# Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe....



## dsms (Feb 1, 2008)

*

Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe

Initial condition...










The car had quite a few bird bombs, we were lucky enough to get to them before the etched the film as the entire car was wrapped by Premier



















Car was in surprisingly dirty condition. I started on the wheels and Bob wash the paint and rag top.










P & S brake buster and a mixture of brushes did the trick... btw RR's have floating center caps that never move, even when the car is speeding down the road, as if driving a drophead isnt "pimp" enough need not your centercaps rotate an inch.

Before shot










After shot, wheel wells were cleaned with enviroclean. Not much to do in there as they were carpet/felt lined at all 4 corners.










Bob hadnling the rag top...










Not Bob handling the paint...



















Under the hood, before










During










After










Before we started correction on the car, the aluminum hood needed some attention. As expected it faded a bit, Bob had a good combo for me to try and it worked very well (I will let him elaborate on it if he wants, we all have our secrets)

I started by hand and made some good headway but it took a while...










50/50 (left side uncorrected, right side polished)










We decided to machine it out instead so we pulled the car in and got to work, the Festool DA with a red finishing pad










Bob handled the several bird etchings in the clear film with a heat gun, as he explained before about 360 degress, 2inches or so off the finish and left it on for no more than 4 or 5 seconds before letting it cool. Most times this process needs to be repeated several times to lift the etch on film










All gone










Correction was a 2 step process: extra care was taken on the film. Low speed polishing with a well moistened pad on a DA is the way to go

Festool DA
Menzerna 106FA w/ finish pad
Menzerna 85rd w/ finish pad

Me with the Festool



















Bob cleaned and conditioned the leather.... all 17 cows worth of it :tongue:. After the first go with the conditioner he decided the leather was soft but not as soft as it should be. He went back a second time with the conditioner and the leather softened up a bit more and had a supple feel, dry to the touch.










The interior piano black wood seemed to be perfect until we checked it with the LED. Strangely enough some sanding marks were found. Bob began hand polishing and with no luck he ended up rotary correction the wood finish with a 3" pad and BP at about 900rpm using slow passes.

The end result of machine polished wood under the LED...










Finished off and topped with CG acrylic glaze










Some sun shots of the paint... no LSP




























The LSP of choice was CG acrylic glaze. Bob machined it in with the festool and buffed it off right away. He followed up with 2 coats of Jetseal cured 30minutes each and buffed off with some DI water.

Waiting for JS to cure he tidied up the engine bay, cleaning the jambs and dressing all the trim










After...










Some finishing tocuhes included polishing the glass, umbrellas and the wheels.




























The final wipedown










Final shots





































The boat deck:wink:























































Wheels were hand polished, sealed and tires dressed for a matte finish










Wood trim in sunlight



















And a walk around video in the sun...



Thanks for looking!*


----------



## shredder1uk (Oct 5, 2008)

Great work and an awesome machine.


----------



## Exclusive Car Care (Jan 14, 2007)

top job done there guys, well done:thumb:


----------



## Racer (Oct 27, 2005)

Great work :thumb:


----------



## Nanolex (Jun 8, 2008)

Amazing job and attention to the detail! :thumb:
That second last pic of the interior is unbelievable! Never knew you could polish a clear film!? Would you recommend to have the car completely wrapped in film?

Cheers,

Florian


----------



## david g (Dec 14, 2005)

Stunning work on a stunning car :thumb:


----------



## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

Very nice work there, the result look great, especially outside in the direct sun


----------



## bazz (May 15, 2007)

top job donr there on a top motor:thumb::buffer:


----------



## Auto Finesse (Jan 10, 2007)

Quality work.


----------



## ads2k (Jul 12, 2006)

Cracking job :thumb:


----------



## 1999grad (Oct 10, 2008)

Hey! I didn't give you permission to post pictures of my car on the web!

... awesome job, guys. I wish I could lay my hands on a such a car some day.


----------



## Dunkwho (Jan 23, 2009)

Very very nice, top work!


----------



## Rowan83 (Aug 21, 2007)

That looks awesome!! well done guys. :thumb

Still can't get over the size!!


----------



## Planet Man (Apr 12, 2008)

Brilliant stuff:thumb:


----------



## Bass-Evolution (Aug 13, 2009)

Top Car, Top Job.:thumb:


----------



## Doc (Feb 2, 2008)

Loverly work, hats off!


----------



## Sebby (Jul 30, 2009)

Wow, great job.


----------



## Jim W (Feb 3, 2007)

Love this..

I'd forgotten about the 'brolly tucked away in the door. Very clever.


----------



## Deniance (Jun 28, 2008)

can you explain the heat gun bird poo method please?


----------



## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

very nice


----------



## Planet Admin (Jul 11, 2009)

Outstanding Finish!!:thumb:


----------



## badly_dubbed (Dec 11, 2008)

very nicely detailed 

one car id love to get my hands on think they look fantastic


----------



## Sveneng (Apr 20, 2008)

Wow! I've not seen one of those detailed before, looks stunning!


