Detailing - worth it ?? Lancashire recommendation

[Philb280]

Hi, usually do this myself (by hand) but the F is quite swirly especially when the sun hits it and I thought I’d treat it to a proper detail / correction and possibly ceramic coating.

Just wondering

1 is it worth it
2 has anyone got any recommendations for a outfit in Preston or Lancashire

Cheers

 

[Webarno]

Just had mine done and I think it’s more than worth it!

See here:
https://www.ftypeforums.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=6580&p=66618#p66618

 

[Jaguandy]

Once done you need to be very careful washing it. Detailing World has loads of useful info. However no matter how careful you are, the swirls will gradually return. Unless you have self-healing PPF.

 

[Pilot Pete]

Did mine yesterday, DIY. I have a Das6 Pro+ DA polisher, which I’ve had for a few years. Bought the F Type earlier this year with a view to giving it a full detail as and when I could fit it in. I don’t have access to a covered workshop, so all the work would have to be done on the driveway. This meant the height of summer was oit really as it would just be too hot to polish successfully. Yesterday and today have been perfect.

When I bought the car the paintwork was hazy and felt like wet and dry paper to touch due to the amount of contamination embedded in the paint. The nose was so badly stone chipped that I elected to get that resprayed a month or so back.

The plan was not to make it perfect, as the paint probably wasn’t quite good enough for that, but to resurrect it and make it look as good as I could. I started with my usual two stage wash, then used Valet Pro ‘Dragon’s Breath’ around the wheel arches and side panels where most of the brake ‘fallout’ had landed and embedded.

Next stage was to clay the paintwork fully. This pulls all the contaminants out of the paint and leaves it silky smooth - so much better than before.

I had previously cleaned out and filled as many stone chips on the bonnet as I could, with paint left over from the respray and some clear coat on top. Now these had fully hardened I rubbed the little clear coat ‘bumps’ with 2000, then 3000 grit wet and dry to get them flat and blended to the surrounding paintwork. This is the ‘No going back’ stage where you have wet sanded and left dull patches all over your bonnet!

Rinsed off again and then set to with the DA polisher using a Hexlogic medium cut pad and Menzerna 2500 medium cut polish. Once the whole car was done I applied Collinite 476S wax o leave a gleaming exterior. It’s not perfect, far from it, but most of the marks have been successfully removed and the remaining tiny stone chips that I’d missed are only visible very close to. I’m happy with the results.

It took me a full day, and at 55 with a bad back I was barely able to walk last night after finishing! It’s easing up this morning and I am happy with my efforts and the results I have achieved.

 

[Webarno]

Did mine yesterday, DIY. I have a Das6 Pro+ DA polisher, which I’ve had for a few years. Bought the F Type earlier this year with a view to giving it a full detail as and when I could fit it in. I don’t have access to a covered workshop, so all the work would have to be done on the driveway. This meant the height of summer was oit really as it would just be too hot to polish successfully. Yesterday and today have been perfect.

When I bought the car the paintwork was hazy and felt like wet and dry paper to touch due to the amount of contamination embedded in the paint. The nose was so badly stone chipped that I elected to get that resprayed a month or so back.

The plan was not to make it perfect, as the paint probably wasn’t quite good enough for that, but to resurrect it and make it look as good as I could. I started with my usual two stage wash, then used Valet Pro ‘Dragon’s Breath’ around the wheel arches and side panels where most of the brake ‘fallout’ had landed and embedded.

Next stage was to clay the paintwork fully. This pulls all the contaminants out of the paint and leaves it silky smooth - so much better than before.

I had previously cleaned out and filled as many stone chips on the bonnet as I could, with paint left over from the respray and some clear coat on top. Now these had fully hardened I rubbed the little clear coat ‘bumps’ with 2000, then 3000 grit wet and dry to get them flat and blended to the surrounding paintwork. This is the ‘No going back’ stage where you have wet sanded and left dull patches all over your bonnet!

Rinsed off again and then set to with the DA polisher using a Hexlogic medium cut pad and Menzerna 2500 medium cut polish. Once the whole car was done I applied Collinite 476S wax o leave a gleaming exterior. It’s not perfect, far from it, but most of the marks have been successfully removed and the remaining tiny stone chips that I’d missed are only visible very close to. I’m happy with the results.

