Rachel Posted October 12, 2007 Report Share Posted October 12, 2007 Nathan - you HAVE to show us a detail of the Atom (in the background of the last photo)!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jediknight83 Posted October 16, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2007 And funnily enough on initial inspection there isnt an awful lot to set this 'ultimate' edition out from the crowd.. Just 40 examples of a new Vanquish S Ultimate Edition will be handcrafted at the company’s Newport Pagnell production facility in Buckinghamshire. The model represents a luxurious and unique limited edition befitting the Vanquish S status as the ultimate Aston Martin and also celebrates the skilled craftsmanship of the team working at Newport Pagnell.The Ultimate Edition will be available by special request to customers wishing to celebrate the last of a significant car in Aston Martin’s history. Initial feedback suggests the whole allocation of this special edition will be sold within weeks of launch. The Ultimate Edition centres on changes to the Vanquish S renowned colour and trim. On the exterior, these changes include a unique ‘Ultimate Black’ – a striking new colour which will only be available with this car. Inside, the Vanquish S cabin is trimmed in a semi-aniline leather, with coarse stitching, leather headlining and black chrome finish interior fittings. Each car will also be fitted with personalised sill plaques denoting the limited edition number. The Vanquish S Ultimate Edition retains all performance capabilities of the standard Vanquish S – and accordingly its position as the fastest ever production Aston Martin, capable of a top speed in excess of 200mph (321km/h). No additional charge will be made for the Ultimate Edition, available only with the 2+2 seating arrangement, priced at £182,095*. When i arrived (after a hellish 2.5 hr traffic logged M25 journey) i cracked on as usual Connect DF peerless water filter system Wheels with AG acid free Pre wash foam (Hyper wash and PM3 mix for cars i havent done before and just Hyperwash once they are waxed) Shampoo with hyperwash Rinse and dry Clay with sonus green on the lower panels Before putting it back inside for polishing i took a photo as i knew it was the only daylight pic i was likely to get. Such lovely lines on this car!! Although it was only 4 months old there were already some minor swirls and a few areas of random marking which needed addressing.. the roof was also quite badly marked with holograms which i presume are from new taped up ready to polish Polish of the day was menz 106fa on a megs polishing pad Then the interior was cleaned and the leather conditioned with Gliptone liquid leather Paint cleansed with HD Cleanse and then waxed with the 61% Vintage wax Finished pics after the final buff and all other dressings applied. Tight for space in the garage but luckily my 17mm lens helped things.. cant wait to get my new uber wide 10-20mm lens! A few pics with the lights pointing on the car and then a few arty ones with the walls lit up. Then.. i got the shock of my life when the customer asked me to look at his M5 which he also wanted doing.. http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=46722 thanks for looking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cupramax Posted October 16, 2007 Report Share Posted October 16, 2007 Lol, that M5's nearly as bad as mine was before you did your magic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jediknight83 Posted October 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 Fairly straight forward job yesterday. Arrived in central london and started work on a very dusty RS4. It had been sitting in the garage for a few weeks while the owner was on holiday. This particular car is a 56 plate and is barely run in on 2000 miles After the usual wash down i checked ovet the paint and was extremely happy to find almost no swirls atall.... which was a nice change. Paint was cleansed with HD and waxed with the 61% vintage wax Interior had quite a bit of time spent on it as the leather was REALLY dry and the door cards almost looked like they had alcantara inserts when it was actually just dry faded leather! Glipetone Liquid leather had the best part of 6 hrs to soak in though which made it look nice a new again. Finished pics from inside and then out when we drove back to the owners house. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drpellypo Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 RS4 - droool. And cracking work as ever Nathan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MajorH Posted October 24, 2007 Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 Having worked in the Interior engineering dept at Audi in Ingolstadt, and knowing the amount of testing and validation work that goes in to things such as UV fastness, if the door trim inserts were badly faded on a car of that age the owner should have taken the car back to the dealers and had the door trims changed under warranty, Audi would just then throw all associated warranty costs back at their supplier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booster Posted October 24, 2007 Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 Is the first pic of the RS4 in the car park at the Business Design Centre in Islington? