Aston, Jag, Porsche, two Ferrari`s, and slumber party sneak peak

[Todd@RUPES]

Here are a couple of quick write ups from the last two weeks.



Jaguar XKR Roadster and Aston Martin DB9



These two classic English marquee’s were detailed over the course of one and half days. First up was the Jaguar XKR, which is a car I have detailed since it was brand new, two years ago. It had been a year since it had last received any machine polishing, so it was in need of some light polishing to get back in spec.



The wheels, tires, and undercarriage where sprayed with OPC 3:1, then washed with Eimann Fabrik Auto Spa II. The body was then washed with ONR using two buckets and a natural sheepskin mitt. The rear of car had a slight texture to the touch from light bonded contaminates. Blackfire Poly Clay II in combination with Blackfire Clay Lubricant removed the offending particulate and restored a smooth finish to the metallic red paint.



I polished with paint with Menzerna PO203 Power Finish using a Lake Country White pad on my Makita then finished with polishing residue with the new Lake Country Crimson H2O finishing pad to remove any light hologramming. The paint was treated to Collinite 915 Marque’ De’ Elegance for two coats.



The chrome wheels where polished with Optimum Metal Polish by hand then topped with Opti-Seal. The tire received two coats of Blackfire Tire Gel. After a thorough vacuum, I cleaned all of the leather surfaces with Optimum Power Clean 5:1 then treated the leather with Autoglym Leather Balm. The windows where cleaned with ONR and treated with Glass Science. The top was cleaned with Raggtopp Fabric Top Cleaner then treated to two coats of Raggtopp aerosol.







The paint was in really great shape and a light one step (combination rotary/DA: ie ‘The Porta’) was able to bring the paint back up with minimal effort.



































Next up was the new Aston Martin DB9 which had been butchered by the local dealer when they did their prep work. Two edges where burned clean to the metal and a lot of compound residue and caked on wax dominated the cracks, seems, crevices, weather molding, etc..



The wheels where cleaned with Menzerna 7.5 Wheel Gel, then pressure washed cleaned. The entire body was pressure washed, then cleaned with ONR and OPC. It took several hours to clean the body and remove all of the compound and wax residue. I sprayed the offending areas with OPC and let it dwell, then agitated with various brushes and q-tips before washing the section clean with ONR. I used the blowing power of my Metro Vac (thru a ventuari) to blow out the cracks and crevices after agitation to ensure every square inch of the car was clean.



Despite the evidence of shoddy workman ship the paint was in surprisingly good shape, with DA haze visible on half of the hood and some micro marring in other spots… until I wiped the paint with alcohol…



I compounded any deep bad areas with M105 and a Purple Foamed Wool pad on my Makita, then polished the entire Aston Martin with M105/Hi-Gloss Orange pad/G110v2 and finished with Menzerna 85rd/Hi-Gloss Black pad/G110v2. The paint was then topped with Autoglym Super Resin Polish and Blackfire Midnight Sun Carnauba, batch 24.



While the Super Resin polish cured I vacuumed the interior and treated the leather with Leatherique Rejuvenator Oil, which was allowed to sit overnight. After cleaning the hides with Leatherique Pristine Clean, I treated all of the seals with Autoglym Rubber and Vinyl care and sealed the wheels and calipers with Wheel Wax.



The wheels were pretty dirty but Menzerna 7.5 Gel did a great job of cleaning them.







After cleaning and sealing the wheels, as well as applying two coats of Blackfire Tire Gel.







The previous detailers left proof of his work.

[Todd@RUPES]

Many times I would scratch my head in amazement as some of the residue was in the most difficult locations to remove. I mean you have to try to get compound residue behind the chrome piece, right?











A day later and perfected.































My personal favorite shot.







A couple shots of the Queen’s finest together…







The Jaguar in the reflection.















Ferrari 430 Scuderia



The Scuderia version of the F430 drops the ‘F’ from the suffix as well as about 300 lbs of weight, adds 20 horsepower, and a ton of F1 derived technology. The result is a super car Ferrari that will lap the Fiorano race track as fast as an Enzo. The F1 transmission is reported to shift gears in 60 milliseconds, which almost three times faster then the Enzo. I have been lucky enough to ride in three of these things and can tell you that gear changes are ridiculous. Bang….Bang….Bang… 160mph….



This 430 ‘Scud’ belongs to a great client and this was the first time we went over his new Ferrari. The paint didn’t look too bad but had a lot of hologramming and buffer swirls. Polishing these away resulted in a sea of RIDS, so this Ferrari required fairly aggressive polishing to get back into shape.



