Today saw me travel to a sunny but chilly Shrewsbury to Lee@BespokeCarCare's unit, to meet my mate Dale and spend some time giving his recently acquired R26.R some love ahead of it being put to bed for Winter.
The aim of the day was to restore a bit of life into the paint and lay down some solid protection for it.  Dale was also planning to make some small additions cosmetically.
The car itself is a firm personal favourite of mine and a great car to detail, as you have plastic windows, plastic wings, titanium exhaust, carbon fibre bonnet and red wheels - certainly very different to most cars.
We got cracking about 8:30 - some befores:
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DSC01028 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
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DSC01031 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
Wheels first:
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DSC01033 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
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DSC01035 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
Smart Wheels and EZ Brush on rear of wheels:
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DSC01037 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
Swissvax Brush of face and calipers:
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DSC01038 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
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DSC01039 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
G101 on tyres:
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DSC01040 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
and rinsed!
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DSC01041 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
Foamed next with Megs Hyper Wash:
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DSC01043 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
Shuts and sills worked with G101, washed with Auto Finesse Lather and rinsed:
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DSC01044 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
Next I tackled the bonded contamination, of which there seemed to be very little.  Dale has clayed the car very thoroughly recently, so IronX did very little, aside from the boot:
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DSC01047 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
and the bottom of the petrol cap...
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DSC01048 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
Tardis and claying was not needed at all...
Next, the .R was moved inside, ready to be assessed for paint thickness and defects:
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DSC01050 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
Healthy, average readings of about 172 on most panels:
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DSC01052 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
General idea of the swirling - it's so bad, that it appears to be a single line in the pic, but the swirling was very heavy:
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DSC01057 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
After playing with various combinations on Rotary, I settled for the Megs MF system via DA, which was giving me 90% correction or so from a single set:
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DSC01061 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
The correction shots are a little disappointing, but the difference is hopefully clear:
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DSC01064 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
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DSC01073 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
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DSC01077 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
Quite severe defect on the bonnet...
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DSC01066 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
A couple of hits of Megs 205 via Rotary and 3M Yellow Pad:
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DSC01078 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
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DSC01079 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
Some random carbon fibre pics :D
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DSC01081 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
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DSC01083 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
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DSC01084 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
Boot after:
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DSC01090 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
Before the ZAIO cleanse to prepare the paint for Z2, Dale added the missing vinyl graphics to his car:
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DSC01085 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
After:
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DSC01097 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
Rear bumper before:
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DSC01099 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
During:
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DSC01117 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
After:
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DSC01121 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
We also added the updated RenaultSport logo:
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DSC01098 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
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DSC01118 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
We finished up with Mint Rims on the wheels:
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DSC01094 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
ZAIO base and Z2 on the paint:
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DSC01095 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
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DSC01096 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
AF Crystal was used on the glass and a final wipedown of Z8 on the paint:
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DSC01138 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
I also had some spare time to do something with the rear lights, so before:
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DSC01124 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
After (out of focus slightly)
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DSC01127 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
and finally, some finished pics:
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DSC01104 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
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DSC01108 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
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DSC01112 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
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DSC01113 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
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DSC01115 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
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DSC01119 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
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DSC01141 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
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DSC01143 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
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DSC01144 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
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DSC01146 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
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DSC01150 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
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DSC01151 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
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DSC01152 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
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DSC01153 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
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DSC01154 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
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DSC01162 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
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DSC01172 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
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DSC01174 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
and a few interior shots, which may interest some people:
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DSC01128 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
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DSC01129 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
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DSC01130 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
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DSC01134 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
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DSC01165 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
Thanks once again to Lee, you're a legend Sir!  Also thanks to Dale for allowing me to work on this superb machine and for his help and company!
Thanks for reading
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DSC01176 by 
RussZS, on Flickr
Russ@MidlandsCarCare