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jediknight83 Posted October 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 The '59 Stingray was first designed by Peter Brock and Larry Shinoda as a styling prototype for the next-generation (1963) Corvette, and built two years later. General Motors had a self-imposed ban from racing (in common with Ford and Chrysler), so the car was campaigned privately by GM Head of Design Bill Mitchell in 1959 and '60. In 1960 it won its SCCA class championship, against fierce competition including Jaguar, Maserati, and Scarab. During its race career it was rebodied, and from the old body this car was developed. It runs a small-block (5.7litre) Chevy giving 435hp and 420ft/lbs torque, with a 0-60 of 5.1 secs. The effective top speed is around 14omph, at which point the front is lifting to such an extent that steering is impossible! This was how the body was found in a field During the 3 year restoration it was completely re built with a new corvette chassis, new engine... new everything really. the owner has received offers of £250k but is holding on to it at present. The only other one of these (the one that continued racing and was then rebuilt for shows) belongs to Chevy in america. My day started with giving it a carefull wash so as not to get water in the car, sonus green clay, machine polish to remove swirls, HD cleanse and Vintage 61% wax. The front of the car had been resprayed since the rebuild 3 years ago and this was a bit easier to correct. Moving back along the car however the swirls were more stubborn and repeated hits with the polisher failed to remove them completely although they were improved about 95%. The owner was involved with the whole process and was over the moon with the correction acheived so i didnt risk going too far and so some of the stubborn ones were left behind. Annoyingly it was very dark and damp once the work was complete so the photos are not brilliant im afriad but a great car so i felt it was worth posting them up anyway. Swirls before and after (again alot of the shots didnt come out but this shows the general correction) thanks for looking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seansimpson Posted October 24, 2007 Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 [ QUOTE ] Is the first pic of the RS4 in the car park at the Business Design Centre in Islington? [/ QUOTE ] Yes, but it's no longer there. The security in a public carpark is better than on the streets in Islington...but not by far. Its now kept in my own lock up garage. I got jacked off when some muppet decided to start pocketing my tyre valve caps. Its started with the drivers side rear before I went away on holidays. When I got back the full set were gone. Quite sad really! Its small beer but annoying the same. A top job by Nathan. The results are really stunning. Sean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seansimpson Posted October 24, 2007 Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 [ QUOTE ] Having worked in the Interior engineering dept at Audi in Ingolstadt, and knowing the amount of testing and validation work that goes in to things such as UV fastness, if the door trim inserts were badly faded on a car of that age the owner should have taken the car back to the dealers and had the door trims changed under warranty, Audi would just then throw all associated warranty costs back at their supplier. [/ QUOTE ] I think it was just a case of dry leather. Gliptone has sorted it. It seems a touch 'sledgehammer to crack walnut' to have the local stealer replace under warranty. We'll see how it goes anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MajorH Posted October 24, 2007 Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 What was described isn't to VAG laftenhest, and if it returns don't mention gliptone as your warranty may be screwed. Beleive me the VAG spec is so tight they love to screw the suppliers on a monthly basis. A valeter/detailer saying I can fix it, may only be a short term solution. With your car being so young I honestly don't think you'd have a problem.The UV fastness test is for far greater than 18 months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jediknight83 Posted October 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 The leather on the door card inserts and on the side of the chairs was very dry... but i wouldnt say it was damaged. It actually looked like some muppet from the dealership had used a strong cleaner and not wiped it off. Using a conditioner shouldnt effect the warrenty... just like cleaning a car wont effect the 12 year anti corrossion warrenty of the paint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MajorH Posted October 24, 2007 Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 If you return to the dealer and say my door panel inserts (not cards they died with vivas and cortinas) looked dead so I treated them with product X the stealer will say yes or no thats on our approved list, if not your claim is screwed. Not a reflection on your work or judgement at all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jediknight83 Posted October 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 at which point id march into their valeting bay.. take a sample of the 'approved' leather cleaner they use and have it compared on a spectrum analyser to the gliptone. Ive got an audi myself and know they can be funny.... but as a customer... i can be funnier. Sean... Major H seems to know what hes talking about so if you do go into audi its your call if you mention the gliptone or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booster Posted October 25, 2007 Report Share Posted October 25, 2007 [ QUOTE ] Yes, but it's no longer there. The security in a public carpark is better than on the streets in Islington...but not by far. Its now kept in