Cambridge Autogleam vs Ferrari 599 GTO pg38

[mrbeige 0]

Superb work as always Nathan. Particularly loving the E28 M5, always had a soft spot for them!

[A20 LEE 0]

GT2 is my favourite porsche, in black of course. Lovely work nathan, whats your rotary weapon of choice? Doesn't look like the usual makita/metabo people tend to favour.

[jedi-knight83 0]

stunning work as ever Nathan 8) ..............especially love that 993GT2...............how much are they asking for it btw........last one that was up for sale was up for £130k ex Chris Harris (t'was a right-hooker tho)

 

This one was up for £101k

 

One before was a black one with the original wheels that belonged to one of my other customers... It went for £135k and was then resold a few months later for £150k!!

[-Neil- 0]

I have just had a look at all the work you've done and i must say, im absolutely gob smacked, i can not believe the work that you do andi bet it costs a fortune(well not to those who own th £100k cars) working on them and traveling all over to do them.

 

You really do a haver a tallent and your work is just stunning!

 

Very impressed!

[jedi-knight83 0]

This was a test of my endurance, determination, patients....trying to work for 2 days on a car and concentrate... while the smell of bacon is wafting through the door is blooming difficult!

 

The car itself... although taking 16hr was pretty straight forwards.

 

The car is a 1998 DeTomaso Guara. Originally costing appox £100k (ferrari 355 money at the time) its not supprising only 4 made it to the uk. It has a BMW 4.0 V8 producing 300bhp and only weighs 1200kg.

 

This car has been in storage for some years but has recently changed hands so the new owner got me over to sort things out.

 

The process was

 

Pre Wash > Wheels > Shampoo > Clay > Polish (about 9 hrs!) > Premium pre wax cleanse > Premium 61% carnauba wax > Interior > Glass > Exhaust > Dressings > Wipe down > Photograph.

 

Paint corrected relativly easily with ip3.02 with 2 hits on some panels.

 

And here are some photos..

 

Swirls before:

 

Paint after correction:

 

 

 

Thanks.

 

Nathan

[jedi-knight83 0]

I wasnt going to bother showing the DB7 as i didnt get many pics.. but thought i may aswell tag it onto the bottom of this one.

 

Anyway.. todays car was a BMW E30 M3 Evo 3 Sport.

 

I like to give a bit of history on these less common cars so here it is..

 

In December 1989, BMW introduced the most extreme M3 of all, the Evolution III Sport. Comprehensively uprated over its predecessors, the most important change saw BMW switch from their original 2.3-litre engine to a 2.5-litre unit - this the maximum permitted by German and Italian Touring Car regulations.

 

Displacement was increased to 2467cc thanks to a bore and stroke of 95 x 87mm (up from 93.4mm and 84mm respectively). New camshafts, pistons and sodium-cooled exhaust valves further enhanced the 2.5's credentials. An 18bhp gain saw output rise to 238bhp at 7000rpm, the Evo III motor also getting larger inlet valves, a compression ratio dropped down to 10.2:1 and red-capped spark plug leads. Ride height was dropped by 10mm at the front and there were even wider wheelarch flares, adjustable spoilers having been variable through three alternative angles. Other changes saw re-profiled vanes in the front grille, BMW offering the Evolution III in a choice of only two exterior shades. These were Brilliant Red and Jet Black, both of which were finished with contrasting bumper inserts and BBS cross-spoke wheels with Nogaro Silver centres and polished rims. To compensate for the heavier 2.5-litre engine, lightweight front and rear bumpers were fitted along with thinner side and rear glass. Inside, there were new high-backed seats while brushed suede upholstery was used for the steering wheel rim, handbrake, gear shift and drivers footrest. Upholstered as standard in a striped pattern cloth unique to the Evolution III, an illuminated gear knob from the Cecotto/Ravaglia limited editions was also used. There was no air-conditioning or electric windows, each car receiving a numbered plaque on the centre console. Built between December 1989 and March 1990, 600 Evolution III's were completed, collectors ranking these as the best M3's ever built.

