Detailed: 2004 Volkswagen R32
 

This car belongs to my close friend Rob. It's his birthday coming up so this is my gift to him :D It's a Black Magic Pearl 2004 Volkswagen R32. He imported it from the US last year.

I spent some time with this car last year but the clearcoat was extremely hard and unfortunately my machine & products could not make a dent in all the damage that the previous owner had done to the paint. There were A LOT of defects in the paint. Random scratches everywhere. I have no idea how the previous owner did it as they don't appear to be from washing. Oh well, it's in good hands now :)

This detail took me about 22 hours of for exterior compounding/polishing/sealant/wax and detailing the seats. I probably could spend another 3-4 hours on it to do the rest of the interior but I ran out of time.

On to the pictures!

Morning of day 1. She looks pretty clean right?

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s...psa42b3c44.jpg

Usual hatch build-up

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s...ps64acb231.jpg

Rob washes his car a lot. My advice for those of you who wash once a week (or more) is to clay and apply sealant & wax every 6 months or so. In this case, you can tell that there is no protectant on the car anymore as there is very little beading:

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s...ps3ca84ea9.jpg

The sun decided to take a peek to reveal some of the marring

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s...ps17396d1e.jpg

One more

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s...ps993f8260.jpg

Under the lights - before and after compounding

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s...ps3b9b6146.jpg

One more - The depth of black magic pearl really starts to show.

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s...psc1fdacb4.jpg

Under the sun the difference becomes a lot more clear

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s...ps1f2ff1da.jpg

Back inside

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s...ps4a292407.jpg

The rear bumper step was HAMMERED. I have no idea how the previous owner did this. I'm guessing they had a pet or something.

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s...ps07483c61.jpg

50/50 - still odd defects after compounding (3-4 passes) but not worth chasing anymore

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s...ps434ad3a8.jpg

Hatch before

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s...psd578d7f2.jpg

Hatch after

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s...ps8d9ac113.jpg

Mirror scratched up

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s...ps958c1826.jpg

Much better!

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s...psc14d86a5.jpg

Seats looking really worn (extremely comfortable though!!)

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s...psc6e3f3f0.jpg

Polished to take out all the build-up over time

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s...ps07c303eb.jpg

Another angle

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s...pse28b0a42.jpg

Seatback

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s...psc6294fa0.jpg

You can kind of tell the difference here. The bolster in the foreground is uncleaned. The bolster in the background has been cleaned and conditioned and is back to looking matte.

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s...ps5f8f001d.jpg

Finished shots:

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s...ps4e1e024d.jpg

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s...ps3ca57a15.jpg

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s...psc82825b4.jpg

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s...ps355d0dca.jpg

Truly a pleasure to work on this car. I think I reached 95% of correction. Once I get some practice wetstanding I will aim for 100% in next year's detail.

Kev

WOW ... can I be your friend please?

Do you have a shop? Or do this on the side as a hobby?

damn you are talented man!

Wow all your detail threads are amazing! You should considering selling your services, I'd definitely be interested!

No shop. It's just a hobby that went too far haha.

Thank you!

Thanks! I've never thought about doing it for money, but the response has been really overwhelming from people. Maybe in another year. I still need to learn more and make my process more efficient as most people can't leave their car with me for two days.

Kev

After shot looks fantastic! What sealant did you use?

Hi Ken,

I used Opti-Seal. I have some Opti-Coat that I just purchased but I haven't decided what car(s) to use it on.

Also, since you replied here, just a quick question but what kind of pads do you recommend for the Flex 3401? Unfortunately, the LC Hybrid Cyan pad has started to disintegrate after use on only two vehicles.

Kev

If this is how it turns out, i wouldnt mind bringing my MKV Black Magic Pearl in for some work

i'll pay + booze