Interior Detail. Astra G.

[Stevel]

Well I’m getting the hang of this now so I think this one can go in the Detailing section.

This Astra G is a bit special to us. It’s my Mum’s car and was part of my Dads retirement package when he retired form Vauxhalls in 2000. He worked there for over 35 years but passed away only a couple of years after retiring.

The car came straight off the production line and the folks picked it up from the plant.



Throughout it’s life the car has been cleaned at those hand car washes or at car wash garages so although the outside is reasonably clean it’s pretty badly marred. The inside was a mess. Three grand kids left loose with felt tips, crayons and god knows what else had taken it’s toll.



Up until I joined the club I had not much to offer the motor in terms of how to clean it any better than the hand wash places but now I…. erm … do.

So today was just the interior. Two and a half hours of interior.

Normally I use a cheapish Vac to do the cars but this one was very dusty with some deeply imbedded grime and muck. so I borrowed the missus Dyson DC4578Stripemaster or whatever it’s called and having used some brushes to get at the hard to reach dirt attacked the cabin.

Next I sprayed Megs APC diluted 10:1 all over the seats and carpets. Some areas needed a bit more so I mixed a 4:1 solution and tried again.



Next up was this.



It was in sale a couple of years ago and we bought it so that we could do the house carpets. Used on the no soap setting it did a tremendous job of picking up the wet foam and pulling the dirt away.

I then used the Dyson again. Every single mark had now gone. Awesome.

Next was the plastic. I had already vacuumed the dash, sill rubber etc. So I just applied a generous quantity of Autoglym plastic cleaner. The plastic around the seats were really bad but the AG removed everything leaving a nice matt finish.

So just a final polish of all the interior glass before a quick wash of the exterior including the wheels and arches before finishing off with Megs. last touch. Just as an aside the snowfoam really stuck to this car. Unlike ours where it falls off quite quickly.







The exterior will be done properly in two weeks. The paint is a rough as a bears arse and I’ll probably do the wheels separately too. Amazingly my Mum has not kerbed them once in seven years so they will be worth spending the time on.

There’s plenty left to come from the car me thinks and I enjoyed today more than doing our relatively new cars because the difference is so much more apparent.


Oh and this is the mileage. She sure don’t go far in it.



BTW. Does anybody know what colour it is? I know it’s something Red?

[ed taylor]

Hey Steve, you have done yourself proud there, a brilliant job, well worth missing a good meet for, Don,t know the colour though.

[john_k_sri]

The colour is called 'Rubens Red' (pearlescent).

[Stevel]

The colour is called 'Rubens Red' (pearlescent).

Thanks, John. Not my cup of tea TBH but the folks must have liked it at the time.

[glynn]

top job m8 i think you have found a new carreir

[john_k_sri]

Yes, gets him out of doing any housework, and hero status family-wise.

[Stevel]

Yes, gets him out of doing any housework, and hero status family-wise.

Sssshh

[ditchp]

absolfookinlootly marvalus job done there mate, a complete transformation............

give yourself a huge pat on the back

[VectraMat]

Nice work there steve, that interior looked like a real challenge! Have a pint and relax now!

[AJA]

Looking Top Dollar there Steve.

I hate doing interiors, so I have a very large Volvo interior that's waiting for you here matey.