# AM V8 Vantage- Gleammachine- Step by step protection process.



## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

An Aston Martin V8 Vantage booked in for a protection detail, a nice and straightforward detail so though I would take the opportunity in doing a step by step process of whats typically involved and the methods I use.

Before,



































Alloys are always first to be started, cleaned using Megs WB at 10-1 with various brushes and [email protected] sponges,

















Back of fascias cleaned,










Tyres, arches and shuts de-greased using various brushes and BH Surfex,










Evidence of previous polishing removed with APC,

















Bugs soaked in Surfex hd for a short while then pressure rinsed,










1st layer of Megs apc applied via the foam lance and left to dwell for 5 mins or so,










Pressure rinsed from the bottom upwards, another application of foam applied but this time a shampoo and BH autofoam mix in a weaker solution to lubricate the surface for washing,










Using the TBM with Megs shampoo+ and [email protected] sponges,










Pressure rinsed from the top down,










A final rinse using an open flow, I mainly do this to make sure all traces of shampoo are removed from the crevices,










A detailing spray applied in a fine mist to aid drying, the dried using i4D Uber plush towels

















Leaving a streak free finish with no waterspots,










Door shuts and alloys dried,

































Engine bay cover dried and rubber seals fed,



















Arches treated with a waterbased dressing and left to dry to a finish,










Paintwork de-tarred then followed up with the claying session to remove any bonded contaminents,










Evidence on why 2 buckets are a must for even the lightest of soiling,










Lunchtime, a mouthful of sandwich and deep in thought, :lol:










SV CF paint cleanser applied to entire vehicle, enough to saturate the paint and allowed to dwell a short while, at this point it came over a little dark overhead so the car was swiftly brought inside,










One I had done earlier, 










SV Best of show applied to entire vehicle and left to cure,



















Whilst the wax is curing, the britework is polished using Britemax final shine,

















Alloys sealed throughout with Opti-seal,










Tyres dressed by brush using Zaino Z-16, at a later point worked over with a foam applicator,










Wax removed,

















Front grill polish to remove waterspotting,










Leaving this,










Glass cleaned throughout and sealed,










Plastic trim dressed using BF polycharged gel,










Finally a wipedown with Zaino Z-8 to remove any wax oils.










If your still with me and it hasn't been too boring, here are the results, time spent 4-5 hours.






















































































































Thanks for looking.:thumb:


----------



## Vyker (Sep 17, 2008)

Just stunning!

Well done!


----------



## Guest (Jun 26, 2009)

Looking great as usual Rob

Paul


----------



## Auto Detox (Dec 22, 2007)

Lovely little Aston & nice write up aswell mate

Baz


----------



## Trist (Jun 23, 2006)

Superb, enjoyable read :thumb:


----------



## Christian6984 (Dec 20, 2007)

nice work and a good write up too. I was drying my car grille the other day and it has the number plate above it, very sharp edges :wall:


----------



## mrgolfrider (Jun 22, 2009)

Heck yea, great looking work! Very nice car..


----------



## -Kev- (Oct 30, 2007)

great as always Rob stunning car :argie: (same buckets as me too, how are they for you)?


----------



## North east Car Care (Jan 14, 2008)

Cracking work Rob.


----------



## magic919 (Mar 11, 2007)

Nice job on a beautiful looking car, Rob.


----------



## simonpj145 (May 7, 2007)

Just stunning, thank you. Bookmarking this for tips on your process.


----------



## Perfection Detailing (Nov 3, 2007)

Nice work Rob:thumb:


----------



## ads2k (Jul 12, 2006)

I like that !!! :thumb: I need to win the lottery :lol:


----------



## Jim W (Feb 3, 2007)

Stunning. Lovely report too. Thanks for posting! 

(what are you using on the windows btw?)


----------



## hotwaxxx (Jul 12, 2007)

Stunning and a great read throughout.

I have to get me some Zaino Z-16 for the tyres (the finish on the tyres looks amazing).


----------



## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

fiestadetailer said:


> great as always Rob stunning car :argie: (same buckets as me too, how are they for you)?


