Results of a day of detailing

3.0 Lakes Lee · Post by **3.0 Lakes Lee** » Sun 18 Oct, 2009 09:32

Well after the building of my garage is finally complete I decided to lock myself away for the day and get on with detailing the Z, including the engine bay. Enjoyed every minute and the results are below.

Everything was done using Meguiars products.

Meguairs gold shampoo
Meguiars Clay
Meguiars step 1,2 3
Meguairs Engine Cleaner
Meguiars Engine Dressing
Meguiars Tyre Dressing

All purchased from Monza Car Care

shantybeater · Post by **shantybeater** » Sun 18 Oct, 2009 09:39

Wow, I seriously love this car. Looks absolutely spotless! good job

also what did you use for the engine bay to get the end shine? I used Autoglym rubber/vinyl protector which looked great at the time but is a complete dirt magnet so my bay looks filthy now!

3.0 Lakes Lee · Post by **3.0 Lakes Lee** » Sun 18 Oct, 2009 09:45

Just updated products in original thread

Cheers
Lee

Fender2004 · Post by **Fender2004** » Sun 18 Oct, 2009 09:46

Your car looks awesome,

I take it that you used the Meguiars engine clean and dressing? I saw this advertised and was wondering whether to buy some? If you get these results I better buy some

3.0 Lakes Lee · Post by **3.0 Lakes Lee** » Sun 18 Oct, 2009 09:49

Cover the electrics, swill the engine with water, apply Meguars engine cleaner, agitate dirty areas and then wash off, let dry and then I made sure I hadnt missed anywhere. Apply Engine dressing and then buff off, which leaves a totally dry non taccy engine bay.

ALM · Post by **ALM** » Sun 18 Oct, 2009 10:03

Car looks fantastic.
The strut brace really enhances the look of the (super clean) engine bay...might have to get one of those.

Fender2004 · Post by **Fender2004** » Sun 18 Oct, 2009 10:08

Thanks for that I'll definitely have to try this sometime

Boysie · Post by **Boysie** » Sun 18 Oct, 2009 10:27

Hi

Fantastic result
Car looks great

I wish I had that garage space

Ray

TitanTim · Post by **TitanTim** » Sun 18 Oct, 2009 10:33

Looks great Lee, fantastic results

Dare I say it, its the one thing I love about a 3.0 over an M and thats the facelift body, just looks much more sleek to my eyes.

Loving the AC wheels, really are the best a Zed can get.

Tim.

Althulas · Post by **Althulas** » Sun 18 Oct, 2009 10:47

So love your Z house, nice job on the car too.

kingy1 · Post by **kingy1** » Sun 18 Oct, 2009 12:09

Bloody hell, dint like seeing those pictures, dont no if i could get my black z as clean as that!!
Looks lovely though

3.0 Lakes Lee · Post by **3.0 Lakes Lee** » Sun 18 Oct, 2009 14:18

And now in the Gallery of Monca Car Care

http://monzacarcare.com/zymol-gallery/

Canman · Post by **Canman** » Sun 18 Oct, 2009 15:23

stunning car, a credit to you Lee.

Ian_C · Post by **Ian_C** » Sun 18 Oct, 2009 15:37

Looks great Lee. Well worth the effort

Dolfan · Post by **Dolfan** » Sun 18 Oct, 2009 19:27

Lovely job,
your car has great presence, tastefully modded and the wheels are the perfect touch

Alfie · Post by **Alfie** » Mon 19 Oct, 2009 08:39

The car looks great Lee. a real credit to you.

3.0 Lakes Lee wrote:....I decided to lock myself away for the day...

How the hell did you do all that in just one day?
Either your Zed wasn't very dirty in the first place or you did a 16 hour day with all your mates helping!

When I (occasionally) clean the engine bay, it takes me about two days of hard graft with a box of j-cloths and a can of WD40, (no 'Carry On...' gags thanks!) so...

3.0 Lakes Lee wrote:Cover the electrics

Can you be more specific? I'd never be confident that I'd covered everything.

