# Holden VE SSV V8 Commodore (Vauxhall VXR8) 2 day detail



## -Raven- (Aug 26, 2010)

My friend asked me at work if I could detail his Phantom metallic Holden VE SSV Commodore. As with just about everyone I talk to, they want a clean car, want it to look awesome, but don't know how to get it there. I inspected the car at work, I knew it would be a challenge. This particular car was a broom wash disaster!

It indeed proved to be a challenge considering we got hit with a ton of rain from a cyclone that just passed below us. It's been squally storms here for the last 3 days, plenty of rain! Dodging the rain, closing and opening the garage doors, certainly exiting! 

Well I ended up spending two days detailing this beast. It was in such poor condition for such a young car, it really was suffering from the swirlys BAD!

Heres how the car looked when it was dropped off. It just looked dirty, dull, and lack luster.




























The car was snow foamed with degreaser, and washed with truck wash (CT18).



















Then rinsed! :lol::lol::lol:










The car was clayed whilst it was still wet (not just a Bilt Hamber trick ). This was from the rear of the car.










The car was dried, then inspected for swirls. The rear wing was taken off to make polishing easier. So out with the halogen light.... OMG! I thought this paint was supposed to be metallic! What have I got myself into??? :doublesho























































So after trying various pad and polish combinations, I settled on Lake Country black pad, with my favorite Menzerna 203S. Combined with my Flex PE14-2 150, It was smashing through the swirls, but finishing really clean. This is why 203S is my favorite polish!

This is the typical 50/50 I was getting (checked with 25% IPA)



















right side polished, left side bare.










Nicely corrected paint!



















The car was then washed again to get rid of excess polish dust and oils. It was dried again, then given a coat in Prima's finest - Amigo! Man I love this glaze on black! It doesn't matter how good you have the paint, Amigo always takes it to the next level! It goes on easy, and comes back off even easier!

The car was then given a coat of Sonus SFX-4 sealant. I chose this over wax due to wanting something strong and long lasting for the owner. I will get him some Optimum Car Wax in the future, nice and easy to use for him, as well as looking special! Now this Sonus SFX-4 sealant is very similar to Menzerna Powerlock. Maybe not twins, but certainly must be a relative! 

While this sealant was curing, The interior was given a clean and vacuum out. The plastics were given a wipe down with APC, then treated to 303 Aerospace protectant. The leather seats were vacuumed, then cleaned with a gentle soap mix, and finally given a coat of Optimum Leather Protectant.





































The exhaust tips were cleaned using Alushine metal polish



















The tyres were dressed with Swissvax Pneu. Lovely dressing this one!










Now was the time for Sonus SFX-4 residue removal and final wipe down. My favorite part of the detail! :thumb:














































Nice having two 400bhp+ cars out front! 
































































Hope you guys enjoyed it, the owner is over the moon! All he could say was F***! :lol: He said he had never seen it so good. I told him he was now banned from using the broom at the carwash, and schooled him in the two bucket method!


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## MAXI-MILAN (Oct 26, 2008)

Great work Matty :thumb:


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## Mr Face (Jan 22, 2009)

Great work fella, beautiful finish and awsome / mean and moody looking motor (think I want one) 

Great to see you too having a beautiful british summer :lol:


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## egon (Apr 25, 2007)

Gorgeous car. Shocking paint! Good recovery there!
(noob hat on) if its a holden, whats with the chevy badges? or have i missed something?


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## Derekh929 (Aug 28, 2011)

Great result and worth all the hard work


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## DMH-01 (Mar 29, 2011)

Great job there buddy :thumb:


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## JBirchy (Oct 9, 2010)

Amazing work buddy, looks superb after you've finished! Prima Amigo is the dogs danglies on black isn't it?!


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## smudge_don (Mar 14, 2012)

Amazing transformation, shame about the wheels


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## toni (Oct 30, 2005)

Very nice finish! Stunning correction from 203 on a finishing pad.


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## leon20v (Jul 7, 2007)

Love it !!!:thumb: Great turn around on a great car



egon said:


> (noob hat on) if its a holden, whats with the chevy badges? or have i missed something?


