# Invisible Touch Detailing - Triumph Stag (pic heavy)



## Invisible Touch (Mar 5, 2008)

Hi,

This is the story of a very nice looking Triumph Stag, transformed into what I consider, a beautiful looking piece of automotive history. The task was to get the vehicle looking as good as possible as it would shortly be going to several shows. The vehicle was delivered to me and the 4 day detail began.

Lets first have a walk around the vehicle…
































































Dirt hidden away everywhere









































































Moving into the interior









































































A quick check over a front wheel














































Bonnet grill not looking good














































The vehicle was brought inside and the bonnet opened up





















































































































































































While the bonnet was up I checked the paint condition under led light























































The drivers front wing under halogen light



















So, starting with the engine bay. Everything was soaked in warm water and shampoo plus










The bonnet grill was removed to help with the cleaning process










And out came this chap










Lifted off with windscreen washer hose attached










The nozzle was unscrewed and hose tucked away










Much better










The bay was cleaned with a selection of fine brushes














































Engine parts were sprayed with engine and machine cleaner










And agitated with wire brush










It was then rinsed and dried













































































































Painted areas were then polished with super resin polish





































And buffed off










All rubbers and plastics were then sprayed with aerospace 303


















































































Next job was the wheels and arches. The wooden tool was put in place and nut loosened










The vehicle was jacked up and front wheel removed














































It was sprayed with bilberry and agitated with a selection of brushes and hot, shampoo plus solution





































After a long time! I was left with this




























All areas were then polished with meguiars nxt, buffed off and sealed with 2 applications of poorboys wheel sealant
































































The arch was sprayed with apc, agitated everywhere and jet washed off










The wheel was replaced and tightened. This process was repeated on the other front wheel



















The rear wheel was then removed














































The under chassis was sprayed with engine and machine cleaner and then agitated with brushes










The arches were sprayed with apc and scrubbed










This was then jet washed off and the wheel cleaned and treated
































































This process was then applied to the final wheel and arch



























































































The nut was polished, grease applied to the hub and refitted



















The roof was then removed and the areas were inspected
































































The boot was then opened, emptied and inspected
































































The vehicle was washed by the 2 bucket method using hot water and shampoo plus. Fine brushes were used to clean the harder to reach areas


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## Invisible Touch (Mar 5, 2008)

I took a few pictures of paint defects on the bonnet wile the sun was out














































The vehicle was then taken inside to be dried. The clay and last touch as lube was prepared



















The vehicle was then washed again, including in the boot. It was then jet washed down and taken inside to be dried























































The rubber mark was polished out later









































































The bonnet was taped up and I prepared the Makita rotary with 3M backing plate and 3M finishing pad. This shot was taken using led light.














































For polish I intended to use menzerna 85rd, but this wasn't enough so I stepped up to 106fa on a polishing pad but still wasn't getting the level of correction I wanted.










I then tried meguiars dual action cleaner polish which produced similar results. So I decided to move to 3M fast cut plus on a 3M polishing pad, which produced this





































This polish and pad combo was used for the entire vehicle. You could clearly see the difference in colour of the paintwork







































































































































































































After this process was complete the vehicle was machine polished again with the Makita rotary, 3M finishing pad and menzerna 85rd










After this dodo juice lime prime lite was applied by hand










Leaving this





































Moving back to the engine bay, all metal parts were polished with meguiars nxt polish























































The first of 3 application of Victoria concourse wax was then applied. This included the engine bay and all door/boot shuts




































































































The wheels then had the dust from machine polishing removed










The front and rear bumpers were then polished with nxt














































The tyres were then dressed with the first of 2 applications of endurance tyre gel




























The dash and interior was then dusted with fine brushes and treated with poorboys natural look dressing




































































































The mud flaps were treated with autoglym bumper care



















The second application of Victoria concourse wax was then applied and buffed off before calling it a night





































The final day began, the sun was beginning to appear. I started with a quick dust down using last touch to prepare the Stag for its final coat of Victoria concourse wax





































The vehicle was then taken outside to check the wax removal in natural light and then brought back inside as it decided to rain on and off every 5 minutes!


















































































The spare wheel was then cleaned in the same way as the others, polished with nxt and then sealed with poorboys wheel sealant




























