My New Car - Not A Civic But 1 of 500...


phillyt1988

New Member
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
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187
Some of you may remember my EK9, well since selling that I had a brief stint of owning an EP3 which I really didn't enjoy. Anyway that has made way for this now and I can say I'm liking this alot. Driveability and fun factor is very similar to the EK where as the EP felt like captaining a boat!

Heres the write up of the detailing session my good friend Olly (Snow Shine) carried out for me. After having him work on my EK9 before and seeing the results along with his various other clients I knew the car was in safe hands. I really can't recommend him enough and if you're on the South Coast or even further afield and willing to travel to have someone who really knows and cares about what they're doing then get in touch with me and I'll forward you his contact details.

Anyway it all started with a detailed analysis of the car and to judge the condition of the vehicle and establish which areas needed the most attention. As you can see the guy who owned it before me had looked after it mechanically but aesthetically he didn't really know an awful lot and mentioned a carwash to me when I was viewing the car...

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As you can see the car had an awful lot of swirls and the red paint had also faded quite a bit and was looking slightly pink.

The first step of the cleaning process was to give it a proper wash which involved Klean Freaks all wheel wheel cleaner and Klean Freaks snow foam. Once that had done its work the car was then washed off with Meguiars gold class shampoo.

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Once the car was relatively clean the second step was to clay it. This was done using Dodo Juice detailing spray as a lubrication agent and Bilt Hammer clay. As you can see there was plenty of contaminant on the paintwork...

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Once this was out of the way it was time to wash the car off again using Meguiars gold class shampoo.

Then the fun began, 3M 3 stage (fast cut plus followed by finesse and finally ultra fina) all administered with the Dodo Spin Doctor rotary polisher. First stage...

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Results following just the fast cut plus...

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As you can see the swirls were visibly reduced after just the first stage! Then onto the second...

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Vast improvement on the colour and looking pretty smooth! Application of the ultra fina in action...

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And the results of that work...

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As you can see the paint had been properly brought back to life!! Next step was to ensure that lasted with some serious protection so first of all a coat of Autoglym SRP was added into the equation to finish off the polishing side of things which was done by hand. Then there was a paint sealant added into the equation of exactly which I've forgotten so I do apologise for that. Then it was time for wax, out came the Dodo waxes, first of all orange crush then that was swiftly followed up by a coat of Dodo supernatural! Quick picture of that in progress...

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Once the whole thing had been sealed and waxed it was time to give it another wash off to get rid of the compound that had found its way into the nooks and crannies of the car and onto the plastics so it was jetted off then washed again with the Meguiars gold class shampoo. As you can see the wax was doing a cracking job...

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Once that was all taken care of the car was dried down with a huge drying towel of which again I'm not 100% sure on the brand but the Dodo QD came back out to aid the drying process and ensure it wasn't smeary. That all done it was time to take care of the plastics and tyres which was done with the aid of Autoglym bumper care, Dodo tyre wax and finally Autoglym tyre shine! The glass was sorted aswell using Autoglym fastglass.

I really was over the moon, the car looked so much better and here's the evidence to prove it. I also gained myself a Snow Shine sticker too which isn't so shabby!

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And a week on even after a drop of rain etc the cars still looking pretty much as it did the day it was done!

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Once again a massive thanks to Snow Shine! Let me know what you think!
 
Amazing looking car mate :D really can't believe how nice it came out after all that cleaning! It looks incredible, love the colour :nice:
 
The amount of the products used on this cat alone is probably worth more the whole of mines haha :)
 
Wow you really went nutts on it, looks good, Lots of products being used!
I usually just use fast cut plus then 3m machine polish(blue top) then a wax like meguirs,
 
hahahahaha it's sooo cute!! we don't have lil cars like that in the us except the mini cooper and fiat 500.
 
great wee cars the trophys came close to buying one last year but could not justify paying over 5 for them.
 
Haha I understand it is a Renault and it's never going to come close to a Honda in terms of build quality but honestly if you ever get a chance to drive one, give it a try as they're really fun! I didn't give alot for the car either as it was in need of some TLC...
 
Had an ek9-loved it and moved on to an ep3 then a cooper s +LSD,then a 24'000 mile trophy and to this day the trophy is the best handling car i've ever owned/driven !! loved every minute of the ownership ,looks like a good example you have there mate ,good detail as well
 
Never really liked these but wow is that a nice example! Looks mint! :)
 
How many hours takes the polishing proces? (without wax, tyres, glasses etc)
 
Great job you've done on that! Can't understand anybody thinking a trophy isn't any good, they're awesome, those sachs dampers are simply unreal on a typical british b-road. I used to own #223, but crashed it :nono:
Do love my ek9 tho :))
 
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