# Refined Detail -v- Aston Martin DB9



## Refined Detail (Nov 27, 2006)

:wave:










I was contacted by the owner of this DB9 who was looking to improve the overall condition of his car's paintwork - to remove the 'hazy' appearance it had and to lay down some long lasting protection.

An enhancement detail with Zaino LSP was decided upon and a date set.

Upon arrival, the car was already very clean, but the defects were clear to see, along with the hazy finish.

The car was treated to my intense wash stage:

Engine bay cleaned with Autosmart G101, later dressed with CarPro Perl, metalwork polished with Carlack NSC
Wheels cleaned with Autosmart Smart Wheels and sealed with FinishKare FK1000P
Tyres and arches cleaned and degreased with Autosmart G101. Tyres later dressed with FinishKare Top Kote Tire dressing, arches with Autosmart Rubber & Plastic
Doorshuts cleaned with Autosmart G101 and later polished / sealed with Carlack NSC
Foamed with ValetPro Orange Pre Wash
Washed via 2 bucket method, lambswool mitt, grit guards and Espuma Astro shampoo
De-tarred with Autosmart Tardis
Metallic particles removed with CarPro Iron X
Clayed with Bilt Hamber soft clay

Fully cleaned, decontaminated and dried, the true condition of the paintwork was revealed:





































As with many Aston Martins, the paintwork was relatively soft (they always seem to be soft or rock hard - never in-between!) so a lot of the swirling and marring was easily explained. Combined with the odd dealer courtesy wash, and some previous dealership preparation with an inexperienced user of a machine polisher a few hologrammes were thrown in for good measure.

Paint depths were checked - nothing too concerning was revealed - a few areas in the 80 - 100 micron mark, but in general pretty healthy.

After initial pad & polish combo's being tested, I decided to stray away from my usual Scholl S17+ and 3M yellow combo, and instead opted for 3M Extra fine on matching (yellow) pad - each panel was given a couple of passes to achieve the desired result, and wiped down with Menzerna Top Inspection to ensure the polish wasn't just filling the defects.





































Before:










After (slightly different angle, sorry!):










Before:










After:










and a few afters in the the low sunlight - it was in and out behind clouds all day!














































After the first 10 hour day, all the enhancement work was complete.

Back for day 2, the car was given a thorough blast with the hot air dryer to remove excess polish dust before continuing with detail.

Paintwork glazed using Chemical Guys EZ Creme Glaze - this way the paintwork was prepped for Zaino, but also helped to reduce the appearance of any remaining defects. Remember this was only to improve the defects, not remove as many as possible. This way there is plenty of scope for future work as and when it should be required, whilst keeping work to a sensible budget.

Once glazed, 3 coats of ZF-X'd Z5 was applied, with Z6 wipe downs in between each coat, followed by a final Z8 wipe down.

Whilst the sealant was curing, other finishing touches were attended to:

Glass with Espuma Crystal Green and screen sealed with Carlack twins, exhausts with wire wool and Briliant metal polishes. Grille with Carlack NSC, black trim with CarPro Perl.


















































































The interior was also given some TLC, although this was also in very good order to begin with. Thoroughly hoovered, al surfaces wiped down with Meguiars APC, leather cleaned and conditioned with Dr Leather wipes:



















As ever, you can keep up to date with my day to day movements within the valeting & detailing World via Twitter and Facebook

Thanks for looking,

Rich @ Refined Detail


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## DMH-01 (Mar 29, 2011)

Fantastic shine, car looks mint.


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## Beau Technique (Jun 21, 2010)

Ooh ya badger. Quite swirly. Looks nice and fresh again.


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## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

very nice work


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## tonyy (Jul 26, 2008)

great finish..


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## dooka (Aug 1, 2006)

Very nice indeed, how glossy under the bonnet ..


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## PaulN (Jan 17, 2008)

Looks great, Those holograms must have come from previous machining.....


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## mbrad_26 (Apr 19, 2011)

Oh yeah...that's the way we do it...:thumb:


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## RobP (Oct 1, 2006)

stunning car and a great improvement


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## jonjay (Feb 28, 2008)

Awesome work.


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## Leemack (Mar 6, 2009)

Very nice :thumb:


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## Railsbrough (Mar 24, 2011)

Love the work, and the car!


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## Refined Detail (Nov 27, 2006)

Thanks all! Always a pleasure to work on an Aston, also, thank you to the client for his hospitality - keeping me topped up with tea and coffee all weekend, and for plenty of interesting car related chatter!


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## fox999 (May 22, 2011)

As the owner of this car I'd like to add a few words of thanks to Richard. I've never had a car professionally detailed before, and was unsure what result to expect.

However I was sure that I needed professional help to restore the car to a better condition - my own skills are limited to washing and waxing really. Last time the car returned from servicing it looked like it had lost an argument with a brillo pad  and I knew something had to be done. 

The results of Richard's hard work and craftsmanship are plain to see in the photos. The net result is that it would be difficult to guess the age of the car from her condition. Needless to say I'm delighted.

I should add that Richard has also been very helpful in suggesting which techniques and products I should use to maintain the look of the DB9 and to sort out some problems with the appearance my wife's car. 

All in all, I'm a very happy customer! :thumb:


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## Mr Face (Jan 22, 2009)

Just adore shiny Aston porn : beautiful job, gorgeous motor :thumb:


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## MilesBetter (Aug 9, 2010)

Loving the work, superb results :thumb:


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## magpie27 (Nov 3, 2009)

great car and very good finish


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## uzi-blue (Mar 16, 2011)

Very nice job, car looks amazing. :thumb:


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## Summit Detailing (Oct 9, 2006)

Nice turnaround there..great colour when prepped properly:thumb:

Manual DB9..rare & proper


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## Refined Detail (Nov 27, 2006)

Thank you all for your comments, much appreciated 

Thank you for posting in here Ian - glad you were happy with the end result - hope you've found the courage to drive it and get it dirty again by now?!


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## AS_Dene (May 2, 2010)

great result richard

Dene


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## Refined Detail (Nov 27, 2006)

Cheers Dene! Hopefully see you again soon when I'm next down to stock up!


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