Firstly, apologies for the delay in writing this up - I know a few of you have been waiting

Had a week off in March , which happily coincided with some rather excellent clear and sunny weather, so it seemed a perfect opportunity to get out there and get detailing. I'd had the car for around 3 weeks by that stage, having bought it from a fellow member on here (PostmanPat).

First stage was to foam the car down:

It's worth pointing out at this stage that that's the only 'in-progress' photo you'll be seeing, so savour it! How the likes of Baker manages to do what he does, as well as taking pictures amazes me!

I then set about removing all the decals that were left by the previous owner. Sorry Andrew, but they just weren't me and I wanted to start with a clean slate. They also would have made detailing the paint properly a nightmare

After this work, involving Virosol (citrus degreasing agent) and WD-40 in some places, the paint was decal free and I foamed the car down again. This was left to dwell for a few minutes while I made up some Meg's Gold Class with warm water, along with a cold water rinse bucket. The car was rinsed by pressure washer (Karcher B203 for those that need/want to know these things ) and then the car was washed with a lambswool washmitt, 2BM method, and rinsed down.

Wheels were cleaned, but not removed as I knew I had a fair bit of paintwork to cover. A job for the future. For the moment, they were cleaned with a Virosol solution, 4:1 concentration, using a selection of cleaning kit, including an EZ-Brush.

Next came the clay stage. Meguiar's clay used, along with a combination of Meg's Quik Detailer and Meg's Last Touch. No special reason for the combo, apart from the fact I ran out of QD half-way round There was a fair bit of contamination, so this was quite a time-consuming process. Clay was used on the paint in sections, before being dried off with a microfibre work towel. After claying the whole car and being happy that the paint had been sufficiently cleaned, I rinsed the car down with the pressure washer, applied some Last Touch and dried the car with a Meg's Water Magnet drying towel.

Next stage - out with the Porter Cable. 1 pass of the car was done with Menzerna Intensive Polish, with a 6.5" Lake Country orange cutting pad. Machine polishing was completed a panel at a time, with polish residue being removed with a damp microfibre work towel. 2nd pass was undertaken with Menzerna Final Polish II, with a white Lake Country pad.

Next the car was rinsed down again with the pressure washer, as there was quite a lot of dust build up, as there tends to be with the Menz polishes. Car was then dried down with a Water Magnet again, and onto glaze.

I used Poorboy's Black Hole glaze, applied by hand. This was worked into the whole car, then buffed off with a microfibre polishing cloth.

Next came sealant, Klasse All-in-One. It's one of my favourite detailing products this as it's the stage that I start to see things coming together, and the hard work of the previous stages paying off. Applied by hand, by damp microfibre pad and left to cure for 30 mins. Then buffed off with a fresh microfibre polishing cloth.

And that was the end of day one! With it still being quite early in the year, light and a dropping temperature were against me, and I could see there would be no benefit in trying to continue.

Day 2

The day started with a quick 2BM wash of the car, to remove any overnight dust/debris that might have collected. Car then rinsed and dried.

I then moved onto waxing. Collinite 476S to start with. Applied by hand over the whole car, then removed with a microfibre cloth.

I then cleaned down all shuts and Klasse All-in-One sealant was applied.

An hour after removing the first coat of 476S, I applied another coat.

Finally, an hour after that, a coat of Blackfire Midnight Sun was applied

During the wait between the second Collinite coat and Blackfire, I applied Meg's Endurance tyre shine, with a green German applicator pad.

Glass was then cleaned, inside and out, with Turtlewax Class Cleaner - applied with a J-cloth, removed with kitchen towel

The engine bay was also rinsed down, sprayed with a neat 1:1 Virosol soluton, worked in with a sponge and cloth, and then rinsed down again. Then everything was dried off and treated with 303 Aerospace Protectant.

Exhaust - forgot about that! Cleaned when I was doing the wheels. Virosol sprayed on the pipes and left to dwell. Worked in with a small wheel brush to remove the top level of build-up as much as possible. Pipes then rinsed down and dried with an old work towel. Meguiars All Metal Polish worked in with an old rag. The finish and shine could still be improved on I think. I did also return to it at a later date with some AutoGlym Metal Polish, which was quite good and did make a difference. Might try some Autosol on it at some point in the future...

So, I think that's everything covered! Around 22 hours spent in total, over two days. And I'm left with the following:

Thanks for reading!

Cheers,

Steve

Edited 24 June, 200916 yr by Wardy
Forgot about the exhaust ;-)

A few other images, as I hit the limit in the post above

Overall I'm happy with the look and finish achieved. There's still some swirl evident in places, in certain lights. So likely I'll attempt a follow-up detail later in the year.

Cheers,

Steve

Great results. Does look good in red.

Excellent work Steve

Well worth all the effort, the result looks amazing

A nice clean red vRS takes some beating IMO

Cheers

Damian

Excellent job there mate.

Only problem is it's not Blue :D

Carl:thumbup:

Very nice Steve.

Wow, very nice Steve, very nice indeed! Let me be the first person to make the compulsary "fancy doing mine?" "joke"

Doesn't look any different to before...

:lol: Only joking - looks Ace!

How the likes of Baker manages to do what he does, as well as taking pictures amazes me!

What can I say Steve, once you have done it once you just get into a flow but it helps having a 'detailing buddy'.........

