# Perfection Detailing vs Vauxhall Astra VXR



## Perfection Detailing (Nov 3, 2007)

Hi all :wave:

Not a big write up but thought I would share some pics anyway.

Today I had this Astra VXR in for an enhancement detail (1 stage polish) and it was in a bit of a sorry state, I could have spent a lot more time on the car but a day was all I had on this occasion. The paintwork looked as though it had been washed with brush its whole life, it was very dull and littered with some pretty deep long straight scratches.

The bonnet and the roof were the worst offended areas in terms of deoxidisation which is usually the case, as they are big flat areas that get penetrated by the suns harmful UV rays.










The main bulk of the polishing was done with Megs #83 on a Megs soft buff polishing pad, 3M waffle pads were used in some of the tighter areas. But when it came to the bonnet and roof the Megs #83 barely made any difference, and although this was just an enhancement I couldn't let the car go without sorting these areas out. So the bonnet and roof received a couple of passes of 3M fast cut and ulrtafina mix, then refined with Menz 203s on a blue waffle polishing pad.

These were the kind of results I was getting.

Before










After










Before










After










Before










After










Not perfect by any means but with the time I had I was pretty happy, once the stage 1 polish was complete and my pads were left looking like this.










I cleansed the paintwork with CG EZ cream and this was topped of with Vics concourse, sealed the wheels with FK1000, dressed tyres with AS highstyle, exhaust polished with Autousol, plastics dressed with Megs hyper dressing.

Afters































































































































As always thanks for looking.

Neil


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## GlenStaff26 (Mar 10, 2007)

Nice turnaround :thumb:


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## -Aid- (Nov 28, 2009)

Very nice deep shine,Owner must of loved it when you gave it back


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## Jorge (Oct 12, 2009)

Tell the true...you painted the car....:lol:

Now that is a transformation....pink to red...you are a "Magician"! :doublesho

The "power" off the Detailing :thumb:

Great work! :argie:


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## Michael172 (Jun 9, 2007)

Jorge said:


> Tell the true...you painted the car....:lol:
> 
> Now that is a transformation....pink to red...you are a "Magician"! :doublesho
> 
> ...


Take it easy dude jeez.

Takes the **** that theres no clearcoat !


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## Perfection Detailing (Nov 3, 2007)

Michael172 said:


> Take it easy dude jeez.
> 
> Takes the **** that theres no clearcoat !


Yeah it does for 55 plate vehicle...


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## chris141 (Jun 5, 2008)

Nice work mate, is crazy that there's no clear coat


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## Strothow (Oct 29, 2009)

Love it! Great car & work!


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## Rgk Detailing (Dec 6, 2006)

Thought Vauxhall had started clearcoating their red paintwork by now
nice results anyway!


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## scottgm (Dec 27, 2009)

Great Job!!

How come they dont come with clear-coat?


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## F. Premens (Dec 3, 2009)

:doublesho

Great work! :thumb:


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## yamaha (Feb 17, 2006)

great work, i had one to , with the same problem :thumb:


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## -tom- (Jan 27, 2009)

fantastic work


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## ets2k9 (Jan 21, 2010)

Thats impressive - real depth to the colour now.


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## pringle_addict (Jan 2, 2008)

scottgm said:


> Great Job!!
> 
> How come they dont come with clear-coat?


'Cos they are penny pinching skin-flints.

My '02 Volvo V40 is solid red, and that has clearcoat, so there are no excuses. If this was base model, I would understand, but the premium model?

Great work btw, the finished colour is really rich and deep.


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## GlynRS2 (Jan 21, 2006)

Great results. :thumb:

I also find it amazing that GM are still selling cars with single stage non-clearcoated paint. Particularly that shade of red that will absorb all the UV and fade like crazy


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## PJM (Jan 23, 2010)

Nice job, looks fresh :thumb:


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## Exclusive Car Care (Jan 14, 2007)

nice work Neil:thumb:


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## renny (Aug 31, 2009)

Looking good Neil.

I saw this when I was in picking up my 330S - looked in a right old state.The paintwork was the dullest I've seen on a car with some bad swirling going on.

Must be very satisfying being able to make the turnaround that you have! :thumb:


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## colarado red (Jun 5, 2008)

nice turnaround


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## John-Cupra_TDI (Apr 13, 2009)

Great job, has a really glossy shine to it now.


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## Perfection Detailing (Nov 3, 2007)

Chizzzzy said:


> Thought Vauxhall had started clearcoating their red paintwork by now
> nice results anyway!





scottgm said:


> Great Job!!
> 
> How come they dont come with clear-coat?


It is a joke that cars of this age don't come with a clear-coat, although I think the new GM cars do now come with clear-coat.



renny said:


> Looking good Neil.
> 
> I saw this when I was in picking up my 330S - looked in a right old state.The paintwork was the dullest I've seen on a car with some bad swirling going on.
> 
> Must be very satisfying being able to make the turnaround that you have! :thumb:


Cheers Lee, yes it was in a bit of a sorry state.

Hope your enjoying the new motor :driver:

Thanks for all the other comments BTW they are much appreciated


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## Mini 360 (Jul 17, 2009)

Wow thats some transformation! Top job!


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## Andy_RX8 (Jun 6, 2008)

Great turnaround mate.

Nice reflections on the afters.

Good job.


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## nickka (Jun 2, 2008)

Looks fantastic:thumb:

I understand the new model Astra 'power Red' is clearcoated:wave:


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## HeavenlyDetail (Sep 22, 2006)

Yes flame red is not clearcoated and newer power red which is slighly more bloody red has a cleacoat.

