Satria GTi Detailing

My cousin bought a year 2000 Proton Satria GTi lately. It's still having the original OEM paintwork, which is by PPG. The paint characteristic is very similar to the one on my dad's old year 2000 Proton Perdana V6 - should be the same batch. Anyway, this car has fairly good condition both interior and exterior, except the paintwork requires quite a bit of attention. I believe the previous owner seldom wash the car, resulting in plenty of road tars stucked and baked on the lower panels. On the roof and bonnet, there are quite severe acid rain pittings, bird bomb etchings, tree sap etchings, RIDS (up to 30-40cm), oxidation and swirls. As for the painted plastic parts, the clearcoat has started to show micro-cracks on the surface. Check out the photos below for some close-ups.

Door scuff

Micro-cracks on skirtings

Rear bumper

Bird bomb etching

Ultimate bird bomb etching

Scratches on wheel fender due to mechanics' belt/button


Due to time constrain, I only have the time to detail the bonnet, roof and wheel fenders. It's quite easy to buff the paint as defects come out rather easy. For deeper defects, I proceed with M85/woolpad combo. Generally the paint turns out to be swirl-free/hologram-free even when I stop at M83/W-8006. Again, it was a rush job, so I didn't proceed with M82/W-9006 after knowing there were no holograms.

Job Scope:
Wash
Clay
M85/woolpad @ 600rpm (spot)
M83/W-8006 @ 900rpm
M21

The result is marvellous for a 6-year old paintwork. It feels as smooth as it looks! Eventhough there are still some acid-rain pittings left behind, but I guess it's wiser to live with it rather than over-buffing it. From 5-feet away, the paintwork deserves a signboard showing "Caution: Wet Paint". Hope you enjoy the pictures and boost up your detailing spirit after reading this article.

Fluorescent lamp reflection on the bonnet