Cowie gets down to The FinerDetails

[FinerDetails]

Cowie contacted me some time ago, having pruchased his dream car, he now wanted to take the 03 reg LCR to the next step and have it de-swirled and detailed to look its best.

Here's the LCR on arrival from Cumbria (2 hours drive):

So we started out by rinsing the car down using the karcher, then straight into the two bucket method wash. Whilst Cowie washed the car I sprayed APC into the alloys and arches, and left this to soak. Once the car was washed, we rinsed it down, and then cleaned the alloys - alloy wheeel brush for the insides, small sponges for the outsides. Long handle brush used in the arches. We then rinsed these out with the karcher before attaching the foam to the hose ready for claying.

To clay we used the foam gun and DP clay, cut into small pieces. This was Cowie's first time for claying, so once I demo'd, and ensured he was comfortable with the how's and why's, he continued and completed the bonnet and roof panels whilst I did everything else. We did pretty good, just finding the car hadn't seen any clay before, here's the after claying pic:

Once all clayed, we re-rinsed and dried, using QD and a huge WW, to pat dry the car. With the car clean and dry, I toured round using the ppaint depth gauge to investigate what Cowie's car was made up of. To Cowie's suprise we discovered the car had had a bonnet, and both sides blow over. Roof and boot panel untouched, hence readings shown below:

With the detail about to take a twist, we moved the car into the garage and set about preparing for the de-swirling stages. We masked the plastics and rubbers using 3m tape, shut the blinds, dropped the lights and ignited the halogens. Here's what the paintwork really looked like:

 

[FinerDetails]

Next I spent some time explaining anf showing Cowie the different grades of paolishing pads, and polishes I use. Including a line of products to demo the order in which they can be used, showing some combos and mixture dependant on customer requests/preferences.

Time to crack on, so using the Metabo rotary, a polishing pad, and Pinnacle Swirl Remover I completed the test section on the bonnet, showing Cowie the power of the rotary, and demo'ing how to wipe the residue clear.
Here's the before and after bonnet shots of the de-swirl stage only:

and at the rear of the car, the bumper bumper has been completed in the first shot, boot panel next, second shot shows the whole rear once done and de-swirled:

With the de-swirling complete, and the bacona dn egg butties consumed (thanks to Mrs FD for keeping us both well fed) we moved to the next stage of the detail.
Using the Porter Cable, a polishing pad again, and Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish Cowie made his way round the car, and me observing, monitoring his woirk, and wiping the residue clear.
man at work:

no he's not detailing the roof, just didnt rotate it lol. oops

 

[FinerDetails]

Once fulled polished, I used the PC and a finishing pad to apply a layer of Wolfgang Deep Gloss Sealant, and we left this to cure for 20 mins. Whilst this was curing, we used an MF pad to apply Megs #20 Polymer Sealant to the alloys.
Once the selant had cured I showed Cowie how effortlessly the residue dusts off the car, no pressure required, one single wipe/pass of the MF cloth clearing to reveal the deep glossy silky smooth finish.
I then wiped the alloys clear before we moved into the last paintwork stage.
using a foam pad I applied Pinnacle Souveran to the car, Cowie following panel behind wiping clear.
I applied Optimum Tyre Shine to the treads, used glass cleaning to clear the windows of the days dust build up, and lastly gave the car a quick wipe down with Synthetic Detailer to ensure the dust stayed off the car.

And the end result of 7 and half hours work?

Thanks to Cowie for joining the FinerDetails customer base, and to everyone for reading this report.

Iain

 

[jetsetjimbo]

Another class job! Are you doing this full time now Ian?

One thing though... It's an LC not an LCR.

 

[MarkE]

Great results as always Iain, and that was some dodgy hologramming.

But as JSJ said, that's an LC, not an LCR

 

[gazjones]

very nice ian another top job!!!

 

[whytewitch]

HI FinerDetails,
mrs cowie here, thank you for a fantastic job you have done on our car,WOW what a differance!!!Glad to see you got cowie to help you out n thank you to ur good lady for providing snax.
once again thank you very much.
whytewitch (aka mrs cowie)

 

[Cowie]

Hi Iain,just want to say a big thank you for the time and work you spent on my car today,from the minute i rolled up to leaving everything i was told was done so in a very informative easy to grasp manner,hands on experience when having your car detailed i think is very important as pictures and words cannot give people the true nature of the work you put into it,not going through all that Iain has already wrote about this detail suffice to say,though the pictures help immensly they really dont do justice- i went home with a different car today

from a LC to a LCR in one easy detail
anyhow mate,again big thanks to you and your lovely lady for a great day and the finest bacon butties,next time i'll bring the HP
cheers ian (cowie)

 

[FinerDetails]

thanks Guys, oops with the 'R' lol

This has to be a first too, the Mrs Owner joining a forum to complete her first post. Glad you like the car, I wish you both many happy miles in it