Audi A8 Detail: Phase 1 complete (long read)

[AudiOx]

I'm still waiting on the remainder of my Adam's products to come in, so I've watched all the videos twice in anticipation.

Disclaimer: Since I'm new to Adam's, I'm still using some non-Adam's product so forgive me. They are getting phased in to my arsonel.

 

The subject:

I took my A8 on a 1000 mile round trip last weekend to the Tampa area. While there, we went through about a 1/2 mile of torn up roads that more resembled a monster truck pit than a road due to 1: no asphalt, and 2: recent torrential storms. As a result, I have caked up mud in all the wheel wells and rockers with numerous splatter up the car on the side mirrors and windows. Of course there's a 1000 miles of bug splats and road grime too.

 

The task:

I guessed that I'd might have to wash her twice, so at 10:30 tonight I figured I'd get the 1st wash out of the way so I can complete the detail this weekend. I was right; the car is still disgusting after the wash.

But I used the 3 hours to practice technique, many of them new to me:

( - I highly recommend trying the following procedure or product if you aren't already.)

 

-Detail the engine bay first using all-purpose cleaner, light spray water, well brush, and detail brush. (I idled the car for about 10min afterwards to assure water was evaporated from any electrical components)

-Pressure wash down the car to get the 'big chunks' off

-Scrub wheel wells with well brush

-Then wash wheels using :thumbsup:Turbo stick, :thumbsup:soft lug detail brush, and Boar's hair brush

-2 bucket wash, both with grit guards

-foam gun pre-treatment over entire car w/ shut off valve and quick disconnects.

-2 wash mitts for upper and lower panels

-Adding soap directly to wash mitts

-No scrubbing, just gentle strokes and doing whole body and windows before rinsing. (nighttime wash so no soap drying issues)

-Detail brush around badges and such during the wash

-Sheeting rinse technique

-Drying car with blower

-Using VRT as wheel dressing

:thumbsup:Cleaning mitts and brushes using the grit guard as an agitator

 

Adam's Products Used:

VRT (old formula), Grit guards, well brush, boar's hair brush, shut-off valve, detail spray, Turbostick

For this weekend, I'll have just about everything else.

 

Due to all the caked on mud, I was a little more conservative and changed the 2 bucket water after doing the wheel wells and wheels, and I used a bit extra soap than normal. Plus I REALLY took my time to do everything right, so it took 3 hours and I didn't even touch the windows or interior. I normally do it all in 2-2.5 hours with my previous technique. I'll get faster with practice.

Lastly, I also pre-treated the front end and side mirrors with Goo-gone to loosen up the bug guts so I wouldn't have to scrub. After drying I still had to treat a few bug splats with goo-gone, but they came right out.

I'm not extemely happy with the foam gun, it foams 'ok' , but I'll try it with Adam's soap this weekend to see if it improves. The foam is just not 'sticking'.

 

Results:

Obviously she is much cleaner now, but still pretty disgusting. The power wash didn't nearly get all the 'chunks' off so I had to get real careful with the wash mitt and rinse it much more frequently. I can still see a lot of dirt on the car not from missed spots, but just from lack of a clayed protected surface prior to the trip allowing the dirt to stick more.

A second wash should do the trick.

 

The next phases:

Inspecting the paint, there are swirls a plenty and it's so rough to the touch. I'll clay her, and get to try out the Flex too this weekend.

 

I probably won't get to the interior until next week. I took a quick look under the back seat while searching for a kid's toy and saw all sorts of junk. I just held my breath and put the seat back in knowing I'd get to it soon. The rest of the interior is in great shape so it won't take long.

I bought her used a few months ago with 74kmiles on the clock so I inheireted numerous rock chips, swirls, scratches, other blemishes, and now a cheap gold necklace under the back seat.

 

 

Sorry, I'm naturally having troubles getting the pictures off the camera, but I'm taking them as I go and will do a full writeup when done.

 

 

If you made it here to the end, thanks.

Love being on the forums and learning from so many!

Thanks Adam, Dylan, Junkman, and the rest of the forum.

[Chase@InsanePaint]

You got some work ahead Dylan. FUN. But work nonetheless.....

[AudiOx]

Phase 1 & 2 will reside in Wash/Clay forum

Phase 3, 4, and 5 will reside in the Machine Polishing forum.

 

http://www.adamsforums.com/forums/machine-polishing/13870.htm

 

Thanks all for the support and great advice.

[jerseypeach]

The Audi looks great Dylan...espeically from what it looked like before...

[AudiOx]

So far so good. I would estimate more than 10 hrs to do paint correction, as this will be a) your first run with the PC and this will be your heaviest level of correction - next time it won't be nearly as swirled.

