Audi S8, CLS550, SSR, XK8 and Acura TL

W

Way2SSlow

~werd to yo mutha~
So, it's been a while since I've posted anything. I haven't really done much detailing. Sure, I've buffed a scratch out here and there and I've done some quicky wash/waxes that I havent taken pics of, but with this water restriction I haven't done much. Ya know, I was suprised at how little detailing I was doing this summer and BOOM! The last two weekends have brought me some detailing and I'll be darned if it didnt rain during all of them!



We'll start with last weekend. My neighbor has a NBP 06 TL that needed a little bit of TLC. He takes very good care of this car mechanically and the interior was in great shape, but he hangs his bike on the wall......You know where this is leading. He basically had a long scratch and some scuffing all the way down the drivers side. He really didnt want to pay for me to spend the time I usually do, so I cut him a deal, and just polished and sealed (I cleaned the wheels but didnt dress the tires). Ofcourse I polished the whole car, because I couldnt stand to have one side look great and not the other! I didnt have much sun to take pictures in and I was rushing to beat the rain, so here's some afters. They're really all I took. I didnt slow down while I was working on this one:



Process:

Menzerna SIP on Edge green Wool

Menzerna 106ff on white Edge finishing pad

Optimum Poliseal via PC (really just wanted to see how it would impact the look...not much)

OCW new formula



TLfender.jpg




TLrearside.jpg




TLside.jpg




Ok, so that was last Sunday's job. Today I accompanied a very close friend of mine to do some maintenance details on one of his best client's rides. I really enjoy detailing with my buddy Nick. He's a great guy and we always have fun with it. So Nick, if you read this, thanks again buddy. :D



I didnt take too many before/after pics since it was raining WHILE we were working on the cars. We worked through the weather and managed to get the cars looking pretty darn good. First up, Chevrolet SSR. Really a neat car, but this one HARDLY ever gets driven. It spends about 99% of it's life in a garage and I think the odo showed something like 8K miles. We just washed it with Megs Gold Class and waxed it with Adam's Buttery wax. We used OCW after the buttery wax removal for some extra protection and to make sure we didnt miss any spots.



Nick is hard at work in this next pic (cleaning up after me and my mad mess making skillZ, while I take pictures. Seems fair to me). Apparently I have super human strength and managed to break the bottle of Buttery wax while squeezing the bottle onto my applicator pad. Oh yeah, it was all over the car. Never fails, I always manage to break one of Nick's bottles. I don't know why he buys the girly ones every time! He KNOWS I'm a FREAKIN BEAST! :D :D



SSR2.jpg




SSR3.jpg




SSR1.jpg




Continuted in the next post....
 
OK, now for the rest. Next we did a Jag XK8. Because Nick and I were both hustling to get the cars ready for wax, and because Nick pretty much handled this one by himself while I worked on the CLS, I didnt take many pics of it. This car pretty much belongs to the family's sweethearted Rottweiler (who actually came out to greet us and supervise a bit). Nick did a bang up job on the interior, but I was too busy drooling over the Audi....Anyway, ON WITH THE PICS! The Jag got washed with Gold Class, Polished with Klasse AIO and waxed with TOL Pizzaz (sp?).



Jagingarage.jpg




Alright, we've been to Japan, back to the good ole States, and even sampled what the English have to offer.....Let's visit the Germans, shall we?



08 Mercedes CLS - roughly 4500 miles.

Washed with Gold Class

Polished with Klasse AIO

Sealed with Poorboys EX-P.



CLS1.jpg




You'll notice a speck in that last pic....The driveway is a big hill and I must have kicked that onto the car when I moved it for the pic.....Isn't that just how it goes sometimes....



CLSsill.jpg




CLSside.jpg




And NOW for the Mac Daddy. This was the last car that we worked on and we worked on it together. Audi clear is notorious for being hard, but this time I was greatful for it. The car is about a year old and swirling was minimal (brake dust on the other hand....dont get me started). My favorite car of the day. When I backed it out, the radio was on and the tweeters actually raise out of the dash. When you turn the radio off, they drop back. SWEET! Accumulator, I understand now, and I didnt even get to drive it on the street!



Gold Class wash

Clay with Adams old school clay (the good stuff)

Wolfgang pre polish enhancer

Adam's buttery wax

OCW wipedown



S8wheel.jpg




I couldnt believe the peel on the rear, I thought you Autopians would like this pic:



S8peel.jpg




And the money shot:



S8-1.jpg




Sorry I'm a little short on pics, but working in the rain just sucks! Thanks for looking.
 
