Cambridge Autogleam vs Ferrari 599 GTO pg38

[Jim 2]

Just.. stunning..

 

The more I look at this thread, the more I want to try and break into doing this sort of work I have to say. Just to be able to spend any time around cars like this must be a real privilege. I bet the passenger ride in it will be absolutely epic.

 

Nice work Nathan. It looks superb. Must be a fairly terrifying experience detailing a car worth that sort of money though!

[vwdeviant 0]

Nathan = Car Massuse... rumour has it that for £50 he'll even thron in a bare brested Polynesian lady to rub wax into your body... (the car body that is!)

[jedi-knight83 0]

Car number 3 for this customer and a different venue for today. The GT3 is his dedicated track car and spends alot of its time at Fearnsport Porsche Specialists at Silverstone. Firstly id like to say thanks to them for being very accommodating. Im pretty sure im going to be back there now and again for other cars aswell which will be nice as they have some amazing machinery there!

 

Anyway.. left the house at 7am and arrived at Fearnsport at 8:45 after passing 2 accidents on the A14 that had happened no more than 10 cars ahead of me!

 

Wheeled the GT3 outside and took a couple of before shots. Not terrible swirls but swirls none the less.

 

 

Pre-washed with AG PM3 via the foam lance. Then shampoo'd with AG shampoo and dried with a sonus yellow drying towel. Tar / Rubber marks removed with AG tar remover and then the whole car was clayed with sonus green clay.

 

Then although it was still chilly it was nice and sunny so i thought i'd detail outside for a while. Did a few tests and decided onces again that ip 3.01 on a megs yellow polishing pad was the way forwards. Most of the front was covered in armorfend stuff (being a track car) but the rest was all treated in the same way

 

 

Then it actually started snowing so it was into the garage for the premium paint cleanse applied via machine on a megs finishing pad at 600rpm

 

 

Then on with the 47% carnauba wax applied by hand.. much to the amusment of the staff at fearnsport who made many jokes about me massaging a car.

 

This is the only pic of me 'massaging' in which i didnt look like a dork (some will argue.. i still do!

 

Andy ... Fearnsports owner watching over me

 

 

Thankfully after almost 11 hrs the staff were all commenting on how good it looked and how impressed with the amount of work i had put in.

 

I was pretty knackered so didnt take many after pics and completely forgot to take after correction shots... sorry

 

 

Thanks for looking...

 

Nathan

[jedi-knight83 0]

Firstly a little history of this car. Its a 1995 Virage Volante with the 6.3 widebody cosmetic look. However toward the end of the production Aston ran out of the normal 5.3 engine that should be fitted to this car. So the last 11 Virage Volante's got the new engine meant for the Vantage Coupe (to be released in 96) which had an extra 40bhp... this was the 6th from last

 

Right... enough of that... This was booked in for a 2 day detail and was supposed to be at the customers house but with the poor weather forecast it was relocated to the owners business where there was a roomy warehouse.

 

Once pre-washed and shampoo'd this is what it looked like.... I had been warned it was in bad condition..

 

 

 

Then clayed the whole car... which i then realised just how big it is!

 

 

The PTG showed quite a mix! 340 one side of the bonnet and 150 the other side. 100 on the doors. 250 on the front wings and 400 on the boot lid. With that in mind i tested on a number of panels to find the best method. On the bonet i used a mix of ip3.01 with a yellow megs pad up to ip3.01 with a drop of power gloss on a burgandy pad. most of the rest of the car was ip3.01 on a yellow pad with a drop of PG here and there.

 

The paint came up really well apart from a few rather deep marks on the bonnet and the boot lid (these were hit 2 or 3 times with mimimal paint depth change and agreed with owner these can be tackled next time with some wet and dry... but neither of our schedules would allow it at the moment)

 

During correction with the brand new hood well protected.

 

 

My attempt at a couple of 50:50 shots.. sorry there not that great.. will work on these in the future

 

 

 

After on the bonnet

 

 

Anyway this took hours... so i had to then crack on with the premium paint cleanse and then the premium 47% carnauba wax... i had to get the 1st coat on by the end of day 1 so it could cure over night ready for the 2nd coat on day 2.

 

During and after waxing..

 

 

 

Finished the day at 6:30pm

 

DAY 2 ... 10am (after collecting my s3 from the garage so was running late)

 

Started very much the same way DAY 1 ended... :) .... after a wipe down with some last touch..

