# Pink to Red Transformation - Vauxhall Corsa



## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

I realise I'm falling fast behind with my writeups at the moment (couple of BMWs, TVR, show Audi, polishing classes all in the pipeline...) - a combination of thesis writing and a new girlfriend have delayed the writeups, but I'm slowly catching up 

Its always a rewarding experience, transforming a car from a swirly mess into a glossy supermodel. But there is a certain satisfaction to faded red cars, seeing the true colour being returned and the look on the owner's face at the end of the detail! Such was the case with this car - a 2001 Vauxhall Corsa in Flame "Red"...

As it arrived:










And as if left...










The car is owned by a work colleague who is preparing a website for us so in return we detailed his Corsa ready for sale. The car arrived looking a little tired and sorry for itself...




























A little bit of fading...



















Roof and bonnet were the worst as expected...



















With the car washed we rolled it into the unit ready for claying... the paint felt very rough on this car and a wipe down with Tardis to remove the tar spots from the car (good to avoid the clay turning black unnecessarily). When claying, we used Chemical Guys Purple clay, and Meguiars Last Touch as a lube... when claying I always keep the clay in the palm of my hand, not at the finger tips to ensure no heavy pressure is put down on the clay during the process which can cause marring...










The clay after half of a bonnet...










At this stage, the clay is folded in on itself to fold in the dirt and reveal a clean side ready for the next section.

Once fully clayed the car was ready for machine polishing to restore the finish. I started on the bonnet, Gordon kicked off on the passenger side wing (no wishing to break with tradition, this is how we always detail!). The bonnet before was looking very tired...




























And under the lights...





































A few deeper nasties as well...





































As always when machine polishing, we start off with an assessment of the paint to see what it requires to get the desired result with the minimum possible paint loss... so starting with light combinations of pad and polish and then working up until the desired level of correction is achieved (while ensuring the paint removal rates remain safe).

Menzerna PO106FA Super Finish (Mezerna's best product in my humble opinion) on a Chemical Guys White Hexlogic polishing pad, applied as follows:

1) Spread the polish at 600rpm

2) Begin working the polish at 1200rpm to build a little heat in the panel and get the polish evenly spread and easy to work

3) Work at 1500 - 1800rpm until the residue goes clear, moderate pressure getting lighter as the residue begins to clear, steady machine movements from side to side - takes a good three or so minutes this stage

4) Refine at 1200rpm for a couple of passes

5) Burnish at 900rpm for a couple of slow passes, light pressure

The end results showed a great improvement to the finish colour...



















Under the Sun Gun the finish was okay but still showing some swirls...










Under the strip lights (best assessment for deeper marks, and always best to use the camera on manual focus to focus on the paint surface to really highlight these deeper marks) we still see the deeper marks...




























As the paint removal rate from this stage was very low (inside the error of the gauge), we stepped up to Menzerna PO85RD3.02 Intensive Polish. This was worked as above, ensuring the polish is fully worked through the stages over a small working area to ensure the abrasives are fully worked and broken down. As is being demonstrated, filling effects can occur in selected cases with "poor" technique, so it is crucial with 3.02 to keep your work time long and fully work the polish, and wipedown carefully (IPA on a cold panel works for me, or Panel Wipe from the bodyshop) before assessing the finish. Much improved results with the more aggressive combination - deeper red showing better oxidisation removal...



















Swirl free now...



















But still remaining are these deeper RDS...



















Given the still low paint removal, the decision was made to step up to 3M Fast Cut Plus on a yellow Chemical Guys Hexlogic cutting pad to make a better stab at these deeper marks, follow with 3.02 (which has a rounded abrasive style which seems well suited to rounding and deadening very deep marks than cannot be safely removed) and then refined with PO85RD Final Finish using the Zenith Point method described above. Fast Cut was applied as follows:

1) Spread at 600rpm

2) Begin working at 1200rpm to evenly spread the compound

3) Work at 2000rpm with firm pressure.

This removed the vast majority of the deeper marks, leaving only the tails of the very deep marks behind which could not be fully removed owing to paint thickness considerations...



















After refining, the bonnet was looking far better 




























Assessed for finish quality under the 3M Sun Gun...














































On to the front wing for me, and back to the faded paint...





































Correction here, in the absence of deeper RDS, was carried out using Intensive Polish on a white polishing pad, followed by Final Finish to refine, giving...





































