BluKoo
Member
Registered: 8th Apr 02
Location: Stonehaven (Scotland)
User status: Offline
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Hello all 
You may or may not have noticed, but its been a good while since i've posted anything on here. I've been busy, but not as busy as my brother.
I've seen and read through this a few times, but it still amazes me, so i thought i'd share it with you guys.
I know there is a chance some of you have already seen this, but there will be far more who haven't.
As always, i've just copied and pasted the txt from the detailingworld site.
Enjoy...
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This was the latest Ne Plus Ultra detail that was completed a month or so back on this Bentley Arnage:
(centre caps were removed at this stage to get rid of all the road salt)
The car was booked in for the best part of 2 weeks but it had been in to us the week previous for a 1 day protection detail as a friend of the owner was getting married so he wanted the car to be spruced up for their big day. The Exterior was pretty filthy again due to the salt on the roads etc but the interior was still pretty much spotless...
...As was the engine bay, just a light covering of dust:
As the car had been freshly detailed last week we were able to get through the wash stage fairly quickly as everything was still pretty clean underneath the road grime - here's a few pics of the wash stage anyways using the usual methods and products:
303 Aerospace beading away nicely on the engine bay after a quick rinse:
The car was rinsed and then put inside for a bit of spot claying to remove a few fresh contaminants on the paintwork and then dried with PB luxury drying towels and the Black Baron drier:
With the car ready for paint correction it was time to assess the paint thickness:
Some fairly low spots...
...And some fairly high!
Composites gauge was used for the plastic panels:
So all in all, very inconsistent readings, which meant alot of readings had to be taken for every panel (approx 100 for a door etc).
The short story of why the car was booked in with us is as follows:
The owner was unhappy with the paint finish due to several of his drivers using the local car washes/brushes etc so he had several different places machine polish the car in attempt to bring some life back to the paint - one of those were Bentley themselves. The owner was still far from happy after this and the following pics should show you why...
The wedding ribbons had left their mark - quite literally...
So as you can see, it wasn’t exactly in the best of ways! The owner had made it quite clear that this was the last chance for the car and if he still wasn’t happy with it by the end then the car would be getting sold.
So, on with what was my biggest challenge to date!...
As always, I spent a bit of time working out a pad and polish combination that would achieve the desired level of correction. The paint was pretty hard but quite sticky in places too - not something I've usually associated with hard paints in the past but first time for everything as they say.
First stage of correction was Meguiars 105 and Lake Country foamed wool:
The good thing with the wool is that sticky paint isn’t really a major problem due to the cooler temperatures when compounding so at least that was something!
This was then followed up with Menzerna 203S & 3.02 in some places with a Lake Country polishing pad. The first two stages were done a panel at a time so I only had one more trip round the car to refine at the end - more of a psychological thing really as I didn’t fancy the soul destroying task of three seperate trips round such a huge car!
The result of the first two stages (with the last refining stage still to follow later) were as shown below:
So with my method sorted out I cracked on with the rest of the car, with just under 90 hours of compounding ahead of me. Most of the correction shots are in no particular order:
Ribbon marks fully removed on the bonnet:
This small nick in the paint is typical of what was left:
This could be removed if you took another circa 10 microns off but it would be complete overkill when you can see the rest of the surrounding paint is perfect 
There were some really deep sanding marks next to the headlights, the below shot is after 1 hit with the wool pad and an IPA wipe down:
After a 2nd hit:
After a 3rd - just the wool marks left now:
The DA machine was used for the headlights:
Front bumper before:
After:
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
Martin from Dent Devils dropped in by to work his magic on a few minor dings - I love watching this guy work, I'm always amazed at what he can remove from what seems like impossible places to get to! Highly recommended if you're in the Aberdeen area :thumb:
Onto what was probably the worst area of the car, the boot lid:
Before:
After:
50/50:
Completed shot later :thumb:
Before:
After:
One good thing with all that sanding from the factory is the low level of orange peel:
Before:
After:
A couple more 50/50's:
Up onto the roof:
Rear bumper before:
After:
Whilst I'd been busy with the paintwork I'd found plenty for Colin to do, including waxing all interior trim...
