# Aston Martin DB7 Vantage – Paintwork restoration.



## L200 Steve (Oct 25, 2005)

Aston Martin DB7 Vantage - Paintwork restoration.

This weekends detail showed up today. I'm restoring this DB over the full weekend, and will post up the progress in my coffee breaks.

The DB turned up like this-



























The owner looking me up after reading this thread -http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4100

Doing a pre detail inspection, I found a few swirls -



























I know that this has been valeted in the past, a few buffer trails -









Swirled -









Buffer trails -









A bit of both -


















A bit of an interesting test.

To be cont…


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## regaltang (Nov 2, 2005)

you got your work cut out there!! Good Luck


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## 182_Blue (Oct 25, 2005)

cool car to work on, are you paying him on this one LOL


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## db_abz (Jan 19, 2006)

It shouldn't matter about the car, it's the paint really........................but I'm looking forward to this one!!

Dave


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## Brazo (Oct 27, 2005)

A cracking car there Steve and 'I' *know *you'll turn it around!!!


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## ChrisGT (Feb 25, 2006)

looks like you'll have a good weekend, steve, ive no doubts it will be stunning


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## stewarty.c (Mar 8, 2006)

will be good to read and keep an eye on this 1. good luck with it steve


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## Mr Shiny (Oct 29, 2005)

Nice one Steve, i hope the chap is taking you out for a quick spin in it. Looking forward to the finished article mate, make sure you get plenty of pics. :thumb:


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## sanky (Mar 1, 2006)

Nice motor steve, looks a bit of mess at the momment. But i'm sure after you've worked some of your magic it will be looking stunning as it should be


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## L200 Steve (Oct 25, 2005)

Took the DB7 down to the wash bay, leaving the steering on full lock, to give me access to the front inner arches.










Filled the Suds Blaster with Meguiar's All Purpose Cleaner-










This is my wheel cleaner of choice, especially when some of the clear coat on the wheels looks a bit suspect. No harsh chemicals or high pressures here. -










Soaked the inner arches at the same time, the Meguiar's All Purpose Cleaner foaming nicely from the Suds Blaster-










After rinsing and the re-applying the APC to each wheel and inner arch, I agitated using a multitude of brushes. You can't get the Megs Wheel Brush behind the callipers on a DB7, so I rolled the car forward 2' and swapped steering lock.

After rinsing down the whole car, a strong mix of Hyper wash was made up.

Using Lambswool Eurow washmitts, and a 2 bucket method the car was washed, one panel at a time. Care taken to ensure every last bit of grit was washed from the channels and crevices.

Clayed with Sonus Green, very very carefully using Meguiar's Last Touch quick detail spray as lube. This is after claying a section of the roof -










I used three bars in total, taking extra care, as I didn't want to induce any more marring into the paintwork of this one.

After claying, the lower sections treated to Panel Wipe, to remove any bonded road tar.

The car then washed again using a normal mix of Hyper Wash, using new Eurow wash mitts and a two bucket method again.

The car now taken up to the polish shop. Dried using Meguiar's Water Magnets, and spritzing of Last Touch QD spray. Wiped down after drying with a MF, to see if I'd managed to wash away any swirls.

Worst luck, they were still there -


















It's a blue one-










Had a look under the bonnet too, to see what was making that awesome sound -










I've treated the inner arches to there first coat of Meguiar's Hyper Dressing, and done the pre polish inspection. Going to start masking off ready for polishing with the Metabo rotary now.

To be cont…


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## Jay (Oct 25, 2005)

should be awesome knowing your details steve


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## Mr Shiny (Oct 29, 2005)

Nice work so far mate, what a lovely engine  :thumb:


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## ChrisGT (Feb 25, 2006)

oh to be able to buy the sound of a V12 lol


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## Daffy (Dec 15, 2005)

That is one beautiful car and by the time your finished it will be one of the best. Thought it was green to start with. Can't wait for the rest of the write up.


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

Such a shame to see a beautiful car like that in such a state... Look forward to seeing you completing this one Steve, its one beautiful car! :thumb:


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## joe (Jan 2, 2006)

Excellent write up so far! 

I seriously didnt know the car was BLUE! before it was washed! 

Wow!


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## giarc (Feb 8, 2006)

nice car youve attracted steve! im wondering if that camera of yours can take sound bites!


