# Daytona grey exterior clean, correction and protection



## ChesterUK (Dec 22, 2019)

Hi everyone. I finally managed to get a break in the weather last Saturday to get outside and get some much needed love to the paint on my TTS. I apologise because there simply wasn't enough time to get before and after shots as I was playing roulette with the rain and by the time it was warm enough to start (it was a little frosty early on), getting finished before usable natural light went down was a concern. Still, managed to get most of this done.

Stages (most products are Dodo Juice unless given, jet washer is a Stihl RE108):

Snow Foam with Apple iFoam and rinse.[/*]
Wash with two-bucket method, Microfiber Madness mitt and Born To Be Mild, detailing in shuts and crevices with a ValetPRO brush, followed by another rinse. As I'd washed the car a couple of weeks before and not done many miles, it wasn't so bad.[/*]
Ferrous Dueller iron fallout remover applied to the bottom part of both entire sides, left to dwell a few minutes and thoroughly (I mean it!) rinsed off. There was a surprising amount of purple bleed, more than I was expecting. The grey hides contamination very well![/*]
Supernatural Fine detailing clay with Born Slippy. I use the jet washer with the power off to mist a few panels ahead of where I was working; important to keep it wet. The car wasn't that bad in most places, but the lower I went the exponentially worse it got! The clay was amazing though, the best I've used so far. Through re-moulding the clay, I managed to do the whole car without needing more, leaving bumpers and skirts until last. The skirts in particular were terrible![/*]
Another rinse, quick wash and rinse, and then get thoroughly dry with Poorboys waffle weave drying cloths. Man do those mirrors like to run![/*]
Now on to the correction. All machine polishing done using a Spin Doctor Pro. I highly recommend going on a course before you use one of these! You can do so much damage if you don't know what you're doing. Spot corrections were mainly on the bumpers, and on and skirts where they've been kicked getting in and out, and they took a couple of hits and higher speed. I used a Chemical Guys Hex Logic Green (light cut) with Menzerna 2500 polish, never going above 50% of the rotary's top speed. Unfortunately some of the scratches still remain as they were just too deep, but I don't really relish the idea of cutting too much! Still, massive improvement over how it was and given the time restraints.[/*]
Then a nice light final stage polish with Supernatural Light pads (Tallboy and a 80mm pad for those tighter and angled areas, especially the front bumper) with Supernatural Micro Prime polish. Already starting to look good.[/*]
All polished, it's time to clean up with some Total Wipeout and microfibres, and on with the Purple Haze Pro wax. [/*]

Here are some pictures I did manage to take, starting with the clay after doing the lower half of the driver's door, a nice reflection shot (there really weren't any reflections beforehand at all!) and the most awesome beading I've ever seen...



























_Looks like the water is metal!_

There's still much to do; clean and seal the wheels, polish some marks out of the rear clusters, do something with the exhaust tips (thinking powder coating), clean and seal the glass with Supernatural Glass Sealant. The interior was another mission I'm happy to document (if anyone's interested, let me know).

Thanks so much for looking. Hope you enjoyed the pictures.


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## YELLOW_TT (Feb 25, 2004)

Top job 8)


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## tammy1113 (Jul 8, 2019)

Awesome job! It can be such a long day trying to get it done all in one go but it's amazing to see the results afterwards and you feel so much better for it! I'd like to see a post on the interior


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## ChesterUK (Dec 22, 2019)

On to wheel cleaning this time! My thoughts were to quickly wash the car (Dodo Juice Supernatural shampoo this time, and reminded myself why I hate it!), and to shortcut the wheels a bit by only sealing the faces. After a wash, they looked terrible, and I mean worse than when I started. What the actual!

So there was only one thing for it, time to take one off and have a look to see what's going on:










Oh boy, they are nasty! The Microfiber Madness flat brush was just scooping grime all over the barrel from the back. So they all came off one by one to go through this regime:


A damn good jet rinse![/*]
Wash with ValetPRO brush and Bilberry wheel cleaner[/*]
Another rinse, wash with a mitt and another rinse[/*]
Ferrous Dueller came out for 2 hits of long doses (and you can see why!), followed by a mightily thorough rinse. Whilst this was attacking the surface, I brushed down the arches to tidy them up. The crap that landed on the drive was crazy! I reckon it's at least a kilo lighter now! Want to shed weight? Thoroughly clean your car![/*]
A good clay to reduce what's left to a flat surface with Born Slippy and some random new clay bar I've had for a while on a box, but unfortunately some staining and pitting has occurred that ain't coming off. Upsetting.[/*]
Final wash, rinse and dry.[/*]
Onto the bench for some Poorboys wheel sealant across the face and barrel. The surface doesn't change much with this applied, but it's fast to apply and buff and you know it's working when it gets wet for sure![/*]

Shot of a bleeding wheel, looks cool, smells yuck!









