Audi S3 (8L) Black - 106FA/BH/SN/Z8

[Jim@WD]

Hi all, thought this might be of interest to a few of you.. any questions RE product usage, give me a shout.


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How I miss my S3! Having previously owned 2 A3’s and the S3, you’d of thought by now I know this shape off the back of my hand. Wrong! I still managed to spend 13 hours on it, that’s the clean/prep stages and a minor correction. Some 85% correction was achieved with 106FA (..*waiting on my 203s*)

Product!
• 303 Aerospace Protectant
• AutoGlym Glass Polish
• AutoSmart Tardis
• AutoSmart G101
• Autosol - metal polish
• ChemicalGuys JetSEAL109
• ChemicalGuys New Look Trim Gel
• Dodo Juice Born To Be Mild
• Dodo Juice Limeprime
• Dodo Juice Supernatural
• Meguiars All-Season Dressing
• Meguiars Super-Degreaser
• Menzerna 106FA
• Zaino Z8

Pre-detail:

Post-detail:

I first saw the car at Kettering’s “Audi in the Park” show last month – a fellow Audi-Sport member that I’d known for some time. The car was wearing the Blackfire kit, and, I began to wonder if it even needed the work! Overall, it appeared to be a well presented/looked after car. It has however been ‘mopped’ at some point in its life. Typical bodyshop ‘doings’ and buffer-trials all over the place. We’ll touch this a bit later..


Inspection photos:

 

[Jim@WD]

A few rough areas on the paintwork were seen through the dirt once the sun was out... A series of random marks down the driver’s side and the usual kamikaze bugs dotted around on the front end.

Wash: ValetPRO Snowfoam. Dodo Juice Born To Be Mild. Two buckets with grit-guards

I must say, I was impressed by the water repellent that had been applied to the windows! Nothing would stick to it, not even my foam

The front end had G101 sprayed liberally all over it – helped to loosen the embedded flies from the bumper/grill and mirrors

 

[Jim@WD]

After the foam was taken off, signs of Blackfire’s protection were promising!

Re-foamed and washed.

Small sponge used for the under-carraige:

Rinsed, and, again, I’m mighty impressed with the Rain-X (or equivalent!) that is on the windows:

S3 was moved into the garage for the claying stages; the sun was beaming down and I wanted to avoid watermarks if possible. (Quite warm today!!)

Claying wasn’t too bad – the above was the worst I could pick up (roof)


Rinsed.

 

[Jim@WD]

Open-hosed to remove majority of standing water..

Which left this:

Easy!


Dried with the Miracle Dryer. Now, at this angle, it looks stunning already!

However, flip-reverse it and put it in direct sun-light, we’re left with this lot:

Roof was in a bad way!

 

[Jim@WD]

Hazy patch on driver’s door:

Good. Well.. At least there’s something to get stuck into!

Some higher than normal paint readings around.. The bonnet, tailgate and both rear quarters had seen fresh paint.

Plenty to work with here..

 

[Jim@WD]

Working my way to the passenger side..

Before:

After:

Fiddy fiddy

Rear quarter reading:

As opposed to the door:

 

[UncleFester]

106FA and RD3.02 are the dogs danglies as far as i'm concerned - the 203S is also good but not quite as good as the other two in combination

 

[Jim@WD]

A shame really, but, once polished, you could see a colour difference between the two panels:

Passenger door before:

Passenger door after:

Up and on to the roof (original paint..)

Before and after:

The bonnet was lovely and, well, lovely and hazy!

 

[Jim@WD]

50/50:

Before:

After:

I had to add a little Limeprime to the equation here to extend the work time. The pad was drying up and didn’t want to play ball.. Colour transfer to the pad (only from the bonnet..) odd!

Nice and sharp now.


50/50 along the driver’s side:

Love the black/blue/white combination going on here.. Tempted to leave the tape on!

 

[Jim@WD]

Taken back outside to rinse (dust build up in nooks and crannies etc)

Dried off again and put back in for the night..

Glazed with PoorBoys Black Hole via DA and a 3M blue finishing pad:

Dodo Juice Supernatural:

And that’s the end off day one!

Exhaust tips were badly pitted. Struggled to fully recover them, but, Autosol and wire-wool didn’t do a bad job.

50/50

Nipped round the corner to check my progress.. (when I see the sun and a clean car, I get a bit trigger happy – I do apologise)

 

[Jim@WD]

You’ve probably just spotted the area on the tyre that wasn’t dressed. Aye, that was facedown on the floor at the time, later went back and corrected this

So, tyres dressed with ChemicalGuys New Look Trim Gel. Alloys sealed with JetSEAL109 and a final Zaino Z8 wipedown..

 

[Jim@WD]

Obligatory ‘thumbs up’ shot.

 

[Jim@WD]

Excellent. A nice transformation here - enjoyed this one thoroughly.

So, does anyone want to buy an Audi A4 Avant? ( I need my S3 back!! )

Thanks for bearing with me.

Jim

 

[jonjay]

Quality work Jim. Good to see you over here from DW

You buying a SEAT? hehe

 

[Jim@WD]

Quality work Jim. Good to see you over here from DW

You buying a SEAT? hehe

Cheers chap.

A SEAT? Not today, no . Keeping it VAG though..

*I've had a word with the admins already about posting here and they're *

My Carrera 4S thread has been taking off DW. Boo.

 

[GlanzaV]

My only problem would be that I wouldn't want to drive the car after that!

Great work!

 

[drinkwell]

quality pics Jim and quality work

My only problem would be that I wouldn't want to drive the car after that!

Great work!

I had to! I was 120 miles from home.....didn't take long and it was still spotless when I got home

 

[canonman]

Looking good jim

 

[lil3520]

Car looks great, well done.

How much time did you working on the car ?

 

[Jim@WD]

Hi, in all 13 hours was put into this one.. All day on a friday, and, a few on the saturday morning.

Thanks.