The driver's door and rear three quarter before...













































































































And after correction using Intensive Polish (3M FC+ used on spot locations for deeper marks), and refining with Final Finish...






















































































































Moving on to the passenger side of the car, the front wing...




























And after...





































The passenger side door and rear three quarter had been resprayed at some point, with a clearcoat, and so had not faded but you could still see significant swirling in the befores...









































































Gordon worked with Intensive Polish, Fast Cut where required and refined with Final Finish to achieve the following...
































































The roof was particularly bad...



















We found that Fast Cut Plus was needed across the board on the roof to remove the deeper RDS and fully restore the colour. During:










50/50...










Rather stupidly, I forgot to take full after pics of the roof but as it was 5am by this point, I think that can be forgiven 

Following the machine polishing stage, the car received a second IPA wipedown and assessed ready for protection - good old Meguiars #16 was chosen for the job 

Plastics were treated to Chemical Guys New Look Trim Gel, applied with a sponge applicator and worked into the plastics with moderate pressure and then buffed after half an hour or so to ensure no streaking in the rain.

Glass was cleaned with 3D Glass Cleaner (review to follow soon).

Wheels with FK1000P, arches and tyres with Espuma RD-50.

The after shots in the unit begin to show the transformation achieved...





































Owing to our late finish (730am, after starting at mid day the day before!) , we also got some good daylight after shots of the car as well when the owner picked it up :




































































































We were very proud of our efforts on this little car and the owner was over the moon with it (cue good website! ) ... hopefully this will make the car a wee bit easier to sell


----------



## -tom- (Jan 27, 2009)

great read dave and great turn around


----------



## thehumbold (Mar 17, 2010)

Amazing results, nice work..


----------



## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

You guys are mental.... 

Great turnaround and great finish, looks like a new car, and I'll bet they get much more money for it too....

:thumb:


----------



## Prism Detailing (Jun 8, 2006)

Excellent turn around.....still working at 5am.......no chance for me, i like my bed too much !


----------



## m4rkie23 (May 19, 2009)

lol at the overnight work. great job. they must of been happy!!!!!! looks much better


----------



## Trever_the_reve (Feb 25, 2010)

I am pretty sure that is my Neighbours old car quite a low milage about 30k on it?


----------



## Refined Detail (Nov 27, 2006)

Much better 

Whats going on with the paint around the rear passenger arch?


----------



## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

cracking work fella


----------



## -Ally- (Mar 6, 2009)

stunning transformation, you guys really are dedicated working that long and through the night...either that or just mad  

Great work Dave and Gordon as per.


----------



## chillly (Jun 25, 2009)

Stunning work Dave as always:thumb:


----------



## rallyman1978 (Aug 8, 2007)

As above - cracking work.... but pulling an all-nighter? I reckon the new GF will find you something else to do thru the wee small hours 

Serious question - when paint is refined like this, will it go back to how it was before over time?


----------



## mike_shrops (Oct 27, 2007)

Excellent work as always :thumb:! I love doing the pink to red restorations, I've done a few now and it's great to see the owners reactions! The first one I did was a W-reg Corsa which was up for sale, a bit of a nail if I'm honest but my mate ended up getting £1,100 for it when it was probably only worth £800 or so. Shame it made such a mess of my pads and towels though !


----------



## Craig Taylor (Feb 20, 2010)

Nice work

In the picture below, is this the size of area you would work on, in 1 pass when using 3m fast cut with yellow hex pad for correction?

Cheers in advance


----------



## Clark3y (Jan 7, 2010)

Rich H said:


> Whats going on with the paint around the rear passenger arch?


telling me you've never seen a rusty arch before?

Anyway, great job. I have a couple of questions though. Firstly, are your pads fit for the bin after a job like this on single stage paint? Secondly, what did you use for the black plastics? I've recently tried the heat method for the first time and it really worked, I'm a complete convert now.


----------



## eurodub (Mar 24, 2009)

Excellent write up and cracking job....:thumb:


----------



## Pezza4u (Jun 7, 2007)

Great work mate :thumb:


----------



## p3asa (Aug 26, 2009)

Awesome work, especially on the roof.


----------



## Mirror Finish Details (Aug 21, 2008)

You two must be bonkers working through the night!!!!
Cracking work though, love these pink to red transformations- detailing at it's best and a real transformation.