 

Arrived at 9am and the car was sitting outside looking pretty grubby and the swirls showing up clearly in the early morning sun. The great thing about this customer is that aswell as having an awsome collection of cars he has a genuine passion for driving them and using them as originally intended. So the usual tar up the sides, heavy brake dust and general road grime.

 

Upon arrival

 

Prewash with AG PM3, Wheels with AG Acid Free, Shampoo with AG S&C, Clay with Sonus Green, Tar with AG T&G.

 

a quick shot of the swirls in the sun..

 

Paint readings were up and down to say the least. Bonnet, Roof and Boot were original single stage paint. Sides were resprayed with clear coat. Lowest readings was 99um on the bonnet though so all pretty safe.. and this was after taking alot more readings than i used to after some friendly advice from Gary at RR.

 

After testing polish i went with Menzerna IP 3.02 on a Megs yellow pad.

 

Bonnet Before

 

Bonnet After

 

Boot Before

 

Boot After

 

The pad after 1/4 of the bonnet

 

Spoiler removed for access to boot lid. Also removed front and rear plates.

 

Time was ticking. Started polishing at 11am and finished at 6pm.

 

Time for the Premium Paint Cleanse (We all know what it is by now but trademark laws enforced by an over sensitive american company mean im reluctant to post the name).

 

The premium finishing wax was 61% carnauba content.

 

Dressings, Interior cleaned and Leather fed.

 

8:30pm now and dark skies thanks to crappy english weather so not the best photos in the world.

 

 

the DB7 was done on Monday and was the same process as above and also took 12 hrs. Shifting the car around, dodging showers and a later start to the day though meant i didnt bother taking photos till it was all finished.

 

Owner contacted me because his own efforts with Zymol Carbon haddnt left it looking like my photos had shown him it 'COULD' look. On arrival it was clear to see why.. 6 year old paint that was hazey and swirled.

 

Photos..

 

 

Thanks for looking.. off to london tomorrow for another correction detail.. then a day off.. YAY!

[jedi-knight83 0]

Afternoon.

 

I did this car back on thursday. Owner had contacted me a while ago as the car was 4 years old and had been treated toa few kosovan 'i'll shine your car up special' washes resulting in it looking a but dull and lifeless.

 

The owner spent the whole day down in the garage watching and learning and even giving a hand in buffing off in the final stages. I'd also have to say this was the most hospitable of customers (ive been fortunate to work for some really nice people but this toped the list) With lunch and dinner and endless cups of tea and choccy biscuits etc.

 

Usual pre wash, wheels, shampoo and clay.

 

I started quite late on the day and then complications with a location to wash the car had meant it was about 12:30 before taping and PTG checks were done so i didnt mess about with photos but the swirls were meduim on all panels apart from the roof which wasnt bad atall apart from a few RDS and it was a bit dull and hazey.. but no swirls really.

 

106ff didnt do much, 3.02 took about 80 - 90% out but 3.02 with a drop of powergloss left its own marks... so back to 3.02 and panels that needed it were given 2 hits.

 

All corrected by about 7pm and then on with the Premium wax cleanse and Premium 61% wax.

 

Id just like to take the opportunity again to voice my disappointment and disgust with the Z*m*l company for the stupid, unreasonable restrictions they are putting on using their name and would like to say i fully support Detailing World's decision to blank the word from the forum. Great products... terrible company

 

Back to the car... all finished, dressed and wiped down by about 10:30pm... Probably took a few hours extra because i was explaining things to the customer and stopping for food and drink more than usual but it was actually a nice relaxing end to a busy week and i didnt mind the late finish atall being in a nicely lit dry garage.

 

The photos... got cut short on my photo shoot as another car came in and needed to park in the spot where my car and all my stuff was so it was a quick rush to shuffle cars and pack up but here are the ones i got..

 

 

owner was over the moon.

 

having a week off next week.

 

thanks for looking

[jedi-knight83 0]

Greetings... not posted work up for a couple of weeks.. this is what ive been up to..

 

I was booked to do a new 997 GT3RS but it was away having a suspension set up. So instead i had to make do with this.. poor me! (997 RS will come another day)

 

Got my AB lance back the other day so car was foamed, shampoo'd, clayed, Machine Cleansed to get rid of what minor swirls i could (did a pretty good job), waxed with Vintage 61% carnauba wax.