----------



## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

looks a great finish

BUT....as we have done one of these and research on how to maintain it I should also mention...

*You are NEVER supposed to polish the metal bonnet, radiator and windscreen surrounds. They are factory finished with a grain and are supposed to develop a patina as the car ages, so they match. Rolls Royce are very clear there is only 1 product approved to be used with that finish and its a NON ABRASIVE light cleaner sold by them - no other cleaners and certainly no machines should ever be used on the finish. The grain is a very definite front to back grain, just like a piece of timber, and it is put in as part of the finishing process in the factory - any kind of rotation etc risks permanent damage to it. Once damaged there is no way to restore the finish other than returning it to Rolls Royce and they charge £15,000 IIRC to refinish the metal areas back to how they should be.
*
If anyone else sees one of these just be aware that touching the metal areas with anything at all might land you with a VERY big bill!


----------



## nortonski (Jul 10, 2007)

Bigpikle said:


> looks a great finish
> 
> BUT....as we have done one of these and research on how to maintain it I should also mention...
> 
> ...


Jeez, good spot...

I'll never likely lay my hands on such a motor, but you learn something every day!

Either way, cracking job, looks stunning :thumb:


----------



## gj777 (Feb 16, 2008)

Stunning car and superb work!


----------



## Doc (Feb 2, 2008)

Bigpikle said:


> looks a great finish
> 
> BUT....as we have done one of these and research on how to maintain it I should also mention...
> 
> ...


Aren't they just polishing the film? So technically they aren't touching the metal.


----------



## ads2k (Jul 12, 2006)

Doc said:


> Aren't they just polishing the film? So technically they aren't touching the metal.


I would be surprised if polishing the film would give that much difference in the piccies and does it say if the metal parts had been covered ?

Good info Damon :thumb:, not that I'm likely to ever need it but in those pub quiz's for useless information you never know :lol:


----------



## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

Looks great, very nice work...



Jim W said:


> I'd forgotten about the 'brolly tucked away in the door. Very clever.


Nissan had these as far back as 1990....

:thumb:


----------



## mk2jon (Mar 10, 2009)

great work,these cars are simply stunning,ive managed to sit in a few of these and the interiors are amazing,nice photos aswell.


----------



## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

Doc said:


> Aren't they just polishing the film? So technically they aren't touching the metal.


Thats what it looks like...

Just worth knowing for anyone else that might see one of these for a detail. Its a VERY expensive thing to get wrong and obviously most are wrapped like this one.


----------



## WyattEarp (Mar 9, 2008)

Beautiful after shots.:thumb: How much better a detailed car looks in my opininon with a satin finished on the tires. :thumb: Are you guys working together now? Or you're just helping him out?


----------



## dsms (Feb 1, 2008)

Bigpikle said:


> looks a great finish
> 
> BUT....as we have done one of these and research on how to maintain it I should also mention...
> 
> ...


We did not use an abrasive polish, it was CG wet mirror finish glaze.

BTW Bob has done a Drophead coupe before this one and no problems to speak of on the alu. hood


----------



## auto concierge (Nov 24, 2008)

dsms said:


> We did not use an abrasive polish, it was CG wet mirror finish glaze.
> 
> BTW Bob has done a Drophead coupe before this one and no problems to speak of on the alu. hood


As Dave mentioned this was not my first Rolls drophead, and I can appreciate avoiding compounding with wool or foamcutting pads and cutting corrective polishes and compounds, but just used the Festool RO 150 with an 100ppi pad at low speed with Chemical Guys Wet Mirror Finish and the results were great as you can see in the before and afters.


----------



## lando77 (Mar 10, 2009)

WOW, The piano black trim came out stunning. Great work


----------



## Bradley (Aug 24, 2006)

The stainless steel finish used on the RR Phantom Drophead is produced not by the RR factory but by a series of subcontractors. The steel is produced by Arcelor Mittal in France, one of the only steel plants able to make steel 2 meters wide by 0.8 mm thick. The steel is then transported to Nitto where it is formed into covers for the bonnet, grille and A-pillar/windscreen surround. The stainless steel (type 18-9E Austenital Steel) used has a low chromium content as high chromium content stainless steel is less formable and tends to crack and split upon pressing. The downside of having a low chromium content is that the steel is more vulnerable to corrosion. The steel now requires protection and is sent to one of two factories, here the steel is treated with nitric acid and a sodium dichromate solution, this process is called Passivation and creates a monomolecular oxide film protecting the stainless steel. Although now passivated for protection the protective film is very thin only 1/100,000 the thickness of a human hair and is easily damaged, leaving the bare steel unprotected and open to attack. The polishing/glazing you preformed on this Rolls Royce has probably removed the passivate (protective oxide film) and the steel will now corrode and stain. The only long term solution at present is to replace these panels at great expense, about £10k. Beware of RR own stainless cleaner as it has never been properly tested by RR and is a BMW product with a RR label.


