Well, I’ve been promising to do this for around 18 months now but you know how it is . . . life just gets in the way!
Have been buying (lots) of detailing gear for a number of years now with the intention of keeping on top of my Alfa GT but having a new car every week to review has meant my interest/motivation in detailing has waned somewhat . . .
Anyway, when I finally got the chance to sort out the sis-in-law’s Fiesta I really went for it and spent 10 hours on a Saturday sorting out the exterior and a couple of hours Sunday doing the interior.
Very much an amateur(ish) job but I did my best knowing that I simply didn’t have the time to get everything completed that I would have liked to (wheel arches, engine bay, paint touch-up, paint and wet-sand the worst scratches).
Order of pain was:
- Remove knackered Wheel Trims
- Prepare rusted steel wheels for painting in situ (Wonder Wheels)
- Snow Foam – Chemical Guys No-Touch
- De-grease door shuts, hatchback – Astonish Degreaser, various brushes
- Rinse with Jet Wash
- Hand Wash – Body Detox (Farecla), Meguires Lambswool Mitt
- Dry – Huge Microfibre Cloth
- Decontaminate paintwork: Autosmart Tardis, IronX
- Hand Wash again – Body Detox
- Dry
- Clay – Meguire’s Clay and Last-Touch as lube
- Snow Foam Again
- Dry
- Paint steel wheels – Hammerite Smooth Black Satin (3 coats eventually)
- Polish with DA – Chemical Guys Orange Hex Logic pads, Microfibre pads, Meguires Ultimate Compound, Sonax EX-04-06
- Wax – Autoglym HD Wax
- Dress Tyres – Meguires Endurance
- Dress Trim – Sonax Xtreme Plastic Restorer
- Clean Glass – Autoglym Fast Glass
- Fit new Wheel Trims and silver cable ties
The car had been badly scratched by a local hand-washing outfit who had obviously used a grit-encrusted cloth/mitt.
Most lighter scratches/swirls I managed to get rid of but there were many deeper ones that I only managed to “soften”. The passenger side had also been keyed at some time so there were a couple of areas that really needed more attention with filling and wet-sanding but I didn’t have time (yet).
The metallic purple (Amethyst?) was looking very dull and flat so I was pleased at how it came back to life after polishing.
Anyway, enough chat – some “Before” Pix:
I was surprised at just how much dirt the clay bar picked up – even after a couple of washes and the use of Tardis and Iron X to remove a lot of contamination. I do have a Farecla clay-mitt which I bought from Halfords for £12, but I prefer the traditional clay bar as it shows more clearly how much muck you are lifting off. The clay mitt is quicker though . . .
The interior desperately needs a new set of mats which will make a huge difference. The pedals and front footwells were encrusted in concrete from sis-in-law’s partner’s work boots so were beyond redemption really.
I used Autoglym’s Interior Shampoo with various microfibres and brushes on the interior.
The little Fiesta’s seats have stood up very well to the test of time – and 88,000 miles but would benefit from a going over with a wet/dry vac in the future.
All in all quite a satisfying clean-up – if rather knackering!
And now the “After” pix:
There is also a short time-lapse video here which covers just a fraction of my time with this Ford Fiesta.
Excellent Write up Steve! I was doing some research for https://procarreviews.com on detailing products and you seem to use very similar things to myself!
You did such a hark work Steve. Actually, I do not have enough patience to do this like you. Still waiting for more shares from you guys.