...And cleaning in and around all the switches etc with cotton buds and some IPA (I'm sure he was really hating me by this point ):
The pedals were really letting the interior down so these were removed and after a bit of attention with crackle finish paint and some sand paper they were back to new again :thumb:
Before:
After:
The wheels were removed and polished with Menzerna 203S:
The areas the machine couldn’t reach were done by hand:
They were then cleansed with Werkstat Prime and topped with a couple of coats of Blackfire Metal Sealant:
Arches were fully detailed and hubs painted too:
Before:
After:
The back arches had fabric liners (I don’t care if they reduce road noise, they're a complete pain to clean sometimes!) so a good thorough brush and vacuum was needed for these!
Once I'd finished the first 2 stages of correction I decided to put the car outside again to rinse off all the compounding dust. Usually I never find a need for this but with each panel needing at least 3 or 4 hits the dust soon got pretty heavy!
I foamed the car with Meguiars Hyper Wash @ 50/60 degrees and then rinsed, this was at approx 1am on a Saturday morning!
With the car back inside and dried with the Black Baron it was time for the refining stage.
As the car had sticky paint and was solid black I decided to finish with the DA machine, purely because I didn’t have to worry about leaving trails and the DA is usually much less effort on sticky paints - all you have to make sure is that you finish crystal clear with no micro marring left over. Due to the size of the car it would have taken forever to refine with the rotary and there would be no guarantees that it would finish down 100% trail free anyways so why make life difficult for myself?
Meguiars 205 was used with a Lake Country Polishing Pad. This polish is great with the rotary but I've been equally impressed when using it with dual action machines, especially on sticky paints where it almost buffs off like a sealant as opposed to an oily polish.
The polish was worked at speed 5/5.5 with moderate to heavy pressure for the first few passes before decreasing the pressure and slowing the machine to speed 4 with very light pressure to ensure a crystal clear finish.
A perfect micro marring free finish:
Hopefully this goes some way to rubbishing claims by some that you cant finish down that well with DA machines - all you need is the right pad, polish and technique :thumb:
When all the polishing was complete I lightly dusted the car down before carrying out a thorough IPA wipe down:
LSP of choice was Migliore Competizione - I've been seriously impressed with this wax and I swear you want to eat the stuff when you smell it 
This was applied VERY thinly to a couple of panels at a time and then carefully buffed off. The Migliore waxes don’t set like most other waxes so they're still wet when you remove them - hence why you have to put them on as thin as possible or they can be tricky to remove and will clog up your microfibre.
As usual, the finishing touches were completed including Werkstat Prime Strong on the grill and all exterior chrome trim:
The engine bay was dressed with 303 Aerospace Protectant again:
After a wipe down with Migliore QD this was the result of 104 hours of machine polishing and 155 man-hours in total...
The customer was so happy with the final result that he has now cancelled his order for the new Rolls Royce Ghost as he is now keeping the Bentley - cant say much more than that :thumb:
Thanks for reading.
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Graham88
Member
Registered: 16th Apr 07
Location: South East Kent Drives: E46 M3
User status: Offline
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Superb results, and so so clean! I'd be scared to drive it though 
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*JonnyG*
Member
Registered: 2nd Jun 08
Location: Lincolnshire
User status: Offline
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Wow that is amazing & Blukoo! YOUR BACK!
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Chris x
Member
Registered: 11th Sep 08
Location: Bexhill
User status: Offline
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I have missed these threads!
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mantamark
Member
Registered: 19th Jun 06
Location: Northumberland
User status: Offline
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Thats stunning, love the 50/50 shots, totally show the work.
As for the hours spent, wow, thats madness, bit overkill for an everyday car, luckily the Bentley isnt an everyday car!
Wonder how much that job cost!
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ed
Member
Registered: 10th Sep 03
User status: Offline
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Wow, it was proper fucked before!
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AK
Member
Registered: 5th Jul 00
Location: Aberdeen City
User status: Offline
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he painted the hub faces 
if so... not good.