----------



## Bradley (Aug 24, 2006)

Bigpikle said:


> looks a great finish
> 
> BUT....as we have done one of these and research on how to maintain it I should also mention...
> 
> ...


Even RR cannot refinish this brushed finish and re-passivate, the panels are scrapped and replaced, big bill in the post :doublesho


----------



## andrewst500 (Nov 2, 2008)

great work


----------



## Skodaw (Mar 19, 2006)

Lovely


----------



## Bradley (Aug 24, 2006)

Wakey wakey!!! last two posts the bloke machined the bonnet!


----------



## paddy328 (Mar 4, 2007)

lol, how do you know so much about the bonnets?

Great work again guys, but im with damon on this one.


----------



## lego_man (Mar 29, 2007)

Awesome:thumb:


----------



## Select Detailing (Feb 19, 2009)

Cracking work


----------



## GlynRS2 (Jan 21, 2006)

A stunning detail on an awesome car


----------



## Brian. (Sep 21, 2009)

The bird etching trick is very clever but it wouldn't be me going near a drophead's paint with a heat gun! 

Cracking work lads!


----------



## dsms (Feb 1, 2008)

Brian. said:


> The bird etching trick is very clever but it wouldn't be me going near a drophead's paint with a heat gun!
> 
> Cracking work lads!


Well thats the idea, no? Thats what the film is there for, protection. The heatgun trick is not something we toyed around with on our own. Certified Venture film installers taught us that method and it works well.


----------



## DiamondD (Feb 26, 2010)

So you go to bob or bob come to you?


----------



## pugs9000 (Feb 7, 2010)

Brilliant results, especially the difference on the bonnet


----------



## magpieV6 (Jul 29, 2008)

wow, what a car. Great work there


----------



## J3FVW (Sep 28, 2009)

Awesome car and work!


----------



## Webbstar (Aug 24, 2006)

Bradley said:


> Wakey wakey!!! last two posts the bloke machined the bonnet!


Don't bother Brad I think they all think its really good cos they never seen a drophead before.


----------



## Bradley (Aug 24, 2006)

Emerald Detailing said:


> lol, how do you know so much about the bonnets?
> 
> Great work again guys, but im with damon on this one.


I am the contract detailer for Rolls Royce Motor Cars Sunningdale and Rolls Royce Service Ascot, both are part of the Sytner Group, as well as working with renowned independent Rolls Royce specialists. I know the Phantom very well having worked with these cars for over three years and I am now currently learning and getting to understand all about the new Ghost. I fully understand the limitions of the stainless steel finishes, seeing many cars damaged through improper cleaning method, but hope with the help of the aviation industry to be able to re-passivate smaller damaged stainless items from the Phantom including the quaterlight and hood surrounds. Specialist cars require specialist knowledge


----------



## saxyVTRsaxo (Nov 23, 2006)

Bradley said:


> I am the contract detailer for Rolls Royce Motor Cars Sunningdale and Rolls Royce Service Ascot, both are part of the Sytner Group, as well as working with renowned independent Rolls Royce specialists. I know the Phantom very well having worked with these cars for over three years and I am now currently learning and getting to understand all about the new Ghost. I fully understand the limitions of the stainless steel finishes, seeing many cars damaged through improper cleaning method, but hope with the help of the aviation industry to be able to re-passivate smaller damaged stainless items from the Phantom including the quaterlight and hood surrounds. Specialist cars require specialist knowledge


Thats a shame Brad as George was wanting some 'G3' to give the stainless bonnet that extra bling hahaha :wave:


----------



## Dan Carter (Jun 21, 2008)

TBH I think you are taking away from the purpose of this thread with the talk of the bonnet, this is something for the client and the Op to worry about? if at all, great information and worth knowing for future use but IMO you are in danger of turning this around to a argument thread as seen with the broken Dodo buckets thread a while ago and as mentioned there by Viper you are running the risk of a ban by continuing to post. Just my take on it all.

To the Op cracking work as usual on a fantastic car!


----------



## Bradley (Aug 24, 2006)

saxyVTRsaxo said:


> Thats a shame Brad as George was wanting some 'G3' to give the stainless bonnet that extra bling hahaha :wave:


LOL :thumb: He'd be better off with some PB Blackhole :buffer:


----------



## Tazza (Apr 1, 2010)

Brilliant job, on a stunning motor!


----------



## Fargo (Oct 9, 2008)

Great work guys, what a beautiful car, one of the nicest Roller's I've ever seen.

:detailer:


----------



## aces007 (May 17, 2009)

just jaw droppingly beautiful!!


----------



## BenW (Jan 14, 2007)

Rolls Royce certainly ship their cars out with a top quality paint job, you've done it justice and it looks amazing


----------



## gb270 (Aug 22, 2008)

Top work looks super


----------



## tapeit (May 9, 2010)

what a beautiful car


----------



## -tom- (Jan 27, 2009)

stunning :argie:


----------



## prokopas (Apr 29, 2010)

Amazing car, great work


----------



## PIT (Apr 22, 2010)

what a car.


----------