 

Regarding the Great White drying towels, they are the single most used microfiber in my collection, as I wash the car every week (schedule permitting). For me they are worth it, and with my wash schedules, sometimes I do more than one car in a day. I was not sure about them, but they do work well. I have had some of mine over a year and they still work great, so they do last.

 

Yeah, if you are blowing off the car, maybe wait until after to use DS. I only use my metro blaster for certain areas, not the whole car, so I DS the wet car and then dry it and then work those areas that collect water, like the mirrors etc.

 

They clay will begin the process, and it is important to start with a well clayed finish before putting the PC to work. Check your claying with the baggie as you go, as you will find some areas may need a bit more claying to get them perfectly smooth.

 

Good stuff. Thanks. I do have a Flex which will go faster than the PC, but I have to counter that with a very careful learning curve. No doubt I'll be very slow in the beginning. The plan is to jack up the car a bit and work a lower panel during my learning curve, where I can more afford to make an error.

There is a pretty bad clear coat run about the area of a tennis ball just above the rocker on the rear driver's side door. I'll probably work that lower panel first since that run will have to be wet sanded. I see actually getting that professionally done at some point so it's a good 'guinea pig' panel.

 

Meh, my 'shopping cart' was getting full of towels anyway. Guess I'll have to clear that out. Adam's is making a killing on me getting set up the first time.

[Doug123]

So far so good. I would estimate more than 10 hrs to do paint correction, as this will be a) your first run with the PC and this will be your heaviest level of correction - next time it won't be nearly as swirled.

 

Regarding the Great White drying towels, they are the single most used microfiber in my collection, as I wash the car every week (schedule permitting). For me they are worth it, and with my wash schedules, sometimes I do more than one car in a day. I was not sure about them, but they do work well. I have had some of mine over a year and they still work great, so they do last.

 

Yeah, if you are blowing off the car, maybe wait until after to use DS. I only use my metro blaster for certain areas, not the whole car, so I DS the wet car and then dry it and then work those areas that collect water, like the mirrors etc.

 

They clay will begin the process, and it is important to start with a well clayed finish before putting the PC to work. Check your claying with the baggie as you go, as you will find some areas may need a bit more claying to get them perfectly smooth.

[AudiOx]

Dylan, once you get the paint corrected, you will LOVE the DS before you dry. But only use the DS if you plan on using the GWDT for drying. If you spray on DS, then BLOW dry, it will streak again. The DS before drying is meant to be towel dried. That's what I do, then blow dry the cracks and moldings. Make sense??

 

Makes perfect sense. I kind of figured that out the second I started blowing the car off. "Uh oh, streaks....this is gonna be a mess." I'm just glad the microfiber took the streaks off with just a little pressure. Since the paint is not corrected yet, I'm not too worried about a few additional microscratches from a bit of pressure. Now after correction, I will be so careful.

I gotta get some of those GWDTs. I have numerous new microfibers, but not the ones for drying like the waffle ones or GWDT. I've been waiting because it seems once the paint is corrected, blow drying the car is about all that's needed, and the GWDT is $$$ especially if a buy a couple of them.

 

Thanks for the input.

[MichiganSRT8]

its all worth it in the end, thats about the same i spent on my first correction too. cant wait to see some pics up

[Chase@InsanePaint]

Dylan, once you get the paint corrected, you will LOVE the DS before you dry. But only use the DS if you plan on using the GWDT for drying. If you spray on DS, then BLOW dry, it will streak again. The DS before drying is meant to be towel dried. That's what I do, then blow dry the cracks and moldings. Make sense??

[AudiOx]

Well, I didn't get the clay done, but I want to do that right before I polish.

 

Phase 1 Recap:

3 hours

-"Chisel" 2-bucket wash and foam to remove the big muddin' and buggin' stuff

-Washed engine

-Washed wheel wells

-Cleaned wheels and VRT tires

 

Tonight's accomplishments: ( recommended process or product)

Phase 2

2-1/2 hours

-:thumbsup:Cleaned all door wells, door perimeters, trunk well and trunk perimeter prior to wash using All-purpose cleaner, Boar's hair brush, small detail brush, and black microfiber.

-Final 2-bucket wash and foam to remove remaining grime

-Detail spray prior to blow dry and microfiber dry (oops!)

-Washed windows in and out

- Magic eraser to remove several paint scuffs that were on the car when I bought it.

-Cleaned wheel wells, fender edges, and lower rocker panels with All-purpose cleaner to remove remaining mud film

 

 

We're gettin' somewhere now!

