Marc@AutoLavish
Club Sponsor
We're really getting behind in write-ups, so here we go!
You've seen her since the nice couple next door brought her home, and you've seen her over the years: more and more milers are on her but she always looks so beautiful. Now she's all grown up, but the downside of that is she's starting to show her age.
We took this beauty in for a face-lift. She's a beauty and is babied, but hasn't always recieved the care she deserves. Add in soft Porsche paint and you have a weathered look that takes away from the true beauty of such a great car.
With the client's arrivial, we got to work by properly looking over everything to see what we had in store.
The convertible soft top was looking quite grey and dull, but luckily we already discussed proper care of it with the owner before hand and this was something we already had on the list of things to do.
Clean wheels? Well the faces sure looked fine... we'll see how clean they really are
The sun's reflection is too bright, but they driver's side keyhole had a lot of build-up that needed attention.
Halograms + Swirls = lack of clarity
Even her ears? No. Not her pretty little ears...
Yes. Even her poor pretty ears. *sigh* Let's fix this baby up!
Because the vehicle was driven to us, we needed to make sure the wheels and brake components were cool prior to starting. Here Jacob takes the temperature of a caliper.
Started with a quick vaccum of the soft top to remove the light stuff. This would allow Jacob to begin the initial foaming while I got started with more attention to the fabric.
Degreaser to the wheel wells, APC to the tires
I then came through with P21S Wheel Cleaner Gel and got to work on the lugs, calipers, wheel barrels, and faces
While Jacob was flushing each wheel, tire, and wheel well, I got busy with RaggTopp Top Cleaner and a brush on the pretty lady's hair. I continued to give her scalp a good massaging while Jacob began with the wash process.
The start of the Facial Cleansing while I finish with the shampooing
Here you can see her deep black hair had a much smoother and uniform look after the scalp massage and shampoo
Jacob's careful wash of her rough body not only removed the surface soil, but pulled away some oils as well.
Finally rinsed and prepped for her epidermus skin exfoliation, here we take a careful look at her shoulder under the Brinkmann dual LED
Ready to get started!
First Combo produced good clarity and got rid of a lot of defects, but we wanted more cut:
2nd Combo produced the best clarity of them all, but didn't give enough cut to remove all the deeper swirls, nor did it remove enough of the random isolated deep scratches (RIDS) :
3rd Combo produced the least defects, but clarity suffered as a result.
What to do? I called the client and let him know we were currently on pace to keep things in the budget, but because we were only scheduled for a 2-step polishing process it was going to mean a choice of best possibility clarity (which will give the best gloss / shine), or best correction (least amount of defects left).
We ended up working out a plan on give it all and stepped things up to a 3-step polishing process. This would give the optimal amount of defect removal with a finish of the ultimate clarity.
While we were working on the best combination of machine+backing plate+pad+polish, Jacob's dog, Enzo, came out to make sure the garage was safe.
50/50 Collection
(after initial heavy polishing, prior to final polish)
Got Clarity?
Indirect light difference in the finish:
50/50 showing final polishing steps
Exhaust tips getting some love
Action shot of the last step: Menzerna 85RD
Hydralic wing lifts needed some love
Final wash prior to sealing
Special attention given to cracks and crevices
Towel dry the big stuff, but using a blower doesn't only add volume and bounce, it also acts as a "Q-Tip" to get those trace amounts of water out.
Applied Powerlock via PC
Applying sealant to the underside of the wing, and don't forget those CLEAN hydralic lifts!
Being a lady that is driven daily, we applied Aquapel to the windshield while the sealant set
Key holes got taken care of with a toothbrush and P21S TAW turned out quite nice.
You've seen her since the nice couple next door brought her home, and you've seen her over the years: more and more milers are on her but she always looks so beautiful. Now she's all grown up, but the downside of that is she's starting to show her age.
We took this beauty in for a face-lift. She's a beauty and is babied, but hasn't always recieved the care she deserves. Add in soft Porsche paint and you have a weathered look that takes away from the true beauty of such a great car.
With the client's arrivial, we got to work by properly looking over everything to see what we had in store.
The convertible soft top was looking quite grey and dull, but luckily we already discussed proper care of it with the owner before hand and this was something we already had on the list of things to do.
Clean wheels? Well the faces sure looked fine... we'll see how clean they really are
The sun's reflection is too bright, but they driver's side keyhole had a lot of build-up that needed attention.
Halograms + Swirls = lack of clarity
Even her ears? No. Not her pretty little ears...
Yes. Even her poor pretty ears. *sigh* Let's fix this baby up!
Because the vehicle was driven to us, we needed to make sure the wheels and brake components were cool prior to starting. Here Jacob takes the temperature of a caliper.
Started with a quick vaccum of the soft top to remove the light stuff. This would allow Jacob to begin the initial foaming while I got started with more attention to the fabric.
Degreaser to the wheel wells, APC to the tires
I then came through with P21S Wheel Cleaner Gel and got to work on the lugs, calipers, wheel barrels, and faces
While Jacob was flushing each wheel, tire, and wheel well, I got busy with RaggTopp Top Cleaner and a brush on the pretty lady's hair. I continued to give her scalp a good massaging while Jacob began with the wash process.
The start of the Facial Cleansing while I finish with the shampooing
Here you can see her deep black hair had a much smoother and uniform look after the scalp massage and shampoo
Jacob's careful wash of her rough body not only removed the surface soil, but pulled away some oils as well.
Finally rinsed and prepped for her epidermus skin exfoliation, here we take a careful look at her shoulder under the Brinkmann dual LED
Ready to get started!
First Combo produced good clarity and got rid of a lot of defects, but we wanted more cut:
2nd Combo produced the best clarity of them all, but didn't give enough cut to remove all the deeper swirls, nor did it remove enough of the random isolated deep scratches (RIDS) :
3rd Combo produced the least defects, but clarity suffered as a result.
What to do? I called the client and let him know we were currently on pace to keep things in the budget, but because we were only scheduled for a 2-step polishing process it was going to mean a choice of best possibility clarity (which will give the best gloss / shine), or best correction (least amount of defects left).
We ended up working out a plan on give it all and stepped things up to a 3-step polishing process. This would give the optimal amount of defect removal with a finish of the ultimate clarity.
While we were working on the best combination of machine+backing plate+pad+polish, Jacob's dog, Enzo, came out to make sure the garage was safe.
50/50 Collection
(after initial heavy polishing, prior to final polish)
Got Clarity?
Indirect light difference in the finish:
50/50 showing final polishing steps
Exhaust tips getting some love
Action shot of the last step: Menzerna 85RD
Hydralic wing lifts needed some love
Final wash prior to sealing
Special attention given to cracks and crevices
Towel dry the big stuff, but using a blower doesn't only add volume and bounce, it also acts as a "Q-Tip" to get those trace amounts of water out.
Applied Powerlock via PC
Applying sealant to the underside of the wing, and don't forget those CLEAN hydralic lifts!
Being a lady that is driven daily, we applied Aquapel to the windshield while the sealant set
Key holes got taken care of with a toothbrush and P21S TAW turned out quite nice.
