Friday, December 28, 2012

From Charcoal to Gold

Hi friends
Sometimes it makes you wonder why people take care of their ride in all the ways that eglect them. If only a car could talk, you could hear her feelings.

Yes, it does!
But in a very quiet way that very often we fail to understand. And in this quest detailers thrive!

So, here we go!

That was our recent purchase. A Honda Fit

We look at her heart first! It's said that if the heart is fine, the other parts will be fine as well.
 

 But it wasn’t to be. Quite polluted


  Difficult to breathe. Help was her cry.




Oh Shit!



The Afters



close-up



A very healthy heart



The Interior
The interior was quite clean, someone might only have wiped the plastic parts abd be satisfied. But we wanted to get it in a better condition.

The Headliner
Only the handles seemed a bit dirty.


The seats


The seats seemed clean. but we flet Blocked pores. The seats feeling suffocated!
 Stains

Trying some half-half with a steamer, not evident and is dangerous too!
As you are just under it!



The only thing you want to do = finish it as quick as possible

Steam in action

Headliner juice
close-up

This is from a clean car!
The steam action pulled the dirt out of the headliner.

The plastics

The seats

Pedals before

Pedals after


This is the only after shot I’ve been able to take. My kid was wandering around and the steamer was smoking hot. I couldn’t take any risks. I preferred him to the after-shots. After all, he’s my best companion in detailing and in life. So, no opportunity cost involved!

The turnaround was superb. The inside was like new. You could feel it fresh and anew and the pores open on the seats. As a bonus, everything was sanitized n dry in a short time. This in itself is one of the most important advantage of steam-cleaning in addition to being eco-friendly.


To the paintwork now

(Sorry for the lack pics due to a very busy scedule.)

Initial state

What are the ride's feelings?
Sad really, flat and dull. Cold as Siberian winter!
So, can't express herself!
Car was washed and clayed.

Paint Correction underway
Dividing the hood into workable sections

50/50 

Not so easy to capture on grey


 

This is my pal

Refined version




The cowl
Half treated

Now

 Water beading on the cowl


My little boss is here. Showing me to inspect defects :)  

 Remember:
  

 Now:

What are the car's feelings now?
 


  
Illusions?

Mirrors don't lie.

Sleeping beauty


These are all pics that we have. Had to prepare to go abroad & could only finalize everything at the last minute. It was very hectic really!

Thanks so much for reading our detailing adventures.

Regards
The BeyondShine Team

Monday, December 24, 2012

Bringing the shine back to a Toyota Vitz, year 99

Hi buddies
We received a white sporty Toyota Vitz from a friend. It needed headlight restoration and some facelift, but no polishing. The car was cleaned with the usual 2BM method.
We start with the headlights:
So here is the situation:
The right side:

Close-up



Left-Side

Close-up

 

Both headlights are yellowed and hazed. So, eyesight restoration underway.
Remember the right side:


Now:


Before



After 



Remember the left side


Now



Before


Now




To the paintwork now:
The car was cleaned, perfectly clean for claying. But surprise, surprise! It did appear clean by any means. Embedded dirt! Claying had very little effect. Almost none!

Here we are:
The vertical sides

Just like acid rain marks but white this time



Some deep scratches too (but this is not to be corrected)




Orange peel and uneven paint


Wrong  prep before respray



Door pillars

Extreme close-up to see the condition of the paint

close up with a thin part done

The emblems


 

Bumper


Paint Cleansing

After
Notice the difference in the color done and shine

The backdoor

The little detailer in action


The emblem

 The little boss again, explaining to me how it should be done.
(the wheel in the pic is for a Toyota NZE, we brought to mint condition)

Half of the hood done (not easy to notice on the pic, the left side is done)

The front bumper
A little section corrected


The side mirrors
50/50


Corrected





 The side
50/50, left side corrected on the door


Car almost done

Now moving to the door jambs






Doorposts Afters





 The petrol cap

Open sesame

It’s not Ali Baba’s, rather a treasure of dirt :(

Close-ups



Cleaned



The not so visible areas of the front bumper
Stained 
Cleaned 
stained?
No stains... simply cleaned

Stains and embedded dirt were things of the past, the paintwork was slick and shiny


 The ride's got a smile on her face. J
 & the owner too!


Thanks for being with us, we hope you enjoyed reading our post as we enjoyed sharing it.

Cheers
Zaid