights received Final Finish by rotary:




























And to round off this section, some random corrected finish shots:














































All these little bits and pieces here take a lot of time and care, Stu doing a sterling job making sure no bits were missed out... and Bryan used his extra height to do the roof!! :lol::thumb:


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

*Protection*

The final stage for the paintwork - protection of the finish... First of all, the car was wiped down using IPA and fully inspected for defects before continuing...

The car was then glazed using Meguiars #7 Show Car Glaze, an old favourite of mine that has seen little use of late but decided to dig it back out and relive why I like this product so much  Easy to use, apply sparingly and work in a little and wipe off residue with two cloths: one to remove and a clean one to buff to a shine, and it does add a subtle extra wettness to dark colours, ideal for this car.

Wax of choice was Meguiars #26. Again, an old favourite: durable, and arguably adds a little warmth to the finish, but in two layers as applied here its durability I have found to be good and that is the key for a detail in my eyes. Passenger side front door left unwaxed for reasons discussed above (and also discussed with owner  )

*Engine Bay*

Before:










Not a lot in here, just five minutes spent to cheer the bay up 

Stu applied Meguiars All Seasons Dressing:










I cleaned up the yellow caps with Meguiars APC cut 10:1... Before:










After rinsing and drying thoroughly:










The bay after:



















*Wheels & Tyres*

Bryan waxed the wheels using Smartwax Rimwax for protection (we find this a lot more durable than Poorboys Wheelwax or Chemical Guys Wheel Guard...)










Buffed off...



















Tyres dressed with Meguiars Hot Shine:




























*Glass*

Bryan polished the glass inside and out using Autoglym Glass Polish... Note the window wound partly down here to ensure the full window can be polished:



















Buffing away residue...










*Rubbers & Plastics*

All treated with either Meguiars All Seasons Dressing (external) or Poorboys Natural Look (seals)...

Before:










Protecting:










After:










*The End Results*

As its the summer, and we are currently blessed with the beautiful summer weather... :lol::lol::lol::lol: Rain! Afters indoors mainly I'm afraid...




























Who's this in the door?










Well well well... :lol::lol:










Bryan can use the camera though:










More afters:





































Swirl free...























































Proud of our efforts, we parked the car ready for the owner to collect her - lights shining proudly onto the paintwork to show, in the absence of the sun, that the finish is clear and swirl free:
































































And on collection, rolled outside for final after pics... alas, the weather was poor and still raining but did the best I could for some outside afters:




































































































Et voila 

Here's hoping for some better weather next time we detail, but I have to say this was a pleasure to detail this car - lovely to work paint, and happy with the results :thumb:


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## chris l (Mar 5, 2007)

ace work as usual.car looks brand new


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## Detail My Ride (Apr 19, 2006)

Awesome Dave, superb work :thumb:


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## beardboy (Feb 12, 2006)

Excellent work as always guys :thumb:

Thought it was a grey at first, but the colour is stunning actually!


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## Ian666 (Jul 8, 2007)

Fantastic write-up, and stunning results:thumb:


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## 94Luke (Mar 8, 2008)

As above, looks brand new, owner must have been chuffed to bits!
(could have warned us about how many pics there were though!)


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## Brazo (Oct 27, 2005)

Thought I'd clicked on someone elses thread when my pc crashed 

Very impressive work guys!, someone must really love their vectra!


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## Mike V (Apr 7, 2007)

Amazing how bad the paint is on such a young car.

Oh and some of the finished shots, where the car is by the door are fantastic. The clarity in the paint and the crispness of the lines is excellent...:thumb:


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## Fred108 (Apr 25, 2008)

excellent work inspires me to redo my black mondeo


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## *MAGIC* (Feb 22, 2007)

Great write up Dave and team but whats with the pics its not like you to have blurry pics.

Robbie


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

Valet Magic said:


> Great write up Dave and team but whats with the pics its not like you to have blurry pics.
> 
> Robbie


A _small_ percentage look blurry to me Robbie - possibly because I had no tripod with me today, I'd still say most pics are good myself though considering this and I am no photographer


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## *MAGIC* (Feb 22, 2007)

Dave KG said:


> A _small_ percentage look blurry to me Robbie - possibly because I had no tripod with me today, I'd still say most pics are good myself though considering this and I am no photographer


No way critisising (sp) them mate just so used to seeing awesome photography from you :thumb: didnt know if Bryan had got his hands on the camera :lol:


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

Valet Magic said:


> No way critisising (sp) them mate just so used to seeing awesome photography from you :thumb: didnt know if Bryan had got his hands on the camera :lol:


One is already broken!! :lol::lol::lol: So no!


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## transtek (Mar 2, 2007)

Stunning work as usual, and for me at least a great lesson to be learned by most of us amateurs on here: knowing when to stop is just as important as getting a good finish. Be a realistic near-perfectionist, rather than a repentent total perfectionist!
(I'm talking about the scratches around the door handle BTW!)


