Well, long time since ive posted any pics up here and since ive been polishing and waxing my little heart out, i thought id pop some pics up. Ill make it a fairly lengthy thread with lots of pics of what Ive done to the car since I got it in the end of february.
Well, the car started out as a a pretty uncared for Golf by its previous owner. Paint lacked any depth and shine about it and this is a picture of when I first got the car.
Pretty bad scratch down the drivers "A" pillar
Some may say that is already got a pretty decent shine, but the paint had quite a few swirls in the paintwork. For those who are interested, swirls are caused by using a sponge that collects pieces of grit from the paintwork and bottom of the bucket and the is dragged across the paintwork causing swirls. You can normally see them on a really sunny day or under a halogen light. A good way to stop this is to use 2 buckets, one with soapy water and another with clean water and a really plush washmitt.
So, out came my first decent clean of the car. This involved going to halfords and buying the megs 3 step system, from which I had read good reviews about and also some Meguairs Clay.
So, firstly I started by washing the car and then using the clay which gave a great result as I dont think the paint had been clayed since the car was produced in 2000. Claying removes the sharp contaminents that remain embedded into the clearcoat of the paint. If you run your hand over a unclayed car, you will probly feel it has a slightly rough texture to it. This is the sharp contaminents in the paintwork. Claying will remove these and leave a good base to use any polish.
Unfortunately I dont have any during pictures.
The car was then polished with Step 2 of the Meguairs 3 step process by hand and then two coats of the Carnuaba wax (step 3) was applied to protect the polish and paintwork.
After 7 hours of the process above, the car looked like this. Unfortunately, I didnt have the products to do the black trim or dress the tyres as I was just starting out in the detailing process and hadnt built up a collection yet.
Last few pictures show the beading achieved by the Meguairs 3 step process. Not exactly tight beading and the beads are lacking the height achieved by different waxes. I'll explain it a bit later.
Next along came a JVC KDAVX-33 headunit to replace the standard VW Gamma radio that was fitted in the car with a lot of help from Imagewerx for helping me with the wiring to allow the headunit to save its memory.
The headunit is a great one jammed full of features such as a AV in so rear parking cameras can be attached and also bluetooth to allow you to play audio and receive calls through the radio.
For a full list of specs see here or here.
Next came a little photoshoot in July. Also, a machine polsiher was bought (silverline Orange rotary and also some 3M Machine polish) Machine polishing can remove the light swirls inflicted by a poor wash technique with a sponge.
Also the hit 88,888 miles. Something I just had to take a picture of.
Onto the 18th July and another machine polish and also the use of Collinite 476S wax. This is a good wax that can produce great beading. The car had also had a black badge done in heatshrinked vinyl. The effect and quality is amazing and it saved me a huge amount of money buying a black badge from the internet. Also, 8000k HIDs were fitted which make a great difference to driving at night. So, after a good machine polish and some Collinite 476S the car was taken for another set of pictures.
Onto the 20th July and the car got another coat of Collinite 476S which adds a bit more depth to the paintwork and also adds to the durability of the wax, which is a long time. Some say it can last 6 months and not need another coat of wax, so its a ideal wax for those winter months where you need to protect your car from those nasty elements the winter brings such as road salt and other bad things.
I decided I would remove all the stone chips and scratches from the car. My plan of attack here was to use wetsanding. Firstly I would touch any scratches and chips up on the car and then flatten the touch up paint back with some 2500grade wet and dry. I wouldnt reccomend any lower grade as it just gets harder and harder to remove the scratches caused by the sandpaper.
Heres a few during pictures of the wetsanding process. I wouldnt attempt this unless you have read about the topic in depth as too much can cause more damage than what you intend. Such as sanding through the clearcoat and into the paint layers possibly taking it right down to the bare metal and needing a respray.
Onto the polishing out the scratches with a machine polisher and some 3M Fast Cut Plus
The perfect results can be achieved if you are willing to put the time into the car and do the job properly. ive only managed to get the bonnet done so far and Ive proberly been going at the wetsanding a month.
Another coat of Collinite was added and the car stands like this on the 6th August. These pictures focus on the beading that Collinite can achieve. As stated before with the Meguairs Carnauba wax and the beads being flat and not tight, this wax shows you the difference between the two products.
As you can see, the beads are alot closer together and stand higher than those produced by the Meguairs Step 3 Carnauba Wax.
Then, the car had the "B" pillars done. After looking at threads with this mod done before, I decided to buy myself some black fablon and give it a go myself. Heres the results
And onto the 11th August where the car had got another coat of Collinite 476S and taken for a few more pictures.
Next along came a InCarPC. I planned to build it into the double din area of the radio cage. The PC spec has to be good and also consume low power due to only having a limited supply of power from the cars battery before it run out.
Basically I was looking for a OEM look screen built into the dash which would offer me music, internet access, GPS navigation, diagnostic software and monitoring tools.