It was then replaced into the boot, strapped down and the mdf floor put back in place



















The roof which had been previously removed was then washed using warm water, shampoo plus and fine brushes for the harder to reach areas



















It was then dried and clayed using last touch as lube










The roof was the quartered and polished as before with the makita rotary, 3M polishing pad and 3M fast cut plus




























The finish was then refined with a 3M finishing pad and menzerna 85rd. Dodo juice lime prime lite was then applied by hand, buffed off and the first application of Victoria concourse wax applied





































While this was curing the metal work where the roof sits was polished










Front and rear seats were then treated with gliptone conditioner










The third and final application of wax was applied to the roof










Door, boot and engine bay rubber seals were then treated with autoglym bumper care





































The carpet was returned to the boot and hovered. The good old Haynes manual was also placed back for those times of need










The bonnet grill was polished by hand with nxt and screwed back into place










The door sills were polished with nxt










The vehicle was then treated with zaino z8 grand finale spray seal and a final application of endurance tyre gel










The Invisible Touch Detailing Service Book was then prepared for the customer arrival










And that was the completion of this Triumph Stag detail. One that I have to say was probably the most enjoyable I have done and I hope you equally enjoyed the read. These were the final pictures….





















































































































































































And taken back into the garage until collection





































Regards,

Christian


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## Mini 360 (Jul 17, 2009)

AMAZING! Simply stunning change there and what a write up! Love the book at the end. Cherry on the cake for the customer. Top detail mate. :thumb:


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## T2JOU (Apr 7, 2009)

Awesome job!


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## Theval (Feb 24, 2010)

Excellent detail on a truly classic vehicle:thumb:Service book is a nice touch:thumb:


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## alexf (May 23, 2009)

Thats a jaw dropping detail, the stag looks excellent. Love the service book too.


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## aztecbandit1 (Feb 11, 2009)

Lovely motor and a fantastic job you've done there again Christian :thumb:


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## russell hayward (Apr 13, 2006)

Superb attention to detail. What a lovely car.


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## m4rkie23 (May 19, 2009)

wow! that really is fantastic work!!!


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## spitfire (Feb 10, 2007)

Boy did the old girl deserve that. You've got to love that wheel tool:lol:Good work:thumb:


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## rainifa (Mar 12, 2009)

Just stunning:thumb:


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## Miglior (Feb 12, 2006)

Great Job mate, thoroughly enjoyed reading that!


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## KKM (Dec 10, 2007)

What a fantastic detail, I really enjoyed that one.

Great in depth write up


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## Guest (May 4, 2010)

Fantastic ! Owner is going to be over the moon with that..

I was expecting to see bad pitting on the inside of the wheels but they came up like brand new.. well done


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## Invisible Touch (Mar 5, 2008)

Thanks for everyone's comments


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## SuperchargedLlama (Apr 25, 2008)

Brilliant write up - always loved the stags!


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## impster (May 2, 2007)

Superb work. You've the patience of a saint. Great write up and photos as well - it's like a step-by-step guide for someone of my ability. Many many thanks. I bet the owner is well chuffed. Simply awesome effort on the insides of those wires. Mouth wide open here. 

Impster


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## Invisible Touch (Mar 5, 2008)

Your more than welcome Impster, cheers


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## Dodoalan (Nov 24, 2009)

Great job. Really enjoyed the write up and pics. Fantastic turnaround.


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## FrazzleTC (Jul 4, 2009)

Amazing work on a truly gorgeous car. I don't think that Stags look right on wires on the whole, I prefer the original, but when they look as good as those I can make an exception. We have a 2000 mark 2 in white which looks very similar from the front but it's undergoing a very slow resto at the moment so looks nowhere near as good as that. Lovely car, fantastic work!


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## L.J. (Nov 9, 2008)

absolutely speechless! Not a huge fan of these Stags but definitely appreciate the work, time and effort gone into bringing it up to that standard!

Btw, are the rear lights faded beyond repair or is that the style?


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## Chauff (Sep 30, 2009)

Superb job!! Fantastic, detailed write-up. Great work Christian.


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## shaqs77 (Jun 10, 2008)

brilliant, wish i had the time or space to do something like that.


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## ALANSHR (Jun 29, 2007)

Fabulous job on a real classic, well done.