 

 

2nd coat applied ... Next up were the wheels and exhaust. The owner had said not to worry too much as there were due to be stripped down and refurbed soon... but for my piece of mind (and because i didnt want them dirty in my photos :) ) i had a go anyway. Autosol metal polish with a foam pad did quite a good job (but obviously still need doing profesionally) Then they were done with SRP and waxed with collinite 915.

 

Before

 

 

After

 

 

Exhaust was done the same

 

 

 

Time was really cracking on so next was the glass in and out with AG glass cream polish, Arches and tyres dressed with AG products, paint wiped down with Optimum Car Wax, Interior wiped down and leather fed with Gliptone Liquid Leather.... and breathe.... and photograph :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Owner was over the moon.

 

Thanks for looking

 

Nathan

[Jim 2]

Brilliant as always Nathan. Its always interesting to see what you've been up to. You seem to be getting some fairly high profile work of late thanks to word of mouth.. you must be pleased at how the business is going atm? Surely its only going to go up over the summer too when all these nice show cars and summer-only machines start seeing some daylight?

[marcus 0]

So whats the benefit/purpose of applying that carnauba wax by flesh then Nath?

What brand Carnauba is it?

[jedi-knight83 0]

it was zymol concours. The blurb is that applying by hand is essential to warm it so it can be spread over the panel while using the least amount of product. Using a pad causes waste and when its £200 for 220g you dont want to waste any

[marcus 0]

it was zymol concours. The blurb is that applying by hand is essential to warm it so it can be spread over the panel while using the least amount of product. Using a pad causes waste and when its £200 for 220g you dont want to waste any

Thanks mate. :)

[herisites 0]

Awesome work as always 8) that aston looks fantastic, nice and chunky! I bet it was huge in the metal.

 

I watched that guy on 5th gear that detailed that mc12 and he charges about £7k for a detail :shock: but thats because he uses that pure carnuaba wax which costs £6k on its own :shock: thats applied by hand and it something to do with the wax is an enzyme when in the tub and the warmth from your hand and the air act as catalyst which actually turns it into a wax, its not actually a wax until its on the car :? :lol: I dunno if its the same with the zymol Nath uses though.

[MK1Campaign 0]

I love reading this thread. Very interesting stuff. Im competent with a machine polisher as i am a car body sprayer by trade. Ive detailed a few cars myself now and really enjoy doing it.

[jedi-knight83 0]

MK1Campaign, no offence but ive seen plenty of body shop work where they are not competant with a machine polisher. in general people dont work the polish for long enough and end up with terrible holograms and micromaring.

 

Not saying this is the case here... but just because a person (not you) works in a bodyshop it doesnt mean they can correct to the same standard as some pro detailers.

 

herisites, Paul Dalton (Miracle Detail) was the guy you saw... and yes the wax he uses is £7112 per pot.. but its refillable for life so the price gets cheaper effectively the more you use it.

 

The £7k detail was a publicity stunt (which worked very well as it put him in the public eye and raised the profile of detailers in general)... but he only ever did 1 or 2 of these in reality. Most jobs are £600 give or take per day for him.

 

Yes the stuff in the zymol pot is technically and enzyme and yes it turns to wax during the application process.. but i didnt want to bore people :)

[Goldie 2]

Good work jedi-knight83 on some beautiful cars...

 

A remember a while back you metioned doing a south coast trip to details some people cars from the area.. Did you ever get many takers??

[herisites 0]

herisites, Paul Dalton (Miracle Detail) was the guy you saw... and yes the wax he uses is £7112 per pot.. but its refillable for life so the price gets cheaper effectively the more you use it.

 

The £7k detail was a publicity stunt (which worked very well as it put him in the public eye and raised the profile of detailers in general)... but he only ever did 1 or 2 of these in reality. Most jobs are £600 give or take per day for him.

 

Yes the stuff in the zymol pot is technically and enzyme and yes it turns to wax during the application process.. but i didnt want to bore people :)

 

Yeah i thought i would bore them instead :lol:

 

I heard that you get free refills for life for that wax, so i suppose if you are a pro detailer who does a lot of cars for a long time it works out ok. I saw another video of him doing the same on an astra vxr so he must charge a normal ish price because the detail would work out more than the cars in the astras case :lol:

 

Top work though mate as always, and as always you have given me the bug to do more :lol: so i am asking everyone now if they want their cars detailing (but without machine polishing as i dont know how to yet but i might invest in the famous Porter Cable one day and follow some tutorial videos on either a shit car or go down scrappy and get hold of a few body panels and scratch hell out of them :lol:)

[MK1Campaign 0]

MK1Campaign, no offence but ive seen plenty of body shop work where they are not competant with a machine polisher. in general people dont work the polish for long enough and end up with terrible holograms and micromaring.

