Fully Valeted My Car

[J Henderson]

It was hard work, but very satisfying. :)

Whilst I normally give my car a quick wash every week to keep it "clean", I hadn't made the effort to clean it properly for probably around a year, and it was really showing. The paintwork was pretty lifeless and rough to the touch, and the bottom half was especially bad since it was saturated with hundreds of tar spots and other bits of embedded grime. The interior also hadn't been touched in ages, but wasn't too bad compared to the exterior.

So, this weekend, and last, I took advantage of the nice weather to try and get my car spotless again and finally use some of the Autoglym products I had been amassing thanks to Halfords' 3 for 2 offers.

Last weekend was when most of the hard work was done. The car was washed and vacuumed, then dried before I set about removing all the tar deposits. The car was then clayed, and treated to a course of Super Resin Polish. I also done the alloys and dressed the tyres. That was where I left things though as it looked like it might start raining. Plus, I was getting pretty tired of all that rubbing and polishing.

Fast-forward to this weekend, and the car was washed and dried once more. At this point I noticed how dull and faded the black paint on my door frames were, so I rejuvenated those with AG Paint Renovator then treated the car to another layer of SRP, before finishing the job with High Definition Wax to seal in the shine. Rubbers, plastics and glass were also done to complete the look, plus the wheels and tyres once again.

A quick pass of the interior and engine bay followed, with the main task being to clean and condition the leather seats. No pics of this I'm afraid, or before, or during shots of any of the work I done. Just these few snaps taken in early morning sunshine which doesn't really show the deep shine very well.

In person, the car looks tremendous and I'll be trying to keep it that way. Maybe even use this topic as a cleaning log of sorts...I'll make sure I take better pictures next time though.

Products Used:

AG Bodywork Shampoo Conditioner

AG High-Tech microfibre Drying Towel

AG Intensive Tar Remover

AG Rapid Detailer

AG clay Bar

AG Super Resin Polish

AG Clean Wheels

AG Instant tyre dressing

AG Paint Renovator

AG High Definition Wax

AG Fast Glass

AG Vinyl & Rubber Care

AG Bumper & Trim Gel

AG Autofresh

AG Engine & Machine Cleaner

AG Leather Cleaner

AG Leather Care Balm

AG Interior Shampoo

[mikeyv]

Looking good mate, well done.

[The-Acre]

Looks the biz! Makes me realise how much I need to do mine. The only thing I do regularly (apart from normal wash and wax) is to "feed" the leather seats, maybe this coming weekend....

[LexIS200Sport]

Well done, your car looks fantastic!

You might also want to try applying some of the AG Super Resin Polish onto the rear foglamps; it will bring the shine back and complement the rest of the car :)

[steve2006]

Wax on,wax off Daniel son but did you wind the windows down slightly to clean the edges that normally sit in the seal area? :eerrrmm:

Only a true master would remember to do this.

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

Great job....Looks fantastic! :zee:

[Exdee]

Wow! Are you a professional detailer by any chance?

[J Henderson]

Strictly an amateur. :)

Wax on,wax off Daniel son but did you wind the windows down slightly to clean the edges that normally sit in the seal area? :eerrrmm:

Only a true master would remember to do this.

Heh, I must admit I didn't. I only done the outside quickly to get rid of water marks since the rest of the car was shiny. I'll polish the glass properly at the weekend if the weather allows.

Well done, your car looks fantastic!

You might also want to try applying some of the AG Super Resin Polish onto the rear foglamps; it will bring the shine back and complement the rest of the car :)

Yep, I used SRP on all the lights. I noticed in the past just how good it is on them. :)

I finished off under the bonnet this afternoon.

[bluenose1940]

Great job..........well done, it looks the bees knees. It's got me thinking about doing some work on my own now. At the moment mine is filthy!!!!

[Exdee]

Very impressive man especially the engine bay. Did you use water in the bay?

[J Henderson]

Yeah. I rinsed it clean using a watering can with the "rose" removed.

It took surprisingly little effort or time to get this result btw. I just sprayed on the engine cleaner and used a soft brush to work it in and let it soak for a minute or two, then rinsed it off and let it dry naturally. The following day I buffed up the pipework & plastics etc with Autoglym Vinyl & Rubber Care.

[Exdee]

Thanks. I am going to try it on Saturday.

[Rich OB]

The grafting pays off. I used to keep my car showroom, it's time consuming and hard work, then family took over! I've never used water to rinse in the engine bay, aren't there things you shouldn't get wet or pour water over? Think I'd be dubious about rinsing the engine bay with water?

[J Henderson]

Yeah, I was a bit mindful of that so I was careful not to douse the fusebox, ECU casing etc with prolonged jets of water. Just a quick splash to get rid of the dirty liquid that had gathered on them. I reckon those boxes are sealed-up pretty good, and pretty-much splash-proof but I wouldn't entertain the thought of blasting them with a pressure washer.

[HoodRich]

John - I might have said it before, but I'll say it again ....your IS is one of the neatest I have ever seen.

[NEV72]

A little tip for when using Auto clay bar, I used to use Bilt Hamber Auto clay, until someone who details his car for auto shows told me to try Blu Tack, don't take my word for it mind try it yourself, you'll be surprised, a darn site cheaper too, but need to keep it wet same as Auto clay.