My new 944 S2 - It's first detail polish - photos

[ghost]

My son and I spent the day detailing our new Porsche 944 S2. From swirly mess to gleaming shine!
The car was acquired last week. It's in sound mechanical condition, but the paint has been over-loved by car washes and gritty sponges. There was bad swirls and marring in the paintwork. The leather was hard and shiny (caused by ingrained dirt and lack of nourishment).
Products used: Snowfoam; Jet-wash; Swisswax Claybar and Meguires speed detail; Car bath wash; Dodo Juice Lime pre-wax cleaner; Mezzerna cut & Polish; Meguires G220 DAS polishing machine; Sonus pads; Meguires Glaze; Swisswax Best Of Show carnubba wax; Liquid leather cleaner and conditioner; Carlack 68 plastic cleaner.

Here are some photos. Hope you enjoy them...

 

[ukmastiff]

If only you'd had some cleaning products []

I've been promising myself a dual action polisher for ages , I really must dip in my pocket and buy one, the trouble is if I buy one I'll have to use it []

 

[Copperman05]

Nice unmolested S2 you have there, looks much better after the correction too.

Edd

 

[Pastry]

she scrubs up well eh![]

lovely to see it gleaming, must admit ive resisted mechanical polishers but my arm was so sore after the last detailing session i think it may me time to invest.

 

[Chrishazle]

There's no question that a DA machine is the beast for paint correction, especially swirls, which I've been fighting for quite a while. Had my bonnet done yesterday at our car cleaning day (Thankyou Motorcare Tonbridge Wells!!) - now need to do the rest, especially roof and wing tops.
Question in my mind - once you've done the paint correction and got the bodywork flat and beautiful, how much use do you then have for the DA?? Investing about £150 in a DAS6 plus pads to use it for one weekend then leave it on the shelf would annoy me.
That S2 has come up so well - you obviously know what you're about so would appreciate your thoughts.

 

[Alpine]

can i bring mine round to you []

 

[pauljmcnulty]

Fantastic! Love the Guards Red doors on the house, as well. []

 

[Eldavo]

I progressed from a DA to a rotary (and all new pads, etc). After an initial detailing session you can still use the polisher for application of polishes/liquid waxes/etc. too.

Plus, you'll always have friends that need a hand too, haha!

I've got a gallery on my website (link is in my profile) showing what can be achieved. Mostly done with rotary, but you'll get the same results with a DA, it'll just take longer!

 

[Copperman05]

ORIGINAL: Chrishazle

There's no question that a DA machine is the beast for paint correction, especially swirls, which I've been fighting for quite a while. Had my bonnet done yesterday at our car cleaning day (Thankyou Motorcare Tonbridge Wells!!) - now need to do the rest, especially roof and wing tops.
Question in my mind - once you've done the paint correction and got the bodywork flat and beautiful, how much use do you then have for the DA?? Investing about £150 in a DAS6 plus pads to use it for one weekend then leave it on the shelf would annoy me.
That S2 has come up so well - you obviously know what you're about so would appreciate your thoughts.

I dont have a DA but as I understand it you can use one to keep your car with the just corrected look, using the DA to remove light swirls once or twice a year. You can also use it to apply waxes, glazes, and sealants, etc. Although if its just a paint correction your after you may find borrowing one from a friend more economical.

Edd

 

[Chrishazle]

ORIGINAL: Alpine

can i bring mine round to you []

No jumping the queue allowed, I'm first!!

 

[ghost]

Haha - lots of witty banter - I love it!

I use the DA on all three family cars ~ 944, Audi TT and the S-Max (which is a pig of a job). And, use it approx every 6 months for each car. Its easy to learn - it just requires patience and time... lots of time!! I spent about 9 hours on the 944 yesterday, and had my son to help (who's a dab-hand with detailing).

Once, the paint correction is done, it's a case of 6 monthly use of the G220 for a spruce up with polish, glaze (i recommend Meguires Glaze 7) and a quality Carnubba wax.

 

[ghost]

ORIGINAL: Chrishazle

There's no question that a DA machine is the beast for paint correction, especially swirls, which I've been fighting for quite a while. Had my bonnet done yesterday at our car cleaning day (Thankyou Motorcare Tonbridge Wells!!) - now need to do the rest, especially roof and wing tops.
Question in my mind - once you've done the paint correction and got the bodywork flat and beautiful, how much use do you then have for the DA?? Investing about £150 in a DAS6 plus pads to use it for one weekend then leave it on the shelf would annoy me.
That S2 has come up so well - you obviously know what you're about so would appreciate your thoughts.

Thank you for your kind comments. I'm pleased with the results, and the Guards Red does look stunning with a deep, wet look gloss. Glaze before Wax is my tip!
Regarding use of a DA - see my reply in the above post.
marcus

 

[Chrishazle]

Thanks Marcus, guess I'll have to put the DAS6 back on the birthday / Xmas list - bad news is that birthday has come and gone this year!

What part of the world are you in? Would be interesting to put our 2 cars side by side, would encourage me to continue the paint correction etc I started last year. I'm not far from J9 M20.