Here's the specification i have chosen for my system.
All my goodies come today.
I have the PC up and running Vista Ultimate. :smile:.
I just need some PSU wire for extending the current wires, inline fuse and a few other bits.
I ordered the non touchscreen so Im going to have to return that and get the touchscreen version instead.
But all is running fine, heres a few pics of the board and PSU.
Ordered my touchscreen from Linitx
Also, got the interior part out of the car to give the PC a trial fitting to ensure I have enough room for everything.
Heres the pictures:
Looks like I have enough space for everything. I need to make a MDF or plywood board, in the shape of the little door to allow me to mount all of the PC gear to that on standoffs.
Bought a spare radio cage off a lad off here and began to get to work mounting the screen into it.
Got the PC mounted in the dash tonight. What a job that was having to remove all the centre handbrake and gear trim surrounds.
While I was on that, I mounted the headunit into the glovebox.
Thats secured the headunit in the glovebox.
Then it was onto mounting the screen into the dash. A lovely picture of my dash with all the wires out.
Then it was onto reassembling. It was tortue getting my hand up behind the glovebox to fit the Headunit wires in to their slots.
Just got a few more nigglety bits to sort out:
- The 'wood effect' surrounds.
- Lengthen the cables for sub and amp
- Modify the heater control plastic cover so that it will fit.
I got my wire from maplins (rather generous i must add). But i still need to get some more for powering the screen from the PSU so it doesnt suck power from the cig lighter.
Also waiting for my audio and VGA leads coming; hopefully tomorrow 
Anyhow, for the progress.
I have mounted the components in the back of the cubby hole on the MDF board ive cut out.
Still not sure what to do with the color of the MDF, i might just leave it for now, but ultimately, id want it to look as good as possible.
I have a few more pics of the screen mounted in the dash. I still have to spray my aweful looking wooden surrounds black, if only BnQ would let me buy some spray paint. Must think im gonna get high. If i wanted, id just go to the petrol station.....
But anyhow, heres the latest pics.
After the carPC was installed and running well. I decided I wanted to upgrade my speakers in the doors. For this I wanted good sound quality so decided to go for Rainbox SLX265 amped by another Vibe Slick A2 amp.
I choose another Slick A2 amp as I decided to make a little shelf/built in look box to allow me to mount them amps on top of each other. This would keep the boot area tidy and allow me to fit the amps in neatly.
I measured the space between my sub and the side of the boot and fabricated a box out of 12mm MDF with a single shelf for me to mount my amps.
(Cant find any during pics so only have finished ones)
March 2009
I decided I wanted to color code my bumpstrips. I started with the bumpers and got to work spraying them.
I still have the side rubstrips and handles to complete but need to wait for a good fine day for spraying them
Next along came a centre armrest from Germany.
No installed pictures :(
After seeing a carPC install in a Octavia VRS, I decided that I wanted my screen to look a bit more OEM built in. So I ripped my radio caging back out and put the headunit back in. I set to work cutting down the casing of the LCD touchscreen and build it into the double din area of the radio cage instead of it also taking up the cup holder area.
Touchscreen Update
After see'ing a VRS with a nicely moulded touchscreen, I decided to give it a go myself. I set about taking the monitor apart and began moulding the casing into the centre console.
Thats the front bezel cut down to size and glued into the cage.
That wasnt the final finish I managed to get.
I decided to give it a test run to see what it would look like....unfortunately...disaster.
I wired it up wrong and caused the components on the board to exploded leaving my room smelling pretty funky for a while.
I replaced the voltage regulator and the capacitior on the board, but unfortunately, this hasnt made any difference so I think the board is dead. I have got a quote for a new board, but need to find myself the £30 to cover the costs of a new one from manufacturer.
Accident 09/04/2009
Had a bit of a run in with a Chitreon C5 on a roundabout who was flying round in a rush on the outside lane to go right around the roundabout.
Fortunately, I have a independant witness who says the other driver was at fault. I just wish my insurer would pull their finger out their rear and get on with it. Been 2 weeks since I submitted my accident form for them to look at, and its not the 24th May.
Color Coded Sharan Badge + Extra
Decided I liked the look of a sharan badge, so set off to VW to order a sharan badge, and halfords for some spray paint. Rover GunMetal grey.
Test fitting:
And completed.....Also color coded my GOLF badge for a bit of uniqueness 
So there we have it, my car from when I bought it to todays current date. I forgot to mention that the car has a Vibe SLR 12" sub and slick A2 amp in the post.
So, I hope I have all the pictures in the right order, and havent duplicated some. If you want to see all my collection of pictures, I suggest you have a look in my photobucket album or my personal website gallery where you can see higher res pics in larger dimensions found here.
I hope I havent bored you with the write up and any comments are welcome.
Chris