Thanks, I like them, just don't fill them up to the brim, too heavy.



magic919 said:


> Nice job on a beautiful looking car, Rob.


Hi Tony, long time no see, hope all is well.:wave:



simonpj145 said:


> Just stunning, thank you. Bookmarking this for tips on your process.


Glad your able to take something from it.:thumb:



Jim W said:


> Stunning. Lovely report too. Thanks for posting!
> 
> (what are you using on the windows btw?)


Cheers Jim, been using Opti-seal on the windows for sealing, bit of an experiment but seems to work well, normal cleaning I using SV Crystal.


----------



## andye (Apr 15, 2007)

Great job mate :thumb:


----------



## b123 (Dec 16, 2008)

Great job :thumb:


----------



## jonnyw59 (Jan 31, 2009)

Awsome work as always and thanks for a great write up.


----------



## Nanolex (Jun 8, 2008)

Great write up Rob! Very thorough job and IMO you were very fast if you consider all the steps! 

How old is the car? The paintwork looks still mint - and now even better with this lovely finish :thumb:

Cheers,

Florian


----------



## glyn waxmaster (Dec 20, 2006)

nice work Rob, i know what ya mean about those grills, i seem to leave with a finger less everytime i detail an Aston.


----------



## Mr Face (Jan 22, 2009)

Hi Rob, yu knew Id get here in the end :thumb: those magic words always seem to pull me in irrespective of how deep my surroundings are.

Fantastic work, she looked absolutely stunning, that BOS really is quite nice isnt it strange really I feel I should almost apologise for your fingers :thumb: 

Thanks for posting and without doubt a great thread and master class for newbies (inc me) to follow:thumb:

Look forward to catching up with you soon.

Mike :wave:

p.s. hair cut time fella


----------



## rallyman1978 (Aug 8, 2007)

Great work on one of my personal favourite cars


----------



## Summit Detailing (Oct 9, 2006)

Like the style of the writeup fella..obviously super job on the car as we'd expect.:thumb:

Can't beat Z16 for tyres IMO.


----------



## illeagalhunter (Jun 17, 2007)

You have a great job mate , working on a Aston. Nice work


----------



## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

Cracking car!

Excellent writeup too, great to see the time taken to document the work in pictures like that and this is a thread that would help a lot of newbie detailers in seeing the amount of time and care that should go into what some may call even just a "simple" protection detail. Very good indeed.


----------



## wd40 (Jun 20, 2007)

Simply stunning :argie::thumb:


----------



## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

looks superb and a great write up up as well - like the step by step process description :thumb:

Dare I ask how come your OS is in a Zym spray bottle?


----------



## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

Bigpikle said:


> looks superb and a great write up up as well - like the step by step process description :thumb:
> 
> Dare I ask how come your OS is in a Zym spray bottle?


Thanks Damon, all my Opti-seal nozzles have failed after a short while, just decant it now into the spritzer bottle out of habit.:thumb:


----------



## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

Gleammachine said:


> Thanks Damon, all my Opti-seal nozzles have failed after a short while, just decant it now into the spritzer bottle out of habit.:thumb:


Thanks but thats not good - have you given them any feedback on that? I've had mine almost 2 years now, and while obviously it doesnt get the use yours do it still works fine.


----------



## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

Nanolex said:


> Great write up Rob! Very thorough job and IMO you were very fast if you consider all the steps!
> 
> How old is the car? The paintwork looks still mint - and now even better with this lovely finish :thumb:
> 
> ...


Cheers Florian, Once you get into a routine with the processes as shown in the write-up then it makes the job a lot less hardwork, it was too hot to run around like a loony as well, good to have an idea in your head about how your going to tackle the car, comes more as second nature now.
The cars an 08' plate and not used as much in the winter from what I gathered.:thumb:



Mr Face said:


> Hi Rob, yu knew Id get here in the end :thumb: those magic words always seem to pull me in irrespective of how deep my surroundings are.
> 
> Fantastic work, she looked absolutely stunning, that BOS really is quite nice isnt it strange really I feel I should almost apologise for your fingers :thumb:
> 
> ...


