Aston Martin DB7

[mwoolfso]

Hi all. My neighbor has been watching me detail my vehicles for several years. He has a late model Porsche and solely uses an AGO competitor's product line (not Zaino). We have talked detailing on and off but nothing to the extent that any requests or offers were made; just pleasantries between the only two people on the block that drives a manual transmission.

One week ago he pulls into his driveway with a 2002/3 blue Aston Martin DB7 Vantage, with 16K miles on it. At the time I had just finished my wife's Acura for the upcoming cold weather - and all the while I said to myself.... "watch... he's gonna call me, just wait". I had that strong sense this time around - don't ask me why I just knew.

Well, he called me today and said he was wondering if I can look at the vehicle and that he is simply not getting enough out of the paint; no "wow factor". So we go into his garage with my swirl finder and the vehicle is swirled up across the entire surface; some bad areas but nothing I would cry about considering the vehicle. The swirl finder shows why he isn't getting that wow factor for sure.

Since this is a pretty expensive vehicle I am looking for thoughts and opinions on coatings and prep. He and I will lock-in a process with products and such in the next week (test spots of course). Any inputs are appreciated. Here is the proxy for discussion:

1. Foam cannon wash and rinse w/ Mothers California Gold car wash
2. 2-bucket wash with Pinnacle XMT Gel Shampoo & CarPro wool wash mitt
3. Decontaminate with Optimum Ferrex
4. Clay w/ Mothers & Riccardo clay w/ ONR clay lube dilution
5. Correction & Polish
6. CarPro Eraser
7. Coating Prep Polish w/ Detailers Pro Prep Polish
8. Coatings I have include Detailers Paint Coating, Cquartz UK and Opti-Coat. The Cquartz UK I have is expired but the product has not turned cloudy. I used it on my wife's Acura hood and so far so good. Probably will avoid Cquartz though since I don't have any sense of longevity

Additional Considerations

1. A bias towards Wolfgang Twins or Menzerna FG400/SF4000/PF2500
2. Flex 3401 and GG 3" polisher will cover my 3, 4 and 5.5 inch polishing needs
3. Is Aston Martin paint generally soft or hard? Need to figure that one out when we lock-in our process
4. Need to protect the fabric top from Ferrex with a good cover and some tape
5. We didn't check the state of the wheels so that's an open item
6. Leather seats and dash will probably need a coating; he was open to the idea
7. Will probably coat the fabric top with 303 Aerospace Protectant

[dcjredline]

Process looks good.

1. A bias towards Wolfgang Twins or Menzerna FG400/SF4000/PF2500 Probably a great choice
2. Flex 3401 and GG 3" polisher will cover my 3, 4 and 5.5 inch polishing needs Cant argue with either of those
3. Is Aston Martin paint generally soft or hard? Need to figure that one out when we lock-in our process
4. Need to protect the fabric top from Ferrex with a good cover and some tape Why would you have to protect it? Cant you just not spray it on the top of the car?
5. We didn't check the state of the wheels so that's an open item
6. Leather seats and dash will probably need a coating; he was open to the idea
7. Will probably coat the fabric top with 303 Aerospace Protectant 303 Aerospace Protectant wont do any good for a fabric top. You may be thinking 303 Fabric Protect and just typed Aerospace.

[Joe@NextLevelDetail]

I did this db9 a few months ago mild swirls I knew the paint was hard.

This one was hard I got the swirls out fairly easy however, the deeper ones took a while.

However this was a 05 different year different car.

If its really bad it might be soft that's from my experience.

The same Aston martin owner I did his 911 that was so bad I knew something was abnormal and it was playdough soft.

The fg400 and sf should be fine .

However I would test for softness first if you have pf2500 or ip1500 or even ip2000 try that first

[mwoolfso]

Process looks good.

1. A bias towards Wolfgang Twins or Menzerna FG400/SF4000/PF2500 Probably a great choice
2. Flex 3401 and GG 3" polisher will cover my 3, 4 and 5.5 inch polishing needs Cant argue with either of those
3. Is Aston Martin paint generally soft or hard? Need to figure that one out when we lock-in our process
4. Need to protect the fabric top from Ferrex with a good cover and some tape Why would you have to protect it? Cant you just not spray it on the top of the car?
5. We didn't check the state of the wheels so that's an open item
6. Leather seats and dash will probably need a coating; he was open to the idea
7. Will probably coat the fabric top with 303 Aerospace Protectant 303 Aerospace Protectant wont do any good for a fabric top. You may be thinking 303 Fabric Protect and just typed Aerospace.