From a distance, the car is almost spotless.

Up close though, the surface REALLY needs claying, the swirls are still very evident, and there are a dozen or more paint nicks/chips, door scrapes on the rub strip, and a couple of etched spots on the roof. I got a Dr. Colorchip kit the other day to fix that.

All in time...all in time. I didn't take any pics this time, but there's not much obvious difference night-time pictures would show other than the lack of grime/dirt on the rockers.

I'm not sure I like adding the Detail spray before drying. It made blowing off the car very ineffective and left streaks. Fortunately, the microfiber took all the streaks out easily, but it seemed to cause more work. I'll try it again once the car is polished and waxed as the smoother surface may change the effect.

 

 

Next up (I expanded the steps a bit based on blocks of time):

Phase 3: clay, polish (est. 10hrs)

Phase 4: paint chip repair, focus pad work, fine polish focus spots, seal (est. 8hrs)

Phase 5: wax, interior detail, interior/exterior dressing (est. 3-1/2hrs)

Total: maybe 27hours

[AudiOx]

yikes! how does that thing handle out in the mud?

 

looks like a fun detail!

 

 

Handles great! Audi Quattro = all-wheel-drive

 

I'll admit once I was already on the road in the mud, already speckled with bug splats, and I knew I had all my detailing products on the way, I was steering into the mud puddles and making a little bigger mess than it had to be. Went muddin'! Yeeeee doggie!

[Z71_Denali]

yikes! how does that thing handle out in the mud?

 

looks like a fun detail!

[AudiOx]

Great input, thanks!

 

Here's a larger version of that swirl pic if that changes anything. Every part of the car I've looked at seems similar.

After the 2nd wash and claying I'll do a full inspection and post some more pics before starting any Flex work. I have the 4" Focus Kit on order to address the couple of deeper scratches on the back of the trunk lid and no doubt a few more I find. I did find two spots on the roof that are etched in, but I'm not sure how deep they are.

 

I've had Copacabana stuck in my head for a week thinking about the pace of working the Flex, lol. Darn you, Junkman!

[Chase@InsanePaint]

We're here for ya man!!!

Just remember, no need to put any "excessive" pressure on the Flex, let it do all the work! You're not gonna believe the difference when you're done!

 

From the small pics of that thing, and from what the paint "looks" like in those shots. I'd plan on ONE pass of SSR, TWO passes of SHR, and one pass of FMP. I'm far from expert, but that's my guess bro.

 

ANXIOUS to see the progress!!

[MichiganSRT8]

looks good!

[Chris@Adams]

Nice job!

[AudiOx]

THE BEFORE

 

This makes me cringe. The driver's side is slightly better, but not much.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Nice handprint: I hate when non-detailers 'help' you pack your trunk. There are a few of these on the windows too.)

 

The engine bay isn't in too bad a shape since I have VRT detailed it recently, but never sprayed it down with All-purpose cleaner and water.

These 2 are before shots. I'll get after shots when I dress it.

 

 

 

 

(I see someone was nice enough to rub their grubby fingers on my dirty wheel for some reason.)

 

AFTER PHASE 1:

 

Wheels with VRT on tires

 

Bug splats all gone with almost no extra work other than Goo-Gone pre-treatment. (aside from the 3 spots I mentioned earlier). I did the front and side mirrors dead last in the wash routine to minimize contamination of the mitts and buckets.

 

Wheel wells. That scrub brush is da bomb! I plan to remove the wheels and clean up the suspension the same way given the great results so far.

 

Better, but still tons of grime, particularly visible on the lower rockers. I just wasn't going to scrub them. Another wash should take care of it.

 

Easy to see the swirls and grime under the light

 

Swirls. I have a couple of deeper scratches between the tail lights and license plate, but should be able to make them better.

 

Ack! Swirls! :willy:I got a long road ahead of me. The hood feels like sandpaper, though I expect it will be better after the 2nd wash.

 

 

I'm referring to this as the Chisel Wash.

No need to worry about perfection in the crevices, doing windows, interior etc.

This is just to 'chisel' off the big chunks.

 

PHASE 2 will include the second, more detailed wash to remove all washable dirt, attention to crevices, etc. It will also include the clay bar treatment to prep her for Phase 3.

 

PHASE 3 will be polishing, sealing and waxing. This will take awhile since I'm learning as I go. I will REALLY take my time and probably be asking questions on here during the process.

 

PHASE 4 will be a full interior detail, windows, and dressing of interior/exterior.

 

This is going to take a while.

What a labor of love.

[Marylander]

Sounds like you're off to a great start. She's going to look great when you're done.