Well, I’ve been promising to do this for around 18 months now but you know how it is . . . life just gets in the way!

Have been buying (lots) of detailing gear for a number of years now with the intention of keeping on top of my Alfa GT  but having a new car every week to review has meant my interest/motivation in detailing has waned somewhat . . .

Anyway, when I finally got the chance to sort out the sis-in-law’s Fiesta I really went for it and spent 10 hours on a Saturday sorting out the exterior and a couple of hours Sunday doing the interior.

Very much an amateur(ish) job but I did my best knowing that I simply didn’t have the time to get everything completed that I would have liked to (wheel arches, engine bay, paint touch-up, paint and wet-sand the worst scratches).

Order of pain was:

  1. Remove knackered Wheel Trims
  2. Prepare rusted steel wheels for painting in situ (Wonder Wheels)
  3. Snow Foam – Chemical Guys No-Touch
  4. De-grease door shuts, hatchback – Astonish Degreaser, various brushes
  5. Rinse with Jet Wash
  6. Hand Wash – Body Detox (Farecla), Meguires Lambswool Mitt
  7. Dry – Huge Microfibre Cloth
  8. Decontaminate paintwork: Autosmart Tardis, IronX
  9. Hand Wash again – Body Detox
  10. Dry
  11. Clay – Meguire’s Clay and Last-Touch as lube
  12. Snow Foam Again
  13. Dry
  14. Paint steel wheels – Hammerite Smooth Black Satin (3 coats eventually)
  15. Polish with DA – Chemical Guys Orange Hex Logic pads, Microfibre pads, Meguires Ultimate Compound, Sonax EX-04-06
  16. Wax – Autoglym HD Wax
  17. Dress Tyres – Meguires Endurance
  18. Dress Trim – Sonax Xtreme Plastic Restorer
  19. Clean Glass – Autoglym Fast Glass
  20. Fit new Wheel Trims and silver cable ties

The car had been badly scratched by a local hand-washing outfit who had obviously used a grit-encrusted cloth/mitt.

Most lighter scratches/swirls I managed to get rid of but there were many deeper ones that I only managed to “soften”. The passenger side had also been keyed at some time so there were a couple of areas that really needed more attention with filling and wet-sanding but I didn’t have time (yet).

The metallic purple (Amethyst?) was looking very dull and flat so I was pleased at how it came back to life after polishing.

Anyway, enough chat – some “Before” Pix:

I was surprised at just how much dirt the clay bar picked up – even after a couple of washes and the use of Tardis and Iron X to remove a lot of contamination. I do have a Farecla clay-mitt which I bought from Halfords for £12, but I prefer the traditional clay bar as it shows more clearly how much muck you are lifting off. The clay mitt is quicker though . . .

The interior desperately needs a new set of mats which will make a huge difference. The pedals and front footwells were encrusted in concrete from sis-in-law’s partner’s work boots so were beyond redemption really.

I used Autoglym’s Interior Shampoo with various microfibres and brushes on the interior.

The little Fiesta’s seats have stood up very well to the test of time – and 88,000 miles but would benefit from a going over with a wet/dry vac in the future.

All in all quite a satisfying clean-up – if rather knackering!

And now the “After” pix:

There is also a short time-lapse video here which covers just a fraction of my time with this Ford Fiesta.

By Steve Berry

Freelance motoring writer and member of the Association of Scottish Motoring Writers with a love of cars, motorbikes and running. I lied about the love of motorbikes. They scare me to death - although I would like to own a Ducati 996 in red which I would just look at but never ride. No, not ever.

2 thought on “9-year-old Ford Fiesta Clean – Detailing”
  1. You did such a hark work Steve. Actually, I do not have enough patience to do this like you. Still waiting for more shares from you guys.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Verified by MonsterInsights