The Process
--Chemical Guys Citrus Wash + Gloss
--Microfiber Chenille Washmitt
Wheels and Tires:
--P21S Gel Wheel Cleaner
--Detail Brush
--Boars Hair Brush
Engine Bay/Door Shuts:
--P21S Total Auto Wash for door shuts and engine bay.
-Meguiars Boars Hair Brush
--Followed by Clay Magic's Claybar and Meguire's Final Inspection for lubrication.
--Citrus based adhesive remover on lower rockers and rear bumper to remove road tar.
Paint:
--Meguire's Fine Cut Cleaner
--3M Finesse It II for dark paint
--Jetseal 109 Paint Sealant
--Meguire's NXT wax
Trim
--Stoner Rubber Care
Convertible
--303 Aerospace Protectant
Pads:
--Lake Country foam pads
--Orange - White - Gray - Blue
--Ultra Plush Detailing Microfiber Towels
--Milwauke HD Polisher 5440 0-2800 RPM
--Cyclo Twin head Dual Orbital - Final Polish
Glass:
--RainX
--Stoner Invisible Glass
Intense swirls are self-evident. The car had changed color from it's original Henna-Rot Red to an off orange color.
After washing and before clay procedure.
You can't make out the quartz light at all due to the intense scratch/swirls.
I hadn't quite finished taping off the trim at this stage.
The quartz light is showing light refraction to the left, indicating that at some time in the past the paint had been polished by a direct drive buffer. Again, you can't make out the light through the cloud of swirls.
After polishing just the passengers side of the hood. Should have taken a true before shot,
but my batteries had died in the camera!
Another shot of the above picture. Notice that you can make out the quartz light reflection,
but barely can see the flourescent light at the bottom.
Same location, different angle.
Passenger and center of hood are cut/polished. You can easily see how badly damaged the paint was.
! The quartz light and the flourescents are now recognizable !
The camera was set for the quartz light and it changed the red to an orange due to only flourescent lighting
at this stage. I will go back and retake photos with the white balance properly calibrated!
THIS is one nice ride. The interior is nearly perfect, the convertible looks brand new and the paint is 95% restored.
There were several deep scratches that I felt were best left until we recieve our paint depth meter.
Recapping this detail, it is evident that proper instruction on how to properly and safely wash a vehicle is necessary. Also, regular paint care by a professional will keep these conditions from getting so out of hand.
This car was garaged, constantly covered and very babied, but still had severe paint issues. A single stage paint will naturally oxidize it's top layer and even with the best of washing techniques, the oxidation scratches quite easily. It may look great after a wash/wax by the home owner, but soon the oxidation will show through as the wax evaporates under natural conditions. This was probably the cause of this vehicles issues.
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1998 BMW 328IS Convertible