It took me a full day, and at 55 with a bad back I was barely able to walk last night after finishing! It’s easing up this morning and I am happy with my efforts and the results I have achieved.

Looks FANTASTIC! Great work!

 

[Jimmyrn85]

That is stunning Pete, can I bring mine up to yours!!!

 

[Pilot Pete]

You’re more than welcome to Jimmy. Just let me know when you’re coming and I’ll make sure I’m out!!!

 

[Tel]

Hi, usually do this myself (by hand) but the F is quite swirly especially when the sun hits it and I thought I’d treat it to a proper detail / correction and possibly ceramic coating.

Just wondering

1 is it worth it

Cheers

Depends on whether you intend to keep the car and it's your pride and joy Sunday blast toy or, it's a daily driver that gets covered in muck I guess.
I've been polishing bikes and cars for 30 odd years for showing and ended up going for PPF on my car as it's something that I drive and show.

If you value keeping your paint in tip top condition (which incidentally is very difficult with the very soft JLR paints compared to other manufacturers) paint correction and then PPF is the way forward.

Ceramic coat is a sacrificial layer that generally lasts for a few months and is very hydrophobic, but invariably returns you back to the paint correction stage unless you are super careful when washing.
Our first V8S in 2014 was Ceramic coated and so is our current XFS battlewagon - Personally I wouldn't waste my money again.

Our current V8R was custom wrapped with healable film from new, so there's no swirls, no polishing to do, (although I do Ceramic QD for wetness before concours shows) and no paint chips.
Filtered water and a MF cloth is all that's needed to clean, in fact I think it's only had 2 wet washes in 7 years of ownership!

Cost wise if I consider all the products I used to get through and still have adournign the racks of my workshop, plus ceramic coating and boosting I think PPF is most cost effective...if it's a keeper car.

There's been the odd heart stopping moment when my mountain bike fell down the passenger side door...I had to polish that scratch out with a kettle of hot water!

 

[Philb280]

Pilot - you look like you’ve done a good job - love that colour.
I was offered the loan of a DA polisher but I’m not confident so usually go by hand - which at 54 is blooming hard work

Tel

Thanks for your thoughts on ceramic coating- will have a proper think about it. It’s a daily as in i use it twice a week for going to gym then on to work , if the weather is kind then I walk ( except the gym days) I have a toy in the garage but the F does spend a lot of time in there but I’m not precious about using it over winter / when it rains.

Certainly something to think about.

 

[Jimmyrn85]

Pete!! Not happening, I’m just gonna rock up unannounced!!

 

[Pilot Pete]

Phil, the DA is actually very easy - like you I spent years doing cars by hand and you are right it’s bloomin’ hard work!

The key is getting a half decent DA, a range of pads, a couple of polishes with cut and less cut/ more polish and do a bit of research regarding how hard the paint is on your car.

Start with the ‘weakest’ or ‘least cut’ combination of pad/ polish and do a test panel - if it cuts and polishes enough then go with that combo. If it doesn’t increase the cut by one level (heavier cut pad or heavier cut polish) until you get the right combo.

Actually using the DA is simplicity itself - you smear your clean pad with a load of polish and rub it in. That primes the pad. Then pick an area about 2’ square. Put three pea sized blobs of polish on the pad equally spaced. DAB the pad around on the panel area to ‘blob’ the polish across the area to be polished. Put the DA on a low speed setting, hold against the panel and switch it on. Now simply move the pad across the surface to spread the polish evenly around the chosen area.

Now switch the speed up and with the pad in contact with the panel switch on the DA. Start in one corner, gently push the pad into the panel and move the pad across the surface fairly slowly from side to side, like ploughing a field, but overlap each pass by half the width of the pad. Once you have done the horizontal ‘stripes’, now do a set of vertical passes across the same area using a similar technique. Stop the DA with the pad still in contact with the panel.

You will notice after you start your passes the polish turns clear and this is it breaking down and starting to do its thing. Don’t pass too fast, give the pad time to do it’s work. Don’t go too slow either, you will simply ‘get’ what feels right.