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## L200 Steve (Oct 25, 2005)

Cheers for the good comments guy's :thumb: :thumb: 

Just done some readings with the Elcometer paint thickness gauge. The nose, wings, bootlid and bumpers of DB7's are plastic (Using a multi metal probe on the paint thickness gauge). Looks like the rotary will not be getting as much use tomorrow as I'd of liked.

I don't want to risk causing osmosis on this through inducing a load of heat with the Metabo. Going to have to rethink the plan of attack for the polishing stages. Mmmm? :buffer: 

The rest of the car (the metal bits) seem ok though. Because this car is showing signs of being machine polished before, I've been taking 'base' readings to get an idea of what the starting thickness should be. I've been taking these readings from around the door shuts etc where the car will not have been polished before.


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## andyollie (Dec 5, 2005)

whats osmosis?


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## Rasher (Mar 6, 2006)

look forward to it


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## L200 Steve (Oct 25, 2005)

andyollie said:


> whats osmosis?


When polishing plastic with the rotary, you can create a little too much heat, which the plastic cannot get rid of like metal can. This results in hundreds of little bubbles appearing in the paintwork, like measles.

This is then a bodyshop repair.

It looks a bit like this -









(this is actually a picture of solvent popping, but they both look the same:thumb: )


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## andyollie (Dec 5, 2005)

ah right thanks stevie


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## D-an-W (Mar 19, 2006)

What happened to the weekend off then Steve  
The lure of an Aston just too much for you :lol: 

Don't forget the "Big One" on the 29th, be interesting to see your new techniques


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## Brazo (Oct 27, 2005)

I was checking over a clio v6255 today and most of it was plastic lol only metal parts were bonnet, roof and bootlid!!


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## L200 Steve (Oct 25, 2005)

Brazo said:


> I was checking over a clio v6255 today and most of it was plastic lol only metal parts were bonnet, roof and bootlid!!


It's cars like these (1/2 plastic) that make the paint thickness gauges worthwhile investments. I even tapped the Aston's bootlid, and it sounded metal


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## Timmo (Mar 21, 2006)

andyollie, osmosis is water seeping under the original coating and causing water bubles from underneath the surface! Normally only used in the marine industry where it can become a common problem but normally only on the underwater area!! can mean very expensive bills as the boat needs to be returned to origianl coating and then treated! never heard of it used in the motor trade though!


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## Drew (Apr 12, 2006)

wow. look forward to seeing the updates on that one.


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## Naddy37 (Oct 27, 2005)

Brazo said:


> I was checking over a clio v6255 today and most of it was plastic lol only metal parts were bonnet, roof and bootlid!!


LOL, welcome to my world of plastc...

Excellent work so far Steve. Thought that car was green on that first shot. Are you paying the guy for this detail..lol.


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## j4m1e5 (Apr 6, 2006)

Where do you get the suds blaster attatchment for the hose mate, looks good


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## D-an-W (Mar 19, 2006)

Steve, don't forget the Chippy closes @ 1pm :lol: (If it's open at all today  )


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## CleanYourCar (Jan 23, 2006)

and theres me thinking Osmosis was a album by Ozzy Osbourne  

Can't wait to see the results of this one though, what a car!


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## GlynRS2 (Jan 21, 2006)

Yes, this is going to be a good one for sure.
Can't wait for the update.


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## Ant GTI-6 (Nov 30, 2005)

Wow mate,This is one heck of a detail to come, sorry its taken so long for me to post.

Things have been hetic here. That is one serious bit of kit but in a sorry state. 

Your detail skills now are nothing short of exemplary and I have every confidence in you turning this DB7 around, making it looking better than when it rolled out the Aston Martin showroom for the first time.

I will be keeping a close eye on this now:thumb: 

Regards
Ant:thumb:


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## Mr Shiny (Oct 29, 2005)

A bit off Topic i know, But Steve, do you reckon megs safe d-greaser will be o.k and safe to use, used neat in the suds blaster to clean arches and engine bays when it arrives from Alex at Serious Performance? Cheers mate :thumb:


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## Racer (Oct 27, 2005)

I have no doubt that the outcome will something STUNNING :thumb: :thumb: 

Keep the amazing write up


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## L200 Steve (Oct 25, 2005)

Started back on the DB at the crack of dawn this morning.

