Atos: The revival.....

DarkAccoon

500 RPM
Senior Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2003
Messages
879
Points
3,063
First and foremost..... HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR. The past two weeks have been hectic as I struggle to clean the house and attend to multiple detailing request by owners whom want their car prep and ready for the massive family gathering for CNY.

The Atos is no exception as it has been purchased by the owner brand new bout 8 or 9 years ago. I think the car has gone thru probably less than 50 car washes in its entire lifetime.

So, car was delivered to me on a Friday evening and below is the condition of the car upon arrival.
Atos01.jpg


Glass definitely needs some work on it. Pretty......... lets say I wun wanna try driving this in heavy rain.
Atos02.jpg


Totally no water beading and roof can even be seen as rough. This is one of the extreme cases where you do not need to feel if the car needs to be clayed.... you instantly know it needs to be clayed.
Atos03.jpg


Headlights are........ as the owner says, hardly visible and dim when driving at night.
Atos04.jpg


SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, we fast forward to the next day which is Saturday morning. Did nothing as Friday evening was late and it was sleep time. Woke up at 6am and started working on the Atos.

"Sanded and compounded" VS "Untouchables". I don't think I need to elaborate on the difference.
Atos05.jpg


Looks pretty good already rite.... actually far from over, this is not polished yet.
Atos06.jpg


Let's take a look at the other headlamps....
Atos07.jpg


What is this brownish liquid flowing down like Klang River.
Atos08.jpg


OMG-ish........ yeah, I am taking away the top layer via sanding of 1500 followed up by 2000 grid sandpaper. From here you can see amount of oxidation and plastic is being removed.
Atos09.jpg


Now, another comparision of Sanded +Compounded + Polished VS Sanded only.
Atos10.jpg


Closer look.... nice....
Atos11.jpg


You know this will be later compounded and polished to near perfection.
Atos12.jpg


The glass is now given a quick ONR wipe.... water starts beading but this is not what I am after.
Atos13.jpg


Was cleaning the glass to discover all the funny funny things on the glass... such as CEMENT splatters...
Atos14.jpg


Not just one spot but multiple spots...
Atos15.jpg


Even certain parts won't bead water with just ONR.
Atos16.jpg


This is how dirty the FRONT windscreen only....
Atos17.jpg


Can you see the difference in color on the clay bar after claying the windscreen only.
Atos18.jpg


Now I move on to the side mirrors which is heavily waterspotted.
Atos19.jpg


Tell me..... who is the king glass now... hohoho.
Atos20.jpg


Rear glass...... water spots detected....
Atos21.jpg


Water spots gone...... this was after I polished the glass with glass polishing pad + glass polishing compound + Ultramate Dual Action Polisher.
Atos22.jpg


More water spots detected on the upper side of the rear glass.
Atos23.jpg


Gone... again with the same combo.
Atos24.jpg


Another angle..... yeap, IT IS GONE, not some camera trick and I honestly suck at photoshopping anything so that is out of the question.
Atos25.jpg


Overview of the rear glass.... took me more than an hour working on this one glass alone....
Atos26.jpg


Front glass was also polished. After all those are done, the entire car was given a quick wash with Osren Bubble & Wax. You can see that water is still sticking to the paintwork like glue at this point of time.
Atos27.jpg


The bucket of shampoo.... not that dirty rite....?
Atos28.jpg


Amount of tea leaves I managed to spray out of the gap between the front door and the fender......... THIS IS NOT ALL.
Atos29.jpg


I call them tea leaves cause it is seriously like tea leaves.
Atos30.jpg


I tried using a bucket to contain them but proves futile as I had to use a lot of water to flush them out.
Atos31.jpg


OK, time for lunch as my lovely wife bought me my favourite USJ16 Pan Mee.
Atos32.jpg


Along with White Coffee.
Atos33.jpg


After food.... time to ............... dafug is that black water?
Atos34.jpg


Gridguard taken out to show that the water is indeed black. Actually this is the water I used to rinse the cloth for OPC-ing the car.
Atos35.jpg


Now the car is starting to look like a car...
Atos36.jpg


Still lack definition but that is probably cause camera man...woman is lousy. Can see me washing something in the reflection so this is not taken by me.
Atos37.jpg


The devil with yellow eyes and red pointy tail decided to clay the entire car...
Atos38.jpg


Amount clayed from quarter of the bonnet..... WOW...
Atos39.jpg


Then this yellow eyed MONK decides to clay the side as well.
Atos40.jpg


The very lower region of the door.... I used TarC instead to save my clay.
Atos41.jpg


This one is on the upper part of the car... dunno how a big chunk of tar can get so high up..... but no tar can withstand the might of TarX (lemon scented liquid from heaven)
Atos42.jpg


