Hi guys, thanks for checking out another thread of mine.
This is a white R8 brought to me to improve the finish on all areas of the car. Evidently, it has had its fair share of roadside car washes.
It was booked in for an exterior enhancement detail, Engine bay detail and a deep interior clean with a deep leather clean. This car also needed some stone chips touching up also. This was a two day booking really, but the owner could only be away from the car for 24 hours. I had the car dropped off at 6 in the evening, carried out the “wet work” then carried on the next day.
So, let’s get cracking with the photos!
Here is the car on arrival.
The leather was in real need of cleaning properly. It has discoloured quite a lot and also gotten very shiny, due to dirt on the surface!
So, I rolled the car out of the unit. I then started on the wheels.
The tyres and arches were cleaned then scrubbed
There were a few tar spots on the wheels which were easily taken care of.
This left the wheels looking a like new!
Once all the wheels were done, the grills, shuts, engine bay, vents etc were all taken care of with citrus cleaner.
The rear spoiler was raised to gain access to gaps underneath which had probably never been touched.
Now the shuts were done.
The car was then washed with the two bucket method and a lamb’s wool mitt.
Once the wash was out of the way, I started on bonded contaminants.
First up was to get rid of the tar spots, which helped a lot.
Here we can see the tar spots dissolving.
Next up was localised usage of a fall out remover, to remove iron filings etc.
Now, I set about claying. By the time I had washed, got rid of the tar and removed iron filings, there was a big reduction on the amount of contaminants still on the paint. But in my opinion, each of the stages used previously are not a substitute for claying.
All done in about an hour, which isn’t too bad on a white car!
Now it was time to dry.
It was towel dried then blow dried, then towelled off again.
Now it’s looking like it’s allowed in the uber clean section of the unit!
Once it was dry, it was time to assess which panels needed stone chips touching up. These were to be done on day one, and left to dry until day two.
They were wiped down with IPA then touched up.
I had told the owner, that with time constraints and his busy schedule, I wouldn’t be able to wait for the completely fill the chips and flat them down, then polish. He was fine with that and just wanted them “dabbing” to take your eye off them. I was very pleased with how they turned out, considering I had to touch them up, and enhance the paint within 24 hours.
So…before
After
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After
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After
So, 11PM, the wet work and painting was complete! Another late finish @ Miglior.
The car was left around the corner so any other bits of water could drop off the car, away from my clean work area.
The next day…I managed to get to work on the car later than I wanted to due to a meeting in the morning…but I cracked on before 9.30! 
Onto polishing. Remember this isn’t a full correction job, so there was still a few deeper marks left in, but I did my best, and the paint looked a lot wetter afterwards!
Side Vents in desperate need of attention
A 50/50 shot of the side vents during the enhancement detail.
The only way a side vent on an R8 should look!
A little 50/50 on the driver’s side…
Before
After
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Quick 50/50
Once I had finished all the polishing, I set about sealing the paintwork.
When that was curing, I did all four wheels/arches.
The wheels were first polished by hand then they were then sealed. The tyres were dressed too
The door shuts were sealed with polymer sealant.
Exhaust outer rim polished. The inners were also wiped with degreaser and cleaned with a foam pad.
The engine bay was dressed and looked beautiful in its home in the back!
The front luggage compartment was also fully cleaned and dressed.
Time was ticking by this point, it was already 8PM so thing like dressing plastics, arches, final wipe down were not photographed.
Now, onto the interior!
It wasn’t in a bad way, but definitely needed some work.
Shiny leather, not cool!
Dust around the entire interior (bad shot I know)
Now, onto the leather…
Only one choice for this… Swissvax leather cleaner.
This is a 50/50 of the leather after it was cleaned.
Passenger side…
It was much the same on the steering wheel too.
Once the leather was done, the rest of the interior was also taken care of.
Now, that pretty much covers it!
Here is a sequence of before and after shots.
I hope you enjoy…
Before
After
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A lot less shiny thank god and even more red.
Last one…
Thanks for reading guys!
Time taken, 16 hours! (In about 24hours too)
The owner loved the work!
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