Thanks!!!

#4 - I'm wondering if Ferrex would stain it; won't be performing a test spot so will very likely protect the top with some plastic and seal with detailing tape along the edges. Better safe than sorry.
#7 - I meant 303 Fabric Guard; not Aerospace. I have both though. ;-)

[mwoolfso]

I did this db9 a few months ago mild swirls I knew the paint was hard. This one was hard I got the swirls out fairly easy however, the deeper ones took a while. However this was a 05 different year different car. If its really bad it might be soft that's from my experience.

The same Aston martin owner I did his 911 that was so bad I knew something was abnormal and it was playdough soft.

The fg400 and sf should be fine . However I would test for softness first if you have pf2500 or ip1500 or even ip2000 try that first

Thanks! My mind is leaning towards hard paint. The swirls were not terrible, just numerous; and for 13 years out of the factory it still looks great. I have PF2500 and IP1500 as well.

[mwoolfso]

We did some initial testing on the deck lid several day ago.... definitely hard paint. Process is locked-down and my neighbor stated that the results are what he has been dreaming about since day 1. :-)

I'll post before and afters next week'ish. Here is the checklist and products that will be used...

Interior --> Mats, Dashboard, Leather Seats
Products --> Megs APC+, CarPro Perl (3:1 or 4:1) and Mothers VLR

Ragtop --> 303 Fabric Cleaner, 303 Fabric Guard (2 layers)

Wash & Decon
Paint Wash & Strip --> Dawn, Megs APC+, Mothers Wash
Tire Wash & Strip --> Megs XPC+ 4:1
Paint and Wheel Decontamination --> Optimum Ferrex
Embedded Contaminate Remover --> Mothers Clay
Tire LSP --> Optimum Opti-Bond (3 layers @ 2:1)

Paint Correction
Polisher --> Flex 3401
2-Step Compound + Finish --> Menz FG400 w/ Cutting Pad, WGFG w/ Finishing Pad
Remove Polishing Oils --> CarPro Eraser

Paint LSP --> Optimum Opti-Coat

[heckhole]

Don't forget a friendly waiver, just in case.

[AGOatemywallet]

Top must be completely dry to apply Fabric Guard

Do not let Fabric Guard dry on the paint

3M makes painters tape with a plastic drop cloth attached. Very useful when using FG. Available at Home Depot

[mwoolfso]

Finally had a chance to close on this thread with pics... here you go...

Owner was amazed at the shine and gloss, as well as the amount of time it took to correct the paint. Some portions of the side panels were not metal and they required a different process to correct. Overall it took just around 8-10 hours to perform a 2-step on the paint and the owner received upwards of 95% correction.

These pics were taken about 3-4 weeks after the detail. And by then the owner was so excited he went a little overboard on the Optimum Spray Wax so we had some overspray on the paint. He understands what "a little goes a long way" means now. And man is this surface slick. Opti-coat 2 will serve this vehicle well.

Vehicle has a smile on it.... can you see ??? Im the MAN



http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/picture.php?albumid=910&pictureid=5067

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/picture.php?albumid=910&pictureid=5066

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/picture.php?albumid=910&pictureid=5065

[RFrommann]

awesome job!

wonder how essence would've changed the gloss of the blue.

[mwoolfso]

OC2 did darken this paint and IMO made is more warm and welcoming to the eye

[CarolinasFinestDetailing]

Additional Considerations

1. A bias towards Wolfgang Twins or Menzerna FG400/SF4000/PF2500

Its technique that will trump brand


2. Flex 3401 and GG 3" polisher will cover my 3, 4 and 5.5 inch polishing needs

Sure will. Though I use a large Griots as my 3:" setup.

3. Is Aston Martin paint generally soft or hard? Need to figure that one out when we lock-in our process

Test spot will determine this. Focus on this.

4. Need to protect the fabric top from Ferrex with a good cover and some tape

Mike did an article where he uses a heavy amount of waterless wash to in essence rinse the Iron X. He removes with towels. Otherwise, be careful spraying around top is all.

5. We didn't check the state of the wheels so that's an open item

Well check them!!

6. Leather seats and dash will probably need a coating; he was open to the idea

CQuartz leather is amazing.

7. Will probably coat the fabric top with 303 Aerospace Protectant

Get a small bottle of Quartz fabric coating. Its perfect for convertible tops. I usually do 2 coats. One heavy and then a light. Just wipe any if it gets on paint using Eraser or similar.