I remember reading about this Rallye Golf in a magazine some 10 years ago and then I bumped into the owner last year at a car show. The Rallye had never been looked at from a detailers point of view. It’s a fast road/track car with plenty of vinyls on certain panels so a full enhancement wasn’t on the cards.

However, after experimenting with different polishes and pads, the best level of correction came from using a wool pad and Menzerna FG400 and then refining with a polishing pad and Menzerna SF4000. This was kept to the eye-line panels only, therefore all the fiddly ledges around the arches for example would be left for another day.

Initially the Rallye was given a light rinse and a Citrus PreWash to soften all flies and rubber from a recent track day. The Rallye was then washed using the two bucket method before all tar, grease and iron being removed. After the paint correction, a complete wipe down took place to remove all polishing oils and fingerprints before applying CarPro Reload. All tyres dressed with AS Highstyle and glass cleaned.

This is how it started.

As it started – plenty of rubber on the N/S arch

As it started – not much to do in here except the glass and carbon door cards.

First up was a Cirtus PreWash and agitation. Iron Awe from Envy Car Care doing what it does best.

Iron Awe from Envy Car Care doing what it does best.

Iron Awe from Envy Car Care doing what it does best. Every panel was very clean and smooth by this point but the roof needed a light clay to remove the remaining contaminants.

Several polish/pad combos were tried but as the picture shows none of them were quite up to the job.

Menzerna FG400 and a wool pad was finally chosen to eliminate these stubborn scratches. Later refined to remove the slight haze you get when using wool.

The three blue stripes to the left and the decals on the right are vinyl and very fragile, so therefore were a no go area. The rest of the blue was single stage paint.

The VW logo was also vinyl but wasn’t worth the risk, so was left alone.

A quick money shot and opportunity to remove all the dust that accumulated from polishing.

The finished results – a complete wipe down took place to remove all polishing oils and fingerprints using Filler Killer from Envy Car Care before applying CarPro Reload.

The finished results – CarPro Reload adding to the now glossy paintwork.