I think in some markets its sold as a Chevy Lumina


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## McClane (Dec 9, 2010)

Nice detail. And wow... where you live is soooo clean! I appear to live in a dust bowl compared to there. Pristine road and gardens. Nice!

Sorry, did I just talk more about the street than the car  :thumb:


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## bigslippy (Sep 19, 2010)

Great work there:thumb: ..... where did you get your rinser?:lol:


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## UCD (Oct 27, 2010)

nice turnaround!


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## Vossman (Aug 5, 2010)

Stunning job, love the rinse, pure natural water eh :lol:


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## stangalang (Nov 27, 2009)

Top work matty. Epic 50/50's pal :thumb:


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## Huw (Feb 16, 2007)

Would have liked to have sen the owners face when he first saw it. Stunning turn around, it was shocking before.


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## Nelex (Aug 23, 2011)

Great job!


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## Matt_H (Jan 1, 2007)

Is it just me or do them brakes look a bit on the small side for 400bhp? 

Nice and clean though!


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## -Raven- (Aug 26, 2010)

egon said:


> Gorgeous car. Shocking paint! Good recovery there!
> (noob hat on) if its a holden, whats with the chevy badges? or have i missed something?


It's a popular thing to do here, this car has a 6.0L gen 4 Chevy engine.


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## -Raven- (Aug 26, 2010)

JBirchy said:


> Amazing work buddy, looks superb after you've finished! Prima Amigo is the dogs danglies on black isn't it?!


It certainly is! I didn't really take any photos when I was going around the car with it, but it darkens the paint as you go along! I won't use anything else on black.


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## -Raven- (Aug 26, 2010)

matty_206 said:


> Is it just me or do them brakes look a bit on the small side for 400bhp?
> 
> Nice and clean though!


Yes, even my 4cyl Honda has bigger brakes! The whole car is typical GM crappy quality, if they can save on something, they do. Cheap performance, with the emphasis being on cheap!


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## -Raven- (Aug 26, 2010)

smudge_don said:


> Amazing transformation, shame about the wheels


I agree! 

He had different 20" wheels on it and it looked MUCH better, but I think they were destroyed in accident.


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## kinnon (Jan 15, 2012)

great work fella


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## -Raven- (Aug 26, 2010)

toni said:


> Very nice finish! Stunning correction from 203 on a finishing pad.


The secret is the rotary!  I think most people use harsher combinations than what is needed. I think the 3M polishing pads are softer than the LC black pads? I like to let the polish do the work anyway, and on the rotary, your laughing!


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## -Raven- (Aug 26, 2010)

-PJB- said:


> Nice detail. And wow... where you live is soooo clean! I appear to live in a dust bowl compared to there. Pristine road and gardens. Nice!
> 
> Sorry, did I just talk more about the street than the car  :thumb:


Yes, I love living in a tropical paradise! 

About 6 houses down at the end of the court, is the 2nd green of the local golf course too! :thumb:


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## Paddy_R (Jan 10, 2007)

Lovely car that, great job. 

Just wondering why did they change the Holden badge to the Chevrolet one, looks rubbish!


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## Michael_McL (Aug 25, 2011)

Great work, nice car


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## -Raven- (Aug 26, 2010)

Paddy_R said:


> Lovely car that, great job.
> 
> Just wondering why did they change the Holden badge to the Chevrolet one, looks rubbish!


I agree, but all I can say is 'personal taste'.


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

Looks good... a lot of hard work in there...

Love the way you rinse the car down.... 

:thumb:


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## jamesgti (Aug 9, 2007)

Great work mate.


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## -Raven- (Aug 26, 2010)

The Cueball said:


> Looks good... a lot of hard work in there...
> 
> Love the way you rinse the car down....
> 
> :thumb:


yeah, it's a little unconventional, but works great! :lol:


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## williamw1987 (Aug 10, 2010)

That looks amazing dude... nicely done!!


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## TermKilla (Sep 4, 2009)

Amazing work ... love these cars!!


