# Auto Finesse Vs a Pair of Evos for a whole week



## Auto Finesse (Jan 10, 2007)

Well last week saw me working on these two beauty's an evo 5 and a evo 9 FQ340, farther and sons cars, both in for correction and the 5 had the wheels refurbed and colour swapped.










First up the 5


















































































First job was to clean the door Jambs and Engine bay using G101:























































Then for the wash stage:

Lowers pre sprayed with citrus cleaner, foamed with Citrus SF, rinsed, refoamed and washed TBM with Dodo BTM:























































Dried off and up on stands ready to remove wheels for refurbishment:










So with the wheels off they where cleaned up with AS smart wheels, they where very badly corroded so needed refurbishment the owner decided to have them colour swapped and colour coded badges, more on this later 














































The calipers where badly faded so i machine polished them with a 4" pad and menz IP, then hubs painted matt black:




























Some stickers needed removing, then the glue residue removed with AS Tardis :





































Then paint work clayed using yellow poly clay and taped up ready for correction:



















The bonnet grills where very grubby and tired looking so these where removed, cleaned and re painted:
































































Mud flaps also removed for cleaning:



















Now on to the paint correction, the paint was flat, dull and oxidised:










Some PTG readings showed healthy depths all around, so correction was done mainly with 3M yellow top (fine compound) with FCP in places for deeper defects, and all finished down with Ultrafina, the paint was soft and even hologramed with fine compound, these before and after pics are after correction but not refined (yet)









































































Light corrected:



















The badges needed some extra cleaning so IP on a Z brush done the job :thumb:




























With the paint cleaned & corrected it was time to prep and protect the finish, Zymoi HDC was applied followed by a coat of Zymoi Vintage (excuse the pot thats was my reserve but its all i have for the time being )














































Once all finished the wheels came out and oh they look good if i do say so my self  They where treated to a couple of coats of Poor boys wheel sealant and refitted, the finished pics will be revealed soon.

But first i have another to do, the 9 FQ340:



















So first job as always washing, wheels where removed for cleaning and arches scrubbed:





















































































































































































Door Jambs cleaned:










Then on to the wash, Lowers pre treated, then snow foam applied, rinsed, refoamed and washed TBM with Dodo BTM wash














































The paint work was then clayed with Sonus green and AS reglaze:



















Dried off and indoors for inspection:
































































So correction begins, 3M range again (i find this very good on any thing but German stuff) Mainly Yellow top, and refined with Ultrafina (blue top) with a little FCP (green top) throwen in here and there for deep RDS, and a Megs polishing pad doing the job well on this one:































































































































Some nice Finished down shots :thumb::




























Front wing:



















And the problem i have with ding lowwer panels, its not the paint, its not the polish no its this:










He goes and sits in front of the lamp for heat (it was quite late night and did get a bit cold bless him ) so i have to put 2 lamps out one for him and one for me to see what im doing 

Still the lower panels :



















Once all corrected and refined, all duseted off and an IPA wipe down, before Applying Z HDC, then same as the 5 a coat of Vintage:














































Both cars had all the bits and bobs done ie metal polishing, glass cleaning, trim dressing, tyres etc etc, interior was also done on both, im sorry i did not get pics of every little stage but i really did need every bit of time i could get doing these 2 all week.

Il let these early morning after shots do the rest :thumb: Enjoy



























































































Thanks for reading, and im happy to answer any Qs on methods etc used and appreciate any comments you leave :thumb:

James B


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## drive 'n' shine (Apr 22, 2006)

Top work James :thumb: Units starting to look good as well


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## Ian666 (Jul 8, 2007)

James, stunning work as always :thumb:


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## Auto Detox (Dec 22, 2007)

Nice work James 

Baz


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## SimonW (Jun 3, 2007)

Great work!!

Simon


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## Deanvtec (Mar 3, 2008)

Very nice work, The calipers cleaned up a treat and looked superb against the refurbed wheels. Top work as always.


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## mouthyman (May 1, 2006)

top work on both as always james :thumb:


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## Frothey (Apr 30, 2007)

Top stuff James :thumb:

Wheels looking good....


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## djcromie (Mar 22, 2007)

fantastic cars, deadly work, repainted wheels look brilliant on the V


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## ads2k (Jul 12, 2006)

Great jobs there James


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## MK1Campaign (Mar 27, 2007)

What is the citrus degreaser you use on the outside?


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## Auto Finesse (Jan 10, 2007)

MK1Campaign said:


> What is the citrus degreaser you use on the outside?


Its a product i picked up from a local place, it is pretty good i have been trying out for a while now on my maintenance jobs as it dose not strip wax, i was just using it to see how well it works on unwaxed paint ie if it has enough grunt to shift dirt etc and it dose :thumb: i usually use AG Power max 3 or AS hazsafe,


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## Racer (Oct 27, 2005)

Superb work


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## Brisa (Aug 9, 2006)

Brilliant work on both of those, the wheels on the 5 look brilliant!


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## rfmatt (Aug 9, 2008)

Brilliant work as always. Love it!