 

Didnt really get many pics of the process as my batteries were dead so had to keep turning the cam on and off to try to get the battery to last long enough to take a shot.

 

 

 

As there isnt much to write up about that detail i'll quickly add a couple of pics from monday... Vintage topup on another CGT

 

 

And a brief write up of lasts Fridays job. 3.2 V6 Audi TT with minor swirls thanks to an owner who knew what he was doing with the wash technique. Machine polishing with IP 3.02 sorted out the swirls and really brightened the paint up to show an amazing flake (althogh i didnt get any pics of this)

 

Again waxed with Vintage 61% carnauba wax.

 

Before

 

After wash

 

After clay and being taped up for polishing

 

6 or 7 hrs later (i forget exactly)

 

 

 

Thanks for looking

[jedi-knight83 0]

So it seems Carrera GTs are a bit too boring for people... only 365 view of my last thread compared to 1000 on all my others... lets see if i can interest you more with this then!

 

What a long day. Left the house at 7am and got back at 11:15pm.

 

The car didnt look too dirty upon arrival but during the wash process the owner got to see just home dirty it actually was. Pre wash with Autoglym PM3, Shampoo, Clay and the paint was already looking much more reflective. As the sun shone through the trees you could see the swirls clearly and even in low light the paint was looking amazingly dull and flat in places.

 

Inside and undert the lights.... oh dear! And i've noticed since getting home that the camera hasnt shown just how bad the car was!!

 

 

So after testing all the polishes i got upto ip3.02 on a polishing pad which did the trick. wet sanded a couple of areas on the bonnet and wing and then set round polishing the whole car bit by bit. The menzerna polish behaved perfectly today which meant although it was a long tiring day.. it wasnt a frustrating one. Most panels corrected with 1 hit although i passed 3-4 times at 1800rpm and then about 10 at 1500 and a further 10 at 1300 to get a crisp finish with one hit.

 

Action shot..

 

Before wing

 

After wing

 

Before boot

 

After boot (annoying very deep scratch just where i had set the camera up for a photo. this was improved afer a second hit but not fully removed)

 

Before rear wing

 

After rear wing

 

Once polishing was complete car was rinsed down again to get all the dust and residue out of gaps, then dried, Paint Cleased with HD Cleanse and waxed with 61% Vintage wax. Glass, dressings, leather, final wipe down.

 

Must say yet again how thankfull i am for the hospitality of my customers. Tea, buscuits, chocolate, chicken pie for dinner etc!!

 

And now for the finished shots.. unfortunately it was a bit dark by now!

 

 

Thanks for looking

[jedi-knight83 0]

The Alpina B5 is a E60 shape 5 series with a 4.4 Supercharged V8. Only down side according to reviews i read was lack of LSD but this is booked in to have one retro fitted asap.

 

Anyway.. this is a second hand 06 car and needed bringing up to standard.

 

Upon arrival.

 

During the PM3 foam process

 

In the low light of the morning i thought there werent that many swirls to contend with.. Once clayed and inside under the lights though it was fairly bad and was clear it had been machined in the past with pretty bad buffer trails especially over the roof (which was tough for me to reach and im 6'4).

 

Paint corrected very very nicely with 1-2 hits of ip3.01 on a polishing pad.

 

Before swirls

 

After polishing

 

By the time i had finished polishing this huge car i was pretty exhausted and it was pretty late and as it could be kept inside for a few days i agreed with the owner to return later in the week to complete..

 

.. this occured saturday morning when the paint was cleansed and waxed with the 61% Vintage wax.

 

And this was howed it looked once complete..

 

 

And outside... in the sun to show the defect correction.. and yes i did notice slight wax hologramming which was buffed off again when it was back in the cooler garage.

 

 

Thanks for looking

[Jim 2]

I think the lack of comments are just down to not having anything to say beyond whats been said about the types of cars you're getting to work on and the quality of the work you do mate. They look absolutely superb!

 

Those Carrera GT's are just jaw dropping. Do you ever get taken out in any of the cars?