----------



## PMC (Dec 4, 2009)

Have niçe results with fast cut plus.
Good job :thumb:


----------



## GlynRS2 (Jan 21, 2006)

That paint was in very poor condition before. Vauxhall single stage red paint clearly not able to stand up to the high UV conditions of sunny Scotland. 
A great transformation :thumb:


----------



## CupraRcleanR (Sep 2, 2007)

Great job/write up. What LSP can prevent the pink coming back the best? In my experience its only a few weeks before it starts to revert to type.


----------



## tdekany (Jul 22, 2006)

Stunning transformation Dave. Love it.


----------



## shabba (Sep 28, 2008)

Sweet Dave! Great write-up as always!
good luck with the thesis!


----------



## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

Trever_the_reve said:


> I am pretty sure that is my Neighbours old car quite a low milage about 30k on it?


Its got a few more miles than that on it... but still pretty low.



Rich H said:


> Much better
> 
> Whats going on with the paint around the rear passenger arch?


Rusty wheel arch, thats been sprayed over with poor prep before the painting so the rust bubbled back.



AllyRS said:


> stunning transformation, you guys really are dedicated working that long and through the night...either that or just mad
> 
> Great work Dave and Gordon as per.


We've been doing a few night shifts recently - I blame Gordon 



rallyman1978 said:


> As above - cracking work.... but pulling an all-nighter? I reckon the new GF will find you something else to do thru the wee small hours
> 
> Serious question - when paint is refined like this, will it go back to how it was before over time?


It will - you can delay the effects greatly however by using a good quality wax or sealant and keeping the protection regularly topped up... My dad has a flame red Astra and it is regularly waxed to prevent this fading from reoccuring. Sometimes an oil heavy glaze can help prevent the problem too in my experience, something like Meguiars #7.



Mirror Finish said:


> You two must be bonkers working through the night!!!!
> Cracking work though, love these pink to red transformations- detailing at it's best and a real transformation.


Yup - though I'm getting to enjoy the overnight details... 



CupraRcleanR said:


> Great job/write up. What LSP can prevent the pink coming back the best? In my experience its only a few weeks before it starts to revert to type.


Meguiars #16 here - but for me its more the regular top ups that are important to ensure you stay on top of the protection which is important.


----------



## hotwaxxx (Jul 12, 2007)

I love pink-to-red transformation. Really shows off the benefit of machine polishing to the full. 

Good news on the new girlfriend front as well, Dave. Happy for you.:thumb:


----------



## alxg (May 3, 2009)

I think this type of write up can be more interesting than the exotica details TBH - not to take anything away from anyone on here, far from it, but this shows how far things can be changed to the extreme.
Of course, it helps when Dave & Co are the ones doing the work, fantastic job :thumb:

DAMN, I need to go on one of your courses............


----------



## Finerdetails (Apr 30, 2006)

great improvement guys, but two of you, all night? Its only a corsa


----------



## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

hotwaxxx said:


> I love pink-to-red transformation. Really shows off the benefit of machine polishing to the full.
> 
> Good news on the new girlfriend front as well, Dave. Happy for you.:thumb:


Cheers :thumb: One of my fav machine jobs, the pink to reds 



alxg said:


> I think this type of write up can be more interesting than the exotica details TBH - not to take anything away from anyone on here, far from it, but this shows how far things can be changed to the extreme.
> Of course, it helps when Dave & Co are the ones doing the work, fantastic job :thumb:
> 
> DAMN, I need to go on one of your courses............


Cheers mate :thumb: ... I particularly enjoy details like this too. Don't get me wrong, I love doing supercars, luxury cars - I love detailing full stop in honesty. But there's a particular appeal to little cars like this and the look on the owner's face when they pick them up 



Finerdetails said:


> great improvement guys, but two of you, all night? Its only a corsa


Blame Gordon, he slows me down 

But in seriousness, we do like to take a lot of time working on details - helps having company, you don't go mad on a night shift then!


----------



## caledonia (Sep 13, 2008)

Dave KG said:


> We've been doing a few night shifts recently - I blame Gordon
> 
> Yup - though I'm getting to enjoy the overnight details...





Dave KG said:


> Blame Gordon, he slows me down
> 
> But in seriousness, we do like to take a lot of time working on details - helps having company, you don't go mad on a night shift then!