Wipe the remaining polish off with a microfibre towel and then inspect the area. Has it removed the defects? Has it polished to a shine? Does it need more correction or is the result to your standards? Can you actually do more correction? If a defect is too deep you can’t just keep polishing or you will strike through the clear coat and need a respray! However, a DA is very forgiving, which makes it most suitable for beginners and amateurs alike. I, like you, was concerned before I did my first car but really needn’t have worried. The results were spectacular compared to hand polishing, in a fraction of the time.

The ideal solution is to get a mate who has a DA show you how to use it and do one panel on your car for you, letting you do part of it too. It’s really not that difficult, honest!

 

[Pilot Pete]

Pete!! Not happening, I’m just gonna rock up unannounced!!

Ok, I’ll get the kettle on. :lol:

 

[Jimmyrn85]

Pete, this?

https://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/das6pro-dual-action-polisher

How often can you do it though? Without damaging the paint and going through the clear coat?

Never done it before.

 

[scm]

The ideal solution is to get a mate who has a DA show you how to use it ...

Or offer to do your mate's car first! :lol:

 

[Pilot Pete]

Pete, this?

https://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/das6pro-dual-action-polisher

How often can you do it though? Without damaging the paint and going through the clear coat?

Never done it before.

When you say ‘how often can you do it without damaging the paint and going through the clear coat?’ There is no definitive answer.

It depends, is the actual answer! It depends on how thick your paint is to start with (has it been machine polished before? Is it the factory paint? Has it been resprayed before?) You can get all technical and use a paint depth gauge which will tell you.

It then comes down to what are you trying to achieve? Correction of defects or just a light polish? Depending on how deep the defects are (scratches etc) will dictate whether they can be corrected without removing too much clear coat or not. The solution for a defect that is too deep is to repair that before polishing back to a shine. I did this on a scratch on the right wing/ bonnet on mine. The scratch had gone through the clear coat, down to the base coat and through that at one point.

The fix is to clean the scratch/ stone chip with isopropyl alcohol, then gently correct the defect with base colour, then clear coat (or you can mix them together and apply in one go. The way to do this is to apply tiny dabs with an extremely fine artists brush or something like a cocktail stick. All you want to do is fill the scratch/ stone chip. You are not trying make a smooth painted finish. The clear coat should be slightly proud of the surrounding paint surface.

You then use 2000-2500 grit wet and dry with copious soapy suds to wet sand with a small rubbing block to flatten this clear coat. Then use 3000 grit to finish it of perfectly smoothly. You then end up with dull patches where you have repaired your paint. Here is my bonnet with a number of dull patches. All the white bits are splashes.

 

[Pilot Pete]

Part 2

So with the deeper defects corrected you can then cut/ polish back to a shine without having to remove excess clear coat.

You should only need to do this once in a very long time if you use a two bucket wash method and protect your paint finish. Once it’s corrected you don’t then use a machine polisher every time you clean your car!

My F had never had its paint corrected since new. The paint was almost gritty to the touch it had so much contamination embedded in the surface. No amount of washing and spray detailer would make it shine like it should. It was in desperate need of a proper paint correction. There were a few swirl marks from previous bad washing techniques and it had lots of tar spots all down both sides.

So now it’s corrected, I don’t anticipate doing it again for a number of years. I will however have a go at son #3’s Mini!

I’m thinking that’s one Christmas present sorted!!!

 

[Jimmyrn85]

Thank you for the detailed write up! Defo a bit beyond me I think atm to start doing that on the F!

 

[MArtyn Veg]

Hi Jimmy, just had mine done and would say definitely worth it!

 

[Pilot Pete]

Pete, this?

https://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/das6pro-dual-action-polisher

How often can you do it though? Without damaging the paint and going through the clear coat?

Never done it before.

No Jimmy, the Pro+ https://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/paint-correction/polishing-machines/dual-action-polishers/das-6-pro-plus-dual-action-polisher

 

[Jimmyrn85]

Thanks both, looks fantastic Martyn, just probably not best I learn how to do this stuff on an F Type!!