Well you can slam Rota all day if you like, but personally I liked mine 
They were also damn light compared to nearly all the other rims I looked at !
They were also damn light compared to nearly all the other rims I looked at !
Craigs VZ-R N1
- Thread starter craiGTi
- Start date
Well i've got the car looking how i want it in terms of actual cosmetics/mods now, but the paint, although being pretty good, certainly has room for improvement. So today was the start of that process.
First was a 2bucket wash with halfords value car shampoo - its pretty strong so should strip most of the old protection from the paint.
Doesn't look too bad for a quick wash, and from a distance. But up close some nasties are lurking....
Urghhh, the paint's covered in tiny black and orange specks, especially in the worst hit areas like the bumpers, bootlid and around the wheel arches. Was hard to pick them up on camera in the pics above, but believe me it wasn't pretty up close. Along came the 2 new purchases i bought to help tidy up the n14 - they did such a good job on that i wanted to use them on this...
Tardis and Iron X. The detailing geeks among us will know all about these products but they were new to me. Pretty obvious what they do from the names - tardis gets rid of the tough black tar spots with ease, and ironx draws any iron based contaminants and fallout out from the paint.
First with the tardis, simple spray on and leave to dwell for a few mins - pretty soon it turns all the tar spots to soft, like so...
So went round the whole car with it, using a soft cloth to agitate any tougher areas - then a hose down with the pressure washer to get rid of them nasty chemicals and all the tar. Next up the ironX - basically the same thing, spray on to dry paint and watch it turn from a clear liquid into a purple coloured, streaky mess as it reacts with the iron based fallout. It wasn't too bad on this car, on the n14 the whole fucking thing looked purple! :/
Again, work it in with a damp soft cloth to get it all out, then rinse away thoroughly with the PW. Then it was time for another 2bucket wash to make sure all the crap was gone and dry it off and inspect the difference...
All gone! Clean as a whistle now, only thing left is a few tiny stone chips and the swirls that have accumulated from years of washing. But at least now the car is naked of all prior finishes and contaminants, and ready for a proper claying and swirl removal. Hopefully that'll come tomorrow.
First was a 2bucket wash with halfords value car shampoo - its pretty strong so should strip most of the old protection from the paint.
Doesn't look too bad for a quick wash, and from a distance. But up close some nasties are lurking....
Urghhh, the paint's covered in tiny black and orange specks, especially in the worst hit areas like the bumpers, bootlid and around the wheel arches. Was hard to pick them up on camera in the pics above, but believe me it wasn't pretty up close. Along came the 2 new purchases i bought to help tidy up the n14 - they did such a good job on that i wanted to use them on this...
Tardis and Iron X. The detailing geeks among us will know all about these products but they were new to me. Pretty obvious what they do from the names - tardis gets rid of the tough black tar spots with ease, and ironx draws any iron based contaminants and fallout out from the paint.
First with the tardis, simple spray on and leave to dwell for a few mins - pretty soon it turns all the tar spots to soft, like so...
So went round the whole car with it, using a soft cloth to agitate any tougher areas - then a hose down with the pressure washer to get rid of them nasty chemicals and all the tar. Next up the ironX - basically the same thing, spray on to dry paint and watch it turn from a clear liquid into a purple coloured, streaky mess as it reacts with the iron based fallout. It wasn't too bad on this car, on the n14 the whole fucking thing looked purple! :/
Again, work it in with a damp soft cloth to get it all out, then rinse away thoroughly with the PW. Then it was time for another 2bucket wash to make sure all the crap was gone and dry it off and inspect the difference...
All gone! Clean as a whistle now, only thing left is a few tiny stone chips and the swirls that have accumulated from years of washing. But at least now the car is naked of all prior finishes and contaminants, and ready for a proper claying and swirl removal. Hopefully that'll come tomorrow.
