Hey Guys,

When I began my obsession with detailing, I couldnt find enough of these threads with thoughts regarding different products and techniques, and always try and give back whenever I do a detailing with pics and thoughts.

This weekend I detailed my brother's 1996 Audi A4, a car he has neglected since receiving it in 2000. (Im talking serious neglect...Read: unwashed since 8/2004 and as a family we couldnt remember when it was last waxed :rofl2 That having been said, here is a quick picture I took of the car prior to detailing:

The car was really gross. (Bird Droppings are left on the paint for rain to wash them away...I swear I am not sure how we are related. :nixweiss: )
I started off by washing the car in the early morning (2-Bucket Method) with Mother's California Gold Car Wash and then moved on to drying the car with some MF towels (to be reviewed in a different thread).

In my opinion the worst part of the car is always the wheels. He brakes hard in everyday driving and the dust gets really built up, and after baking on for 8-10 months becomes nearly impossible to remove with just water and a brush. For the wheels I used the Sonus Rim Bright I had reviewed in a previous thread (though the wheels I used it on before were no where near as bad as the Audi wheels), and it worked beautifully. I sprayed it on, let it sit for 5 minutes or so as the directions say and then used a wheel brush (I used a mit with equally good results last time) to agitate the dust. I then hit the wheel with a quick shot of water and the black seemed to melt away. I really love this stuff, and although I always shyed away from wheel cleaners in the past, will definitely continue to use the Rim Bright in the future.

Before Shot of a Front Wheel:

After Shot:


After cleaning the car I pulled it into the garage and began the polishing stages. I started with 3m FI2 (Finesse it 2) on a Orange "Light Cutting" Pad. This seemed to remove most of the swirls I could see under my 1000w Halogen lights. After the 3M FI2 I moved on to Klassse AIO on a White Polishing Pad, and finally finished the car off with my newest LSP (Last Step Product), 4-Star Ultimate Paint Protection. This was recommended to me as an excellent sealant for silver cars to really bring out their shine. :agree:

The below pictures are what the car looked like after my full day of detailing:



Also, after finishing the Audi at 4, I pulled my car in to be washed. I washed it in the same way as the Audi with the Mothers Wash and then dried it with my MF towels and MF Dry Mit. After finishing the regular washing I was really anxious to try out my new PoorBoys's World "Spray and Gloss" which serves to shine up the paint after washings, but in between waxings/sealings.

The pic below is taken of my trunk (waxed with P21S 3 weeks ago, but only having been driven 400 miles (in the pouring rain) and garaged otherwise. I almost think it looks better than it did right after I waxed it with the P21S. :nixweiss:

I also have a pretty large Autopia order coming my way this week, and will be posting another review this coming weekend after taking on some more of the family cars. I am particularly interested to see how their Sonus Caranuba Spritz stacks up to the Spray and Gloss..

Hope you guys enjoy the pics and feel free to respond with any questions or comments.

-Richard

 

One step in there you forgot prior to polishing is clay. It is important to clay the car first because when you leave the brake dust and other contamination in the clear coat it will get into the polishing pad and become abrasive. Clay first and then follow with any buffing. Otherwise, looks great.

 

I do usually use clay, but seeing as how this was kinda an unplanned detailing, I didnt have any on-hand.

When I clayed my m3, I was astounded at how smooth the paint felt...

Thanks for the good words.

 

To bad you didn't get the inside of the wheel... Never the less it doesn't look bad.

 

I thought about getting in there, I should have just sprayed the Rim Bright into the inside and then sprayed it away to see the results after no agitation whatsoever.