3.0 Lakes Lee wrote:...swill the engine with water...

Again, do you mean that literally?
With a hose pipe or something?
It sounds like a very 'brave' act to me!

Great result though.

A.

3.0 Lakes Lee · Post by **3.0 Lakes Lee** » Mon 19 Oct, 2009 09:05

My car is generally "clean" as it does less than 2k a year. So I had a good base to start from and yes it took me the day to achieve the results you see, I worked my socks off though and was knackered at the end of it.

Meguiars instructional video on how to clean the engine bay is here

http://monzacarcare.com/products/?categ ... rch%20term

I used a fine gentle waterspray and a lot of common sense and also covered the alternator and any other obvious exposed electrics before using any water, as long as your careful you will be fine.

There was a lot of gentle elbow grease in the engine bay using small brushes and lint free cloths, i would say the engine bay took a bout 3 - 4 hours.

Lee

yalden · Post by **yalden** » Mon 19 Oct, 2009 12:28

Looks fabulous, definitely a job well done!

Did you get any photos that captured the full car, with the bonnet/boot closed?

I checked out the Monza site and found some great products, especially within the tools section... tyre gel applicator, soft brushes etc etc... I began compiling an order but at checkout I realised I was into three digits; I think I'll revise the basket contents tonight and try not to get carried away!

P.S. I note bicycles in the reflections, are you an avid rider?

Jonttt · Post by **Jonttt** » Mon 19 Oct, 2009 13:12

Lee, Perfecto!

Do you still cover the car in the garage (especially with it being new) to stop dust settling on the car

3.0 Lakes Lee · Post by **3.0 Lakes Lee** » Mon 19 Oct, 2009 13:26

Yes the car is covered when in the garage, just some nice linen double sheets, nothing special although I have been looking at the custom fit dust covers

Lee

Post by **Robert T** » Mon 19 Oct, 2009 13:51

3.0 Lakes Lee wrote:just some nice linen double sheets

Do you do breakfast as well?

Car looks fantastic. Black and red does look well on a sports car, but it is a ****er to keep them clean.

I will make sure I have my sunglasses with me when I'm up there in a couple of weeks - if I meet you on the road, I think you'll blind me!

Cheers R.

3.0 Lakes Lee · Post by **3.0 Lakes Lee** » Mon 19 Oct, 2009 14:58

yalden wrote:Looks fabulous, definitely a job well done!

Did you get any photos that captured the full car, with the bonnet/boot closed?

I checked out the Monza site and found some great products, especially within the tools section... tyre gel applicator, soft brushes etc etc... I began compiling an order but at checkout I realised I was into three digits; I think I'll revise the basket contents tonight and try not to get carried away!

P.S. I note bicycles in the reflections, are you an avid rider?

They do have some great products and my garage cupboard seems to have quite a few of them in!

The bikes??..............used to race but now just fitness, I have the same bike Lance (Armstrong) rode in this years tour de france, bikes or cars, theres always something to buy for them!!!

Cheers
Lee

yalden · Post by **yalden** » Tue 20 Oct, 2009 07:09

Sounds good! I'm looking to buy my first road bike next weekend, either a Specialized Allez Elite or a Cannondale CAAD8... looking forward to some fast road speed, especially when compared to riding my Specialized Rockhopper on the tarmac!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed 21 Oct, 2009 21:02

stunning results...well done!

I use P222 for the engine, and aerospace protectant for the plastics...gets a great effect!

biglet2002 · Post by **biglet2002** » Thu 05 Nov, 2009 05:34

My G-d! That's a work of art!!!

Lisa

3.0 Lakes Lee · Post by **3.0 Lakes Lee** » Tue 10 Nov, 2009 14:47

Thanks guys for all the comments, hope to meet up with some of you next year

Post by **Robert T** » Tue 10 Nov, 2009 14:52

Think you must've been hiding your car in the garage at the weekend so as not to get it dirty. I didn't see any shiney black zeds on the road - come to think of it, I didn't see any zeds! Was out in mine quite a few times as had appointments in Kendal Friday and Saturday and did a bit of shopping in Bowness and Ambleside. Annoyingly the sun shone driving home on Sunday.

