INSANE car detailing!

Joshmcmillan · 13-07-2011, 11:58 PM

Yes it is a Vauxhaul.. but the level of attention to detail this guy has is simply insane!

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/foru...ad.php?t=81391

If you don't end up reading right through, here are a few of the most extreme things he does:

-Applies certain detailiing products to his car over 50 times
-Waxes his car with a product worth 10,000 pound with crystal casing
-Replaces his exhaust only to replace it again because it has a brand engraved on it
-Refers to a mark under his carpet as 'vandalism'

The car does look amazing in the end, shame it's not an XR5

SteveJH · 14-07-2011, 12:23 AM

The Paul Dalton guy he mentions has been on Top Gear and/or Fifth gear a couple fo times. Supposed to be the 'best' detailer in the world.

There is a youtube video up showing the detailing of the previous blue car IIRC.

And i'm fairly sure he now has a green RS......

http://www.youtube.com/user/vxrmarc

Zero_PSI · 14-07-2011, 01:15 AM

I have to say. It's a bit excessive.

Bobman · 14-07-2011, 02:26 AM

All that... for an Astra!?

gcg2503 · 14-07-2011, 08:10 AM

Repost

StrokedXT · 14-07-2011, 08:20 AM

Agree with Norris, what a ****** surely he has something better to do like get a real car and drive it.

Zero_PSI · 14-07-2011, 08:30 AM

Thats more what i meant. Just didn't wanna be the first to say it

In Focus · 14-07-2011, 09:03 AM

Yep. That's what I thought. Funny, I thought it was going to be a repost of the guy who does the same sort of over-the-top polishing/detailing thing on a blue Astra.

To go to those lengths, you would be afraid to drive the thing in case it got a speck of dirt on it. I'm surprised he wasn't wanting to re-detail it, or get out the vacuum, after the worker dudes had been fitting equipment to it.

Is there something I'm missing about that particular model that brings out the obsessives?

Dave_Obsession · 14-07-2011, 09:16 AM

That thread has been around for a little while....impressive job, but yes the guy clearly has a complex....I guess it takes one to know one!! :-)

Ford17 · 14-07-2011, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by In Focus

Yep. That's what I thought. Funny, I thought it was going to be a repost of the guy who does the same sort of over-the-top polishing/detailing thing on a blue Astra.

I sure it' s the same guy.
He mentions trading-in his blue Astra on the new white one.

Interesting concept though - lots of layers of wax reduces stone chips.
I wonder how true this might be?

**DJM83** · 14-07-2011, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bobman

All that... for an Astra!?

Astra Nurb is a very capable car, its not 'just an Astra'

But yeah 3 months.

Dave_Obsession · 14-07-2011, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Forda

I sure it' s the same guy.
He mentions trading-in his blue Astra on the new white one.

Interesting concept though - lots of layers of wax reduces stone chips.
I wonder how true this might be?

It's the same guy.

It's important to note that carnauba waxes can't be layered beyond a max of 3 layers - anything more and you'll simply be removing the top layer and replacing it...

Synthetic sealants can be layered upon itself as much as you want, however it's approximately 0.02 microns of 'product' left behind on each layer, so it's really up to you if you want to put all those hours in to add less than 1 micron worth of protection on your paint....

R1XSTA · 14-07-2011, 10:05 AM

Stupidly enough i read the whole thing. Loved how he went into all that hard work for the boot install.

Only for him to hit a pothole, and then not have a spare tyre to replace.

2011G6E · 14-07-2011, 11:37 AM

I was involved in a car club which put on shows back in the late eighties and very early nineties when there was a lot of debate in magazines and between clubs about how "detailed" a show should require cars to be.
There was a sharp divide between the "trailer queens" and the guys who had extremely nice cars, but drove to the events to display them. These guys (me amongst them with a '70 GT Cortina) would turn up and spend another hour or so blacking tyres, giving the car a once-over to clean off any dust or road grime from the trip there, and give under the bonnet a clea up with stuff like Armorall on the hoses and stuff like that.
It was extremely annoying to see the "top street car" go to something that had turned up on a trailer (usually covered) towed by some old dunger, and carefully wheeled off directly onto the spot where it was displayed...usually on carpet or some other base under the wheels, as if contact with the Earth would somehow drain the magic out of it.

There was an idea put forward that there be two classes for judging...one for trailer cars, and the other for street cars. The "street cars" would be judged with a little leniancy for things like a slightly less-than-perfect undercarriage (the odd spot of dirt or stone chip...good but not immaculate), and allowances made for the odd little thing like a stone chip or a bug in the radiator behind the grille.

It was facing reality that some people build beautiful cars which are really nothing more than oversized display models like you have on your shelf at home, and other people make beautiful cars that still manage to be used every day on the road.

No idea whatever came of the idea...haven't had much to do with car clubs for many years apart from a historic car club, and once again they are very lenient at shows to the odd spot of oil or bit of grime in a hidden corner. The bike club I was a secretary of was the same...you have to realise that if a car or bike is being used, it won't be absolutely immaculate and allow for that in the assessment.