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## Jorge (Oct 12, 2009)

Love it, love it, love it, love it...:argie:,

Fantastic...!!!

Absolutely gorgeous! :thumb:


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## Jamie-O (Jan 28, 2010)

I like.


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## Detail My Ride (Apr 19, 2006)

Fantastic. Looks stunning, great attention to detail also.

However, can I ask why you tape panels into quarters? Surely working in a quarter section would then leave a line where you have masked off straight through the panel?


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## james. (Mar 1, 2010)

beautiful. and great wright up!


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## TANNERS (Jul 15, 2007)

wow

im gonna keep an eye out for you

dads got a mgb roadster in old english white, i would love to be able to achieve a finish like that on it for him..


respect m8:thumb:


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## Guest (May 4, 2010)

Best detail/write up i've read all year.

Paul


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## m9fdb (Jul 20, 2007)

stunning detailing job on a stunning car ... I have met the owner of that Stag (met him at a show and he is also on the SOC forum)

It is a stunning example and you have made it look a million times better than it did (and it was a stunning car before the detail believe me)

I will happily let you detail my one if you want but it i am in the process of doing a rolling resto on it so it will be a bit of time before it looks anywhere near as good as that one


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## paulj (Mar 28, 2010)

thanks for the great write up and pics a superb job done there!!!!!
what a beautiful example that is 
amazing 
cheers 
Paul


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## Dunkwho (Jan 23, 2009)

I started with wow ... moved to "bloody hell", on to "holy crap", then ran out of words.


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## Invisible Touch (Mar 5, 2008)

Thanks David, thought you would like this one 

Gaz W, Hi mate, the reason i tape large sections off is for several reasons. I like to keep my work areas a particular size to enable me to get the best from the chosen products, it enables me to see a clear difference between a machined section and not, i dont want to overlap areas of paint and machine them anymore than they need to be so as to keep paint/clearcoat removal to a minimum, something that is very hard to do if you are guessing where you machined up to in your last area. There is never a problem with areas not being machind under the tape, once a section is done the tape for that area is pulled back and placed a few mm past where the machnes line was so the next section to be polished will contain the area that was taped in the previous section  

Hi Paul, very nice of you to say, a hugely appreciated comment, thank you 

m9fdb, Hi, that could be a fantastic looking car in black. Thank you for your comments, anytime you would like a similar treatment on your Stag i would be more than happy to do so. I wish you the best of luck with the restore 

Dunkwho


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## craig todd (May 17, 2009)

fantastic detail and write up. absolutly stunning.


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## Purity (Mar 3, 2010)

Don't see many of these about, nice to see ppl still taking good care of em


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## GhosTTy (Jan 2, 2009)

Stunning! I really enjoyed the photo story too.


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## colarado red (Jun 5, 2008)

Awesome one of my all time favourite cars.Superb write up as well


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## TwrsilkcutV8 (Jun 18, 2009)

*A great piece of work!*

I am a great fan of *'The Stag'​*,congratulations on a superb job,i hope your customer appreciates the time and effort you've put into it.


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## Stew (Jul 9, 2007)

Beautiful.

My Dad had a stag when I was a teenager and I really grew to appreciate it. 

An absolute cracker of a car with one of the sweetest sounding V8s out there in my opinion.


You have really done it justice!


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## Invisible Touch (Mar 5, 2008)

Thanks very much guys 

It certainly is a nice sounding engine, and yes, the owner was very very pleased with the results. He has equally put a lot of time into the car, this was the finishing touch it deserved


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## midas touch (Apr 30, 2010)

thats a great job mate well done.......wowwwwwwww.


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## -tom- (Jan 27, 2009)

stunning work


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## Biggy (Aug 27, 2009)

stunning, and the book at the end is pure genius!


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## Blueberry (Aug 10, 2007)

What an absolutely awesome job you have done there on such a beautiful car.
You've really turned it around and I can see why you thoroughly enjoyed doing it - the finished detail really gives you superb job satisfaction.:thumb:


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## Auto Detox (Dec 22, 2007)

Good job well done mate


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## GlynRS2 (Jan 21, 2006)

Stunning


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## CJS Evo (May 6, 2010)

Fantastic work on a lovely car!!


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