Hoy Bugger lugs. Less of it or I will book in more.
I am not the one that keeps falling asleep, and you say your a young thing. :lol:
You should be used to it by now its been 5 in the last few week.

Nothing better than the squeal of the makita as the sun breaks though and he birds are singing in the trees.
Gordon.

P.S. Thanks everyone for the kind comments. :thumb:


----------



## scooby73 (Mar 20, 2007)

Great work lads the car looks brand new!:thumb:


----------



## mogz (Jan 18, 2010)

Awesome work as usual


----------



## CliveP (Feb 1, 2009)

Great stuff Dave.

Quick question - ok you guys have what seems like unlimited time.....
Reference your statement above one of the pics....
"Correction here, in the absence of deeper RDS, was carried out using Intensive Polish on a white polishing pad, followed by Final Finish to refine, giving.."
Do you think if where there were no RDS you had just used intensive polish you would have still got a very satisfactory result?
I'm asking because I appreciate two hits will get better refinement, but as an overall approach, compared to one it doubles the time (obviously),,,,but if you'd get say a '90%' quality on one hit (with nice long work times) do you think you'd have still got a pretty satisfactory result for the 'average' (whatever that is!) person?

Thanks,
Clive.


----------



## GazT4R` (Apr 20, 2009)

Very nice work. I do enjoy working on red when it's faded, very rewarding.
Had a neighbours Corsa (L Reg) in red to do today, he just wanted the colour returning rather than a full correction (young lad, not much money so doing it cheap anyway). Rained stopped play so got to go back to do the doors and tailgate.
His face was a picture after a couple of passes with the rotary making the bonnet shine red and gleam again. May have a few of his friends Corsas to do now, all red, as they were asking twenty questions and amazed too . 
They just aren't get the same effect with Turtle Wax Colour Magic lol.


----------



## ross-1888 (Feb 22, 2009)

nice write up. night and day with a pink to red. 


keep em comin


----------



## CliveP (Feb 1, 2009)

GazT4R` said:


> Very nice work. I do enjoy working on red when it's faded, very rewarding.
> Had a neighbours Corsa (L Reg) in red to do today, he just wanted the colour returning rather than a full correction (young lad, not much money so doing it cheap anyway). Rained stopped play so got to go back to do the doors and tailgate.
> His face was a picture after a couple of passes with the rotary making the bonnet shine red and gleam again. May have a few of his friends Corsas to do now, all red, as they were asking twenty questions and amazed too .
> They just aren't get the same effect with Turtle Wax Colour Magic lol.


Nice one Gaz, where are you I'd happily give you a hand with those cars. Nothing like seeing a youngster face shine after making their car red again (or as I did a white one, white again).

Regards,
Clive.


----------



## Guest (Mar 20, 2010)

Brilliant work mate. My girlfriend's sister has one of these Pink Corsa c's and I'm due to be doing some very similar rectification work soon, in order to restore the original colour and remove swirls etc.

This thread will be a very useful guide.


----------



## Mr Face (Jan 22, 2009)

Hi Fella's. as per normal 'a master class' and very much appreciate the detail of the write up indeed. Interersting and as always informative with practical hints tips and methodology. 

Thanks guys, a great job (would we expect anything else) and writeup to boot. :wave:


----------



## alx_chung (Aug 13, 2006)

Impressive turnaround guys! Well done! :thumb:
Alex


----------



## poisonouspea (Mar 7, 2010)

nice turn around fellos, love the pink to shiney reds. what top coat wax did you use last, nice write up .good info , hard work always shows when the owner collects, quality mate.


----------



## cotter (Aug 31, 2008)

Nice turnaround, but you're mad doing so many nights!


----------



## -Ally- (Mar 6, 2009)

My bro has just bought a red 106 gti and it is as badly faded if not worse than that corsa.

He's looking for my help as he wants it "deep red again-like my fabia"
Would Red Moose glaze be a temporary solution via DA?


----------



## Select Detailing (Feb 19, 2009)

Always enjoy reading your write ups and seeing the end results.

Gareth


----------



## opel-astra04 (Nov 1, 2008)

That's an amazing job there.

My other half thinks I'm mad spending 5 or 6 hours on my car let alone an all-nighter. 

It's good to see that the dedication is there regardless of what type of car it is.


----------

