Volkswagen GOLF GTI 16v from '86 !!!

[Flatfour]

Again, a really "hopeless" car that I did.

It belongs to one of my best friends.

This is a real classic one, very sought after here in Belgium, about 140 bhp but boy, does this is fun to drive.

The car itself was in a really poor state, all black trim was white, full of swirls, litlle dents and even some rust on the panel-lines.

Not all swirls are gone, even after an orange cuttin gpad and SSR 3/ DACP #83...

Also some very hard to remove scratches, I attacked them with all my products and pads but even after heavy cutting they were still there.

I even "burnt" trough the paint mith my rotary (on 1600 rpm, orange pad, SSR 3 after 2 minutes, on the edge of the hood)



Still no drama because next year this car will be completely disassembled and then transformed into a real circuit-trasher (cage, 200 bhp engine, ...)



Anyway here's the process and pics :



Wash

Cutting with orange/green DAS and SFX pads with SSR 3 - 2 - 2.5

Light polish with blue pad and SSR 1 / Sonus SFX 1

All small edges and crevices with Autoglym SRP / by hand

Wax with Natty's

Protection on all black trim (even then it stayed wite...) with 303

After :

You really can see a difference, but the hood stayed "pitted" and there were swirls that didn't want to come out.



Of course, what do you expect after 20 years of use, on RED paint...

All my pads that I use were "loaded" with dead paint after doing a panel !





Next thing I'm looking is some good product to hide the swirls after polishing...

 

[Accumulator]

Good job on a cool car :yxythumbs SRP isn't the worst product for jobs like this, at least it doesn't highlight marring the way AIO will.



I guess the best way to hide the marring would be to use a glaze and top with a heavier wax than the Natty's. But I bet it looks mighty good just the way it is, sure does in the pics.



I myself would rather have it in its imperfect original condition. Somehow the marring just doesn't bug me on an older car like that- I think of it as "patina" from years of good service.

 

[Smoked Tails]

My car's kinda like that. I don't let it bother me because at least it's red again. And, usually, it's the shiniest car in the parking lot. Nice work, I love A2 VWs. My bro had an 87 16V but he wrecked it. I still miss my Scirocco 16V, that was a great car. They were both black (kinda) and swirly. To know then what I know now.



Anyways, it looks 1000x better, be proud.

 

[Scottwax]

Huge improvement! That final full car shot really shows off how wet the paint looks.



Next time, try Meguiars #80 after DACP, I think they are practically unbeatable on single stage paints, especially older ones.

 

[Flatfour]

I will take a note for that #80 for my next order in the US...



Two things that bothers me :



The DAS pads are excellent, but the orange one, the "cutting" pad is a rather hard pad.

When I use it, together with, let's say SSR3, it start hopping and skipping and made HORRIBLE holograms and swirls. Placing the rotary on an angle, flat, at 1000 or 1600 rpm, nothing will help.

It's just seems that the orange pad is just too hard to use with a rotary.

I also have this problem with other (3M) cutting pads.

The obly solution is putting more pressure on the pad, but that will make even more holograms/swirls...



And second, why in the hell are there still scratches, even after 6 (yes six) passes with SSR3 with a medium cutting pad ?



About that DACP, again big "gum-up" problems when using it.

Must try the PC next time wich I ordered this week....

 

[SilverLexus]

Nice renovation. I bet your friend was pleased.