Thanks guys! The S8 was the car of the day. I was AMAZED though at how nice and swirl-less it was. When I got to the top of the driveway, and I saw it, I said out loud to myself "OH $#&* a Black Audi! This is going to be a long day!" The wheels on the Audi did take me forever though. I had my usual assortment of brushes and the ole EZ detail brush had it's work cut out for it. Nick finished the wheels on all the other cars in the time it took me for the Audi. Apparently the S8 is the owners favorite car and it's the one he chooses to drive the most. The gentleman loves his cars and he definitely DRIVES them (well, he either drives them hard or he's got a real delayed braking problem in the S8).



Rydawg,



These "maintenance details" are the way to go. They dont take it out on your body like your 50 and 60 hour polishing marathons! :D
 
[Insert usual :bow regarding Way2SSlow's work..]



Way2SSlow- Well, you can guess which car *I* was zoomed in on ;)



Interesting that Audi hasn't improved their OP any...and of course *I* think it'd look a lot better without all those emblems :D Is that *curb rash* :eek: on that S8 wheel or just something that needed cleaned off?
 
Way2SSlow said:
Rydawg,



These "maintenance details" are the way to go. They dont take it out on your body like your 50 and 60 hour polishing marathons! :D
Click to expand...



Your absolutly right! Rick and I have been talking about it and we have to start doing more of these quickies. The only problem is we have to try to remember how to do them. It's been so long.:aww:



Fall is coming so quickie season is here....Thank GOD!!!!!!!



Some people count sheep, but on 50 hour corrections I count these...:tumblewee..Thousnads of them too.:lol
 
Accumulator said:
[Insert usual :bow regarding Way2SSlow's work..]



Way2SSlow- Well, you can guess which car *I* was zoomed in on ;)



Interesting that Audi hasn't improved their OP any...and of course *I* think it'd look a lot better without all those emblems :D Is that *curb rash* :eek: on that S8 wheel or just something that needed cleaned off?
Click to expand...



YES!!!! Curb rash! I almost broke down into tears when I saw that. I even called Nick over and pointed it out while I was cleaning them.



Bryan,



I took a pic or two of the interior of the S8, but they sucked. It was overcast, so ya couldnt really see, so I thought, I'll try the flash. Well it glared off the windshield and it's a blur. I was bummed because it was the coolest interior too. The seats were black and had silver inserts. The Navigation spins out of the dash quicker than most cars I've ever been in too. The tweaters rising really got the biggest rise out of me though. I still think that is so cool!
 
What's up Autopia? I'm laughing because I see the last time I logged in was 3/5/05. WOW!



Thanks again Wade for helping me out on this detail. After selling the majority of my detailing business in 2006 to pursue asset management software sales, I kept this and a few other high-profile clients. Since then, I've been detailing in and out a couple times a month and at the Barrett-Jackson and Russo & Steele auctions.



I was at this residence last about a year ago. Slightly after I was there, the 07' Audi A8 was in a wreck, and that's when the new S8 came in. My client was the CEO of a major retail coffee joint until just recently (now just sits on the board), and traveled extensively to the north. When he wasn't driving the cars, his house manager (butler) gets the pleasure of doing so.



While the new Mercedes CLS was nice (not much different inside versus my E500), the S8 indeed took the cake. I heard multiple times throughout the day that local guy Accumulator would be posting. The SSR is a difficult one to detail. The last time I did some extensive swirl removal, rotary included, but noticed that this one had been driven the least since last time. The Jag has sentelmental value to the family, and as a 98', has only 50k miles on it. Some older detailing pics of mine can be found on Top of the Line's website when I tested some products for them (Grape Tire Dressing).



Sorry for the lack of pics; we certainly were getting the effects of Hurricane Fay, and dodged sprinkles and wind all day. Would have loved to take out my new Canon 40d for the occasion.



I hope to post more work as time allows. Thanks again Wade!
 
nickc0844 said:
What's up Autopia? I'm laughing because I see the last time I logged in was 3/5/05. WOW!
Click to expand...



Uh oh! He's back. Let's try to keep the forum time down, I don't want Nan mad at me for getting you back on here!



Thanks for comments guys.
 
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