[jedi-knight83 0]

Thanks Jim

 

Work has certainly got up to a very high level much quicker than i had expected and im over the moon with how things are going.

 

Yes i get taken out now and again but to be honest after a 12 hr day there isnt often much time.

 

I got the day out at silverstone with 2 of the CGTs though... which was nice

[MK1Campaign 0]

Is the Carrera GT the one from EVO magazine?

[g60greeny 0]

i wish i had a job like yours!!!!!talk about job satisfaction

whats that foam stuff what the beemers covered in?

whats it do,strip all the old waxes,will it remove tree sap :D

[jedi-knight83 0]

Is the Carrera GT the one from EVO magazine?

 

nope.

[pkripper 0]

Nathan, you clean Tim's silver GT2 and his GT3 RS dont you. Was talking to my mate who works for Tim and he mentioned your firm name which I recognised. Small world.

[jedi-knight83 0]

Another black swirly car today... and yet again been subjected to an automated car wash by the previous owner. It was so bad that even in the shade you could see the scratches when standing a couple of feet away from the car!

 

So left the house at 8am a bit later than planned.

 

Foam pre wash with AG PM3

Wheels with AG Acid Free

Shampoo with AG

Clay to remove lots of red paint flecks with Sonus Green

Machine with ip3.02 on megs polishing pad

 

After the wash and clay pics of defects..

 

 

After polishing and checking in the sun for holograms... of which there was none :thumb:

 

 

Another before and after

 

 

Working round the car making sure as many of the marks were polished out took about 7 hours and even then some of the deeper ones remained but the level of correction was pretty amazing considering how it was.

 

Paint cleanse and 61% vintage wax was applied and removed with the help of the owner (otherwise i would have finished int he dark!)

 

Final pics in low light with a tripod

 

 

Walked back in the door at home at 10:30pm

 

job done.

[rado-steve 0]

Been having a look at the swirl marks on the Cars you Detail! Had a look at my C and vRS in the sun today and they show quite similar marks!

 

So how do i get rid of them (Use some stuff called 3.02???) and how are they caused and how can I prevent it happening????

 

Cheers

 

Steve

[herisites 0]

Been having a look at the swirl marks on the Cars you Detail! Had a look at my C and vRS in the sun today and they show quite similar marks!

 

So how do i get rid of them (Use some stuff called 3.02???) and how are they caused and how can I prevent it happening????

 

Cheers

 

Steve

 

Hi Steve, the only way of getting rid of swirls is with a machine polisher as Nathan uses, it is possible by hand but you would need arms like Arnie and it would take AGES. 3.02 is Menzerna Intensive Polish PO85RD 3.02 which is an abrasive polish used to cut the lacquer to remove the swirls, it can only be used by machine as the heat generated from the machine breaks the abrasives down leaving such a good finish as seen in Nathans pics. Intensive Polish is used for fairly heavy to medium cutting and may need following up with some Final Finish polish such as 106FA or 106FF which is for light cutting and contain much smaller abrasives that break down faster to remove any marks left behind by the more aggresive polishes, but i believe that the 3.02 has deminishing abrasives which can be broken down to work as a finishing polish.

 

By hand you could always go over a few times with Meguiars Scratch-X but like i said its not really going to do much especially on VAG paint which is solid!

 

Swirls are caused by poor washing techniques, basically by using a sponge after not properly rinsing the car. Sponges have a very flat surface which pushes the grit into the paint scratching it causing swirls, and again if not properly washed then a chamois leather will also cause swirls. To prevent them you need to thoroughly rinse the car from any loose dirt, the idea is to get rid of as much dirt as possible without touching the car with anything. You can see what i mean in Nathans pics of the car covered in foam, that a pre-soak foam that lifts the dirt on the car, then you just pressure wash it all off, that can remove about 90% of dirt on the car so you dont move much around when you wash it. And to wash it you need either a microfibre or lambs wool mitt which will actually lift the dirt off the paint into the long fibres as apposed to being pushed around underneath. Then to dry a waffle weave drying towel, which you can just lie on the paint and pat to dry, one drying towel (Sonus Der Wunder for example) can usually dry a whole car without needing ringing out!!

