# Vectra VXR - Full Detail and Zy*ol Concours Wax



## mattjonescardiff (Dec 12, 2006)

The owner, another Matt, is attending 'The Fast Show' at Santa Pod next weekend so wanted his VXR Vectra looking it's best. Quite a rare car these Vectra's, I've never seen one on the road before in VXR guise. With 280 PS coming out of a turbo-charged 2.8 engine it certainly has the power to back up the beefy looks. A couple of my impreza owning friends called in whilst I was working on the car and were very impressed with it.

Anyway, on to the detail. The car was mine from saturday morning at 8. No before photos I'm afraid as by the time Matt had a play with my snow foam I forgot to take any. Generally the car was fairly clean, especially the interior considering it ferries kids around! The worst parts being the wheels which were quite badly pitted and the tailpipes which were baked on.

Photo of wheel and exhaust:


















First job was a citrus degreaser sprayed on lower panels, arches and wheels. Then PW rinsed.

Photo after degreaser:

















Then a strong snowfoam mix of Megs Hyper Wash, Auto-Rae Snowfoam and APC.

Photo after a minute:










Wheels and calipers done with Billbery cleaner, megs wheel brush and my new Zy*ol wheel brush.

Photo of tools:









Photo of wheel:









Photo of car so far:









Then clayed with CG Fine Poly Clay and the lube that came with it. Little contamination on the bonnet and roof etc but then more on the side panels as you'd expect.

Bonnet clay:









Roof clay:









Sides:


















Door shuts and boot shut cleaned with Zym*l brush and Megs APC 4:1 and 10:1.










Engine degreased with Megs APC 4:1 and agitated with a Tesco small head brush. Then entire bay sprayed with AG Vinyl and Rubber protectant and engine started to dry it off (blummin loud exhausts as standard!)

Photo of engine before:









Engine after:









So heres the car up to this point:

















And a couple of photos of the swirls:


















Onto the polishing. Fortunately not too many bits to tape up. Settled on a megs polishing pad with #83. The paint was fairly soft so didn't need to step up any higher than this. Achieved a good level of correction, although I'd have liked to have spent more time on the polishing than I did. I was against the clock slightly to get all the polishing done in a day and this isn't a small car! I started using a Makita but eventually switched to my UDM. Found the Makita to be clogging up and drying the polish out really quickly? Max revs I was using were around 1200-1500 on the zenith technique. I think I still need more practice with the rotary to really master it before I totally give up on the UDM.


























Getting some nice reflection shots after polishing:










My supplier forgot to send my HD-Cleanse with my order so instead I used Lime Prime as a pre-wax cleaner. I'll be interested to compare the HD-Cleanse when I get it as I really like the LP. Applied on a megs finishing pad via UDM.

Photo of LP set-up:









Photo of LP in action:









Then onto protection. I convinced Matt to let me try out my new Zy*ol Concours.










Went on really well and gave an amazing wet finish. Also handy how the applicator fits in the lid afterwards! It was getting dark by now so I called it a night after the one coat of wax. Got some cool photos under the halogens. Going to buy a decent camera very soon to capture this sort of thing better as all these photos are from my cameraphone.










































Check out the reflection of my neighbours AMG Merc (freshly cleaned as always Davey!) in the rear quarter panels. Looked really cool.


















Plenty of dirty pad at the end of the night (and a well deserved can of stella!)










Early start the next morning as the VXR was needed ready at 12. Here's what greeted me:










Another wash with Megs Hyper Wash and a sheepskin mitt. The water was beading off fantastically even after one coat.










4 photos of washing:


























2nd coat of Concours applied.









Tailpipes done with Megs NXT metal polish, windows cleaned inside and out, interior vacuumed, plastics wiped with damp MF and dressed with PB Natural look, air freshened with CG New Car Smell. Headlamps with Plast-X, trim with CG new look trim gel. Tyres with megs tyre gel, arches with megs hyper dressing.

The wheels were done with Carlack 68 and AG SRP. I might get some Jeffs Prime Strong for this kind of job in future. Pitting was coming off but very slowly. Again, another part of the car I could have spent much longer on.

