# Refined Detail | Spirit Blue Focus ST-3 New Car Protection Detail



## Refined Detail (Nov 27, 2006)

:wave:

Hi guys,

Have been looking forward to this one for a couple of months since I originally booked this in with my client - a brand new Ford Focus ST-3 in 'Spirit Blue'

Booked in for a New Car Protection Detail with C-Quartz ceramic coating upgrade. The new C-Quartz UK to be precise.

Delivered to my unit in Billingshurst with just over 250 miles on the clock, and unfortunately valeted by the dealership despite my clients requests to leave the car untouched!:














































Wheels cleaned with wheel woolies and Auto Finesse Citrus Power. Tyres and arches with Bilt Hamber Surfex:










Door shuts with Auto Finesse Citrus Power and Autosmart Tardis in placces to shift a small amount of cavity wax overspray:










Then foamed with Stjarnagloss Kokosnott which revealed some interesting 'swipe marks' on the passenger side - either from excess polish / sealant or glue residue I believe?



















Vents, grilles etc cleaned with a detailing brush and Auto Finesse Citrus Power:










Washed via the 2 bucket method, lamsbwool mitt and a reasonably strong mix of Autosmart Concentrated car shampoo to start stripping whatever was on the paintwork:










Rinsed, loosely dried and a few small tar spots removed with Tardis. Rinsed, Iron-X'd (which revealed nothing), re-rinsed, then clayed with Bilt Hamber soft which removed a considerable amount of contamination, particularly from the rear screen. (typically I forgot to get a photo of this)

Claying also pulled off an remaining traces of the polish / sealant that had been applied to the paint by the dealer, and also revealed a small area of missed wet sanding:










rectified with Fixer on a microfibre cutting pad via the DA:










the gloss black pillars were attended to with the Meguiars Microfibre system (but using a new pad that I'm currently trialling)



















and later refined with Ultrafina on a 3M spot blue pad via the rotary. Not great photos I know - sorry!

All of the plastics were suffering from a fair bit of swirling (skirts, bumpers, spoiler etc) so it was necessary to carry out 2-3 stages of machine polishing on these sections via the Meguiars DA microfibre system and finishing up with ultrafina on the rotary.




























the deepest scratch was left and just rounded off as I wasn't too happy about removing too much clearcoat on such a new car:










the metal parts of the car had escaped reasonably swirl free from the dealers, so came up adequately with Auto Finesse Tough Prep on a 3M black pad via the DA:










the whole car was then given a thorough wipedown with CarPro Eraser:










ready for:










A couple more jobs to complete before calling it a night and leaving the sealant to continue curing...

Tailpipes were tidied up with Auto Finesse Mercury:



















Wheels sealed with Auto Finesse Mint Rims (3 coats in total over the 2 days)










An hour after applying the sealant, the car was given a CarPro Reload wipedown leaving it looking incredibly slick & glossy:



















The next morning it was time to crack on with the interior. A thorough vacuum and dust down of all surfaces:























































Clean all plastics and leather with Meguiars APC. Plastics dressed with Sonus ****pit detailer and leather sealed with G-Techniq L1:










Carpets and overmats protected with G-Techniq i1:










Door shuts and under bonnet polished with Auto Finesse Tripple:



















Engine bay wiped down with Auto Finesse Finale and rubbers protected with Auto Glym Super Sheen:










Glass polished / sealed with Werkstatt Acrylic Prime:










Front 3 windows sealed with Carlack for further water sheeting:










Trim sealed with Wolfs Trim Coat:










a fair few applicators used!










Tyres dressed with 2 coats of Auto Glym Super Sheen, and paintwork given a final CarPro Reload wipedown - finito! Cue the finished, indoor shots (thanks to rain!)




































































































As ever, don't forget you can follow me on Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date on my day to day movements that don't usually make it on to DW!

Finally, a big thanks to the guys at Shinearama who supply me with around 3/4 of my detailing products that I use day in day out and in the detail above!

Many thanks,
Rich @ Refined Detail


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## Sh00ter (Jun 11, 2006)

very very nice 

can believe the amount of swirling on the plastic and pillars with only 200 miles on the clock though, id be bloody livid!