Quick Detailed the car with Meguiar's Last Touch, even though it'd been parked in the polish shop all night. Put a second coat of Megs Hyper Dressing on the tyres and inner arches, then started to mask.










The swirls clearly visible under the shop lights.










After masking, I spent just over an hour sorting out my polishing combo. The paint on Aston Martin's turned out to be very very hard to polish, but not to inflict marring into .

The combo turned out to be-

Poorboys SSR3 by rotary with Yellow SFX pad on speed 4.5
Poorboys SSR3 by rotary with Yellow SFX pad on speed 4.5
This first two sets of passes shaved a total of 10 microns from the DB7 paint, removing a lot of marring, but inflicting a load more of their own. Worse though was that all the random scratches were now highlighted.
Menz Powergloss Compound by rotary on Yellow Lake County pad on speed 1.5 on the Metabo to 'cut' out most of the random scratches. The marring this caused was a little unsightly.
Menz Intensive polish by PC on orange Lake County pad. Using the method Rich passed on there was no dust, no fuss. The finish not LSP ready though.
Menz Final Polish on LC White pad, by PC. This last step really making the final difference to the quality of shine on the DB7.

Mid way through polishing -









All bumpers etc were cut in using -
Menz PG on Yellow 4" LC spot pad.
Menz IP on Orange 4" LC spot pad.
Menz Final Polish on White 4" SFX pad.

Glazed with Clearkote Red Machine glaze - by hand.
Glazed with Clearkote Red Machine Glaze - by PC with black LC pad.
Sealed with Poorboys EX-P - We did a second coat of this straight after, to ensure coverage.
Waxed with Poorboys Natty's Blue.
Spit shined with Pinnacle Souveran using Megs Last touch as spritz.
Demasked, dusted down.
Dressed trim with Megs #38 Tyre and Trim gel.
Cleaned the glass with Megs Glass Cleaner Concentrate.
Cleaned the wheels / door shuts etc with Klasse All In One 
2nd coat of AIO on the wheels

Applied a coat of Klasse Sealer Glaze to the wheels.

We then rolled the DB7 outside into a late afternoon sun to inspect -






























































































































Thanks.


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## 182_Blue (Oct 25, 2005)

excellent work mate, looks the biz


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## Ant GTI-6 (Nov 30, 2005)

No wonder the owner cried, just looking at the pics brought a tear to my eye.:doublesho An absolutley fantastic detial the business!:thumb: 


An Aston to be totaly Proud of with a capital P:thumb: .

Well done fella:buffer:  :car: :thumb: :driver: 

Ant


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## Brazo (Oct 27, 2005)

Superb job!!

The reflections from the glass building are insane :thumb:

Sounded like a hell of a rotary process!!!


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## Mav R32 (Mar 18, 2006)

Great job Steve,nice to see your work in progress today.:thumb:


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## L200 Steve (Oct 25, 2005)

Mav R32 said:


> Great job Steve,nice to see your work in progress today.:thumb:


Nice to meet you today Neil.

Good luck PC'ing yours. The R32 sounded gorgeous as you left, rather 'throaty'. A really tidy car.

:thumb:


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## Daffy (Dec 15, 2005)

That is one hell of a piece of work . A job to be really proud of. Finally get to see the true colour of the DB. In my eyes it has one from green to blue to a nice deep wet blue/ black. Fantastic.


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## Sam gti-6 (Dec 27, 2005)

Hello my friend, to me 'P' stands for perfect. I have never seen anything as 'P' as that:doublesho  

Being a girlie i can look and take in what you do and by goodnees you have done a lot, observation is a good thing. I might not be able to do it, but i have 
an eye for detail:thumb: 

WELL DONE!!! SUPERB LUV YA:thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: 

Big Luv Sam


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## Mr Shiny (Oct 29, 2005)

Aewsome work Steve, and i mean aewsome. I hope you got to drive it mate?, top work, from Tom and Paul :thumb:


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## AR-CoolC (Feb 9, 2006)

Geez Steve you must be shattered!

Amazing transformation, just amazing.


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## stephen g (Apr 13, 2006)

that car looks fantastic what a diferance good work :thumb:


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## D-an-W (Mar 19, 2006)

Nice one Steve, what did the Master learn from this one then?