First the wheels, tires, brakes, and wheel arches where sprayed liberally with Optimum Power Clean and agitated before being pressure washed cleaned. The paint was then clayed with Meguiar’s ‘Blue’ Detailer Clay and Meguiar’s M34 Final Inspection as a lubricant. Once the paint was rubbed smooth, the paint was polished 2x3 times in each area with Meguiar’s M105 on a G110v2 using prototype pads, then finished with Menzerna PO85rd on a Black Pad on the light weight Flex rotary.



After polishing the car was rewashed using Eimann Fabrik Auto Spa II, then topped with the Blackfire ‘Wet Ice over Fire’ combo kit. The tires where dressed with Blackfire Tire Gel and the wheels received two coats of Wheel Wax, along with the brake calipers. The wheel arches where sprayed down with 3:1 Meguiar’s HyperDressing and left to dwell for 15 minutes before being wiped clean.



The engine and various glass was wiped down with ONR, All plastics and weather-stripping received Meguiar’s Ultimate Protectant.



Some before pictures.











Evidence of the previous ‘detailer’ ‘s rotary work.

[Todd@RUPES]

Washing the Ferrari after polishing…







After pics….







































Okay so I go at little carried away with the after photos. I really loved taking shots of this Ferrari though. The paint was so rich looking and the lighting was just right.























Porsche Carrera



This Porsche belongs to a long time client and does double duty as both a race car and a daily driver: The two toughest environments that an automobile can face.



The wheels where heavily soiled and had a little bit track rubber and road tar in the barrels. Meguiar’s Wheel Brightener 4:1 was used in just the barrels and agitated with a 11 inch stiff bristled brush. The spokes and polished aluminum lips where cleaned with Optimum Power Clean, diluted 3:1. The paint was in really good shape, having only a moderate amount (but very shallow) of marring.



The road tar and track residue that littered the body, as well as the wheel arches, was sprayed with Optimum Power Clean and allowed to dwell for 10 minutes. Then the paint was washed Eimann Fabrik Auto Spa II. The paint polished with Meguiar’s M205 on a Hi-Gloss White Pad then worked a little longer with a Black pad on a G110v2. Blackfire Wet Diamond was the sealant.



The wheels received Rees and the tires got Autoglym’s Vinyl and Rubber Care. The interior was given a thorough vacuum, then the carpets where extracted using Meguiar’s APC 4:1. All weather stripping and soft touch materials were cleaned with a more diluted 10:1 version of Meguiar’s APC, including the leather seats. After cleaning the soft touch material was treated with 303, the rubber trim and weather stripping with Meguiar’s Ultimate Protectant, and the leather with Optimum’s Leather Protectant.



Finally the windows where cleaned with ONR and all exterior trim was touched up with Meguiar’s Ultimate Protectant.































1948 Healey Westland



This particular car is a 1948 Healey, of the Austin-Healey fame and is a car of significant historic prominence. In 1948 Donald Healey toured the US, driving from New York, and eventually making it out west to L.A. It was this trip that Mr. Healey used this car to petition dealerships in the U.S. to carry the then unknown brand. The owner still has the original 1948 New York license plate that Donald Healey attached before he began his faithful (and well documented) journey across The States.



This Healey will be heading to Monterey, California, to compete in the world’s grandest car show: The Pebble Beach De’ Elegance, but not until next year at the earliest. As such I spent about three hours cleaning the paint, including inside the arches with ONR and claying with Meguiar’s Blue Clay. A coat of Collinite #845 IW was applied to all painted surfaces as well. The tires had that typical, brown, caked on silicone dressing.



Amazing Roll-Off and a wire brush made fairly quick work of the former dressing. The interior was then very thoroughly vacuumed and wiped with Leatherique Pristine Clean. All metal was polished with Optimum Metal Polish, then topped with Collinite 845 IW. The goal was to obviously preserve the finish and cosmetics of the automobile until we are ready to start detailing for Pebble Beach. The owner and I are figuring the we will put about 150 hours of detail of work into it when the timing is correct, but until then it still looks stunning.



The better part of my day was actually spent on the Maserati Quattroporte to the left, but I have done so many of these that I didn’t photograph any of that work.











The color has a slight green hint in real life, but the Nikon was having a hard in auto getting the correct exposure (like photographing yellow).

