Audi TT RS Fresh Japanese Import
Well it certainly made a change this week to detail a car that wasn’t from the Land Rover/Range Rover/Jaguar ilk!
This Audi TT RS was in really quite good condition considering it was over 10 years old. I have seen this before with Japanese imports. Some say its because they don’t salt the roads out there, but whatever the reasons I can see the attraction of buying an import.
PAINT CORRECTION
I decided that a 2 stage paint correction would be the ideal solution to remove the overall “grey” effect caused by the amount of light to medium type swirls and light scratches. This involved 2 compound polishes and 2 types of pads using my Flex forced action DA polisher. It is rare that any 2 stage correction I do will actually use the same polishes and same pads. Its part experience and part trial and error to get the best combination for the type of car and paint I am working on. Time is the biggest factor and its time that drives the price to the customer mainly – so on this size of car I was counting on a long day 1 to get the correction sorted and Day 2 for the ceramic application…….that’s not quite how it went in the end – best plans laid and all that.
CERAMIC GRAPHENE COATING
Hang on a minute I still have correction left to do on Day2! So that put me back behind where I prefer to be on the second day, but thankfully my ceramic range is designed for a quick cure time – or at least cured enough for the customer to collect and to be fine getting wet after collection. So I needed really to have the last ceramic element applied by 12pm giving at least the minimum of 4hrs cure before I am happy to wave it goodbye.
After correction all the car had to be panel wiped down to ensure everything was squeaky clean and no polish residue apparent. So with suitable PPE I set about firstly applying the ceramic graphene coating to the paintwork. This is where experience comes into play. Applying professional grade ceramic coatings is not for armatures or for that matter to be done outside in my opinion. Firstly you can’t possibly correct paintwork outside to any professional standard prior to application and a proper controlled environment and bright lighting is needed for the coating. I can’t remember any non windy, warm (but not direct sunlight) bright days with no rain forecast 4hrs (and the rest with other coatings) days for a while now. I digress – just annoys me that I see coatings been applied on a mobile basis….maybe a blog topic for another time.
Small areas, maybe half a panel at a time are coated – levelled – buffed and left to cure.
I have separate formulations for the wheels, glass, leather and fabrics too. This was external only so just the ceramic graphene coating, the wheel ceramic and glass ceramic were used.
