2009 Daytona Grey S5... Incredible color!

imported_d00t

New member
I just finished this car over the weekend. The owner just bought it one year used last wednesday-- and he's doing the right thing. Starting off right with a comprehensive detail, getting minor chips touched up, and then a full clear bra.



So I was part 1 of the process. It's been on and off raining here so the car was a little dirty:



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Started off with the wheels. Autoglym custom wheel cleaner and various brushes were used:



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Moved on to the engine bay. Sprayed with P21S TAW and agitated with various brushes:



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After that the car was washed with CG Citrus Wash/Clear and the two-bucket-method. While the car was wet, I clayed it with the aid of ONR as lube.



Here's some pics of the condition of the paint before bring it in.



A little aside about Daytona Grey. First, it's about the most gorgeous color I've seen. The charcoal color, in combination with the multi-colored flakes in the pearl really add a whole different level to a standard grey metallic. So of course, the paint didn't show swirls.. and honestly, for being 1 year old and having 15,000 miles on it. The paint was in INCREDIBLE condition. Mostly I did the polish for a gloss-enhancer, but some areas required some compounding to get out some RIDS. The idea for this car was 98%+ correction.



So here's the condition of the paint after washing and claying:



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So I started polishing. I taped up the hood for a 50/50 but the difference was negligible since, like I stated earlier it was a gloss-enhancing polish. And most of the RIDS were on the verticle panels.



So the process I chose was an Uber Green pad, and 3M UK Extra Fine compound to get rid of the clay marring, and also it added a nice gloss to the paint. Some areas required fast cut plus and a 3M Green compounding pad.



Here's a neat shot:



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Under brinkman and halogens:



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Some RIDS by the gas cap, and also one big scratch:



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After two passes of 3M UK Green + Fast Cut Plus, and one pass of Uber Green, and EFC:



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20 different lights!



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Tail lights before:



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after:



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Another in-action shot:



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Some deep scuffs on the rocker:



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After:



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Once the polishing was done, I put on a coat of Blackfire AFPP and let it set before buffing it off and calling it a night.



The next morning I added a layer of Swissvax Concorso:



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Some odds and ends that weren't pictured... the wheels, glass, and aluminum trim were all polished with werkstat prime, and sealed with JS 109. The tires were dressed with Megs HD. Exhaust tips polished with P21S.



No before pics on interior--but it was in really good condition. It was cleaned with various products, notably the leather was cleaned with Gloss-It Leather cleaner, and was conditioned with Leatherique Pristine Clean. Dash was wiped with 1Z Cockpit Premium and conditioned with 303 Vinyl Protectant.
 
And a slew the final afters:



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Don't know why all my sun shots came out like this:



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Total time was a little more than 10 hours



Thanks for looking!



As always, C/C welcome!



:2thumbs:
 
I love these things. The beautiful look of the A5 mated with the power of the 4.2Lv8....



Great work and weird to hear about your sun shots - double check your filter, white balance, apeture / shutter spead settings and try to trouble shoot the issue. If it's not that, then I'm guessing the build-in meter was just getting way too much light and cut down drastically on the shutter speed due to the density it thought it was going to come up with. Best way to overcome that situation is manual settings for aperture/shutter speed. I had a situation like that a few weeks back while working on a black A8L
 
My dream car right here! A recent thread asking what everyone's dream car was and this was mine. Sure there are wayyyy more higher end options doubling and tripling in price. This Walter DeSilva design is precious and I would take it over just about anything.



This is a beautilful color.
 
Awesome job. Man I love that car. A guy very close to where I live has one in black but I think I like the silver so much more...:2thumbs::2thumbs:
 
MuttGrunt said:
I love these things. The beautiful look of the A5 mated with the power of the 4.2Lv8....



Great work and weird to hear about your sun shots - double check your filter, white balance, apeture / shutter spead settings and try to trouble shoot the issue. If it's not that, then I'm guessing the build-in meter was just getting way too much light and cut down drastically on the shutter speed due to the density it thought it was going to come up with. Best way to overcome that situation is manual settings for aperture/shutter speed. I had a situation like that a few weeks back while working on a black A8L



Thanks, Marc! Was good talking to you!



tdekany said:
Fantastic work! I did prep one when they first started to come out in the same color. Great cars!



Thanks a lot! They truly are!



dublifecrisis said:
My dream car right here! A recent thread asking what everyone's dream car was and this was mine. Sure there are wayyyy more higher end options doubling and tripling in price. This Walter DeSilva design is precious and I would take it over just about anything.



This is a beautilful color.



Definitely!



Pats300zx said:
Awesome job. Man I love that car. A guy very close to where I live has one in black but I think I like the silver so much more...:2thumbs::2thumbs:



Thanks a lot!



Scottwax said:
The S5 is sex on wheels. :)



Awesome job on it.



Yes sir! Thanks, Scott!
 
Great job Aaron! That looks superb. Good writeup as well. I love those S5's.



Does the Concorso spread thinner with an applicator? I've always applied it by hand.
 
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