Cheers R.

3.0 Lakes Lee · Post by **3.0 Lakes Lee** » Tue 10 Nov, 2009 14:59

My lovely lady is reseved for dry sunny days rob!

the roads are so crappy round the lakes at the mo

Not to mention the 8 ton of walling stone that is blocking my drive and still needs shifting!!

Have you moved up here now Rob?

Post by **Robert T** » Tue 10 Nov, 2009 15:32

3.0 Lakes Lee wrote:Have you moved up here now Rob?

No, I'm afraid not, but I do come up and stay with my folks quite often - they live about 2 miles outside Kendal. I am Kendal born and bred, but I moved away to go to uni and got a job down here in Cheshire after that. I think the Lakes will always feel like home to me - it is always nice to visit - even in the pouring rain.

Cheers R.

neo1 · Post by **neo1** » Tue 10 Nov, 2009 17:02

wow do you want to do mine

3.0 Lakes Lee · Post by **3.0 Lakes Lee** » Tue 10 Nov, 2009 18:03

neo1 wrote:wow do you want to do mine

errrrrrrrrrrrr?........................no

JohnSmith · Post by **JohnSmith** » Mon 30 Nov, 2009 02:54

Lee, have you ever considered getting a professional detailer to carry out some paint correction? It'd really be a superb reflection if you did.

3.0 Lakes Lee · Post by **3.0 Lakes Lee** » Mon 30 Nov, 2009 07:54

JohnSmith wrote:Lee, have you ever considered getting a professional detailer to carry out some paint correction? It'd really be a superb reflection if you did.

Not sure what you mean by paint correction? I have never really thought about it and not sure where the nearest one to me would be.

Lee

Jonttt · Post by **Jonttt** » Mon 30 Nov, 2009 13:04

Lee, I'm not sure what your car is like in the flesh (as I've not seen it

) but I think what John is implying is that there can be a further "level" of correction to a car whereby the laquer is professionally cut to remove 100% of swirls. This is the only way to get a real mirror finish.

This is really a specialist job and a full correction can cost many hundreds (even £1,000) pounds.

It is something I've toyed with but you have to weigh up the cost/benefit of doing it yourself and getting maybe 80% of the result for relatively little cost other than your own time against the considerable extra cost to get closer to that 100% level of finish.

If you ever get a chance its well worth you going to see Matt at Offyourmarks in Liverpool. (not a million miles from you if you fancy a day trip over to Liverpool, he's 10 min from the city centre and is an experience just to see how the pro's do a detail even if you decide against).

He is well respected (former member on here) and writes in a number of the BMW magazines

3.0 Lakes Lee · Post by **3.0 Lakes Lee** » Mon 30 Nov, 2009 14:23

Funnily enough I have just bought one of these with various polishing pads.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWNX:IT

So i think I will get results that I will be more than happy with.

Cheers
Lee

Jonttt · Post by **Jonttt** » Mon 30 Nov, 2009 20:49

You can practice on yours and I'll bring mine round

Seriously, I'm doing the same thing next spring, of course with the benefit of you brand new garage you can get to work on yours before me

3.0 Lakes Lee · Post by **3.0 Lakes Lee** » Tue 01 Dec, 2009 09:43

Jonttt wrote:

You can practice on yours and I'll bring mine round

Seriously, I'm doing the same thing next spring, of course with the benefit of you brand new garage you can get to work on yours before me

You are more than welcome to call in jonttt, happy to let you use my "facilities" Im sure my Z wouldnt mind sitting on the driveway for the day

Jonttt · Post by **Jonttt** » Tue 01 Dec, 2009 13:59

mmm very tempting but moving house over xmas will mean the Z will have to wait

We'll definately sort out that Spring meet though, in fact you should get the banners ready for your garage "Zroadster Club House"

Citation 650 · Post by **Citation 650** » Tue 20 Apr, 2010 04:07

zroadster.net

Results of a day of detailing

Results of a day of detailing

Re: Results of a day of detailing

clean car