# Astra SRi XP - pic heavy.



## Mark J (May 10, 2007)

Owner picked this up just over a week ago and had already briefed the salesman not to let their 'cleaning team' anywhere near it prep-wise !

Unfortunately, as usual, they didn't listen and, despite looking reasonably clean on collection, they had been 'tidying it up' and in the process, put some lovely scratches in the bonnet by what appeared to be dragging a hose across it as the marks were pretty uniform and running parallel to each other 



















Two days later, another bad scratch appeared on the rear nearside door, this one looked like someone had brushed against it with a zipped bag or trousers with zipped pockets and was quite a deep one - it definitely hadn't been keyed as the mark was accompanied by a couple of lesser scratches that took the same line.










Apart from those defects, the swirling was quite minimal. However, the car itself was filthy due to being driven for a week in the usual British weather and also suffering the same fate as all of us with the 'Sahara rain'.



















So to work.....

Wheels and arches cleaned with G101

Door shuts and all gutters also with G101

Tyres scrubbed with erm..... G101 ! 

Car then pre-rinsed at low pressure and then foamed with a mix of SSF and G101 - this was to shift whatever they had put on it at the showroom ( which wasn't on every panel I hasten to add, some beaded some didn't, especially the roof)










Car was then given a good wash with Serious Performance shampoo with a noodle mitt and rinsed with the PW.










I then began claying with Sonus Green using LT as a lube, but abandoned that stage a few minutes later, as the clay was shifting absolutely nothing, even from the lowers.

With the car rinsed off and dried, it was taped up ready for polishing and as those scratches on the bonnet and door were the only 'real' defects, I started on those first. Now that the car had been washed, the scratch on the rear door was no longer masked by dirt and it became apparent that 'wet sanding' may have to be an option to sort it, however, the look of horror on the owners face when I mentioned this, was enough to make me crack out the Fast Cut and Megs Compounding Pad (which I was going to do anyway) which, once I had measured the paint with the PTG and found a healthy level, did the trick beautifully :thumb:

Before:










After:










Fortunately, the scuffs across the bonnet didn't need anything aggressive and were sorted quite quickly with a couple of hits with #83 on a polishing pad.

Before:










After:










Happy that the scratches had been sorted and seeing that the rest of the car was affected by only minimal swirling, I decided to try some Blackfire GEP on a polishing pad which worked a charm so the whole car was done that way. The GEP 'dusted' up a fair bit, but it was a fair trade off for the finish it was producing.

GEP via the Makita on a polishing pad:










...was producing this (No LSP yet)



















By this time I was almost melting, it was a scorcher (my balding pate is pink tonight !) and the cars owner was doing a cracking job in keeping a steady supply of this coming...










...and lunch ! (cheers Kev :thumb










With lunch out of the way, it was time to crack on, so the whole car was completed with the GEP, then given a wipe down with Last Touch and dust removed from nooks and crannies etc.

Glass was then done in amd out with Fast Glass, engine compartment wiped over with an mild apc solution (it was fairly clean anyway)

The car was then done panel by panel with Purple Haze (followed by a second layer later on)

While the wax was curing, wheels were done with CG Wheel Guard ( I love these rims, easiest I've worked on in ages:thumb and tyres with SV Pneu.

Which just leaves the afters, of which there a few (I make no apology)




































































































and finally, my fave of the day.....










The owner was chuffed to bits which is always a bonus.

A very satisfying detail for me, even if my bonce is very sore at the minute. 

Thanks for reading.:thumb:

Mark.


----------



## wezjones (Sep 16, 2007)

looks great, love back cars intill the dust gets on them


----------



## North east Car Care (Jan 14, 2008)

Stunning work Mark:thumb:


----------



## ahaydock (Jan 4, 2007)

Very nice there!


----------



## djcromie (Mar 22, 2007)

class finish


----------



## andybl (Oct 5, 2006)

Very nice , 
:thumb::thumb:
Did the dealer take the blocks out the suspension ? looks very high for a XP Astra .

Andy


----------



## honda-r (Mar 20, 2007)

That car now has some reflection, mirror finish, awesome


----------



## k3vin11 (Mar 10, 2008)

Black has got to be the most satisfying colour to work on, that looks superb.


----------



## Mark J (May 10, 2007)

andybl said:


> Very nice ,
> :thumb::thumb:
> Did the dealer take the blocks out the suspension ? looks very high for a XP Astra .
> 
> Andy


No idea mate


----------



## Mark J (May 10, 2007)

Bumped - couple of pics added that I missed.


----------



## DBSK (Apr 22, 2008)

Awesome job youve done there!


----------



## glenboy (Apr 11, 2008)

Great deep shine you've achieved there,nice :thumb:


----------



## CHAOS (Feb 24, 2008)

stunning mate... great work... the reflection shots are key.


----------



## little john (Jun 10, 2007)

It does look high, quite a bit higher than my dad's black astra XP. 

it does look great I hope i will finally get a chance to sort my dads out at some point soon. When the garrage actually get the repair job right.


----------



## Monkey (Apr 30, 2007)

wow thats amazing, how long did it take to do?


----------



## Mark J (May 10, 2007)

Monkey said:


> wow thats amazing, how long did it take to do?


Thanks - Approx 6 hours start to finish


----------



## Curtiz (Aug 11, 2006)

Man that looks good! Where they pork sausages? 

Lovely results on the astra there! very impressive


----------



## vRS_TDi (Mar 18, 2006)

Wow, nice job indeed i bet the owner is chuffed with that result. The car looks like brand new. You wouldnt think that it would come from a dealer in that condition, they really just dont have a clue or care at all.


----------



## mi16joe (Dec 29, 2007)

vRS_TDi said:


> Wow, nice job indeed i bet the owner is chuffed with that result. The car looks like brand new. You wouldnt think that it would come from a dealer in that condition, they really just dont have a clue or care at all.


yeah its just old good old its not mine and i dont have to pay to fix it so i dont care i thinks. great job you done there fella i want a black car now.


----------



## Piratez (Jun 28, 2008)

Stunning work Mark, hey these pictures so clear... i like it so much


----------

