# VW Golf GTI Mk5 in Black Pearl, 2 Day Correction Detail



## Paul2494 (Sep 12, 2012)

Hi all

I have been visiting DW for a number of years now gaining a lot of information and inspiration from you all, yet never actually contributed in the form of a detailed write up, so here we go…

The main reason for this was to attempt my first correction detail on my near 6 year old Mk5 Golf GTi in Black Pearl. I am the 2nd owner of the Golf and have looked after it as best I can over the last thoroughly enjoyable 3 years, yet it does (did :buffer show signs of some light swirl marks and light scratches.

My partner also very kindly bought me a DAS-6 DA Polisher for my Birthday a little earlier in the year which I've finally created some time to use. To anybody (like me) who is very much an amateur yet is pondering taking the plunge on a DA, I strongly recommend it as it's simple to use, gives great results and is above all SAFE..!! The 'Machine Polishing by Rotary Polisher' guide from the Detailing Guide section of this website is also fantastic and helped me a lot - Thanks Dave.

Anyway, enough of that and on to the detail, but please excuse my poor photography.

Products used;

Karcher K691 Jet Wash
Bilberry Safe Wheel Cleaner
APC (All Purpose Cleaner)
EZ Detail Wheel Brush
1 inch Round Wheel and Detail Brush
Super Snow Foam inc Foam Lance
Chemical Guy's Citruswash & Gloss
Lambswool Mitt
Sonus Ultra-fine Clay
Sonus Glyde
Sonus Drying Towels
3M 3434 Scotch Tape
DAS6 Dual Action Polisher
Menzerna 2500 Power Finish with Menzerna Hard Foam Pad (White)
Menzerna 3000 Final Finish with 3M Perfect-it Polishing Pad (Yellow)
Auto Finesse Tough Prep with Sonus Applicator Pads
Auto Finesse Power Seal with Menzerna Finishing Pad (Black)
Chemical Guy's Wheel Guard
Meguiars Hot Shine Tyre Spray with Applicator Pad
Auto Finesse Crystal Glass
Autosol with #00 Wire Wool
Various Microfibre and Polishing Towels

The Golf before I got started with 3 weeks of country road grime attached;





































Process was as follows;

Wheels sprayed with Bilberry Safe Wheel Cleaner and left to dwell.










Wheels then jet-washed off, before a 2nd coat of Bilberry which was worked with some Chemical Guy's Citruswash and various brushes, then jet-washed again.



















Car then Snow foamed and left to dwell while detail brushes used to work around the grille and badges.














































The car was then washed with Chemical Guy's Citruswash & Gloss and Lambswool Mitt.



















Clayed with Sonus Ultra-fine Clay and Sonus Glyde. The Clay was not too bad once finished considering the car had not been clayed for a year.




























The car was then Snow Foamed again before drying.




























Next stage was to tape up all plastics and rubbers pre correction as follows.



















Onto the correction with a few before and after shots.























































Followed by some after shots. If this process was only to teach me one thing, it was that I need a bigger garage!!!


















































































The car was then sealed using Auto Finesse Power Seal via the DAS6.










Once done the wheels received a couple of coats of Chemical Guy's Wheel Guard and the tyre's dressed.










Finally the exterior glass was cleaned with Auto Finesse Crystal Glass and the exhaust polished with Autosol and #00 Wire Wool before I made the most of the good weather to take some pictures.








































































































































Thanks for looking.

Cheers
Paul


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## President Swirl (Oct 23, 2011)

Nicely done. I'm very fond of the Golf gti. Your's and the mk2 especially.


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## Ryan (Feb 18, 2008)

awesome work buddy :thumb:

Be interesting to see how power seal holds up over the winter months.


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## Natalie (Jan 19, 2011)

Great job, black pearl looks fantastic when it's all clean & shiny!!


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## O`Neil (Aug 13, 2007)

Looks really well, good work :thumb:


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## Clyde (Feb 15, 2012)

you can't beat a swirl free black car! cracking effort mate


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## tonyy (Jul 26, 2008)

Looks great:thumb:


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## jlw41 (Jun 5, 2011)

Great work Paul :thumb:


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## Trip tdi (Sep 3, 2008)

Looking very nice in the sunlight pictures, brings the flake pop from the paint perfectly, great work, a very tidy looking Golf :thumb:

How long did the machining take overall, as the paint is hard on these, plus did the merzerna compound cut the swirls easily, and how many passes were taken on the paint with the da, just interested to know as the results look very nice


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## AdnanKhan (Aug 16, 2012)

Lovely work mate. Great result. Nowt wrong with your photography either, it's a car cleaning site....

Great stuff keep it up! Always nice to log on to these forums to find a new inspiring thread. I've yet to brave machine polishing.


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## Paul2494 (Sep 12, 2012)

Thanks for the great feedback guy's, make's it worthwhile.

Cheers
Paul


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## Paul2494 (Sep 12, 2012)

Trip tdi said:


> Looking very nice in the sunlight pictures, brings the flake pop from the paint perfectly, great work, a very tidy looking Golf :thumb:
> 
> How long did the machining take overall, as the paint is hard on these, plus did the merzerna compound cut the swirls easily, and how many passes were taken on the paint with the da, just interested to know as the results look very nice


Thanks for the comments.

I'd say that the machining took a day to complete overall (about 7-8 hours), but this did include moving lights, polishing equipment and car many times due to the lack of space in the garage. I'm sure that time would be reduced on my next attempt.

I found the Menzerna polish very good, but unfortunately I don't have any comparisons to make as this was my first attempt with a DA. The swirl marks have all but gone, a few marks remain in places if you looked close enough but I didn't want to go too mad and damage the paint as I don't have a paint depth gauge.
I followed the guide and completed 5 passes for each pad and polish combo with enough pressure to change the machine note slightly. Some great advise I received from a friend, was to use a water spray lightly on the pad before adding polish/compound which greatly reduced dust.

Hope this helps.

Cheers
Paul


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## VW STEVE. (Mar 18, 2012)

Looks great.Can't beat a clean black 3dr MK5 GTI.


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## MEH4N (Mar 15, 2012)

looks very good now mate.


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## DesertDog (May 15, 2011)

You've done a lot of excellent work there!


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## Nally (May 30, 2012)

Cracking tape work 
And correction


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## jb93 (Apr 5, 2012)

Cracking job buddy :thumb:

My dad had a Tornado Red one.... it went like a *******


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## Dave182 (Feb 15, 2008)

Nice work


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## Paul2494 (Sep 12, 2012)

Thanks guy's, I really appreciate the comments.

Cheers
Paul


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## IndepthCarDetailing (Feb 12, 2012)

You've done well , you must have done a lot of reading on here


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## colarado red (Jun 5, 2008)

Top work


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