So here's the finished photos. Any opinions or comments welcomed!


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## Mark J (May 10, 2007)

That's a lovely looking motor and it's come up a treat :thumb:

You need to get that wiring sorted on your udm though !


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## Curtiz (Aug 11, 2006)

great work! looks great, such a nice car to


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## Thomas-182 (Mar 5, 2006)

Mmmmm very nice, great job it looks lovely :thumb:


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## mattjonescardiff (Dec 12, 2006)

Mark J said:


> That's a lovely looking motor and it's come up a treat :thumb:
> 
> You need to get that wiring sorted on your udm though !


Cheers for the compliment.

Haha - I know about the wiring. It is in safe and secure, just doesn't look too good. I knew someone would spot that!


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## VIPER (May 30, 2007)

Fantastic job there and a great write up - car looks superb :thumb: :thumb:


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## Trist (Jun 23, 2006)

Cracking job, looks lovely :thumb:


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## ahaydock (Jan 4, 2007)

Excellent job there and lovely finish :thumb:


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## netstar (Jan 4, 2008)

Just wanted to add my say as the owner of the above car.

Matt did a fantastic job and i am absolutly extatic with the results, i havent seen it looking so good.

Even made me up a bottle of last touch to use at the show and threw in a microfibre towel and sponge for future use.

Genuinly nice guy and very friendly, would highly recommend to anyone.

will be keeping up my appearences!

Thank you again,

Matt


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## andycole (Jun 8, 2006)

Nice one matey:thumb: 
Hving given the old mans SRi a once over today I'm amazed at how big the car is, compared to my Impreza it seemed huge!!

If only he had a VXR and not a 1.9 CDTI SRi!!

Cheers
AC:buffer:


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## mikecc (Dec 10, 2007)

Nice work mate!


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## Guest (Mar 2, 2008)

Stunning car. Don't know why everyone has those 19"s though. People on a vectra forum say the car handles better with the 18"s?


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## netstar (Jan 4, 2008)

Bailes1992 said:


> Stunning car. Don't know why everyone has those 19"s though. People on a vectra forum say the car handles better with the 18"s?


Yea it does handle beter with the 18" wheels, but i dont really like the look of the 18's and dont really have huch call for extra handling (2 kids).
Always liked the 19"'s since i saw them.


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## ads2k (Jul 12, 2006)

Very nice work 

Concours is very good isn't it (my wax of choice) waits to be flamed down :devil:


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## GlynRS2 (Jan 21, 2006)

Great work and a superb finish from the Zym0l Concours :thumb:


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## Dan Clark (Jun 25, 2007)

Awesome work!! 

Love that blue colour on the vauxhalls.


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## ST dan (Mar 25, 2007)

quite a fan of those, good work fella


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## mattjonescardiff (Dec 12, 2006)

netstar said:


> Just wanted to add my say as the owner of the above car.
> 
> Matt did a fantastic job and i am absolutly extatic with the results, i havent seen it looking so good.
> 
> ...


Thanks for those kind words mate, very much appreciated and makes it all worthwhile. I'm really glad you're happy with the car.

I'll be ordering some new products after this weekend as I think I can get the wheels and exhaust even better.

Keep an eye out when it rains next and take a look at the beading. Water streams off the car so well, it looks awesome.

Send me some photos from the show!


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## Guest (Mar 2, 2008)

netstar said:


> Yea it does handle beter with the 18" wheels, but i dont really like the look of the 18's and dont really have huch call for extra handling (2 kids).
> Always liked the 19"'s since i saw them.


Heard its somthing to do with the way those 19"s are made and theres a common problem with them cracking and causing slow air leaks etc. :wall:


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## netstar (Jan 4, 2008)

Bailes1992 said:


> Heard its somthing to do with the way those 19"s are made and theres a common problem with them cracking and causing slow air leaks etc. :wall:


Not had any issues yet *touches wood*


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## mark1319 (Sep 9, 2007)

Looks stunning mate:thumb:

The 19's look far better than the 18's. The cracking problem is pretty rare, but does happen occasionally and VX don't want anything to do with as per usual.


