Gs300 Sport Car Detailing Weekend

[finest1]

Hi all,

Some of you may have seen my posts over the last 2 months where I was discussing car detailing and products. My research ended with me purchasing and using the Bilt Hamber range of products.

So I now present to you, my car detailing weekend !

Here’s the pics I tried to do with my car dirty. The wheel shot should hopefully highlight how dirty the car was. I wanted to try and take pics of the swirl marks that the body work has. I didn’t come out well !

The Bilt Hamber (BH) products I used were as follows:

Auto-Wash (AW)

Auto-Clay (AC)

Auto-Balm (AB)

Day 1

Ok, so I washed the car with AW. I actually used a tablespoon (10ml) in 5ltr water ! oops! To wash the whole car I only used 2.5ltr ! I was worried about the fact that I had a lot left, but it worked out in the end. see day 2.

Once I applied the shampoo with my lambswool mitt, I left it to soak for no more than a minute. I then hosed off and dried with my large waffle MF cloth. Took me just over 5 mins to dry off !! here are some pics after I used AW and dried.

Later I went to “feel” the body work. It did feel bumpy and grainy. So I took out the AC.

Good job I cut it into 5 pieces, because one dropped on the ground after 15 mins!! Straight in the bin !

Ok, so I was getting used to the clay. The AC is great as I only used water in a spray bottle. I sprayed the bodywork and the clay. When using, you will feel a slight resistance, but once that part has been done, the clay glides effortly over a wet surface. This is good because you will easily know where you have clayed. As it was getting late I decided to call it a day. I had only the driver door, rear passenger door and rear panel left. Here are some pics of the clayed body parts. Photos were taken in low light.

Later that night I went to move the car. I noticed that the halogen street lights showed up the swirl marks. The marks looked even more pronounced as I think the clay may have removed any deposits. By the way, the clay looked absolutely awful when I finished with it !!

Day 2

I was worried about the weather, and hoped it would stay overcast. I had hazy sun and lots of overcast. It had only rained a little overnight, so I cracked on with claying the remaining panels.

When I finished I decided to rinse off the dust the rain left and any clay marks etc. which is where I found use for my left over AW !

Then came the Auto Balm ! lets see if it lives up to its reputation.

I used all the tips from the forum members as well as the tech sheet provided. I used the product very thin, its hard to tell what is thin, but I was literally dabbing the product. As the weather was warming I put it in my mind not to leave it on too long. I worked on body panels at a time. I imagined 2ft sq blocks and applied the AB. You can tell when it goes on because it smears. As I was filling swirls I applied product as recommended on tech sheet and website. One important detail I want to mention, is that I used very medium pressure to apply the product. There is no need to apply lots of pressure, plus you would tire out early! Because of the warm weather, I left product on for 1 min max. the buffing stockinette roll was working out ok. But as I got to the next half of the car I was tiring out. The cloth started to fray and fluff was attaching it to the car. I remembered I had a clean MF cloth in doors so I started to use that insead. What a difference. The cloth has more power and 2 wipes and you can move on. Maybe BH should get rid of the roll and provide a MF in their kit. When I got to the bonnet, I had a spell of hazy sun and that heated up the bonnet. I had no where to put the car and was not going to give up. The bonnet was hot (if you left you hand on the bonnet after 3-4 seconds the heat would cause pain). So I applied the product, shortened the working area, and buffed off after 30 seconds.

So here are the pics of the car with one coat of AB.

Because of the overcast weather, I never got to see the effect it had on swirl marks. Although I did have a very very short break in the clouds and the sun shone on the car. The glimpse I got was very exciting, but I will reserve judgement for now.

One thing I didn’t do in hindsight. As the applicator was getting dirty, I didn’t wash it. I now have a very dirty applicator, and im trying to clean it up, but the AB is repelling the water! Any ideas how to clean it, and why it became dirty? Its in a bucket of car shampoo at the moment !

A few hours later I went to look at the car. The gloss is amazing! I wonder if I can get a wetter look, or maybe that’s the best it will get. It does make a very big difference in claying the car and using AB. AB was very easy to apply and take off. Running my hand over the body work, it feels like the highest polished glass ! a very strange sensation. Unfortunately the pics don’t do the finish justice. I just wonder what it would look like after 2 applications.

Hope you enjoy my post, feel free to comment

[illestjt]

nice work,

[Vyker]

There are hundreds of these products out there,

What made you choose those ones?

Great job btw! car looks good

[KnightUnit]

Nice work mate, looking good.

[maneesh]

Nice!!! The mk1 GS Sport looks even better as it gets older!

[sparkystav]

Great work mate.

And i must say Mk1 GS's are really growing on me.