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basslinecorsa
Premium Member
Registered: 15th Jul 09
Location: Gravesend
User status: Offline
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That is absolutely stunning, epic amount of work and attention to detail  I dare say that its probably better than when it left the showroom
Project Scarlett - http://www.corsasport.co.uk/board/viewthread.php?tid=661417
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16vKarlos
Member
Registered: 27th Oct 07
User status: Offline
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Saw this on DW.. looks awesome
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Ojc
Member
Registered: 14th Nov 00
Location: Reading: Drives : Clio 197
User status: Offline
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I'm waiting for the turds to arrive in here telling us they could do the same with a bucket and sponge from Halfords and some T-Cut.
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Root
Member
Registered: 28th Dec 08
User status: Offline
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I actually read it all, the transformation is amazing, it was totally fucked before lol
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Neo
Member
Registered: 20th Feb 07
Location: Essex
User status: Offline
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Love seeing these. This is when proper detailing is justified imo. Great work by your bro as always 
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ryzer
Member
Registered: 18th Mar 03
Location: Berkshire Drives:UGLY MUG
User status: Offline
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he missed a bit.
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Ben G
Member
Registered: 12th Jan 07
Location: Essex
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by ryzer
he missed a bit.
oh, you're one of these gays that say that when you see people washing their cars all the time aren't you? 
lovely work from your brother, blukoo.
i was actually wondering where you had gone the other day. miss these threads and i can't be bothered to sign up on DW to see them.
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jr
Member
Registered: 20th May 02
Location: Kent
User status: Offline
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See i dont see how people can fail to be impressed by that
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nathy_87
Member
Registered: 14th Aug 08
Location: West Mids. Drives: Škoda Fabia VRS 5J
User status: Offline
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Always love reading these, so much work gone into it. I'm seriously considering just bringing my car up and asking him to do the complete lot. . 
[Edited on 23-03-2010 by 5dr corsa-3dr_polo]
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jr
Member
Registered: 20th May 02
Location: Kent
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by 5dr corsa-3dr_polo
Always love reading these, so much work gone into it. I'm seriously considering just bringing my car up and asking him to do the complete lot. .
[Edited on 23-03-2010 by 5dr corsa-3dr_polo]
please dont read this as harsh, but i take it you know the above process cost proberly twice the cost as your car at a conservative hourly rate
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flybikeslee
Member
Registered: 2nd Jan 07
Location: Liverpool
User status: Offline
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wonder how much that was!
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jr
Member
Registered: 20th May 02
Location: Kent
User status: Offline
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155 hours even at £40 a hour is scary
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Nick-S
Member
Registered: 3rd Mar 04
Location: Leigh. Drives: RS Megane 230 F1 Team R26
User status: Offline
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Fantastic work, amazing atention to detail.
i dread to think how much your brother charged for that
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nathy_87
Member
Registered: 14th Aug 08
Location: West Mids. Drives: Škoda Fabia VRS 5J
User status: Offline
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Yeah no worries jr.
I'll wait until I get a really nice car.
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gavin18787
Premium Member
Registered: 22nd Feb 05
Location: Basildon, Essex
User status: Offline
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 good results and very cool car
That wax though, comes in a case that looks like it costs more then the wax I use on mine
Drives supercharged Tec with torque
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AK
Member
Registered: 5th Jul 00
Location: Aberdeen City
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by jr
155 hours even at £40 a hour is scary
exactly - a decent respray is prob cheaper!
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wilson_sri
Member
Registered: 31st Aug 04
Location: Dunfermline Drives: Technics 1210s
User status: Offline
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HOW MUCH! Its obvious the guy is really good at what he does, but there is no way that is worth that amount of money. But i suppose if people are stupid/rich enough to pay it, why the hell not!
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John
Member
Registered: 30th Jun 03
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by Ojc
I'm waiting for the turds to arrive in here telling us they could do the same with a bucket and sponge from Halfords and some T-Cut.
You can.
Well not really, you can for far far less money, especially if you put that much time into it.
Looks really good when refined though.
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