As always Mike, thanks for your input and support.:thumb:
Yep the hair is getting out of control, going to have to start tying it up soon.:lol:



Dave KG said:


> Cracking car!
> 
> Excellent writeup too, great to see the time taken to document the work in pictures like that and this is a thread that would help a lot of newbie detailers in seeing the amount of time and care that should go into what some may call even just a "simple" protection detail. Very good indeed.


Thanks Dave, it was a relatively simple protection detail, so allowed me the time to do a more in depth report, hopefully some maybe able to take some info from it.:thumb:



glyn waxmaster said:


> nice work Rob, i know what ya mean about those grills, i seem to leave with a finger less everytime i detail an Aston.


Cheers Glyn, done a few of these and never really noticed how sharp the edge of the grill is, was a nasty cut the first time, but can't believe I managed to do it again on the other finger.:wall:


----------



## PaulN (Jan 17, 2008)

Lovely Results there.... nice buckets too lol


----------



## LJB (Dec 28, 2008)

Great work Rob would love to see more write ups like this of your work

Liam


----------



## rossi007 (Sep 17, 2008)

great work Rob:thumb:


----------



## mattjonescardiff (Dec 12, 2006)

Thorough explanation of a hand Detail Rob, and a cool car to do it on. Had to laugh at the 'after' hand photo!


----------



## RefinedDetails (Dec 17, 2006)

superb write up. it nice to see how peoples styles and routines vary across the detailing community


----------



## ahaydock (Jan 4, 2007)

Looks great mate and thanks for taking the time for a top write up :thumb:


----------



## MadMerc (Sep 8, 2008)

Great job!
A sweet ride!


----------



## Bulla2000 (Jun 5, 2007)

Very nice step-by-step report.


----------



## b3n76 (May 16, 2009)

Great work and quality write up:thumb:


----------



## jimmy_b_84 (Jan 11, 2009)

great work what mix did you use for the megs APC foam i like the idea!

best 4-5hrs ever


----------



## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

jimmy_b_84 said:


> great work what mix did you use for the megs APC foam i like the idea!
> 
> best 4-5hrs ever


Cheers, the apc is about 1/2-1 inch in a 1 ltr bottle, needs playing about with as sometimes it can be a little too thick.


----------



## N8KOW (Aug 24, 2007)

I love your attention to detail rob.


----------



## Paul J (Mar 7, 2008)

Great work- but couldnt help notice the immaculate old 3 series tucked away....


----------



## Rowan83 (Aug 21, 2007)

That is one stunning car, awesome results as usual matey. :thumb:


----------



## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

N8KOW said:


> I love your attention to detail rob.





Paul J said:


> Great work- but couldnt help notice the immaculate old 3 series tucked away....


Thanks, E21 323i- http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=123892



MatrixGuy said:


> That is one stunning car, awesome results as usual matey. :thumb:


Cheers Guys.:thumb:


----------



## N8KOW (Aug 24, 2007)

Rob = Different league. End of.


----------



## KDiddy (Aug 13, 2009)

Top work Rob

Out of curiosity...whats the alloy wheel brush cleaner your using?

Not seen that before and would be ideal for my 19" Touareg alloys wheels


----------



## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

KDiddy said:


> Top work Rob
> 
> Out of curiosity...whats the alloy wheel brush cleaner your using?
> 
> Not seen that before and would be ideal for my 19" Touareg alloys wheels


Thanks, the brush is a EZ brush http://www.motorgeek.co.uk/detail-brush-p-324.html


----------



## Bigge (Aug 24, 2009)

Great write up, picked up some tips from you there 

Lol at the plasters, i kept hush about my fingers getting cut, as i thought it was just me!!!


----------



## GSVHammer (Feb 7, 2009)

Bigge said:


> Great write up, picked up some tips from you there


I always enjoy reading about Rob's details. Looks like he puts as much effort into the pictures and write up's as he does in the actual detail itself.

I also pick up tips from Rob's details. He also somehow finds the time to answer peoples questions as well. The guy is a credit to this forum and an inspiration to us all. As I've posted elsewhere he's my favourite pro detailer on this forum.


----------