Stav

[finest1]

thanks guys,

just to add an update. i just went to see the car under the halogen street light. although the paint is a much much deeper gloss, still swirl marks. it had reduced but im wondering if i put enough AB on it. it definitely needs another coat. i hope that will reduce it further.

to answer the question as to why i chose Bilt Hamber:

the main thing is that a lot of people have been using it with very good results and feedback. please see my posting i put around mid april 08, you will see the entire transcript. having the experience of using it, it was easy to apply, easy to buff off, the more you use it, you will be more experienced to get better usage out of it. main thing is that preparation is the key!

also, i chose BH because i usually support the underdog! and done enough research to be convinced they were definatley worth a try. i think i made the right choice. im not the best person to ask, because this is the first time im detailing cars. there are many others that have used many various products, but im happy with this purchase. i will give it a go on my dad's avensis soon, and post the pics up. my other main reason, is that i needed a product that could reduce the appearance of swirl marks, without using machined or excessive manual labour!!

many thanks

:)

[Purvesh]

Good effort mate and nice write up.

One thing though, stop getting friendly with the kerbs!!

[PJ S]

Looking good finest1 - told you it would!

Like mine, it's fairly evident that the claying alone lifted a good bit of the dullness, and restored a bit of life back into the paintwork, before the Balm does its bit.

The dirt is likely from ingrained grime in the paint pores, which with the Balm having chemical cleaning properties, is lifting that out.

It's something a few have remarked on, on detailing World, but I can't say I've ever noticed it.

That said, to clean the pad, simply bung in the washing machine along with your mf towels, and wash with liquid detergent (no fabric conditioner or tumble dry sheets!) at 40-60ºC. Do an extra rinse cycle and spin, then leave in hotpress overnight. Tumble the towels for 5 mins with heat, and leave in the tumble dryer for the 10 min cool-down phase.

Stick those in the hotpress, and you'll be ready to go the next day.

You're right about a second layer - nice and lightly applied this time, but bear in mind it's not a miracle product. There's only so much it can mask, and the petrol station sodium lights will show a car's paint as it truly is - warts and all.

One thing you can try on your Dad's car, is get some IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol) and dilute 50% with deionised water, or Panel Wipe from a local motor factors. (IPA from Maplin, Chemists, Pharmacy)

This will, when used prior to Auto Balm application, remove any remaining dirt the shampoo hasn't been able to shift, and make the paint as clean as possible for maximum adherence - applying to all LSPs (last stage products/protection), although if you opt for a carnauba wax, a paint cleanser/pre-wax glaze such as Dodo Juice Lime Prime Lite will add a certain wetness.

Sealants, on the whole, and AB especially, work best straight on paintwork, and in AB's case, already has more depth/wetness than most other sealants, so saves the need for glazes and a wax topper.

It's not recommended to use wax over Balm, as the carrier solvents in the wax, could and likely will remove AB - but as always, feel free to experiment on a small area first to see how it looks and performs before doing the whole vehicle.

Remember you can use the used clay on your windows and wheels, as too you can the Auto Balm, along with chrome - try the passenger side of the windscreen, and see what I mean.

[Gord]

Nice work, looks good job mate :D

[TigerFish]

Looking good mate.

[finest1]

hi all,

just to update you. as the weather was good today, this evening i added my second layer. i had to wash the car first, but then i cracked on. i was forgetting to add the AB lightly so i think i applied it lighter than i thought i did before, anyway i think i did! the gloss was apparant. i finished the car after sunset, so i hope tomorrow is a nice day so i can see the results. i've parked it under the street light and went and had a look at it. the swirl marks have reduced but are still there, so they must be deeper than i thought, especially all those years the previous owner cleaned it and buffed it with no attention to the way we do it here. can't blame them really. hopefully if the sun's out tomorrow i can see just how much it masked but im not counting on much. again the product was easy to work with. it did render my applicator very very dirty and the MF cloth i used for buffing is also dirty!

thanks for reading the post

finest1 :)

[dgman]

hi all,

just to update you. as the weather was good today, this evening i added my second layer. i had to wash the car first, but then i cracked on. i was forgetting to add the AB lightly so i think i applied it lighter than i thought i did before, anyway i think i did! the gloss was apparant. i finished the car after sunset, so i hope tomorrow is a nice day so i can see the results. i've parked it under the street light and went and had a look at it. the swirl marks have reduced but are still there, so they must be deeper than i thought, especially all those years the previous owner cleaned it and buffed it with no attention to the way we do it here. can't blame them really. hopefully if the sun's out tomorrow i can see just how much it masked but im not counting on much. again the product was easy to work with. it did render my applicator very very dirty and the MF cloth i used for buffing is also dirty!

thanks for reading the post

finest1 :)

at least you gave it a shot,the only real answer is to polish with a rotary or dual action machine if you want rid of the swirls,good luck.

[finest1]

another update,

whilst at work the sun managed to peep out of the clouds and the car managed to catch some full on sun. after the second coat of AB i was astonished at how much it masked the swirl marks! it has made a dramatic improvement. the paintwork is more pronounced and i am very very impressed. i think that this is the way to go if you don't want to use machines or pay for someone to remove the swirls. definatley the cheaper option.

conclusion

the second coat makes all the difference!

thanks

finest1 :)

[thermoacc]

Nice work!

I`m a big fan of BH products, AB is good stuff and the clay`s are excellent.

BTW...Nice GS...always loved them wheels