 

[mik_ok]

Looks fantastic. [8D]

I like a clean car and I've used clay/cleaner/wax methods before ~ Example Pic

I've always been a bit nervous about buying/using one of these machines though [&:] ~ does seem to be the only way to remove the micro-scratches, but given that you are obviously removing paint - how many times can the process realistically be performed on the same car?

I realise this is probably entirely dependant on the paint thickness, but as a general rule of thumb or guideline???

( I would ask on a detailing forum, but I can't face it...... [] )

 

[MarkK]

What stunning results,nice one[]

 

[Chrishazle]

ORIGINAL: mik_ok

Looks fantastic. [8D]

I like a clean car and I've used clay/cleaner/wax methods before ~ Example Pic

I've always been a bit nervous about buying/using one of these machines though [&:] ~ does seem to be the only way to remove the micro-scratches, but given that you are obviously removing paint - how many times can the process realistically be performed on the same car?

I realise this is probably entirely dependant on the paint thickness, but as a general rule of thumb or guideline???

( I would ask on a detailing forum, but I can't face it...... [] )

The only way to be certain is to buy or borrow a paint thickness gauge and then try to figure out how much of the measurement is undercoat, colour coat and clearcote - you really need to talk to a professional detailer.

I do not have a DAS6 type machine (yet!) but do have a twin 4" pad 12v machine - not very powerful admittedly, but at least it stalls instead of burning through the paint! I've used it, with AG Bodyshop 02b (2000 grit) paint restorer quite a few times on my 968, and the only time I've gone through the paint was hand rubbing the A pillar!

 

[Fat Albert]

I will concede that it looks very slightly shinier than mine......Oh Ok, a helluva lot shinier than mine!

 

[jasonp]

hiya ghost, looks great, reds look so very good when gleaming, i had a paint correction/detail on my s2 at the end of last summer looking at yours i think i call my guy and have him pop over and top her "up" but your car looks great and a proper job done.regards jason p

 

[Eldavo]

ORIGINAL: mik_ok

Looks fantastic. [8D]

I like a clean car and I've used clay/cleaner/wax methods before ~ Example Pic

I've always been a bit nervous about buying/using one of these machines though [&:] ~ does seem to be the only way to remove the micro-scratches, but given that you are obviously removing paint - how many times can the process realistically be performed on the same car?

I realise this is probably entirely dependant on the paint thickness, but as a general rule of thumb or guideline???

( I would ask on a detailing forum, but I can't face it...... [] )

I have a paint thickness gauge and can say that the paint (on my Guards Red car at least) is about 20% thicker than on a modern car.

That thickness on a modern car is comprised of primer - colour - clear but on a non-metallic 944 it is primer - colour.

That is to your advantage as paint burn-through really occurs when you compromise the clearcoat layer, given there isn't one on a Guards Red car, there is a lot more paint depth to play with. Also explains why they go pink as the paint surface is oxidising rather than being protected by a clearcoat. Even a pretty intensive compounding and polishing shouldn't remove more than approx 5-10 microns of paint so burn-through is pretty unlikely even after 3-4 intensive details.

I'll try to take some paint measurements for finished panels and primered inner bodywork sections this week. The difference will give you a general rule of thumb as to how much actual block colour there is to work with.

Of course, after a proper correction detail then good wash and dry technique should limit the necessities of future aggressive polishing.

David

 

[ghost]

ORIGINAL: Eldavo

ORIGINAL: mik_ok

Looks fantastic. [8D]

I like a clean car and I've used clay/cleaner/wax methods before ~ Example Pic

I've always been a bit nervous about buying/using one of these machines though [&:] ~ does seem to be the only way to remove the micro-scratches, but given that you are obviously removing paint - how many times can the process realistically be performed on the same car?

I realise this is probably entirely dependant on the paint thickness, but as a general rule of thumb or guideline???

( I would ask on a detailing forum, but I can't face it...... [] )

I have a paint thickness gauge and can say that the paint (on my Guards Red car at least) is about 20% thicker than on a modern car.

That thickness on a modern car is comprised of primer - colour - clear but on a non-metallic 944 it is primer - colour.

That is to your advantage as paint burn-through really occurs when you compromise the clearcoat layer, given there isn't one on a Guards Red car, there is a lot more paint depth to play with. Also explains why they go pink as the paint surface is oxidising rather than being protected by a clearcoat. Even a pretty intensive compounding and polishing shouldn't remove more than approx 5-10 microns of paint so burn-through is pretty unlikely even after 3-4 intensive details.

I'll try to take some paint measurements for finished panels and primered inner bodywork sections this week. The difference will give you a general rule of thumb as to how much actual block colour there is to work with.

Of course, after a proper correction detail then good wash and dry technique should limit the necessities of future aggressive polishing.

David

David - the front end has been resprayed in the past (quite common in a 20 year old car - to remove stone chips) and I reckon the bonnet and front valence use a clearcoat application. The machine polisher pads pads showed no evidence of red paint, unlike the rest of the car, and these panels were a lot harder to de-swirl.

marcus