[alstonlobo]

Originally Posted by sajjt

Hey, its high time to change your avatar. Since you spend a lot of time and money it would do more justice to the car. What say?

Rightly put Sajjt Now time to fish out a suitable pic

[sajjt]

Originally Posted by alstonlobo

Rightly put Sajjt Now time to fish out a suitable pic

I guess you've got many to select thats the confusion.

BTW, I'll put up all the infos about the DRLs and LEDs on the Beat official review thread soon as am waiting for some good pics which can be more realistic than what I've posted before. DRLs are too bright for my cam hence its over exposed, let me try this week.

[alstonlobo]

Originally Posted by sajjt

DRLs are too bright for my cam hence its over exposed, let me try this week.

Why don't you click the pics from sideways of the DRLs and not head on as the light will surely pierce your image. Or you can crouch near the front wheel and activate just the DRLs and click a pic of their throw on the road

[alstonlobo]

This thread was lying low for sometime and now I'm back. Finally after months of my audition videos gathering dust in my hard drive I decided to do something about it. Managed to do a rough edit and upload the video to youtube. Here it is for you guys to see and judge. Video was taken during night and its not the best an amateur like me could capture. Let me know your thoughts people

YouTube - Hertz Power In Chevrolet Beat

[white-rabbit]

Can you please share me the details of the keyless entry you fitted?Some pics will be appreciated.I am planning to do some mods on my ride too..

[alstonlobo]

Originally Posted by white-rabbit

Can you please share me the details of the keyless entry you fitted?Some pics will be appreciated.I am planning to do some mods on my ride too..

The keyless system is dealer fitted and sold by GM and cost 3333 bucks.

The pic is in this post

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ml#post1814326

The 3 buttons are each for lock, unlock, silence/blinker.

Let me know if you have further questions!

[white-rabbit]

This is remote central locking.I have fitted this.I was wondering you have fitted key less device just like 'MICRA'.I was planning to go for it.Thanks
Hows your car doing?did you fix the scratches?Hows the FE?

[alstonlobo]

Hi all,

Cant believe its been months since I updated my own thread.
Its right time anyways as I have given my ride for its service last Monday. The odo reading stood at 13K though it was a 15K due service.
I had gone to the service centre without prior booking and my car was 18th in queue yet I got it delivered on the same day.
I instructed the service supervisor not to wash the car as I would be doing a detailing job myself. Also asked them to replace all the wipers, replace the air filter, change engine oil, replace oil filter, rotate the tyres and align + balance them. Additionally I strictly instructed them not to remap the ECU as it is running on factory setting and car performs fine.
During delivery was told that the rear right shock absorber had a leakage and was replaced for free since its under warranty.
The final bill came to 4.1K and the car feels even fresher after the oil change.

This weekend I am going to do an intense level of detailing as I have procured professional car detailing items. Stay tuned!

Cheers,
Alston

[alstonlobo]

As mentioned above, I did some detailing on the car today. The weather was with me, it was sunny but I had a good shady area to work in.
I took a total of 6 hrs and called it a day, rest of the job to be continued tomorrow.
To begin with, the car was in a mess with a lot of dust, speckles of bird poop, tree sap and road tar on the lower panels. The pictures should say a lot on this.

(All pictures taken with mobile camera hence excuse the quality, sadly I do not have access to a digital camera)

[alstonlobo]

Here is my little collection of detailing products that I use on a regular basis and a small review on the items.

Dusters - used rarely
Wheel cleaning brushes - toilet brush does the job best
Disc brakes cleaning brush - brush used for cleaning drinking glasses
Microfibre cloths - Different cloths for polishing, buffing etc
Wash mitt - glove shaped and easy to use, helps suck dirt easily
Imported leather chamois - Very effective in drying, sucks up water traces easily



Hand blower and car vaccuum cleaner - Dust busters!



Mother's Clay bar - Excellent product if used carefully, used for the first time today, finished up one bar of clay, one bottle QD and quarter of second bottle of QD
Sonax gloss shampoo - Smells nice, cleans even nicer, two caps shampoo enough for a full bucket water
Formula 1 Wheel Gold - Acid based brake cleaning fluid, does the job well, used every fortnight
Simoniz Tyre Shine - Gives the tyre that glossy showroom finish
Simoniz Upholstery Cleaner - Should be used in well ventilated area as the fumes are irritating if inhaled, does a decent job and leaves a nice fragrance
WD-40 - Used for lubricating the hinges and bolts, as well as engine degreaser
Formula 1 Protectant - Cleans and polishes the dashboard and plastic trims and even gives the black plastic panels like the door pillar, fog lights garnish etc that jet black look, avoid applying on glass accidently as it can be a pain to rub off the smudges
Mr Muscle glass cleaner - Nothing special, just another glass cleaner
Sonax Easy Shine - Not yet used on the car, tested on scooter panel and cleans the surface leaving a deep rich look, very easy to apply and buff, instructions and details on the pack mention that the wax is engineered to be used on hot surfaces especially in direct sunlight
Vaseline - Lubricant for battery contacts
Detergent powder - For cleaning tyres, floor mats etc



First I cleaned the interior with the hand blower and blew off all the dry dust. Next used a wet cloth and cleaned the dash and all the door plastics and crevaces.