Car looks lovely and they are great fun to work on. im surprised you went fast cut plus as ive always found the paintwork quite soft and normally extra fine it but regardless youve done a great job on it and it rewarding when you get such a good transformation.


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## JCW85 (Oct 29, 2009)

Great work Neil, car looks v.glossy.

When I saw the colour of your pads I thought for some reason it was a two stage paint job but thought it couldn't possibly be right as its a newish car :doublesho do any of the other colours come with a clear coar or was it just a phase? (just out of curiosity)

Chris


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## happypostie (Jul 1, 2009)

car looks mint m8 top job .khalid:thumb:


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## Jorge (Oct 12, 2009)

Michael172 said:


> Take it easy dude jeez.
> 
> Takes the **** that theres no clearcoat !


Ok,ok.....

I simply liked is work....

Best regards.


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## Jorge (Oct 12, 2009)

Perfection Detailing said:


> Yeah it does for 55 plate vehicle...


Sorry for my bad English but,

What did you mean whit this? I trully don´t understand...

Best regards


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## Perfection Detailing (Nov 3, 2007)

vxrmarc said:


> Yes flame red is not clearcoated and newer power red which is slighly more bloody red has a cleacoat.
> 
> Car looks lovely and they are great fun to work on. im surprised you went fast cut plus as ive always found the paintwork quite soft and normally extra fine it but regardless youve done a great job on it and it rewarding when you get such a good transformation.


Cheers Marc,

I agree they are usually pretty soft and I did work my way up to FC plus and not just jump in head first, but the bonnet and roof were so dead little else was in removing the dead paint. Plus the bonnet was the worst affected area in term of scratches caused by what looked like a brush, and these were still not totally removed after 2 passes.



JCW85 said:


> Great work Neil, car looks v.glossy.
> 
> When I saw the colour of your pads I thought for some reason it was a two stage paint job but thought it couldn't possibly be right as its a newish car :doublesho do any of the other colours come with a clear coar or was it just a phase? (just out of curiosity)
> 
> Chris


For some reason GM went with 1 stage red paint and they have stuck with it right up until very recently which is why there are so many pink Corsa's out there 

Like Marc said the newer cars are now painted in power red and do come with a clear-coat :thumb:



Jorge said:


> Sorry for my bad English but,
> 
> What did you mean whit this? I trully don´t understand...
> 
> Best regards


I meant that the car was only 5 years old :thumb:


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## ryand (Jul 18, 2008)

great job there, also amazed that they still dont clearcoat their cars!!


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## Jorge (Oct 12, 2009)

I meant that the car was only 5 years old :thumb:[/QUOTE]

Ok,

Sorry again I didn´t understood  (Bad in your language.....)

but truly a good jod, even whit a "5 years hold" car.... 

congratulations :thumb:


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## Super G (Jan 21, 2010)

Not perfect by any means but with the time I had I was pretty happy, once the stage 1 polish was complete and my pads were left looking like this.










what happened to the pads mate strike through or what??????? :devil:


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## Super G (Jan 21, 2010)

vxrmarc said:


> Yes flame red is not clearcoated and newer power red which is slighly more bloody red has a cleacoat..


Ah no clear coat and power red does thank fook

top job by the way this will explain why ther are so many pink corsa's


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## ALANSHR (Jun 29, 2007)

Nice job by you and a great turnaround, well done.

Surely everyone realises that there is no clearcote for weight saving, this is a performance orientated machine after all:thumb:


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## Phil H (May 14, 2006)

Excellent work mate! reflections look awesome


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## CupraRcleanR (Sep 2, 2007)

great job. I'd never by a red vauxhall.


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## KKM (Dec 10, 2007)

Nice job mate, the final photos look uber glossy!!

:thumb:


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## rds1985 (Mar 7, 2009)

fantastic results


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## tdekany (Jul 22, 2006)

:thumb::thumb:Excellent work, photos and a really good looking car.:thumb::thumb:


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

Lovely work as always Neil.:thumb:


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## rsdan1984 (Jul 31, 2009)

good work, im a sucker for bright red cars...


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## ahaydock (Jan 4, 2007)

Lovely finish - EZ Creme and Vics work well - one of my old time faves  :thumb:


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## Stewerty (Jan 11, 2010)

Looks far better, it is a shame that vauxhall don't make their red paint with clearcoat to help stop the oxidisation.


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## ChrisJD (Apr 15, 2009)

Finish looks very nice indeed. 

Bit of work to clean out those pads:thumb:

Chris.


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## Matt RS (Nov 7, 2009)

Bet the customer was happy, top job for a days work! :thumb:


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## mwbpsx (Jun 23, 2006)

Would I be correct in assuming a clear coat would stop the oxidisation or would it still fade through UV exposure and be incorrectable due to being trapped under the clear coat

Mark


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## Perfection Detailing (Nov 3, 2007)

mwbpsx said:


> Would I be correct in assuming a clear coat would stop the oxidisation or would it still fade through UV exposure and be incorrectable due to being trapped under the clear coat
> 
> Mark


Yes clear coat would prevent oxidisation :thumb:


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## mogz (Jan 18, 2010)

:thumb:Awesome Work


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## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

very nice.... 

is it all red cars that dont seem to use lacquer? or just vauxhall??? You'd think in this day and age, the newer astraa/corsas etc would have a lacquer on them


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## evenflow (Apr 2, 2008)

Nice car, good turnaround


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## russ9898 (Feb 7, 2009)

Great job. Not sure why but i have a soft spot for VXR's. I feel i should hate them but cant help but like them


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