 

Not saying this is the case here... but just because a person (not you) works in a bodyshop it doesnt mean they can correct to the same standard as some pro detailers.

 

Yeah i can see what your saying there and personally i know a good finish when i see one. I think half the problem in bodyshops are the products. Ive been used to using 3M compounds over the years and after trying Menzerna last week has shown me how rubbish the 3M stuff is. The finishes just dont compare. I demo'd it to a few of my work colleagues and they couldnt believe the difference.

[jedi-knight83 0]

yeah the 3m stuff and farcella that alot of shops use are poor and near impossible to get a crystal finish from. Menz Ip3.01 and 3.02 are fantastic though.. well lubed and break down nicely over 10 passes.

[jedi-knight83 0]

Im staying down in a place called Forrest Row (nr Tunbridge Wells) this week as i have a client that wants 3 of his cars given a deswirl detail.

 

So yesterday morning i turned up at 8:30 and wheeled this out of the garage.

 

 

Covered in dirt and dust it was quite difficult to see the defects. AG PM3 TFR and pressure rinsed, Shampoo'd, Wheels cleaned in and out, Then clayed with Sonus Green and into the garage and under the lights and time to sit down for 5 mins...

 

 

So knowing Aston paint to be quite soft i started trying 85rd... which took 50% out... so i tried 106ff.. which did 80-90% so i tried adding a drop of ip3.01 in with 106ff... which did the job... but left maring... so then i had to finish with 85rd on a finishing pad.. so the job took twice as long.. 7hrs + on machine polishing alone.

 

anyway... before and 50:50 shot.

 

 

Then after a back breaking day i applied the premium paint cleanse by hand and then the 47% Carnauba wax. Got 1st coat all finished by 8:30pm and then home for a well earned nap.

 

DAY 2

 

Started with a rinse and a wipe down.. got these pics of the water beading on the 1st coat of wax

 

 

then on with the 2nd coat

 

 

Time was ticking and i needed to start the second car asap (you will see it in the background of some of the pics.. full write up tomorrow night). Cleaned the glass with AG glass polish, dressed arches and tyres, Cleaned the interior and fed the leather with gliptone liquid leather. Waxed the wheels with collinite 915 and then took some photos... sorry there are loads .. actually... im not sorry.. i enjoy the photography part as much as other aspects of the detail... anyway....

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks...

 

Nathan

[G60Jet 1]

I like the blue car:) in the reflection

[Jim 2]

Looks good as ever mate. Looking forward to seeing the detail pics of, what I think is, a Skyline R34 GTR? :)

 

I wish I had the bankroll of some of your customers.. gawd..

[G60Jet 1]

its an R34, but which one i cant tell.

[G60Jet 1]

where can you buy that tape you put on the rubber seals so you dont get polish on them?

[herisites 0]

where can you buy that tape you put on the rubber seals so you dont get polish on them?

 

cleanyourcar.co.uk but you can use masking tape as well i think.

[vwdeviant 0]

Looks like Nath's taken to working in partially demolished greenhouses now!

 

Mad 50:50 shots.. can't understand how some-one lets their Aston get like that... It's as bad as my mum's Megane and that's lucky if it get's washed in Fairy liquid with a dish sponge!

 

Although since the old man bought his new Mundeno they use a big yellow sponge and actual car shampoo... but it's Tesco's stuff!

[Banana Man 0]

Hehe I live in East Grinstead which is only a couple of miles away I ve seen both of them cars!

 

I see the R34 GTR on a regular basis!!

 

You can come and clean mine for free if you want Nathan :D

 

Outstanding work!!

[Craig 0]

top quality work, i love reading this thread, full respect to how much work you must actually put into each car, and the shine on that aston is true mirror like finish :)

[jedi-knight83 0]

thanks for the reply guys. The owners house is a work in progess. House is almost finished and they have planes for a 3 car garage aswell.

 

The blue thing is an r34 GTR putting out approx 900bhp in track mode. Its got a sequential box in it aswell.

 

Yes the vanquish paint was very bad due to how soft it is... if the owner is carefull with washing it'll be like that again in 1-2 years unfortunately.

 

GTR write up to come.