130 Hour Restorative Bentley Detailing
#1
03-28-2012, 01:45 AM
130 Hour Restorative Bentley Detailing
Longtime client picked up a used Bentley GT (Black/Black) and I inspected the vehicle while I was working with Jeff from Immaculate Reflections on this clients Ferrari & Maserati in Napa Valley, at the time I knew it was pretty bad.......................... but after a two hour wash/decon the true horror and damage would be revealed.
Jeff and I worked on the car for a combined sixty five hours over a week plus in my shop, with a few late nights mixed in as I was in production on other vehicles as well. Here are some initial pics I took...
Washed with a deckbrush possibly?
Beginning passes with M101, M105 would have worked fine but I needed "Decimating cutting power" on this car.
Cutting through layers of neglect.
One of the late evenings toward the completion phase of the job, at this point Jeff will chronicle the effort put in on this Bentley which has become the clients daily driver.
Jeff and I worked on the car for a combined sixty five hours over a week plus in my shop, with a few late nights mixed in as I was in production on other vehicles as well. Here are some initial pics I took...
Washed with a deckbrush possibly?
Beginning passes with M101, M105 would have worked fine but I needed "Decimating cutting power" on this car.
Cutting through layers of neglect.
One of the late evenings toward the completion phase of the job, at this point Jeff will chronicle the effort put in on this Bentley which has become the clients daily driver.
#2
03-28-2012, 01:48 AM
This Bentley required extensive work and an extreme number of hours to get it looking as it should, flawless jet black. I did my best to document the entire process that ended up being right around 130 hours. This was far beyond detailing, this was in restoration territory.
When the new owner took delivery of the car, he took it straight to the bodyshop to have the front bumper license plate holes filled in and then repainted. Once they were done with it, we got to work. There was a lot to do.
Swirls, RIDS (random isolated deep scratches), holograms/buffer trails, overspray, and just about any defect you could ask for.... This was the initial condition, before removing the previous wax to find even more defects.
We did a Dawn wash to strip the previous wax. You can see a total lack of beading on the trunk where we had stripped it off.
After getting it into the shop, we clayed it and I started to document the issues now showing in their full glory.
Under the lights the car didn't even look black. Yes it looked rough under direct light...but how does it look under INDIRECT light? You be the judge....
This was where I started the correction as it was one of the worst areas on the car.
Decided to do a different take on the usual 50/50 shot. How about a diamond?
Remember that INDIRECT light picture? Well this was shot under the exact same lighting conditions.
After compounding steps were completed and medium polishing was carried out..... (final polishing to be carried out later)
Carefully polishing the fuel door with the Griots 3" DA
"Issues" on the passenger door.
Experimented with another variation on the classic 50/50 shot.
Bob working some heavy compounding to sort out the issues on the door.
Making progress..... The compounding leaves a more leveled surface but its lacking in gloss. Multiple polishing steps would follow to restore a deep gloss to the paint.
Time to work the other side...
When the new owner took delivery of the car, he took it straight to the bodyshop to have the front bumper license plate holes filled in and then repainted. Once they were done with it, we got to work. There was a lot to do.
Swirls, RIDS (random isolated deep scratches), holograms/buffer trails, overspray, and just about any defect you could ask for.... This was the initial condition, before removing the previous wax to find even more defects.
We did a Dawn wash to strip the previous wax. You can see a total lack of beading on the trunk where we had stripped it off.
After getting it into the shop, we clayed it and I started to document the issues now showing in their full glory.
Under the lights the car didn't even look black. Yes it looked rough under direct light...but how does it look under INDIRECT light? You be the judge....
This was where I started the correction as it was one of the worst areas on the car.
Decided to do a different take on the usual 50/50 shot. How about a diamond?
Remember that INDIRECT light picture? Well this was shot under the exact same lighting conditions.
After compounding steps were completed and medium polishing was carried out..... (final polishing to be carried out later)
Carefully polishing the fuel door with the Griots 3" DA
"Issues" on the passenger door.
Experimented with another variation on the classic 50/50 shot.
Bob working some heavy compounding to sort out the issues on the door.
Making progress..... The compounding leaves a more leveled surface but its lacking in gloss. Multiple polishing steps would follow to restore a deep gloss to the paint.
Time to work the other side...
#3
03-28-2012, 01:49 AM
Dry, lifeless paint......
After compounding
After medium polishing
At this point we pulled it out in the sun (or what little sun there was...) to take a look at the progress.
Wheels were removed for a thorough cleaning.
Looking much better
Next up was the wheel wells and brake calipers. Some parts needed refinishing/replacing, but we did what we could within the time-frame we had to work on the car.
Here I am polishing the centercaps...
Reinstalling...
The start of MANY hours jeweling the finish to as brilliant a shine as possible.
After all the paintwork was done, I took some reflection shots inside the shop before we took it out for copious sun pics.
#4
03-28-2012, 01:52 AM
What's this beast lurking in the background?
Go ahead....take a dive into that paint!
Interior was shown a few hours of love too and was looking ship shape.
Time for the sun pics
#5
03-28-2012, 01:57 AM
My Z06 lurking in the background....
Bob looking very official while flipping the car around for the shots of the other side....
I hope you guys like these shots.....I laid down in the middle of the street to get them.
Thanks for reading!
Bob looking very official while flipping the car around for the shots of the other side....
I hope you guys like these shots.....I laid down in the middle of the street to get them.
Thanks for reading!
#6
03-28-2012, 09:41 AM
That is some extensive work. You gotta love projects like this, where the car was in horrid condition and then gets brought back to life....I know I do! This car looks stunning now, can't believe the difference. I almost wanna pick up a car that's In shape like this just to have you guys work on it haha. Awesome job you guys did, I'm sure the owner is very, very pleased.