my own lock up garage [/ QUOTE ] Good move on the lockup I use that carpark from time to time and its bloody tight! I know what you mean about the streets in Islington. My mate has had his Boxster keyed a few times and the front end of his 330i M Sport nicked. They left all the bolts stacked up neatly on the kerb along with his numberplate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seansimpson Posted October 26, 2007 Report Share Posted October 26, 2007 [ QUOTE ] at which point id march into their valeting bay.. take a sample of the 'approved' leather cleaner they use and have it compared on a spectrum analyser to the gliptone. Ive got an audi myself and know they can be funny.... but as a customer... i can be funnier. Sean... Major H seems to know what hes talking about so if you do go into audi its your call if you mention the gliptone or not. [/ QUOTE ] TBH I'm quite relaxed about it. At no point did it look 'damaged' per se, just patchy dry. I'll be keeping a closer eye on the condition of the leather, if it seriously deteriorates I'll be be making a warranty call. With due respect, I wouldn't get into a slanging match with the dealer about approved or otherwise leather cleaning/conditioning products. In any event I think there would be quite a large variation between individual dealers, in what they actually used out the back to what was officially endorsed by the factory. If it becomes necessary I'll be having a chat with Audi Customer Services about it. Thanks all for the advice Sean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seansimpson Posted October 26, 2007 Report Share Posted October 26, 2007 [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] Yes, but it's no longer there. The security in a public carpark is better than on the streets in Islington...but not by far. Its now kept in my own lock up garage [/ QUOTE ] Good move on the lockup I use that carpark from time to time and its bloody tight! I know what you mean about the streets in Islington. My mate has had his Boxster keyed a few times and the front end of his 330i M Sport nicked. They left all the bolts stacked up neatly on the kerb along with his numberplate [/ QUOTE ] Yep been there myself. Had my previously immaculate RX-8 keyed across the length of the bonnet and down the rear door/c-pillar about a month or two before I sold it last year. My wife had to restrain me from roaming the streets with a baseball bat looking for the 's. It's strange you should mention the bimmer as an acquaintance also 'lost' the front bumper of his 3-series (actually parked on our street). Two BMW front bumpers gone in the same area, that's almost too much of a coincidence. Maybe I should have a quiet word with the neighbor who last week brought home a nice shiny deep black 05 plate 911 Turbo and parked it outside .Then again maybe he doesn't give a Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jediknight83 Posted October 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2007 Nice job today. 2 great cars back to back. Left the house in the dark and arrived about 7:45am First up was a 4 year old, 9000 mile, 996 GT3 RS just freshly tracked at donington this past wednesday. Car was covered in the usual rubber strikes and tar marks associated with a track day. Inside the wheels was also lots of rubber pellets stuck to the inner rim.. Started with AG acid free on the wheels then a few hits with tar and glue and various brushes to get the all the rubber off. Car then foamed with AG PM3 and rinsed. More tar and glue remover used on the whole car to remove all rubber strikes. After what seemed like forever it was all rubber free. Foamed again with PM3 and Hyper wash and rinsed. Shampoo'd with hyperwash rinsed and dried. All water used was filtered through the DF Peerless filter system. Once in the garage the car was clayed with sonus green, cleansed with HD and waxed with 61% vintage wax. Glass, dressings, interior and then photos Next up was the 55 plate Ford GT with 1600 miles on the clock. This was one of 101 european GTs and actually even better... one of the 28 UK spec cars. (101 because thats how many old GT40s there were... the chasis numbers even mimic the old gt40 numbers ) Wash process as above (although without the need for the major rubber removal). Clay, Cleanse, Wax, Interior. Bit more time spent polishing the front wing as it was quite 'dry' around the fuel filler... Possible fuel contamination or onwer said it had bee resprayed on that side aswell... either way.. menz 106fa sorted that out. Some photos Good day with a couple of great cars. big thanks to the owner for having me over and a lovely roomy garage to work in. Thanks aswell to the wife for bacon sandwiches and tea.. lots of tea only 2 more jobs before holiday!!!! YAY! Nathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted October 27, 2007 Report Share Posted October 27, 2007 Superb! I'm not a fan of the front end on the 996s, but that GT3RS looks special, but not as special as the GT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Tone_ Posted October 28, 2007 Report Share Posted October 28, 2007 I'd second that - absolutely lovely! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jediknight83 Posted October 31, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2007 My last detail.... .. well my last detail for now anyway!! Off on my trip late tomorrow night. San Fransisco > PV, Mexico > Denver > San Fransisco > home... Next job booked in is Dec 5th .. a couple of days after i get home. Anyway... todays job was off the back of that 1961 Maserati that i did a while ago. This Merc is in the same garage and the owner emailed me a couple of days after i completed the Maserati. Arrived quite late thanks to the central london traffic and go right on with cleaning the wheels, foaming and rinsing, shampoo and clay. Pic during foam... Fabric roof was protected with AG hood protecter spray Car then taped up. Decided it was best to have the roof down to give access to paintwork at the back properly. Paint was pretty badly swirled and was quite hazey. The front and near side had been resprayed (250-300um) and the offside was original (90-110um). Menz IP 3.02 on a Megs polishing pad got rid of 90% of the marks in the first hit with the resprayed areas needing 2 hits (original parts corrected 98-99% first time) Some before and after shots. Menz was being funny today. I had made sure it was warm enough (had it in the cab with me on the journey on the dash in the sun and it was plenty warm enough in there i can tell you!) and it spread and worked for a few passes fine.. but then seemed to clogg up a bit. Didnt do it every time.. but was a bit annoying... So on some panels it took a couple of attempts to get it perfect. Once i was happy though it was on with the HD Cleanse and 61% Vintage wax. Dressings and Glass sorted.... and then some photos. Very happy with the results. Cant wait to go on holiday now! Thanks Nathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jediknight83 Posted December 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2007 Hello... testing.. testing.. 1..2...3 I feel a bit rusty at this. Last wirte up for over 6 weeks ago now. For those that dont know i had a bit of a break out in mexico / san francisco and then went to the lake district when i got home. I did a few top-ups last week but nothing worth doing a write-up for. Then a couple of postponed jobs so this is the first thing worth login in for really... Some may remember this.. ... horrid isnt it!! Its a 2005 BMW M5 belonging to a customer of mine. I first had a look at it when i did his Vanquish S and was shocked at its condition. I was down at his house again this past week topping up the Aston and had booked the M5 in for 2 days knowing it was likely to be a large job! The morning starting with having to defrost the tap! temp was showing as -5 :thumb: really glad to be back in england!! :wall: Wash process was pretty straight forwards (apart from stopping ever 5 mins to warm my hands up). Claying showed a typical level of bonded dirt. Even though i was in the garage with a couple of heaters and 4 500w lights it didnt really get above 5 degrees and being against the clock i didnt mess about with arty 50/50 polishing shots with the tripod or anything... but here are a few handheld correction shots. Correction was acheived with Menz IP3.02 which was kept warm on the heaters all day and actually behaved itself very well! I worked on slightly smaller sections than i normally do and some sections corrected up with just 1 hit.. the lower panels (where the paint was at its dullest) took 2 -3 hits to get 99% corrected though. After many hours of machine polishing it was all done. Every inch was covered in some sort of defect and now every inch was polished. HD cleanse followed by Vintage wax was next on the agenda. Interior cleaned and leather conditioned (side note.. i LOVE these seats.. the most comfy known to man!). It was well past sundown on the 2nd day by the time i finished so just the indoor shots im afraid. My new 10-20 sigma lens came in quite handy for the narrow garage though. Enjoy... Nathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Posted December 23, 2007 Report Share Posted December 23, 2007 Hello Nathan, its been ages. Missed your usual write ups so good to see you back on. Sounds like a good holiday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarmac_Terrorist Posted December 23, 2007 Report Share Posted December 23, 2007 Top work - very inspiring Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jediknight83 Posted January 3, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2008 Evening all. I was supposed to be doing the car behind door number 1 today... but with a completely dead battery and no obvious way to jump it I moved to the car behind door number 2.. a lovely midnight blue Carrera GT. 55 plate with about 7k miles.. and in the early morning light.. lots of scratches! :wall: Wheels with acid free, pre wash with megs hyper wash, shampoo with hyper wash.. Dried and into the garage and clayed with Sonus green which brought up minimal dirt but dirt none the less. Polish of the day was menz 106fa on a yellow megs pad. Before After Before After The bonnet was covered in some type of film and this was really bad which detracted from the whole look for the car. so rather than just leave it i gave it a go at a slow speed with the polisher... Before After Didnt want to go too far but was very pleased that atleast the bonnet didnt stand out like a big sore ugly thumb now! Polishing all complete and on with the HD paint cleanse and the Vintage wax. Windows cleaned, dressings applied, Interior cleaned and leather fed. Thankgoodness for my new wide angle lens again! brilliant for tight garages Finished pics. Will take some more tomorrow in the day light and post them up in this thread. And behind door 1 for tomorrow.. presuming the battery issue was sorted! :thumb: and just for good measure.. door 3 :thumb: although this will have to wait till later in the month.. thanks for looking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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