Great work mate and interesting that you used Black Hole on red, you like the product? I have only used it a couple of times with good results on Black paintwork.......

Looks great, 22 hours! if only I had the time

Looks fantastic, your red paintwork really responds well.

I note that Klasse Sealant Glaze is one of your favourite products - have you ever used it on the alloys and if so, how does it perform?

That looks great, excellent job.

:eek::eek::eek::eek: 22 hours? :eek::eek::eek::eek:

Fair play though… looks mint

Just out of interest – because I tend to just throw a capful or 2 of Turtlewax Shampoo/polish into a bucket of hot water, and sponge, rinse and chammy which takes me an hour, tops – how long will the car stay looking as mint as that?

A good result there Steve, and at least the last owner looked after it

Thanks for all the responses guys

To answer a few things that have come up....

@Baker: I used it because I already had it in the toolkit, having got excellent results on Black Magic before. And it does specifically mention being suitable for red as well. I'm not as convinced about it on red as I was on black, but I think overall it increases the depth of finish.

@Bassa : no, not tried Klasse on wheels. I'm sure it would do the job; only concern I'd have would be how it handles the higher temperatures. Will need to check the spec sheet As I said, not sorted the wheels yet properly, mainly because I'm probably going to get them refurbed to take out a few marks. What I've done previously is a few coats of the infamous 476, then PB Wheel Sealant. Jetseal 109 is also on the future shopping list, as a sealant that's perfect for wheels

@Jigger: yes, a long time spent, I know! But split over two days, in the sunshine and with a definite goal in mind, it's all good

As for durability, when the Midnight Sun wax coats starts to break down, there's always the coats of 476 remaining for protection. And I've found one coat of that is good for 9+ months of protection and beading. I'll likely top up with another Midnight coat in the next month. This sort of work I'll do twice a year usually. This is the longest I've ever spent detailing one car though. Probably because it's bigger than a Fabia - also, subsequent sessions won't take as long I'm expecting, maybe only around 10hrs

Cheers,

Steve

A good result there Steve, and at least the last owner looked after it

Cheers Len. Yes indeed, it's certainly been well cared for previously

WOW !!

Very smart looks very nice in red especially as usually im not to keen on red cars!

22 hours mate thats a good effort!

Can i ask did you get the clay from halfords and how much did it cost / and how much did you use?!

cheers

thats genuinely impressive steve, looks very good in red.

gonna have to get you to look at the sticker residue on mine , it does my head in.

That looks stunning , 22hrs well spent I reckon!!

Great work Steve and quality result.

Intertesting reading as will be doing the very same thing in the coming weeks when I get mine. Had'nt thought of sealant between glaze and wax so need to give that some thought!

Currently planning all the normal wash and clay steps, machine with Menz range, CK Red Moose Glaze and then wax tbc.

How do you find your interior - have you protected it with anything/treated the leather?

Cheers

Wow that's stunning. Top job.

Looks great! My little red vRS badly needs a machine polish but I wouldn't know where to start (to scared of making the paint worse!)

Looking good mate!

All you need is rear mudflaps now to match the fronts (providing you can get any to fit the VRS rear bumper)

Thanks for the continued interest, glad you all approve

To answer some of the questions...

Can i ask did you get the clay from halfords and how much did it cost / and how much did you use?!

cheers

No, Halfords don't currently stock any claybars to my knowledge. Hardly anything from my detailing 'toolkit' comes from there, because they only tend to stock the basics. I generally use Elite Car Care, but also Clean Your Car and Polished Bliss. All give excellent service IMO; just depends who has stock of what I'm after generally, and what's the best price...

gonna have to get you to look at the sticker residue on mine , it does my head in.

No worries matey, will take a look next time I see you

Great work Steve and quality result.

Intertesting reading as will be doing the very same thing in the coming weeks when I get mine. Had'nt thought of sealant between glaze and wax so need to give that some thought!

Currently planning all the normal wash and clay steps, machine with Menz range, CK Red Moose Glaze and then wax tbc.

How do you find your interior - have you protected it with anything/treated the leather?

Cheers

Glad you found it helpful

Glaze is an interesting one, as you can often combine the glaze/sealant stages, as many products try to do. I definitely found an advantage in using Black Hole on Black Magic paint, no question. And also on the red, I feel there's some additional depth and gloss that's evident from this stage.

Interior - yes, some other time's also been spent here! Meg's #39 Vinyl Cleaner used, with Virosol in places, with Megs interior detailing brushes. Then 303 Aerospace used on general trim to protect, with Meg's Trim Detailer on other bits. Leather seat parts cleaned with PB Leather Stuff. First step as a cleaning stage, I worked this in and left overnight, then went over the areas with a microfibre work towel to pick up any excess. Left the leather for a day, then applied another lot of Leather Stuff to nourish and feed, before going over the leather again the next morning with a microfibre. There's some creasing to the front seat bolsters, but it's inevitable and this course of treatment has improved the look and feel of the seats IMO.

Looks great! My little red vRS badly needs a machine polish but I wouldn't know where to start (to scared of making the paint worse!)

If you're worried, talk to Baker in your part of the world, about sorting you a detail out

All you need is rear mudflaps now to match the fronts (providing you can get any to fit the VRS rear bumper)

Skoda tell you neither mudflap set will fit a vRS - rear ones I don't like the look of personally, so only ever fit a pair to the front arches of cars I own. Just one of those things I do I guess

Cheers,

Steve