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## Robbieben (Feb 19, 2006)

Great work as always, a pleasure to read.


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

transtek said:


> Stunning work as usual, and for me at least a great lesson to be learned by most of us amateurs on here: knowing when to stop is just as important as getting a good finish. Be a realistic near-perfectionist, rather than a repentent total perfectionist!
> (I'm talking about the scratches around the door handle BTW!)


Definitely - dont get me wrong, perfection is great and wherever possible its something to aim for... but you have to be realistic and there's more factors to consider than simply _getting all the marks out._ It can be painful to leave some in, but its far better deeper marks remain but be significantly reduced than you risk the long term life of the paint, or even worse, strike through the finish on the detail!


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## tdekany (Jul 22, 2006)

:thumb::thumb::thumb:Stunning write up and result Dave!:thumb::thumb::thumb:


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## Bulla2000 (Jun 5, 2007)

Looks very nice as always Dave. Very well done mate.


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## ahaydock (Jan 4, 2007)

Top work as ever guys - that paint was shocking.


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## Chris_4536 (Sep 20, 2006)

Truly magnificent :thumb::thumb:

Great pics, superb write-up. Well done :thumb:



...Have some Gypsies moved into the unit? Or is that where you are sleeping Dave? :lol:


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## Breeze_Blue (Aug 20, 2006)

Dave Byan, Once again you always seem to amaze me with the level of correction and end results. Top work that really was a state but you have really brought that paint back to life


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## Guest (Aug 21, 2008)

great work as usual Dave, looks a lovely colour underneath all that mess.

Pauk


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## visor (Sep 8, 2007)

fantastic work guys :thumb:


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## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

big change - looks very satisfying as you said


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## rubbishboy (May 6, 2006)

Nice work chaps. And an excellent thread Dave, lots of great tips in there. :thumb:


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## 1996a6v6 (Feb 8, 2008)

Superb work, black can look awesome with some hard work and great detailing, love it :thumb:


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

Cheers for the kind words folks 

Interesting update to my thread title as well - hope it doesn't put people of reading it...


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## Mr Singh (Apr 4, 2006)

Superb correction, big transformation :thumb:


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## Andyuk911 (Sep 10, 2006)

Bryan & Dave,

what did the owner say ... they must have be gob smacked ..

Fab job .. always nice to see a Vec-C


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

Andyuk911 said:


> Bryan & Dave,
> 
> what did the owner say ... they must have be gob smacked ..
> 
> Fab job .. always nice to see a Vec-C


The owner was delighted with the car - she had just decided to keep it, was going to trade it in but decided against it and went for just cheering the look of the car up... she was really delighted with just how well it looked in her eyes


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## johnnybond (May 19, 2008)

Wow! :doublesho thats great work guys!!! reading this has made me even more motivated to sort my car out properly!! been waiting for weather but i'm going to see if i can use my mates garage instead!! :thumb: :buffer:


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## Christian6984 (Dec 20, 2007)

great job, some great results


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

johnnybond said:


> Wow! :doublesho thats great work guys!!! reading this has made me even more motivated to sort my car out properly!! been waiting for weather but i'm going to see if i can use my mates garage instead!! :thumb: :buffer:


A better plan  Relying on the British weather, you could wait for years!!


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## N8KOW (Aug 24, 2007)

Stunning Detail. Stunning Pics. Stunning Write up. Don't expect anything less from you Dave or Bry. Keep up the work chaps, hope the unit is coming along well.


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## Mark M (Nov 29, 2006)

Good work folks.



Brazo said:


> Thought I'd clicked on someone elses thread when my pc crashed


 :lol:


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## TwinSport (Aug 5, 2007)

Dave, many many thanks to that awesome post! 
I'm thinking about buying a Makita 9227 every day and now I know I will defenetly get one! I'm well impressed what you achived with Final Finish only, the Makita is a weapon against my G220. 

Where can I buy these small backing plates for the Makita?

Well, what more can I say. The car looks awesome at the end and this threat is added to my favourits  .


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

TwinSport said:


> Dave, many many thanks to that awesome post!
> I'm thinking about buying a Makita 9227 every day and now I know I will defenetly get one! I'm well impressed what you archived with Final Finish only, the Makita is a weapon against my G220.
> 
> Where can I buy these small backing plates for the Makita?
> ...


Cheers. 

The small backing plates are stocked by Rich at Polishied Bliss, and Ben at Carnuabawax shop to name but two


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## alanjo99 (Nov 22, 2007)

Cracking work APU Dave :thumb:


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## saxoboy07 (Oct 20, 2007)

Stunning work:thumb: increditable correction work and pictures


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## scrapchallenge (Jul 17, 2007)

superb work as always, fantastic!

Kirsty


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## Baker21 (Aug 7, 2007)

Good work Dave and Co..........:thumb:

That paintwork was in a serious mess but as always the finish looks spot on.......:buffer:


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