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## extreme-detail (Nov 7, 2005)

top work there mate its a joy to work on cars like this:thumb:


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## giarc (Feb 8, 2006)

i think it could be my eyes but looks like its changed colours! a very very good job!


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## L200 Steve (Oct 25, 2005)

D-an-W said:


> Nice one Steve, what did the Master learn from this one then?


What did I learn today -

1.) Learnt a new trick courtesy of Rich from PB with the Menz Intesive Polish. If my LC orange pads come in time for your Scoob, we'll be cooking with gas.

2.) To put my own salt on the chips. Tommy got it wrong again:lol: :lol:


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## richardg3.2 (Jan 26, 2006)

What an amazing transformation. Not even recognizeable as the same car. Another top class job from the big man.:thumb:


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## Mr Shiny (Oct 29, 2005)

A bit off Topic i know, But Steve, do you reckon megs safe d-greaser will be o.k and safe to use, used neat in the suds blaster to clean arches and engine bays when it arrives from Alex at Serious Performance? Cheers mate :thumb:


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## stewarty.c (Mar 8, 2006)

lovely work steve owner must have been so chuffed...


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## enc (Jan 25, 2006)

:doublesho wow


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## Rich @ PB (Oct 26, 2005)

Steve, you never fail to amaze with me how many steps you manage in such a short space of time - mind blowing mate, I'm such a slow coach! Awesome work, great write up, inspiring to say the least. Glad the IP method worked for you too - just need to work out the same with the Power Gloss and I'll be a happy man.


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## L200 Steve (Oct 25, 2005)

WX51 TXR said:


> Steve, you never fail to amaze with me how many steps you manage in such a short space of time - mind blowing mate, I'm such a slow coach! Awesome work, great write up, inspiring to say the least. Glad the IP method worked for you too - just need to work out the same with the Power Gloss and I'll be a happy man.


Cheer's Rich:thumb:

Could of done with the BlackFire today. Something about the same abrasiveness as IP, but that works for a lot lot longer.

This was my longest polish job to date, but strangely I didn't notice the clock nor mind:lol:

Thanks guys for the good comments :thumb: :thumb:


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## Naddy37 (Oct 27, 2005)

:doublesho is that the same car ?

Awesome work.


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## Beeste (Oct 25, 2005)

You are a detailing GOD!! Awesome work Steve!!


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## dino (Oct 26, 2005)

amazing - really turned that car around!!


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## speed-demon (Jan 11, 2006)

Steve you deserve a medal!


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## Racer (Oct 27, 2005)

Great Detail , just awesome :thumb:


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## D-an-W (Mar 19, 2006)

Worth me getting a couple of the LC Pads then Steve (Or we going to test 1st?)?


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## andyollie (Dec 5, 2005)

Stevie, you really are the man. And such a gentleman to share your great tips with us


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## joe (Jan 2, 2006)

Steve! 

Great work! A real transformation. What was the reaction of the owner?

Also, the "sud gun" you attached to the hose. Where did you get it? It looks pretty nifty although we havea hose pipe ban!


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## john185k (Mar 14, 2006)

immense Steve, great work again!! I may have to pop over the pentlands to see you too soon!!


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## Ant GTI-6 (Nov 30, 2005)

Hi Steve is this your new site?









Plenty of parking space there:thumb:

Ant


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## AndyC (Oct 25, 2005)

Wonderful work Steve :thumb: 

Still think the DB7's one of the sexiest cars ever made


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## sanky (Mar 1, 2006)

Top effort Steve, really wished i could have come over to see it in the flesh but her indoors had other plans for the weekend


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## L200 Steve (Oct 25, 2005)

joe said:


> Steve!
> 
> Great work! A real transformation. What was the reaction of the owner?
> 
> Also, the "sud gun" you attached to the hose. Where did you get it? It looks pretty nifty although we havea hose pipe ban!


The suds blaster "gun" came from Alex at Serious Performance, have a look in the approved traders section mate:thumb: Highly recommended by me:thumb:

Ant - SShhh! 

Sanky - I understand mate, you missed out though. I'd of let you spit shine this one (I was dead on my feet at this point)


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## Neil_S (Oct 26, 2005)

Awesome Steve, simply awesome and a great read too.


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