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## ahaydock (Jan 4, 2007)

Fantastic work there - well done.


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## GTste (Jul 19, 2007)

brilliant work on two lovely cars.

regarding the calipers on the yellow 5, that is the laquer coming off. come across it on a few cars on seatcupra.net, mine have also started doing this on my LCR. the guide on SCN involves some light wetsanding then re-laquering so might be worth getting a few coats of laquer on them.


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## Finerdetails (Apr 30, 2006)

top work James


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## Auto Finesse (Jan 10, 2007)

Thanks for the comments lads



GTste said:


> brilliant work on two lovely cars.
> 
> regarding the calipers on the yellow 5, that is the laquer coming off. come across it on a few cars on seatcupra.net, mine have also started doing this on my LCR. the guide on SCN involves some light wetsanding then re-laquering so might be worth getting a few coats of laquer on them.


no need cos as you will see I have polished up the orig gel coat, I have seen cars with laquer on the calipers and after a month or 2 they flake up and look pony gel coat can expand more when hot and then the clear coat flakes up, personaly not a fan of that trick sorry


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## O`Neil (Aug 13, 2007)

Very nice too, I do like the wheel colour on the `5` against the yellow :thumb:


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## Big Ells (May 12, 2007)

I would just like to start with a big 'Thank You' to James and his other half (sorry forgot her name) who both worked on me and my dads evo. The transformation of my V was crazy! The pictures dont show it but befors the paint was a few different shades across the the bonnet, bumoer, wings and roof. But now it looks the same colour all over. And the wheels well they make it look like a new car. Didn't want to drive it as it was raining out, and don't want the paint to get dirty lol, it looks like a work of art.

As for my dads IX he was shocked at the change, he was a bit sceptical (seeing as he has let the guys at Tesco was his car :wall but now he will be forced to look after it!:detailer:

Once again thanks to James and his team. They did a fantastic job and will be getting my praises :thumb:


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## Detail My Ride (Apr 19, 2006)

Great stuff there James, top work :thumb:


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## Trist (Jun 23, 2006)

Great work :thumb:


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

Excellent work mate.:thumb:


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## Jesse74 (Jul 19, 2008)

Snap! Nice work man!


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## chris l (Mar 5, 2007)

top work look superb


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## Auto Finesse (Jan 10, 2007)

Big Ells™ said:


> I would just like to start with a big 'Thank You' to James and his other half (sorry forgot her name) who both worked on me and my dads evo. The transformation of my V was crazy! The pictures dont show it but befors the paint was a few different shades across the the bonnet, bumoer, wings and roof. But now it looks the same colour all over. And the wheels well they make it look like a new car. Didn't want to drive it as it was raining out, and don't want the paint to get dirty lol, it looks like a work of art.
> 
> As for my dads IX he was shocked at the change, he was a bit sceptical (seeing as he has let the guys at Tesco was his car :wall but now he will be forced to look after it!:detailer:
> 
> Once again thanks to James and his team. They did a fantastic job and will be getting my praises :thumb:


Thanks mate im glad your pleased with them, also thanks for having them done by us :thumb:


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## S-X-I (Sep 6, 2006)

Great work on both cars James!


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## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

great work James - they both look superb and the colour of the wheels is excelelnt on the V :thumb:

Great couple of cars to have in as well


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## ianFRST (Sep 19, 2006)

superb!

whats going on with the unit? whats the walled off area? washing the cars in the unit too? 

questions questions :lol:


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## Auto Finesse (Jan 10, 2007)

ianFRST said:


> superb!
> 
> whats going on with the unit? whats the walled off area? washing the cars in the unit too?
> 
> questions questions :lol:


Yoru too nosy :tumbleweed:, Im having some walls and stuff put in, a kitchen a stock room, toilet and a floor on top of it all, progress is a bit slow as my Dad and i are doing all the work in spare time and i dont seem to have much of it this time of year, still thats a good thing i suppose :buffer:


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## CupraRcleanR (Sep 2, 2007)

Great jobs. Both looking stunning. 

Nice little tip on the Brembos. Gonna have to try that myself as I hate my pink calipers.


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## ALANSHR (Jun 29, 2007)

One of the best jobs i have seen, love the thorough job you do removing bits and bobs to get it right, shows great attention to detail, well done and keep up thegreat work.

Where did the guy get his wheels done, they looked a great and proper job, not just a tart up?


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## David (Apr 6, 2006)

nice work.

Love the FQ340


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## tdekany (Jul 22, 2006)

*Fantastic results!! Loved reading the thread.*


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## Auto Finesse (Jan 10, 2007)

ALANSHR said:


> One of the best jobs i have seen, love the thorough job you do removing bits and bobs to get it right, shows great attention to detail, well done and keep up thegreat work.
> 
> Where did the guy get his wheels done, they looked a great and proper job, not just a tart up?


Thanks :thumb:

The wheels are done Via us Auto Finesse, and as you rightly say they are a proper job, we take the same care and pride in those as we do the rest of our work


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## 911fanatic (Sep 10, 2007)

Beautiful job on two beautiful cars, James!


