OCDetailing Gallery & Blog

My MINI had been partially neglected during my move from Texas to North Carolina, so the wax had worn off and the paint had taken a bit of damage. I washed my car and removed all the dirt and grime, then clayed my car of any and all paint contaminants. I had to let my car cool down after being washed, as the sun heated the paint and made my clay stick to the paint.

There were several small scratches and swirl marks with a few major scratches. I made a test spot and used Swirl with a white pad. This process took away the paint oxidation but left the swirls in the paint. So I moved on to a more aggressive pad – the orange pad. I polished the test spot with the orange pad and Swirl and the swirls disappeared and left the paint dark and clean. I polished the rest of the car with this process and made the car look like it had just been painted. I then polished the car out with Amigo and a white pad to fill in the scratches and make the paint look even better. I then applied Epic with a black pad and let the wax cure for a few hours.

While the wax cured, I waxed the wheels and dressed the tires and applied Black WOW to my trim. When the wax was dry, I wiped it off and took pictures.

I got this car in a very messy state. There were layers of dirt and contaminants on the paint with absolutely no wax. Once the car was washed, you could truly feel how much help the paint needed, when rubbed. Also, as you can see in the 1st mirror cap picture, a hand wash won’t always get all the debris off the paint, clay is needed to help remove the rest. I took my claybar a hold of the paint, but it was soon gasping for air when it turned black (didn’t get a picture). I had 7 hours to complete the car for the monthly MINI meeting and I had my work cut out for me! After I clayed the car, I used PRIMA Swirl on an orange pad to polish out all the swirls and most of the scratches. The scratches that were left behind needed touch-up paint. Once the paint was looking it’s best, I applied PRIMA Amigo on a white pad to make the car look a deeper blue and fill in the scratches. Once the amigo was wiped off, I applied PRIMA Epic on a black pad and let the wax cure for a few hours in the garage.

While the wax was curing, I cleaned the windows with PRIMA Clarity, cleaned and treated the dash with Meguiar’s dash cleaner and protectant and vacuumed out the interior. I then went back and waxed the wheels with PRIMA Hydro and dressed the tires. When the wheels were finished, I applied Black WOW to all the textured plastic trim. At this time, I wiped the wax residue off and replaced the license plate.

This car required about 10 hours of work, but I pushed myself and got it completed in 7 hours. (Will never push myself that hard again). Normally there would be more pictures, including interior shots, but my time limit didn’t allow it.