That tardis bottle looks quite small on the outside 
, does the job well though! Oooh how I would love those wheels in my collection 
, does the job well though! Oooh how I would love those wheels in my collection That tardis bottle looks quite small on the outside
yeh there's actually like 10 gallons of the stuff in there
looks good bud, nothing like looking after your own personal 'built not bo....... erm... uh... project 
only joking bud :LOL: but she is looking cracking!
only joking bud :LOL: but she is looking cracking!
and so it continues ....
first off i got my regamaster decals and fitted - pics another day when the below work is all done.
secondly i saw a relatively cheap steering wheel on ebay. My original steering wheel was worn a bit, and this one looked a minter. Its identical to a GTi wheel except for the stitching - it's red and is in a straight line rather than a criss cross pattern. A subtle but nice n1-esque change i think.
Next up i had been waiting for a nice dry, still, calm day to crack on with the clean-up job i've started in my last 2 updates. Firstly, obviously the car was washed, it looked pretty clean but my first attempt at claying it revealed a fair amount of hidden bonded contaminants, especially in the most hit areas around the bottom of the car.
After it was thoroughly clayed and dried i dug out my old cheap-ish rotary polisher, and favourite geeky detailing thing i've used a few times before - Meguiars 105 cutting compound. Its awesome stuff, and with the right pads can cut anything down to 1200grit wet and dry sanding marks, but with softer pads finished up like a decent polish!
I tried to get some of the obligatory 50/50 shots but with an average camera (or more likely person using it), and on white paint it was a pain in the arse, so here's a few before and afters which show a pretty good level of correction.
Roof rear before:
After:
Bonnet befores:
After:
Aerial section before:
After:
Roof front section before:
After:
Not too bad! I only did the major panels today, bonnet, roof, sides. I'll remove the spoiler and bootlid to do them properly, and i want both bumpers respraying anyway at some point so won't bother with them just yet.
There are still some deeper swirls and scratches left as i only used a fairly soft foam cutting pad on the rotary. But i'd be tempted now i feel a little more confident with it to buy a harsher wool pad and give it another quick going over to try and get rid of the deeper ones too.
That's all for now I'll get moar pics when its all done and finished. Still looooads to do to make it properly mint.
....first off i got my regamaster decals and fitted - pics another day when the below work is all done.
secondly i saw a relatively cheap steering wheel on ebay. My original steering wheel was worn a bit, and this one looked a minter. Its identical to a GTi wheel except for the stitching - it's red and is in a straight line rather than a criss cross pattern. A subtle but nice n1-esque change i think.
Next up i had been waiting for a nice dry, still, calm day to crack on with the clean-up job i've started in my last 2 updates. Firstly, obviously the car was washed, it looked pretty clean but my first attempt at claying it revealed a fair amount of hidden bonded contaminants, especially in the most hit areas around the bottom of the car.
After it was thoroughly clayed and dried i dug out my old cheap-ish rotary polisher, and favourite geeky detailing thing i've used a few times before - Meguiars 105 cutting compound. Its awesome stuff, and with the right pads can cut anything down to 1200grit wet and dry sanding marks, but with softer pads finished up like a decent polish!
I tried to get some of the obligatory 50/50 shots but with an average camera (or more likely person using it), and on white paint it was a pain in the arse, so here's a few before and afters which show a pretty good level of correction.
Roof rear before:
After:
Bonnet befores:
After:
Aerial section before:
After:
Roof front section before:
After:
Not too bad! I only did the major panels today, bonnet, roof, sides. I'll remove the spoiler and bootlid to do them properly, and i want both bumpers respraying anyway at some point so won't bother with them just yet.
There are still some deeper swirls and scratches left as i only used a fairly soft foam cutting pad on the rotary. But i'd be tempted now i feel a little more confident with it to buy a harsher wool pad and give it another quick going over to try and get rid of the deeper ones too.
That's all for now
I'll get moar pics when its all done and finished. Still looooads to do to make it properly mint.
you are my star!! part work looking lush, steering wheels looks amazing to be fair -- HOLA
david
david