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## MEH4N (Mar 15, 2012)

great job on that. The new focus has definitely grown on me as i never liked it before. looks spot on


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## AaronGTi (Nov 2, 2010)

Great efforts there Rich :thumb:


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## Mikej857 (Jan 17, 2012)

Great finish, I wouldn't be happy with the amount of swirls though on a brand new car but it is a ford and the dealers really don't care how they wash there cars.

Just a shame they only make these in 4 door and the front looks like a open mouthed fish or I'd buy 1 as I love the rest of the car and the seats are great


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## Scrim-1- (Oct 8, 2008)

Nice work mate.


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## DMH-01 (Mar 29, 2011)

Tidy job buddy :thumb:


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## Deacon Hays (Jul 25, 2012)

Looks fantastic:argie:
It´s now looking better then new


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## Bulkhead (Oct 17, 2007)

Great job. I'm trying so hard to like the new shape but can't. Saw one in the flesh yesterday and whilst the interior is a step up, the Korean-esque body just lets it down. I don't think I could ever forgive myself for trading in the old 5 pot for this 4 either.


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## Wout_RS (Jun 13, 2012)

very nice work!


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## andrewst500 (Nov 2, 2008)

lovely work and finish :thumb:


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## EthanCrawford (Jan 7, 2010)

Great Finish ! now i think i should have gotten a blue one insted of a black one DOH! :lol:

my paint has the same problem with missed wet sanding about 2 or 3 spots and plastics are swirled quite bad. Also had a outward dent and a nice scratch along the rear bumper when i picked it up so going back to be sorted when i go away again.
Was quite dissapointed with the finish to be honest but i love the car to drive its awesome fun but crap in the snow lol


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## D.Taylor R26 (Feb 5, 2012)

Amazing work. Shocking really the state of a 'new' car with only 250 miles covered. 

Some great products used that should more than see the car through winter! Nice colour too. 

Dave


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## Bkjames (Sep 13, 2006)

Looks very nice mate :thumb:


Brian


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## deni2 (May 4, 2011)

Very nice work on ST, seems to be a great car to drive and be in, :thumb:.


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## tonyy (Jul 26, 2008)

Looks amazing:thumb:


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## JBirchy (Oct 9, 2010)

Looks terrific! Great job, that super sheen leaves a lovely finish on the tyres too!


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## President Swirl (Oct 23, 2011)

Excellent job mate. I have to say, i prefer the outgoing model.


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## johnnyguitar (Mar 24, 2010)

Great work love it.
Took one of these for a test drive recently, I think this is likely to be my next car.


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## skorpios (Sep 11, 2011)

Very nice work! :thumb:


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## jlw41 (Jun 5, 2011)

looks great! awesome work :thumb:


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## Refined Detail (Nov 27, 2006)

Thank you all for taking the time to read my write up, much appreciated.

To echo many of your responses, yes it is a big shame that the car was delivered with quite so many swirls - especially as my client did request the car was left untouched! It was thankfully only the plastic parts in general though which are obviously softer, but it still made things a bit of a pain! Ended up spending the best part of 17 hours on it in the end!


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## colarado red (Jun 5, 2008)

Stunning work.Much they had made a 3dr,but you never know it took it took a while before they released a 3dr astra.Definitely the best colour for these.


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## dooka (Aug 1, 2006)

That colour looks awesome Rich, nice work :thumb:..


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## SimonBash (Jun 7, 2010)

A very enjoyable read and very thorough work. Thanks for posting Rich


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## Refined Detail (Nov 27, 2006)

Thanks chaps :thumb:



colarado red said:


> Stunning work.Much they had made a 3dr,but you never know it took it took a while before they released a 3dr astra.Definitely the best colour for these.


I have to agree with you tbh - always tend to prefer a 3 door over a 5 door hatch - that said, I actually think the 5 door Astra H looks better than the 3 door, but I digress...

Agreed on the colour too - very similar to performance blue, but with more of a purple pearl in certain lights. The CQUK bought out an unbelievable gloss though - still amazes me each time I use it!


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