 

Hope that helps, im sure Nathan will back me up and add anything else i have missed.

 

Rob.

[rado-steve 0]

I See! Cheers for that! Wheres the best place to buy a machine polisher from then and how much am I looking at, Bearing in mind I'm only really going to be doing 2 cars with it, so don't wanna spunk huge wads of cash on it!

 

Also where can I get the Menzerna Intensive Polish PO85RD 3.02 from and is it pricey???

 

Cheers for the origin of swirl marks! I've only recently ditched the sponge, Have bought a Megs Lambswool mitt which seems to be doing a great job! I do give the car a good rinse with water before washing it and have started using Megs Gold Class shampoo and you can really see the difference from my old Halfords own car shampoo!

 

Sorry for all the Q's Just fancy having a Bash at it thats all :) my neighbours already think I'm sad as it is LOL

[herisites 0]

I will PM you Steve as we dont want to clog up Nathans thread.

[jedi-knight83 0]

Hi Steve

 

herisites got it pretty spot on with his explanation.

 

What i would say if your gonna try it yourself is practice on some test panels before giving a go on your car. Ive had alot of hours with the machine polisher and its a tricky tool to use perfectly especially if your car has alot of curves or angles.

 

Make sure the rotary you buy has variable speed down to 900rpm and you wont need to take it higher than 1800rpm. Keep it moving to avoid excessive heat build up. Use very small amounts of polish and work them alot to break the abrasives down. I normally work on areas no bigger then 2ft squared at a time and pass over between 10-20 times with the machine to make sure you get a good finish.

 

Thats about it really. good luck and dont forget to practice on some scrap panels first.

[jedi-knight83 0]

Morning.. Another long day yesterday.

 

Left the house later than planned and thus hit the traffic on my way to the job. Saw that funny Scrubbers van on the way though which cheered me up!

 

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=40826

 

The job was on an 'unnamed road' and didnt have a house number so the satnav took me to the middle of the road.. As i was driving down it trying to see the house names i saw a house with 3 amazing cars outside (but not the Vanquish) and just though.. ooh nice.. maybe i'll pop a card through their door when i leave tonight. Upon closer inspection that was the house i was looking for and and Vanquish was tucked away in the double garage :)

 

The car was fitted with some lovely 20" Asanti custom wheels with the centres painted body colour and it also had thicker mesh in the bonnet vents and grill making it look that bit more special.

 

Quickly got on with the job.

 

Pre wash with PM3 via the foam lance

 

 

Wheels, Shampoo, Clay, Tape up, PTG check showing about 200 on the roof and 140 everywhere else.

 

Under the lights you could see faint swirls and also some light buffer trails. A chat with the customer revealed it had been machined before by his previous valeter.

 

Menzerna 106ff on a megs polishing pad removed what swirls were there and also finished down perfectly to leave a hologram / buffer trail free finish. Worth a mention that Menzerna was behaving itself again on a damp day! When its good.. its very good... when its bad......

 

The polished paint

 

Once all polishing was complete at about 5:30pm the paint was treated with the premium paint cleanse including the wheels. The i applied a coat of the Vintage wax via foam pad to the whole car before starting to buff off. I found it a little harder to buff than usual but the up side as FAR less wax holograms after the first buff and none after a quick second wipe an hour later. Wheels were also waxed.

 

The wax curing

 

Then the glass was cleaned, tyres and arches dressed, interior vac'd, wiped and leather conditioned

 

Was 10pm and very dark once i finished so no stunning daylight shots.. but im going back to do the other cars and also will be doing a monthly maintenance on the vanquish so will have chance to get daylight shots later.

 

One of the other cars im returing to do is a 700+ bhp Corvett :)

 

The finished pics of the Vanquish

 

 

on and lastly... i took this on my phone... possibly the COOLEST bathroom tap in the whole world.

 

touch sensitive on/off and temp controll and the led colour changes as the temp changes!

 

 

thanks, Nathan

[herisites 0]

Another cracking job Nathan. The reflection shots are awesome!

 

I want that tap when i get my own place even if it costs a months wages :lol:

[biggrim 0]

Amazing as always Nathan.