Clarkey666

Good Afternoon All, A good friend of mine has just bought an Audi 80 Cabriolet which has some rather worn black leather Recaro seats. I'll be polishing it at some point soon and would like your recommendations on any leather cleaning/rejuvenation products and processes you guys employ. I haven't treated any leather interiors before so I'm interested to know what works well please, any bargains you can alert me to will be most appreciated. Thanks in advance for your help folks. Clarkey.

Morning All, I'm not on here very often these days, but I thought I'd share a recent revelation (to me) with you guys that will hopefully help at least some of you. Like you, I like keeping the car clean and tidy and am always keen to hear of better products and methods, particularly if they make the process more effective as well as less time consuming. After seeing numerous detailers using pre wash cleansers and the like recently, I asked a couple of friends of mine who know more than me regarding detailing if it was worth adding this to the process. I use Bilt Hamber Auto Foam and rate it highly, and a friend mentioned he'd read of it being used as a pre wash cleanser with something like a 4% dilution rate. So, I scoured the net for a pump sprayer, and went with a 7L one from Screwfix for the princely sum of a tenner. I put about 300ml of BHAF in there and topped the rest up with water. Rather than foaming, I pressure washed the car, then applied the 'pre-wash' solution via the pump sprayer in the form of a fine mist, left for a good ten minute period to dwell and rinsed off. I must declare that the car was well protected to begin with, but also that it was horrifically dirty. It made me sad to look at. This was a few weeks ago when the roads were covered in grit and the car hadn't been washed for three weeks. I had to clean the number plate so it was legible a couple of times in order to drive- THAT bad. For the sake of a tenner, it was worth a go, although if it didn't work I'd be able to use the sprayer for something else. However, the results were rather surprising. Incredible, actually. Upon rinsing the car off, the baked on grit all over the back of the car came clean off. I couldn't believe my eyes. The sprayer, not completely full, lasted for a total of four decent washes, which is hugely economical on the snow foam usage front as I'd have used almost 300ml for one wash, let alone four. Apologies for the lack of pictures, but Hunty can vouch for the results as I showed him before/after shots. Essentially, it will cost you a tenner, but will save loads of snow foam over time and a little faffing with the snow foaming process itself. In my opinion it is well worth it. It has made my process of washing the car (followed up by 2BM, drying and application of BSD for a normal wash) a bit quicker and will save cash on foam. I assume this or something similar might have been covered, and this isn't me saying pre-wash cleansers aren't effective at all, just for me and my needs this is a very easy and economical solution. I hope this is of use to some of you. If anyone has any questions or opinions, please feel free to post. Cheers all.

Well that is a bargain. I can vouch for the quality of the setup, I've covered almost 80k miles on mine having bought it (the car with stage three kit fitted) after it had only been fitted for 2k miles. Still going strong, still a lot of fun, still 550 miles per tank. Good luck with the sale.

If I recall correctly, I think the Components were £150. I paid £850 for everything, which included: Alpine HU- CD, MP3 etc Rainbow Audio Components Hertz Amp- powers everything JL Audio 10inch boxed subwoofer Installation, sound deadening in doors and tailgate etc. It might be a fair bit to spend, but worth every penny all day for me. I got a professional, subtle install that is miles apart from the factory system plus Infinity Basslink sub I previously had.

If I can't get mine fixed this weekend I'll get in touch and have this. I doubt it'll be around by then, but I'll express my interest nonetheless.

I have Rainbow Audio Components fitted in mine by the guys at Source Sounds in Sheffield. I can't remember the model number but they are a significant improvement over the factory items. Rather loud and very clear. I'd recommend them happily.

Unfortunately, no company will ever have 100% glowing reviews; I'd advise looking a little further than one forum thread to make a decision. Mistakes happen, delays occur and so on. For me, it is how the company and it's people deal with these issues that makes the difference. It strikes me as a little unfair how Shark have been discussed in this thread. My experience of Shark has been superb. Without going on too much, I'll give a brief story of my dealings with them. My first trip to Shark was in an AA truck with my first Fabia vRS on the back soaked in oil, the turbo had blown spectacularly. A fellow forum member, wja96 (I'm still grateful for the help, thank you), recommended Shark to me after I posted asking for help and advice. After being dropped off at their first premises, Ben discussed options with me and took great time and detail doing so, handy as at that point I knew even less about cars than I do now. I collected the car following the fitting of an Allard VT2 PD150 Hybrid Turbo, Forge FMIC, Blueflame Cat Back Exhaust and all the requisite seals, gaskets etc and of course a custom remap. The result was outstanding. I was kept well informed about progress and was at no point let down. Consequently I've been to all three premises to have work done and am still a regular customer eight years later, mainly for servicing and mechanical work lately but when I get a different car I'll no doubt have an upgrade or two there. I'm reluctant to take my car anywhere else and drive 45mins each way to go there. I've always been looked after and would confidently recommend their services to anyone. I'm a stickler for reviews myself, my point is to those who haven't experienced a company first hand- look beyond the anomalies and furthermore think before writing derogatory comments about businesses. For some, this thread will be enough for them to avoid Shark, which from my experience with them would be a shame indeed.