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## Ashtra (Oct 17, 2007)

Lovely job.great car


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## ianFRST (Sep 19, 2006)

try a 3m waffle pad mate, i found these better on the rotary than a flat pad 

great results 

why do all vxr owners have a vxr plate? :lol:


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## mattjonescardiff (Dec 12, 2006)

ianFRST said:


> try a 3m waffle pad mate, i found these better on the rotary than a flat pad
> 
> great results
> 
> why do all vxr owners have a vxr plate? :lol:


I'll give them a try. Where's best to buy them from Ian?

As for the plate, VXR owners aren't as bad as BMW X5 owners, literally every X5 has a private plate!


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## marty (Nov 25, 2007)

cracking job mate


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## Steve G (Feb 24, 2008)

Stunning job matey, hope those who see it appreciate your hard work.


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## [email protected] (Aug 25, 2007)

Top job Matt:thumb: 
You have got some nice reflections of my AMG'S there.


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## visor (Sep 8, 2007)

nice car cracking finish :thumb:


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## saxoboy07 (Oct 20, 2007)

Amazing work love the Vectra VXR:thumb:


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## Mossman (Jan 10, 2008)

Great car and a top job!  Lovely to get feedback from the owner too!


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## Predator_VTR (Apr 8, 2007)

great stuff mate :thumb:


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## pink princess (Dec 11, 2007)

netstar said:


> Just wanted to add my say as the owner of the above car.
> 
> Matt did a fantastic job and i am absolutly extatic with the results, i havent seen it looking so good.
> 
> ...




Hi Matt  *waves*

Your cars looking stunning 

Excellent job on the car :doublesho


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## netstar (Jan 4, 2008)

Hi Nat  *waves back*

Look at you! Are you following me?


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## pink princess (Dec 11, 2007)

No youre following me  I been here longer


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## Bigears (Feb 5, 2008)

Nice work fella.


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## Thumper888 (Dec 31, 2006)

Spot on


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## Max M4X WW (Sep 19, 2006)

Very nice, Great turn around but I think the exhausts look ugly!


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## johnny m (Jan 28, 2008)

:thumb: :thumb:


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## andy182 (Jan 21, 2008)

Excellent job mate. Comes up a treat. I do like them VXR's we have them at work, without the interior bits..


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## mattjonescardiff (Dec 12, 2006)

andy182 said:


> Excellent job mate. Comes up a treat. I do like them VXR's we have them at work, without the interior bits..


VXR's at work! Where's work?!


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## netstar (Jan 4, 2008)

vauxhall factory by the sounds of it, not much good without interiors!


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## HeavenlyDetail (Sep 22, 2006)

Max M4X WW said:


> Very nice, Great turn around but I think the exhausts look ugly!


Great detail...Vxr looks mint.....

Regards Exhaust the Hirsch exhaust does look better i have to agree..


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

Nice work there, got a good finish!  

Re: #83 drying up. What size area where you tackling? Looked a little much polish on the pad there which may explain the clogging, I tend to just use a couple of beads, maybe a touch more but this is for an 18" square work area. If it seems like its dried up and vanished, chances are that it hasn't but in actual fact what has happened is that the polish is in the pad - I find slowing the speeds down and making a couple of passes with medium pressure respreads it nicely ready for use if this is happening.


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## mattjonescardiff (Dec 12, 2006)

Thanks for the compliment and advice Dave, perhaps I was using a tad too much #83. I'll experiment with using a little less.

Cheers


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## Mark M (Nov 29, 2006)

Looking swell


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## Tiptronic (May 9, 2006)

mattjonescardiff said:


> VXR's at work! Where's work?!


Personally I'd say it must be a 'job' car that andy182 is referring to.......


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## Bulla2000 (Jun 5, 2007)

NIce car and of course...well done.


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## CupraRcleanR (Sep 2, 2007)

Great job


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## mouthyman (May 1, 2006)

great work, lovely car


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