upcoming Audi detail

[dnoraker]

I'm looking for suggestions on what to use on a black 2000 Audi A6. It has moderate swirling/scratching on it, as well as less-than-stellar re-paint work in some areas after some body work.

I have the g-100 to use, but not rotary. Here's my arsenal:
#83, #80, #82 and polishing and finishing pads.

I've read that Audi paint is extremely hard, so are any of these going to do any good? The owner just wants it cleaned up really well, but I'd like to go beyond like I try to with anything.

suggestions?

[Murr1525]

Well, the best thing to do is just start with the basics.

Wash it, clay if desired.

THen do a test spot with #83 and you 8006 pad. Try a couple passes. See what sort of improvement you can get. Try different amounts of pressure. See if anything works on your test spot, then repeat what works best on rest of the car. Thats about the best you'll do.

[TH0001]

I just did a VW Jetta today (pretty sure its the same paint from the factory) and yes its hard...

I did two passes of 83 and 1 of 80 and still had light swirling. Its a tough shell to crack and you might wanna be up front with the customer and explain that it is gonna be hard to remove the swirls....

[dnoraker]

That's kind of what I figured. She just wants it cleaned up nice, and although she's willing to pay me whatever it costs to make it look great, I know that it would take too many passes to get the swirls out to be cost-effective. I'll probably just wait until I get good at the rotary to do that for her next detail, maybe in the Fall.

I'll try a test spot with #83 and see what it can do!

Thanks!

[Accumulator]

We've had four '00 Audis in the family, three of which were A6 4.2s. I did a lot of work on their paint over the years (and we still have the '00 A8).

The paint on these was very hard, so the #83 might not be as aggressive as you'd like (at least by PC). The only way *I* can get this paint the way *I* want it (in a reasonable amount of time) is with a rotary, but fortunately most people aren't that particular. If you have any 4" pads you might plan on using them as they allow you to be more aggressive with the PC.

I wouldn't drop down to the #80 until you have it basically as nice as you want it. #80 only removed the very finest marring for me on this paint. I sincerely doubt that you'll need to drop down from #80 to #82, #80 oughta leave a ready-to-wax finish. Similarly, I don't think you'll need to drop down to finishing pads except for maybe LSP application.

I can't help but think of the blue S4 Mike did that had such soft paint, but all the A6/A8 cars of this vintage I've done were very, very hard.

[dnoraker]

Well, I picked up the car last night to get started and couldn't wait until morning to test some products out. The owner really only wanted a wash, clay and wax, but I couldn't leave the paint in the state it was in. I found A LOT of deeper scratches that I won't be able to get out until the next detail when, hopefully, I will have honed my skills on the Makita rotary buffer I just ordered last night!

I will post pictures later, but here was my process. I put down two strips of tape. Here's what I did:

1. just #83
2. #83 and #80 with 8006 pad
3. #83 with 8006 and #82 with 9006 pad

I could see a very slight hazing with the #83, so I knew I would need to follow it. Between the 82 and 80, I felt like the finish was slightly more clear with the #82. I was very impressed, and am excited to try this combo on my red S-10 that I keep getting micro-marring on with #80.

This lady is going to get WAY more for her money than she asked for, but I couldn't leave it the way it was and she would surely show it to a lot of people (I need some referral business!) and above all, she's a super-sweet older widow that absolutely deserves the best and she's going to get it!

[Accumulator]

Nice that you're giving her such a good job.

Interesting that you found the #82 finished out noticeably better than the #80!

Yeah, the rotary is *very* handy for doing hard paints, you'll be glad you got it. On Audis, be sure to tape the clear anodized aluminum trim (not a bad idea with even the PC, this stuff is fragile).

[dnoraker]

Thanks for the tip, accumulator. She will now be a regular customer of mine, so I'll probably give it another whirl in the Fall.

AS for the #80 vs. #82, for some reason I keep getting micro-marring with #80, even with a clean pad. I used #82 with a 9006 pad and had no problem.

The car turned out quite nice. Like I posted before, it had a lot of deep scratches. Most of them look like a bad re-paint on some body work. There are sanding marks all over the place!



Here's the trunk after claying, before polishing:



After #83



Much better, but still a little hazy. I followed that with #82 and took care of that issue.

Here 's a shot of the finished product!

[TH0001]

Wow, looks great!!!!!!!!

[dnoraker]

I love black Audi paint!!!!!



Donna, the owner, was thrilled out of her mind to see it like this. I don't think she knew what was coming. "oh, just clean it up nice and wax it, that's all" ...hehehe... Now she's saying, "I don't even want to drive it, it looks so good!"

Thanks Meguiars online for all the tips!

[Accumulator]

AS for the #80 vs. #82, for some reason I keep getting micro-marring with #80, even with a clean pad. I used #82 with a 9006 pad and had no problem.

The car turned out quite nice. Like I posted before, it had a lot of deep scratches. Most of them look like a bad re-paint on some body work...

Interesting about the #80 leaving micromarring, that's *very* different from how it behaves on my Audis. I wonder if the repaint has anything to do with it :nixweiss This reminds me of the super-soft S4 that Mike did.

Anyhow, glad it turned out so well! Judging from the "before" pics you had your work cut out for you.

[dnoraker]

The micro-marring was happening on the factory paint, as well as my red s-10, my silver 2000 impala, and a '95 Buick Le Sabre. I thought that it was my technique that caused some of that, but I've worked a lot on pad cleaning, length of time polishing, amount of product, polisher speed, using a finishing pad, and still seem to get it to some degree. I posted in another thread my problem, but didn't get a reply. I intend on getting Mike's video and maybe something will pop out at me!

[Accumulator]

Guess that just goes to show that you need to approach every detail as a separate case.

I'm really about the softness of certain Audis and the hardness of others! Having spent literally *hours* on some of them with aggressive compounds it sounds like there are some extreme variations here, like they must use different paint on different models or at different manufacturing facilities. It'll be interesting to hear the full story when it finally gets explained.

Oh, and I found it interesting that the #80 was too aggressive for the '95 Buick too!

[dnoraker]

I did some more polishing on my truck with #82. I have a feeling that my results have little to do with the hardness of paint. I think it might be the length of time I'm working the product - not long enough. The marring gets progressively finer with the less abrasive products and it always happens, so I doubt my pads are dirty or anything. I took extra precautions in that area. I worked the #82 for maybe 6-8 passes over the area and it was completely clear (though that stuff is pretty clear to begin with). I couldn't tell if it was broken down or not.

As for the Audi, I was surprised that the #83 did as much as it did. If you look at the before and after of the trunk with #83, it made a big difference. There were a lot of deep scratches, but the swirling was almost gone after ONE PASS! I didn't expect it to do that much!

I've been trying to find info on how long it takes for the product to break down. I thought I had read 3 passes usually worked, but I think I've also read 2-3 minutes, which seems like an AWEFULLY long time for such a small area. I rarely can get #83 to stay wet more than 3-4 passes in my garage, regardless of the conditions!

Still searching........