Lower part after being sprayed with TarX and dwelled for a few minutes, was then wiped off.
Atos43.jpg


The rear bumper and it is gap... plenty of spots...
Atos44.jpg


I tore a part of my main clay to use on this spot, so that once I am done, I can just throw away that small portion of clay.
Atos45.jpg


After claying is done..... you try to find for anymore spots.
Atos46.jpg


More nightmare.... cement on the paint... right in the middle of the roof.....
Atos47.jpg


Trying to sand it off with water running....
Atos48.jpg


Still trying to sand....... in the end it was a failure.... the cement has eaten into the paint and it would be better to leave it alone there.
Atos49.jpg


Some tar spots on the roof..... I myself cannot figure out why the tar spots are so....... dotted at such a high area.
Atos50.jpg


Tar spots..... meet another small clay bar.
Atos51.jpg


Bye bye tar spots....
Atos52.jpg


Botak ini manyak shiny....
Atos53.jpg


This is during compounding of half the roof.... plenty of dust...
Atos54.jpg


Compounded but lack reflection as it is wet now...
Atos55.jpg


Compounded the other side of the roof now with Makita 9227C + Optimum Double Sided Wool Pad + Hyper Compound.
Atos56.jpg


This mark is probably from other car doors opening and slamming into this door..... hate those people that open their door as if their life depends on it.
Atos57.jpg


After compounding.... mostly gone.... you won't see it unless you really really go hunting for it..
Atos58.jpg


Some transfer from other cars along with scratches.
Atos59.jpg


Wet sanded a bit and left with a bit more mark. Leaving it as it is better to maintain the clearcoat than to continue sanding it to perfection. Less is more as I was told. Imagine if I restore it perfectly and thin the clear coat. Next collision will prove to be the last for this part of the car.
Atos60.jpg


Along with the scratches.... Dents and paint chips can be found.
Atos61.jpg


Here is a good example on why I say bird droppings needs to be cleaned off as soon as possible... ASAP.
Atos62.jpg


After wet sanding, compounding, polishing..... this is the best I could do.... from this angle, it looks ok.
Atos63.jpg


BUT, from another angle and zoomed in..... you can see that the bird poo has etched its way into the clearcoat. Cracking appear on the clear coat and if it has reached this state.... it is beyond a detailer to safe it anymore.
Atos64.jpg


Hmm... who can see what flaw is detected here...... besides the pink floor as a result of me spraying my putra pink few years ago.
Atos65.jpg


Zoomed in and you see what the problem is...
Atos66.jpg


Zoomed out and the flaw is...... GONE... actually this was taken later. I have compounded the spot.
Atos67.jpg


Hmm.... wonder if this is from bicycle or motorbike....
Atos68.jpg


After compounding.... 99% gone. Later completed with a round of polishing.
Atos69.jpg


Some... dunno what kinda mark...
Atos70.jpg


After compounding, mark gone
Atos71.jpg


Yeah, its gone....
Atos72.jpg


Me trying the finger technique........
Atos73.jpg


Car was then polished with Dual Action Polisher + LC White Pad + Osren Polish 2.0 (i forgot if it is called crystal cut or perfect cut.)
Atos74.jpg


OK, As you can see from these photo, it is getting a bit dark.....
Rims.... looks... dull.
Atos75.jpg


Some caked in old stains...... these are difficult to remove.
Atos76.jpg


This is after being awesomely washed....
Atos77.jpg


Caked in dirt gone.........
Atos78.jpg


Washed with............ car shampoo, OPC 1:3, 1:5 and 1:0 combined. I had to use the stool as I am spending around 20 minutes or more on each wheel. Cause it is being D.E.T.A.I.L.E.D. Not being washed only. Detailing takes a long time.
Atos79.jpg


This is me saying and gesturing "HELL YEAH, LOOK AT THAT SHINY RIMS NOW". Actually I was just signalling my camera woman to give me the camera.
Atos80.jpg


A 50/50 on the rims.... pretty sweet ehhh
Atos81.jpg


Closer look at the cake up portions...
Atos82.jpg


Hmmm....... wonder how many years is this dirt...
Atos83.jpg


Ah well.... say byebye to the dirt
Atos84.jpg


This is how dirty all 4 rims were...... disastrous...
Atos85.jpg


OK, all done and protected with a layer of Opti-Seal. Given few hours to cure and then one layer of Optimum Car Wax. How is the gloss... especially on the glass.
Atos86.jpg


Prior to delivery to the owner.... it rained.... and I get to see... nice beading... so took the opportunity to snap a photo or two.
Atos87.jpg


Nice nice........ Whole roof is nice.
Atos88.jpg


Why is the antenna so damaged.... to be revealed at the bottom of the note.
Atos89.jpg