Rolled up all the windows, closed the doors and ran the blower all over the car body and underbody.

Hosed down the entire car with a regular garden hose and managed to wash off most of the dry dust away. Did not touch any of the car surface while doing this.

Washed the car using the two bucket method. One bucket lathered in Two capful of Sonax shampoo and other bucket of plain water. Microfibre washing mitt glove does the job easy and started off with the top section of the car, working downwards.

Dried the car using the leather chamois and was eager to start using the clay.

Started off claying half the bonnet and look what I get.



But the result was/is amazing. The following mobile phone pic does not do justice to how good the outcome was.



Clayed the roof, all doors, rear bumper, front bumper and by this time the first half of the clay became dirty. Disposed it off and kneaded the second half of the clay. this was used for the windscreen, windows, headlights, fog lights, brake lights, mirrors and lastly the wheels.

A big tip while using clay, lubricate the surface really well, knead the clay after every ten swipes and use fingertip pressure.

Despite washing the car well, clay did what washing could not, I noticed a light black juice oozing out of the panel surface after sweeping the clay, the clay did suck all the dirt away but sadly could not take off most of the tar spots.

Nothing could be done about the tar spots really as I did not want to tackle them using diesel or anything. Will try importing a tar removing spray sometime.

Once done with claying the entire car I was exhausted and called it a day, managed to click just one pic, and am very satisfied with the outcome, the car literally shines now.



I will be waxing the car tomorrow and will post more pics, stay tuned.

[Mr.Beat]

Hats off buddy, the equipment list of yours just keeps going on. Awaiting the final pics. Thanks a lot for sharing all the steps and information with us. I surely can do with a few of it.

[alstonlobo]

Originally Posted by Mr.Beat

Hats off buddy, the equipment list of yours just keeps going on. Awaiting the final pics. Thanks a lot for sharing all the steps and information with us. I surely can do with a few of it.

Thanks Mr.Beat, I just came to know from my mum that tomorrow morning we are going to our relatives place for a function, guess the waxing might not go as planned, still will try to do it later

[salbin]

Wow! You got a very vast collection of detailing products.
Your patience needs to be appreciated for a 6 hrs continuous work.
And waxing is real work-out for your arms!!

Originally Posted by alstonlobo

Clayed the roof, all doors, rear bumper, front bumper and by this time the first half of the clay became dirty. Disposed it off and kneaded the second half of the clay. this was used for the windscreen, windows, headlights, fog lights, brake lights, mirrors and lastly the wheels.

Please do not dispose the clay with just one time use.
AFAIK it can be used many times. You just need to re-shape the clay such that fresh surface is exposed.
It can be preserved wet with QD in an air tight cover and used for the next detailing.

In fact, 2 weeks back my Beat also got a full body detailing and waxing.. not by me - I just outsourced the job with 3M Car Care.
They did a professional job and I was really impressed.
Met 3 Team BHPians there and had a nice long chat!
Taken this pic on the next day(mobile cam):
Even now the car looks brand new!!

[Mr.Beat]

Originally Posted by salbin

In fact, 2 weeks back my Beat also got a full body detailing and waxing.. not by me - I just outsourced the job with 3M Car Care.
They did a professional job and I was really impressed.
Met 3 Team BHPians there and had a nice long chat!
Taken this pic on the next day(mobile cam):
Even now the car looks brand new!!

How much did that cost you? The car looks awesome with dark black tints and those alloys.

Which sun films are these? Are they RTO approved?

[alstonlobo]

Originally Posted by salbin

Wow! You got a very vast collection of detailing products.
Your patience needs to be appreciated for a 6 hrs continuous work.
And waxing is real work-out for your arms!!


Please do not dispose the clay with just one time use.
AFAIK it can be used many times. You just need to re-shape the clay such that fresh surface is exposed.
It can be preserved wet with QD in an air tight cover and used for the next detailing.

In fact, 2 weeks back my Beat also got a full body detailing and waxing.. not by me - I just outsourced the job with 3M Car Care.
They did a professional job and I was really impressed.
Met 3 Team BHPians there and had a nice long chat!
Taken this pic on the next day(mobile cam):
Even now the car looks brand new!!
Attachment 819454

Thanks for the appreciation salbin, in fact your ride looks sweet too, one of the classy Beats on the forum I must say!

Regarding the clay, I did knead the clay plenty of times, however it became so dirty that the colour changed to pale yellow, I kept a brand new one and used clay next to each other and compared. And since this is the first time I used clay on the car, there surely was a lot of dirt to be sucked!

I bought two bars clay and two bottles QD, now left with 1 each