Merlot vs Victoria Concours

T

Tweed

Active member
 Cheshire :P
Had a nice big detail last weekend (only just got the pics off the camera :oops:) and can confirm that Victoria Concours does, indeed, look pretty special on Merlot!

Process:

Rinse
Wash (Two buckets, Dodo Juice Super Natural)
Rinse
Dry
Clay (Dodo Purposeful Purple & Born Slippy)
Wash
Dry
SRP
EGP
Victoria Concours x2, 24 hours apart, applied with bare hands
Red Mist on the Windows + Lights (works a treat)

I had planned to put 3 coats on, but in my inexperience I put the wax on the entire car, left it for 30 - 45 minutes then tried to buff it off. Like trying to remove concrete! The second coat, I applied quite thinly to the whole car then buffed off straight away. Not much better; still took over 2 hours and 2 very sore arms to get it off.

I have, since these photos, done another wash and applied a 3rd coat. This time doing it a panel at a time; Massage on with palms + fingers (great fun and with the risk of sounding like a hippy tw*t; really gives you a 'connection' with your car), then buff and move on to the next panel. Much better results and far quicker. Though the sky was dull, so didn't take any more pics. Will do some pretty ones soon :)

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A bit of reflection-porn:
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and a shot of the swirling :( (though, it does show how beautiful the colours in the Merlot paint are!)
This was after SRP had sorted a fair amount out, but as you can see it needs a bit of proper attention. Can't wait to see the reflections I can get when it's sorted!
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Nice, but you do need a polishing machine unless you want to end up like karate kid :D
 
Tweed said:
This time doing it a panel at a time; Massage on with palms + fingers (great fun and with the risk of sounding like a hippy tw*t; really gives you a 'connection' with your car).
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:lol:

Good work :thumbsup:

Lovely colour the Merlot, really cannot see why it's not more popular.
 
flimper said:
If I made my car look that good, I'd be scared to drive it :D
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i drove behind him recently on 1 of the days out, he was that slow i think he was actually scared of driving it :driving:
 
Looks lovely tweed.

Next time scrap the AG srp and egp and try out either chemical guys ez creme glaze or poorboys world blackhole glaze.
Both products have great glazing oils, give a great wet look and depth to the finish and the fillers are far more superior than the kaoline ones in srp, last longer to.
The swirls you have shown in the pics would look far less prominant using one of these glazes.

I used to apply by bare hand but found there being no benefit from finish or durabilty point of view, maybe consider using a sponge foam applicator lightly misted with water or QD so the product doesnt go into the foam and more so on the car.

When you apply waxes, curing times are twoddle majority of the time, the waxes bond and last just the same by the wowo method ( wax on wax off ) apply to one panel, remove from that panel and so on, comes off far easier.
if you like the application and curing then have a bottle of simple water or QD, mist the area you are wanting to remove the wax from then buff, this is called spit shining and can also gie a nicer, level look to the finish.

Another little tip, after you have fnished the complete clean and waxing get a small amount of the vics between your fingers and work that along the body lines, this is called profile waxing and can sharpen the lines of the car slightly.
 
Nice work Tweed looks great :thumbsup: glad you got the waxing sussed its a really easy process as you found out on the third coat.

Scottbt- cheers for tip on the foam applicator as they do soak up a lot of wax.

Profile waxing is one i use along the suage lines
 
GAZA62 said:
Nice work Tweed looks great :thumbsup: glad you got the waxing sussed its a really easy process as you found out on the third coat.

Scottbt- cheers for tip on the foam applicator as they do soak up a lot of wax.

Profile waxing is one i use along the suage lines
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No worries.
Ive only just come across profile waxing myself tbh.
Always a learning experience everyday in this job :driving:

certainly does accentuate the lines on new BMW's, found out on a black X5 a few weeks back, looked nuts. :D
 
Thanks all :D

Flimper; nah take it out and use it, get it filthy then have the fun of detailing it again! As soon as I'd finished buffing I went for a 3 hour blast in the penines... Afterwards, the front was absolutely caked in dead insects. Fun though!

Taz; cheeky sod! I was behind you in Wales, wasn't long before you were behind me though :driving:
and I can't get a coupe; they didn't do it in merlot! :D

Scott; cheers for the tips :thumbsup: Will try an applicator next time.

For the swirls I'm planning on getting the sonus & menzerna das6 pro kit from cleanyourcar.co.uk. Will get an old panel to practice on, of course. Was also considering some lime prime lite as a pre-wax step :)
 
Ive had technical issues with lime prime of late, still chatting to Dom@dodo juice at present but my last bottle was outstanding and i dubbed it "gods juice" due to its can do way of working.
Its cleans/glazes/cleanses/and corrects all in one step.

Lime prime lite is an excellent pre wax cleanser btw.
 
Beautiful job - If you fancy honing your skills further, then I'll lend you mine. It won't know what's hit it as I get bored soon after the rinse, wash, rinse bit and wander off :oops:
p.s. Think this proves to Taz that it's not Pink, it is in fact clearly Purple. :P
 
that's a shockingly crap job Tweed..

I mean in one picture - yeah you can see where you've started working at it... but in the rest all you've managed to do is make the merlot shiney.
I think the problem is you missed out the first, vital, step; wet and dry sandpaper.

The sandpaper will bring out the best colour in your car. Once you've got all that messy treesap that seems to have covered the whole car off, you should then apply the same steps you've done here.

Follow that little tip, and It'll be looking silvery grey in no time!



(Looks really good mate! :thumbsup: I need someone to guide me through all this for mine!)
 
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