Do you know anyone into detailing? If so I'd quiz them on products and techniques. Then have a good look over YouTube for instructional videos etc. That is pretty much what I did and whilst I'm only an enthusiast, I'm able to achieve results I'm very happy with. Plus after the initial outlay of cost for a machine, pads, polishes and waxes and so on it's a fairly economical way of keeping your vehicle in good condition. Personally I'd find it difficult to hand over £300 or so to have my car detailed knowing what that could pay for in products. Ultimately though, if you feel it is worth the cost, go for it. It surely can't hurt. Finally, I'd just say don't forget to ask on here if you have any questions; I've always had helpful answers from the usual suspects on this section of the forum. There is plenty of knowledge and experience on here, tap these boys up!

All Purpose Cleaner. Meguiars and the like produce it.

I get my methanol from a model shop, 5L for about £12. Its a 50/50 mix with water, so 5L lasts ages. I wouldn't worry too much about the cost of methanol. From what I know, I think the actual kits are fairly pricey though, plus installation and set up costs.

I'd say it is worth it personally. I have a half decent system installed in my Fabia, including Rainbow Audio components up front and a 10" sub in the boot, all of which powered by an amp. Depending upon where you are etc, you'd be welcome to have a listen to mine, it may help you make your mind up. PM me if you're interested.

They both appear to be what I'm after, thank you both. As the Skoda parts place near me is now closed until Monday, I don't suppose anyone has any of these available do they? I'm in Sheffield. Many thanks.

Hi Folks, Could anyone tell me the part number of the three M8 bolts that sit on each side of the engine bay please? I'm going to replace the ones holding the Seat strut brace as they've been in and out a few times. Thanks in advance.

I'd love something like this. SAdly I've no idea what it'd be worth either. I'll keep an eye on this to see how it develops.

Thanks guys. At least the paint now appears as the strong red it really is rather than the tinge of orange that it appeared to be on the images from the old Olympus! Money indeed well spent on the Canon.

Oh and in total I think I spent about twelve hours on this detail. With swapping wheels, polishing the exhaust, touching up stone chips plus all the machine polishing it soon added up. That was over three separate days mind. I'm a slow worker when it comes to detailing, but I had the time.

Thanks folks. Much obliged. Indeed it was Ste I believe, I still have the BSD sample from you too. Though I've just taken delivery of two 750ml bottles from ECP for the princely sum of £13.98. Bargain. I've applied some to the car over the three layers of Desireable. I have some beading shots to upload actually. Sure I can facilitate some sample handovers between Ste and Hunty. Seeing Hunty on Sunday and Tuesday and soon have a week off so it might save you boys some postage.

Thank you. Straight fit, no alterations or anything required. They suit the car so well in my opinion, well worth it.

Hi All, Below are a few photos taken with my new Canon Powershot SX510 HS. I'm an utter amateur and need to figure a few of the settings and functions out, yet the quality of the detail captured has really impressed me. Your opinions and advice are most welcome. Here are a few of the car after detailing it recently: I visited Chester Zoo recently too, and took the opportunity to try out the zoom capability and attempted to capture some decent colours too:

Good Evening All, After much deliberation I bought a new camera recently, opting for the Canon Powershot SX510 HS, and have some photos of the car taken with said unit. Thanks to those for their input on my thread asking advice on cameras. It seems a decent little thing, hopefully the photos will confirm that! Anyway, onto the stuff you want to hear about. So the car was looking a little dull after it being a while since I last dusted off the DA and I had the luxuries of some time off and decent weather so got cracking. I was able to use a few new (to me) products during the process, some purchased and some borrowed (cheers Hunty) and am very impressed with the results and use of them. So, the process: Jet washed with the Karcher. Snow foamed with Bilt Hamber Autofoam. Jet washed. Washed using 2BM, Dooka Wash Pad and Meguiars Detailing Range Shampoo. Jet washed. CarPro TRiX applied, left to dwell then agitated. Jet washed. Clayed with Bilt Hamber Autoclay. Jet washed. Washed again with 2BM etc. Dried. Machined with DAS6 Pro using Scholl Concepts S17+ and CG Hexlogic Pads. Second stage polish with Menzerna Final Finish and finishing pads. Final stage with Prima Amigo and finishing pads. Sealed with Angelwax Desireable. Engine bay cleaned up. Changed wheels from standard vRS to Octavia Spiders, Meguiars Endurance Tyre Gel applied. I think that covers the process really. The new products to me were the foam, the Final Finish, Prima Amigo and the Angelwax. The foam worked really well, doesn't foam as thick as Ultimate Snow Foam that I've used prior to this but it performs perfectly and smells lovely. The Final Finish is great too, added depth to the finish nicely and was easy to work. The Prima Amigo is a real revelation; absolute doddle to work and the feel it leaves is unreal. I'll be buying some of that, along with the Angelwax too. That stuff is mega, with water behaviour like I've never seen before. I'm sure you've read enough by now. However, I'd like to thank you guys for your help and advice on here. Numerous times I've asked for recommendations and so on and have always had helpful responses; some of which aided my product selection for this detail. I'm only an enthusiast, hence why I ask for the informed opinions of folk on here who have been there and done it. So thank you to folk like Samuir (Ste), ChrisRS, Northern Monkey and of course my good pal Hunty. That isn't an exhaustive list, but you know who you are if I've missed you out. I appreciate your help and have a nine year old car I'm rather proud of. So here are the photos. Hopefully they'll come up in before/after order. I feel the colour is even more bold and strong than it was before. Very pleased indeed: Of course there are a few reflection shots to finish off. Thanks for reading everyone. As ever, your tips and advice are more than welcome. Clarkey.

Hi All, It has been a fair while since I updated this thread so I thought I'd share some recent photos of the car captured on my new camera after a fairly hefty few days of detailing. I've come across a few different products of late (cheers Hunty!) and needed an excuse to sample the quality of the camera. I'll pop a few before and after photos up in the car care section to show the difference; these are just to update this thread. Cheers, Clarkey.

Thanks again for all your advice and opinions folks. I thought I'd update this as it might help anyone in a similar situation who wants something better but relatively easy to operate whilst within a modest budget. So I went for the Canon Powershot SX 510 HS after mulling over reviews of that and the FZ200, deciding that the former was perfect for what I require at the moment in terms of functions and budget. In future if time and finances allow, I might get myself on a photography course and consider what to get next. For now, I'm very pleased. For under £200 I got the camera, a class 10 32GB SD card and a decent little carry case, all from Amazon. I detailed my car and took loads of before/after shots recently and also visited Chester Zoo with the lady and took plenty of shots there too. I had a few printed off at Jessops and am very pleased indeed with the results. When I get time I plan to upload the car shots to my Members Car thread on here and pop a few in the Car Care section. If anyone is interested I'll post a few up on this thread of the animals etc, personally I was rather pleasantly surprised with the detail captured. That said, I'm no expert of course. I haven't had a proper run through all the features of the SX 510 HS yet, but from the images it has produced so far I'm really happy. I'll download the instruction manual and have a tinker when I can. Essentially I'd recommend this unit from what I've seen so far to anyone who has similar requirements and budget as me.

Afternoon All, I gave the car a quick tidy up over the weekend and unfortunately one of the fog light lenses has cracked. It seems this is a common thing and appears that the whole unit needs to be replaced from some searching on here. I have a couple of questions from those in the know or who've done the job recently if you folks would be so kind: There are aftermarket units or Hella ones, are the Hella ones worth the considerable extra cost? Can it be done with the bumper on? I have access to ramps at work so this may help. Are there any other bits (clips etc) I ought to get just in case before attempting this? If so, part numbers would be appreciated. Finally, does anyone have any general hints, tips or advice on doing the job please? From what I've read its a relatively simple job, I just thought I'd get some advice from those of you with experience before I have a go. Many thanks in advance for your help. Clarkey.

I fitted some Mk2 vRS seats and so fitted the matching bonnet grille and tail gate badges. They look decent in my opinion. There are some photos in my member's cars thread if you can find it. You've got a tidy motor there mate.

I have Rainbow Audio components in mine, installed by the guys at Source Sounds. They're excellent and were £150 if I remember correctly. I've read on here of folks installing Alpine and Focal items too so no doubt there are a number of options available.