Karmann ghia paint.. ..correction?!

[smallspeed]

A mate of mine has owned his Karmann Ghia for a few years now and the paint has always been shocking. Its a low mileage US car but (like so many older US cars) was sprayed, presumably outside, in white to hide all the marks, bumps, ripples, etc. It was then given a wash over with a brillo pad or similar before sale. Since he brought it to the UK he's talked of re-sprays and replacing window seals, however a recent extension and baby have absorbed the funds!

this weekend a friend of his little sister is getting married and wanted to use the car as the wedding car, so I was drafted in to give it a "wash" which turned into a semi-full paint correction

Anyway I thought I'd take a few pics and share the story..

First a few before pics; links underneath the thumbnails to full-size images


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As you can see the paintwork was a right state, the roof wasn't so bad, but you can still see where the paint is matted and almost cut back ready for painting..

So, for starters the car was jet washed over with a low-pressure lance, then snow foamed with a mix of victoria super-snow and chemical guys citrus wash. This was followed by a rinse, then a good wash with some more citrus wash solution and a lambswool wash-mitt..
The car was then fully clayed, washed again, then rinsed, dried and put back in the garage over night.

Tonight the wheels where cleaned using megs degreaser and APC, then the lips of the wheels polished with a small buffing pad and some light metal polish. I didn't bother giving the wheels a full on polish; its never going to be a concours winner so its nice to leave some patina on the metal work (well imho anyway)

The bodywork was then hit over with menzerna diamond cut polish and a 3M polishing pad on my rotary while the owner set about the inside. the rear of the car came up really well, roof, engine cover, doors and rear wings. The sides of the front wings came up really well, but the tops and the front bonnet could do with another couple of passes to get rid of the remaining stubborn marks.

The car was then topped off with some P21S canauba wax whcih works really well on light colours and the whole car wiped down with last touch

Few pics of the finished article below..


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This was all I had time for tonight as it was after juniors bedtime and the car is heading for wales tomorrow evening..

Im fairly happy with the way its come out given the limited time I've had to spend on it, but next time around (prob just before it going away for the winter) I'd like to give it another pass over the front end with diamond cut just to get rid of the remaining marks, a pass over the whole car with menzerna final finish to give it a bit more gloss, then hand finish it with some concourse glaze, a couple of layers of sealant and a couple of layers of dodo juice wax.. should last long enough for him to save up for that re-spray!

[MrPerkles]

I think I recognise that car it lives about 3 garages from mine and was out the other day looking stunning ,nice job

[smallspeed]

it lives in enderby near leicester

not in the best cosmetic condition, but all original pannels, lots of original parts, and in fab mechanical nick having only done about 40,000 miles!..

im trying to convince the owner to fit some tasty patinated flat-face fuchs wheels, but apparently money doesn't grow on trees

b

[Nige]

its four stud so maybe some nice 914 fuchs, they're abit cheaper too I think

[Dakota]

The little car looks great , but what is citrus wash and what does it do , does it stip oxide or something?? Bill

[smallspeed]

no its mild and doesn't have any miracle properties, but does lift grease and brake dust a bit better than other standard wash products I've used, hence tend to use it on very dirty cars or cars that don't get washed often.
If Im applying a more special wax then I use whatever cleaning product it requires to "key" the surface however I almost always use either chem guys citrus wash or zymol bathe in with the supersnowfoam just to add a bit of lifting power
For this car, because its really only 3/4 way to where I want to get it (and I know I will be back to finish it in a few weeks) I've just applied some relatively soft and cheap wax (P21S or R222) so used the chem guys wash for everything

b

ps.. the p21s/r222 wax actually gives an amazing finish, but it doesn't last very long compared to something a bit more expensive

[Tosh]

DetailingWorld comes to DDK. Cool! I love looking at what some of the folk can do to their cars on DW

[Roddavies]

Haha I was going to say are you on detailing world Good job!

I love getting my Porter out and giving un-loved bodywork a good buffing

[smallspeed]

no not on DW, lurked there for a bit but found it a bit of a "willy measuring" site to be honest, and im not really in it for that.. i've only posted these pics as its a subject matter close to the ddk (i know how averse some are to cleaning cars here )

hopefully i will have some decent full-car pics sometime this week; it was raining when i took the pics above so they're all taken from inside the garage using my professional photography lighting and camera rig (2x strip lights and a mobile phone )