Well, it's better than it was at least, lighter too!









My back and arms and knees were screaming at the end of this, especially as there were a few wheel bolts over-torqued. I'm sort of happy that the wheels are a lot cleaner at least, but this is a classic case of the curse of detailing: finding more to improve upon! At least when I wash the car now they'll be much easier to clean as the rest of the car is, and it should stay that way for quite a while.


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## ChesterUK (Dec 22, 2019)

tammy1113 said:


> Awesome job! It can be such a long day trying to get it done all in one go but it's amazing to see the results afterwards and you feel so much better for it! I'd like to see a post on the interior


I'll get around to this with some after shots soon. The leather has come up a treat, but it's the carpets that have really transformed. Shame I didn't get any before shots. Cheers


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## ChesterUK (Dec 22, 2019)

It won't be long before I need to revisit the interior to take care of the leather (Dodo Juice recommend every 3 months, especially if the leather has been in the sun). The interior was the first area of detailing I set to after getting the car. I really do believe it's the most important area because it's the place we spend our time enjoying cars.

I used a Dodo Juice leather cleaner and their separate sealant, but it really did need a damn good vac in the car first. You really do need to tug at the soft trim to get to the crevice deep in to the front seats. I used Auto Finesse upholstery cleaner, a Meguiars upholstery brush to agitate and a few microfibres to clean all the carpet throughout. The boot was especially bad with mud. To think the car had been cleaned before collection! Utter rubbish!

In the meantime, and this is one of the things I'm most upset about, the plastics have been badly scratched by a dog getting in and out most likely, and I'm wondering about replacing them. If anyone spots any good condition interior plastics around the door sill in particular, please let me know. I thought this car deserved some love, but I kick myself for not appreciating how much it needed. It really is unrecognisable now though compared to the state I bought it in.

As posted in another thread, I have been making some changes:










They are so deep and plush, honestly the photos do them no justice at all, a huge improvement over stock and the cheaper looking things I bought from the same company before. Can't recommend them enough, although maybe the badge should go!

That's all for this instalment, and I'll post some more interior shots when I get back to it again.

Cheers


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## langlord (Mar 21, 2010)

Amazing effort. I wish I had the time and dedication.

Frustrating thing is I used to dedicate hours to my citroen Saxo that was worth a penny's.

Looking forward to getting mine back tomorrow as it's just been with a detailer for a single stage and ceramic coat.


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## YELLOW_TT (Feb 25, 2004)

Looks like you have defo got the detailing bug


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## euphoria87 (Nov 25, 2018)

beaut and best colour


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## Maktt32 (Oct 22, 2020)

quality work looks brilliant , detailing can be quite addictive providing you have the time and patience . The problem i found was that post detailing , I was constantly finding "new" marks on the car , which really cheesed me off .


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## ChesterUK (Dec 22, 2019)

Thanks everyone.  It sure does take some effort to get there, but especially in recent times when I don't get so much time or opportunity to enjoy the drive, having a clean driveway ornament is rather nice, and it also helps me keep a beer gut at bay!



Maktt32 said:


> quality work looks brilliant , detailing can be quite addictive providing you have the time and patience . The problem i found was that post detailing , I was constantly finding "new" marks on the car , which really cheesed me off .


Yeah, and this car is no exception to that rule. It's still looking so much better than the day I picked it up. I went through the whole interior again and spent a surprising amount of time on the leather again. I thought I had introduced some new marks to it but they lifted right off and it's feeling even more supple now. Since that's what any driver is mostly in contact with, I think it's super important.

My next thing is to spend some time on the exhaust tips. They're a mess, as they are with most TTS's. I'll report back once I've got this sorted. I think you'll like it!

Cheers


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## Ted Martin (Mar 16, 2021)

Cracking job


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