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## dhiren_motilal (Apr 3, 2011)

Nice one, looks awesome


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## -Raven- (Aug 26, 2010)

Cheers guys!


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## David Proctor (Mar 6, 2011)

Great job, the car looks stunning


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## SiliconS (Jun 23, 2010)

I'm a fan of big, powerful saloons.... but man, those wheels cheapen that one. Yuk!

Nice transformation though. Respect.


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## tonyy (Jul 26, 2008)

Fantastic work


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## Kobeone (Dec 14, 2011)

That is one awesome turn around!! I do like the Holdens, but the wheels and chevy badge ruin this one!! (personal taste i know!!) We have our own rinse machine going today, here in blighty!!

Well done tho!!


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## Dan_S (Nov 10, 2011)

Job well done mate :thumb:

Wheels and badges don't take anything away from the detailing you've done, don't know why some feel the need to comment about them :wall:


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## -Raven- (Aug 26, 2010)

Dan_S said:


> Job well done mate :thumb:
> 
> Wheels and badges don't take anything away from the detailing you've done, don't know why some feel the need to comment about them :wall:


Cheers Dan! 

All comments welcome! I find it funny that people on the other side of the world hate them too! :lol::lol::lol:


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## -Raven- (Aug 26, 2010)

SiliconS said:


> I'm a fan of big, powerful saloons.... but man, those wheels cheapen that one. Yuk!
> 
> Nice transformation though. Respect.


Yes, the stock wheels are 100% better! My friend had different 20" wheels on it before, looked a heap better, but they got damaged in an accident.


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## -Raven- (Aug 26, 2010)

Kobeone said:


> That is one awesome turn around!! I do like the Holdens, but the wheels and chevy badge ruin this one!! (personal taste i know!!) We have our own rinse machine going today, here in blighty!!
> 
> Well done tho!!


I'm not keen on them either!


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## saucyboy (May 24, 2009)

What a fantastic transformation mate. Great job :thumb:


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## -Raven- (Aug 26, 2010)

saucyboy said:


> What a fantastic transformation mate. Great job :thumb:


Thanks mate, I think it came up quite nice myself! 

The owner is still over the moon!


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## cotter (Aug 31, 2008)

Nice work! :thumb:


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## Artdeshine (Aug 21, 2012)

Matty Look like need to lock it with me hehheh. Anyway a black beauty is side by side. showing it flawness and sexy curve looking without any hairy skin. Nice sexy.


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## -Raven- (Aug 26, 2010)

alfred said:


> Matty Look like need to lock it with me hehheh. Anyway a black beauty is side by side. showing it flawness and sexy curve looking without any hairy skin. Nice sexy.


Old thread haha! Cheers Alfred!

This car coming back very soon for ArtDeShine 2 stage 2K coating!


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## DesertDog (May 15, 2011)

leon20v said:


> Love it !!!:thumb: Great turn around on a great car
> 
> I think in some markets its sold as a Chevy Lumina


Lumina SS isn't it? 6.1L

There's a guy up the road from me with one, has a Stage 3 tune knocking out over 1,000RWHP :devil:


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## svended (Oct 7, 2011)

That's stunning.


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## Black.MB (Aug 22, 2012)

Great job! Cracking wheels:thumb:


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## JwilliamsM (Dec 20, 2011)

Great job cant beat a shiny swirl free black! Hate the alloys with a passion though, and cant believe it has fullrun tyres on a beast like that! Accident waiting to happen!


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## -Raven- (Aug 26, 2010)

DesertDog said:


> Lumina SS isn't it? 6.1L
> 
> There's a guy up the road from me with one, has a Stage 3 tune knocking out over 1,000RWHP :devil:


These Australian made Holden Commodores were last sold as Pontiac G8 in USA, and this year they will be sold as the Chevrolet SS this year in USA. :thumb:


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## Trip tdi (Sep 3, 2008)

Excellent work and thread :thumb:


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## TopSport+ (Jul 22, 2012)

looks awesome:thumb:


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