Time Spend: bout 16 hours?
Product used: Osren Bubble & Wax, Optimum No Rinse, 1500 and 200 grid sandpaper, Opti Seal, Optimum Car Wax, Osren Polish 2.0, Optimum Double Sided Wool Pad and Foam Pad, LC White Pad and a lot more weird weird things I cannot remember d.
Satisfaction Level: Given the amount of detailing done, personally I rate it a 7.5 out of 10. But owner saw the car and went..... (OHHHH, the car is shiny..... OMG......... THE HEADLIGHTS)

Note:
I actually sorta detailed 3 cars on that Saturday. So this Atos was actually done on Saturday and Sunday. Delivered back to the owner on Sunday evening.
If you get cement on your car.... wash it fast....
If you get bird poo on your car.... wash it fast....
If you get tar on your car..... call DarkAccoon.
The antenna was actually...... chewed by.....monkeys. Owner stays near a forest where monkeys are very.....much the boss around.

My next detailing.... after CNY.... wait for it...
Teaser2.jpg
 
DA3S..... I'm speechless.... To put so much time and effort to transform an Atoz.... You are amazing!
 
huzaimi (Today), muyo (Yesterday), paohyean (Yesterday)

Thanks for your support peeps.

DA3S..... I'm speechless.... To put so much time and effort to transform an Atoz.... You are amazing!

I do what I can. And the turnaround was kinda surprising for me as well. I go by "cheap car but still the owner's pride" so I do my best for every car I get my hands on. :)
 
Detailed 3 cars in a day? You monster. Nevertheless i dont see any compromise in quality. Good job bro!
 
Detailed 3 cars in a day? You monster. Nevertheless i dont see any compromise in quality. Good job bro!

Haha, not monster lar. Only this Atos was full exterior. The rest are all minor minor ones.

Saga BLM, remove scratch mark from a minor accident and a Focus just came in for a wash, seal and wax job.

Was suppose to have another G.Livina coming in for a headlamp restore but the fella MIA.
 
LOL! Excellent job bro! As always!

Cut botak so that wont feel so hot during detail is a smart move :rofl:
 
LOL! Excellent job bro! As always!

Cut botak so that wont feel so hot during detail is a smart move :rofl:

Hehe, bila your turn? I finally got a replacement phone so my whatsapp is up and running again.

Cut botak cause shampoo expensive. More expensive than my car shampoo.... maybe I should just mandi with my car shampoo.

Actually detailing under the sun with botak head is not fun. Got burned.
 
Hehe, bila your turn? I finally got a replacement phone so my whatsapp is up and running again.

Cut botak cause shampoo expensive. More expensive than my car shampoo.... maybe I should just mandi with my car shampoo.

Actually detailing under the sun with botak head is not fun. Got burned.

Haha! I'm working on something. There will be my turn to hand the future of my keli to you.
Will contact you when the time is right.

Should wear a cap bro :top:

PS: Maybe while shampooing the car, just shampoo some on the head, kill 2 birds with one stone
:rofl: Just kidding man! :biggrin:
 
Job meticulously well done!

It also incites the interest of not so new car owners the idea of sending their cars for detailing job...

Including me, myself...

(BTW I am driving a not so new car, dont laugh at me! hahaha!):idea::biggrin::driver::love::laugh:
 
Haha! I'm working on something. There will be my turn to hand the future of my keli to you.
Will contact you when the time is right.

Should wear a cap bro :top:

PS: Maybe while shampooing the car, just shampoo some on the head, kill 2 birds with one stone
:rofl: Just kidding man! :biggrin:

Haha, I will wear a cap.... on the correct head. =P. Cannot use shampoo on my head then on the car, later my dandruff will mar the paint. Keke.

Job meticulously well done!

It also incites the interest of not so new car owners the idea of sending their cars for detailing job...

Including me, myself...

(BTW I am driving a not so new car, dont laugh at me! hahaha!):idea::biggrin::driver::love::laugh:

I am always happy to hear that my work inspires someone to take up detailing or even to start caring for their car. I could not understand how some can just leave their car not washed for months.
 
Haha, I will wear a cap.... on the correct head. =P. Cannot use shampoo on my head then on the car, later my dandruff will mar the paint. Keke.

I am always happy to hear that my work inspires someone to take up detailing or even to start caring for their car. I could not understand how some can just leave their car not washed for months.

Cuz a lot of ppl, just take car as a form of transportation from A-Z. Also they plan to change
car after every 3 - 5 years. So couldn't bother less? :hmmmm2:
 
i really like your write-ups bro. it's like listening to you.

very very good job done
 
wahh bro...no more selling aquariums d ah?? :biggrin:

i oso have atos at home, when can do???
 

Similar threads

Posts refresh every 5 minutes




Search

Online now

Enjoying Zerotohundred?

Log-in for an ad-less experience