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## gally (May 25, 2008)

was it g101 on the arches,suspension ect... and door shuts aswell?
wasnt sure weather it was tardis.
thanks both cars looking back to there best!


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## Carr20VT (Jan 11, 2006)

Wow, both cars look great. Amazing transformation and really liking the painted wheels on the V.


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## Auto Finesse (Jan 10, 2007)

gally said:


> was it g101 on the arches,suspension ect... and door shuts aswell?
> wasnt sure weather it was tardis.
> thanks both cars looking back to there best!


G101 to clean and tardis to get the tar off


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## gally (May 25, 2008)

thanks james i have a good gallon of 101 at work so a load some into a bottle for my detail on sat.do you just hand polish the shuts and sills after 101 then add wax???


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## Envy Car Care (Aug 17, 2006)

Very nice James, very impressive attention to detail


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## Mars Red Mike (May 28, 2007)

Cracking work there mate. The pic of the dog made me smile.


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## ianFRST (Sep 19, 2006)

james b said:


> Yoru too nosy :tumbleweed:, Im having some walls and stuff put in, a kitchen a stock room, toilet and a floor on top of it all, progress is a bit slow as my Dad and i are doing all the work in spare time and i dont seem to have much of it this time of year, still thats a good thing i suppose :buffer:


excellent, more pics of the unit when you've done then please


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## scooby73 (Mar 20, 2007)

Excellent work and great attention to detail on two stunning cars!:thumb:

The refurb on the alloys is superb too. The colour contrasts nicely with the yellow.


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## MikeA-P1 (Aug 14, 2008)

Top job, the yellow 5 looks a different car!


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## famoussas (Jul 29, 2007)

Top work James.

Both cars looks great!

Are you applying Vintage to the whole car, or panel at a time?


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## Mark M (Nov 29, 2006)

Awesome work there


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## Auto Finesse (Jan 10, 2007)

famoussas said:


> Top work James.
> 
> Both cars looks great!
> 
> Are you applying Vintage to the whole car, or panel at a time?


Whole lot mate :thumb:


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## wd40 (Jun 20, 2007)

Brilliant mate :thumb:


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## jonathanelwell (Mar 17, 2008)

Very nice, who sprayed the evo 5 wheels? Look miles better in anthracite.


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## Auto Finesse (Jan 10, 2007)

We did the wheels, have a look on our site under alloy wheel refurb


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## Angus Martin (Aug 27, 2007)

Stunning cars and most definately stunning results! :thumb:

What did you use on the red mudflaps? Mine could do with freshening up.

Cheers


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## parklife (Apr 24, 2006)

Awesome results. Top job.


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## Exclusive Car Care (Jan 14, 2007)

nice work James and co


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## Auto Finesse (Jan 10, 2007)

Angus Martin said:


> Stunning cars and most definately stunning results! :thumb:
> 
> What did you use on the red mudflaps? Mine could do with freshening up.
> 
> Cheers


G101 and some Tardis to get the tar off :thumb:


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## AndyC (Oct 25, 2005)

Nice work mate and good to see your caring sharing side with extra lamps for the boy :thumb:

What you doing with your unit mate?


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## Auto Finesse (Jan 10, 2007)

AndyC said:


> Nice work mate and good to see your caring sharing side with extra lamps for the boy :thumb:
> 
> What you doing with your unit mate?


Trying to do with it more like  im so busy i just have not had time tio get it finished, i was hoping to reveal all at the dodo day but it aint going to happen 

Im putting in a refurb room (in time), a kitchen area, toilet and a floor on top for me to keep some stock


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## colarado red (Jun 5, 2008)

top job:thumb::thumb::thumb:


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## AndyC (Oct 25, 2005)

james b said:


> Trying to do with it more like  im so busy i just have not had time tio get it finished, i was hoping to reveal all at the dodo day but it aint going to happen
> 
> Im putting in a refurb room (in time), a kitchen area, toilet and a floor on top for me to keep some stock


Nice one; I won't be there next weekend fella as my weekends with my Daughter have changed. I've let Dom know. Shame I can't come up mate.


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## N8KOW (Aug 24, 2007)

Excellent job as per usual James. pm coming about wheel refurbs.


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## Phil H (May 14, 2006)

very impressive!


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## Offyourmarks (Jan 4, 2006)

absolutley spot on james - really really great work.

and that dog of yours always makes me laugh!

As you know ive just bought the exact same evo 9 - what a great colour the electric blue, they look even better in the flesh - bet that looks stunning.

a joy to read mate :thumb:


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## [email protected] (Dec 21, 2005)

Great work James!! Superb and great finishes!:thumb:


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## alan burnett (Aug 21, 2007)

nice work


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## caledonia (Sep 13, 2008)

:thumb: Top class M8 Father & Son look 5 year younger now...We done that Man :buffer:


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## MK2 ANT (Oct 5, 2008)

what did u use to get the swirl marks out


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## bbigman2000 (Aug 28, 2006)

Very impressive write up, pics and work, cheers for posting.


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## Rowan83 (Aug 21, 2007)

Fantastic mate! :argie:


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