GTP-814 · 14-07-2011, 12:28 PM

then they put salt down on the road when it snows & he gets to start again

2011G6E · 14-07-2011, 12:54 PM

One I just remembered was back in the late nineties when there was a car show at Biggenden. Our bike club was asked to put a display up, and about fifteen bikes set off.
Outside Biggenden there was about five kilometers of good hard packed clay where roadworks were being done, and as we approached this area, we saw a beautiful HQ Monaro and an XY panel van by the side of the road, someone having a pee in the bushes and another guy adjusing the "car bra" (the first I'd eve seen) on the Monaro. When we reached the roadworks, what had been a slightly dusty stretch was turned into a quagmire by a council water truck we could see up ahead watering the surface...

Our bikes were covered in grey-red clay crap, our lower legs were similarly covered, and we let the organisers know all about it. As did several otehr nice hotrods that had been following us. And then the Monaro and panel van turned up...coated in sh1te from the road...

I tell you now, if that water truck guy had turned up and said proudly "I watered the road to keep the dust down a bit", he'd have been frigging lynched...

chrisfpv · 14-07-2011, 05:21 PM

I remember reading this a while back. Not sure if it was linked on this forum or not, but couldn't find it. All I remember is that it was a great read, about to tackle it again...

SteveJH · 14-07-2011, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisfpv

I remember reading this a while back. Not sure if it was linked on this forum or not, but couldn't find it. All I remember is that it was a great read, about to tackle it again...

That was the Blue Astra, thats why I remembered who it was, since last time there was also a link to his youtube.

chrisfpv · 14-07-2011, 06:39 PM

Must've been another forum then, because I remember the white one.

SteveJH · 14-07-2011, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisfpv

Must've been another forum then, because I remember the white one.

They may have even both been posted at different times?

bigsta · 14-07-2011, 06:50 PM

Hmmm maybe i should ask that guy about how to get cooked tree sap off my bonnet.

Damm bug and tar remover does not do crap.

woteva · 14-07-2011, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigsta

Hmmm maybe i should ask that guy about how to get cooked tree sap off my bonnet.

Damm bug and tar remover does not do crap.

Stoners Tarminator.

3 coats of sealant and a few coats of carnauba is enough for us plebs.

2011G6E · 14-07-2011, 08:42 PM

Not sure if it'll work on cooked tree sap, but flying fox crap that has hardened on is a bugger to remove as well, and can actually take off the paint if you just try to "chip it away" with something like a soft spatula or a fingernail.

Try a heavy sponge soaked in very hot and heavily soaped water and just sitting it on the sap (or crap, whatever the case may be). Once it starts to cool off, get it soaking again with the hot water and sit it on there again. Keep soaking it until it's soft enough to remove safely. it can take a while, but trust me it's worth it.

yift · 14-07-2011, 10:42 PM

why would you go to that extent on a refridgerator?

if the car was black or a dark blue,purple,green etc then maybe (but still too excessive), but on a white car?

what happens in winter when it snows does he detail his car after every meter he drives?

at the end of the day its an astra.

SteveJH · 14-07-2011, 10:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yift

why would you go to that extent on a refridgerator?

if the car was black or a dark blue,purple,green etc then maybe (but still too excessive), but on a white car?

what happens in winter when it snows does he detail his car after every meter he drives?

at the end of the day its an astra.

Basically the Astra equivilant of a Focus RS I think?

yift · 15-07-2011, 08:36 AM

i think the rs is alot more than a astra nurburgring, but im not fussed. it his car and he can do what he wants with it.

Bad Bird · 15-07-2011, 09:31 AM

It's still a pretty good read, I though.

I did take exception to him calling the factory daub marks "vandalism". Heck, if that car ever becomes a classic (and we all know how those "what's the next classic" threads go), he has actually devalued it by removing those marks.

ltd · 15-07-2011, 09:50 AM

I thought it was pretty good too, even if it is only an Astra.

2011G6E · 15-07-2011, 11:02 AM

When we had our Cortina GT and were putting it in shows, I had one of those little brushes that you clean the air vents with...still got it as a matter of fact...James May isn't the only one who does that...

As Ted Bullpitt would say: "But I just Mr Sheened the hubcaps!!!!"

Seriously though, don't underestimate the worth of Mr Sheen. I was at a bike show and dealer display many years back on the Sunchine Coast and saw guys cleaning bikes with a spray can of stuff, and when I caught a whiff, I realised it was familiar. I asked one what it was and he showed me...good old Mr Sheen.
I've since used it on the chromework of three bikes, including my current GSX-1400, and it's great stuff. You can use it on paint, and I have, but I use good Maguires crystal stuff on our G6E and the GSX. The Celica is bright red, so it needs a good cleaning and sealing polish when I have to do it...old bright red paint is a bugger for oxidising if you don't keep on top of it.

I did finally wade through the original post link. That's a damn nice looking limited edition Astra. I love the embossed 'ring image in the back of the seats.

icer · 15-07-2011, 12:21 PM

"Unfortunately, even after the detail, underneath, the car was STILL an Astra..."