[Todd@RUPES]

Ferrari F430 Spider



This yellow F430 is stunning in person, complete with a black and yellow custom leather interior complete with stripped Daytona seats. The paint was in fairly good shape but did have numerous deep RIDs that required aggressive polishing in several isolated areas. This was mostly a paint correction only detail that, in light of the previous details, took a relatively short 10 hours to complete.



First the F430 was washed using ONR, including the wheels, tires, and arches which were very clean to begin with. Blackfire Polyclay II (using ONR as lube) ensured the paint was smooth and contaminate free. Deeper RIDs were removed with multiple passes of Meguiar’s M105 on a LC PFW pad. The entire car was then polished with M105 on my G110v2 using a prototype style of pad, then finished on the same machine and prototype pad with Menzerna PO85rd.



The paint received two coats of Collinite 915. The ball polished ’Challenge’ wheels were protected with wheel wax. The tires were dressed with two coats of Blackfire Tire Gel, and the wheel arches received Meguiar’s HyperDressing 3:1. Weather-stripping in the doors and trunk received 1Z Gummi Pfledge after being cleaned with 1Z Plastik Reiniger. The interior was lightly vacuumed (it was spotless to begin) and the leather was treated to Ferrari’s Leather Care system, which is akin to Leather Master’s. After finishing the interior and dressing all of the trim, I wiped down the paint with OCW to remove any streaking and treated the top with RaggTopp aerosol.



This car lives near the ocean and it is common for the rear windows to haze up. Meguiar’s D151 PRC and a hand pad cleaned up the haze and restored clarity to the window as well as added some much needed protection.



Finally I pulled the F430 out for some beauty shots. Luckily the recent time change afforded perfect lighting in light (pun intended) of the long day.



First a couple of pictures in the shade…















But once out in the sun the yellow color came alive!











Sun shots… which on yellow are hard to capture with out under-exposing the camera slightly, giving the paint a moody color.



























The stunning interior in Italy’s finest hides.















All interior carbon fiber was given two coats of Collinite was well.











Sneak Peak…



This week ended with a ‘routine’ paint correction of one of my client’s Shelby Mustangs. South Florida Detailing Legend Eddy Fiuza opened his shop up, but after 18 hours of straight work we both realized this thing wasn’t getting done anytime soon. This was a full concours detail so autopia forum member David Fermani and Autogeek/TID forum member Harley guy stopped by and donated about 10 hours of their time to get this thing done.



None the less Eddy and I ended up staying up for two days straight (45 minute naps each night), finishing on the third day before noon. Full write up coming soon.



Left to Right- Eddy Fiuza, David Fermani, some guy, Adam Potter (Harley Guy) in the first row at midnight on day one….

[David Fermani]

Wow!!!



These are some of the best pictures I`ve ever seen. The red & yellow F-430`s look like butter!



The Healey is better than you described. That car belongs in a museum.



Can`t wait for the write-up on the Shelby. Eddy & Adam are both stand up guys.

[Barry Theal]

Bang Bang Bang Perfection again. Simply stunning Todd on all the jobs. Hey sorry I didn`t call you back on that phone call. When I got started with what you said I was on a mission. It was one of them things. " Its working don`t stop " Great work work again on such a selection of cars. On a side note. wow Fermani is getting bald!:wavey

[DaGonz]

Great pics and write up, Todd!

[gmblack3]

Stunning on all accounts Todd!



I hear there was a gathering of the worlds leading detailers in south FL this past week, now I see them:

[tom p.]

Todd, amazing! We`d expect nothing less

[MarcHarris]

Just as expected.

Thanks for sharing your art

[Pats300zx]

Amazing work Todd. Your work is unreal. I can`t wait to see the full write up on the Shelby.

[Apollo_Auto]

Dammit, there you go again making the rest of us look like crap... . If I said "awesome" it would be an understatement!

[Accumulator]

[Insert usual regarding TH0001`s work here...]



TH0001- I`m always intrigued to see which approach you take on each car!



The SRP is just the thing on certain metallics, huh? What`s the owner gonna do about the burned-to-metal spots?



Man-oh-man, that Healey is something truly special! I`m sure looking forward to the concours prep.



Oh, and I enjoyed seeing that pic of the Usual Suspects too

[MrCLRider]

I`m starting to think we have to be professional photographers to be detailers now, those pictures are amazing! Outstanding work there.

[imported_rydawg]

Superb!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Todd, that is some stunning work there brother!!!!!!!!!! I love your trees Eh!