So what have you done with your Aston today?

[cockneyplayboy]

George29 said:

I'm exactly the same. I'd start off with the best of intentions, then fk it up and it would cost a fortune to put right

Great result though, looks super shiny! Nice Triumph too

Thanks....

It does take forever to initially do but if washed and looked after correctly you should only ever need to do that once in your ownership so to me... whats a weeks worth of intense work in order to have it forever looking amazing... and BETTER than the paint looks when the car is out of the factory, true story!


I do have some videos online of me doing my CL55 AMG but concentrated on the Aston rather than videoing it lol

This is why it costs so much for detailing... its not just a case of slapping some polish on it, in fact the process is very labour intensive. To do a job like that on someones car I would probably charge them up to £500 and even then its only about £25 per hour. Not too many people want to spend that kind of money on "some polishing" but when they see the car and the HUGE difference when parked next to a bunch of others they think its actually quite a cheap mod!

Edited by cockneyplayboy on Friday 20th November 10:03

[Quarterly]

cockneyplayboy said:

This is why it costs so much for detailing... its not just a case of slapping some polish on

Edited by cockneyplayboy on Friday 20th November 10:03

I thought it was. I've just had a look at your two videos, I just can't get over how much time you spend polishing. My worry would be I get down to the bare metal. but you're Aston looks amazing!

[cockneyplayboy]

Quarterly said:

I thought it was. I've just had a look at your two videos, I just can't get over how much time you spend polishing. My worry would be I get down to the bare metal. but you're Aston looks amazing!

Lol thanks... I am rather 'anal' about how far I go with it and I am a perfectionist. However you use paint depth gauges to ensure you dont start showing metal so dont worry.
..... Its when you start wet-sanding that the owners really start to SH** themselves.....

[jamieall]

To day went for a winter drive....

[V8Staffie]

Switched over wheels so I could change to winter tyres gone for Pirelli winter Sottozero Snowflake.
Only a few hours of driving so far in 2-4c conditions but impressed so far
Had a GT12 in the showroom ready to go to its new owner Monday.
Noticed it was running Michelin pilot super sports from factory fantastic looking car exhaust looked lively.
Fuse 15 switch still widening the grin.

[Ken Figenus]

cockneyplayboy said:

Lol thanks... I am rather 'anal' about how far I go with it and I am a perfectionist. However you use paint depth gauges to ensure you dont start showing metal so dont worry.
..... Its when you start wet-sanding that the owners really start to SH** themselves.....

Stunning looking finish mate. You clearly know your onions! Why do you prefer the organic waxes to finish with and how do you deal with the panel joins you masked up? Finally what should I put on my freshly painted wheels - that Poor Boy's stuff isnt much cop (as Paddy warned)!

Thanks for sharing the onions!

[GTIAlex]

cockneyplayboy said:

Quarterly said:

I thought it was. I've just had a look at your two videos, I just can't get over how much time you spend polishing. My worry would be I get down to the bare metal. but you're Aston looks amazing!

Lol thanks... I am rather 'anal' about how far I go with it and I am a perfectionist. However you use paint depth gauges to ensure you dont start showing metal so dont worry.
..... Its when you start wet-sanding that the owners really start to SH** themselves.....

Can you post some pictures of your T25 perhaps? I spotted it sitting pretty in the corner!

[Flugplatz]

Cockneyplayboy...
Your pics reminded me of when Gurch did my v8 in 2008.

Edited by Flugplatz on Sunday 22 November 01:04

[stanwan]

Today I replaced the front grille after I suffered a direct hit from a piece of timber fence post left oI'm n the m11.

If it flew a little higher, it would gone through the front screen and my head.....

[cockneyplayboy]

GTIAlex said:

Can you post some pictures of your T25 perhaps? I spotted it sitting pretty in the corner!

Lol sure.... here it is...

[cockneyplayboy]

Ken Figenus said:

Stunning looking finish mate. You clearly know your onions! Why do you prefer the organic waxes to finish with and how do you deal with the panel joins you masked up? Finally what should I put on my freshly painted wheels - that Poor Boy's stuff isnt much cop (as Paddy warned)!

Thanks for sharing the onions!

No worries! Not sure what you mean about dealing with the pannel joins? I mask off in sections then machine/mop and glaze then when I am ready to seal in I do it in one hit (if its too warm then I still do panels but overlap the bits I masked off) and then finally wax the whole thing so everything merges into the adjoining panel. The masking is proper low-tack detailing tape by the way, no marks and the last stage sealing and waxing removes any built up residue.

Collinite is one of the most unpenetrable waxes I have come across and certainly for the money there is nothing close to it in that bracket. SO I always use this to seal in then put a whole host of various top coat waxes over it, depending on the car. I lik eto experiement with this last stage... why not?! The compounds have done their job, the glaze has also... and its all nicely sealed in - why not try something different? Sometimes I carnuba it sometimes other lsp's...... depends on the mood or the availability or if I want to try something else! lol

[e600]

Went to Cliveden yesterday for lunch with Mrs e600. Nice drive around Surrey and Berkshire pre and post lunch.

Spotted a DB9 convertable in the car park, so the Vanq' wasn't the only star present.

[mattf93]

e600 said:

Went to Cliveden yesterday for lunch with Mrs e600. Nice drive around Surrey and Berkshire pre and post lunch.

Spotted a DB9 convertable in the car park, so the Vanq' wasn't the only star present.

Which vanquish have you got the 'new' one e.g. 2012 on or the 'old' one that was in die another day?

[kbooker]

Question for cockneyplayboy, I'd like to improve the cosmetic appearance of some alloy suspension and engine components, I'm told a steam cleaner will give good results? Any experience or other ideas that don't involve massive amounts of elbow grease? thank you

[RichB]

cockneyplayboy said:

Ken Figenus said:

Stunning looking finish mate. ... how do you deal with the panel joins you masked up?

...Not sure what you mean about dealing with the panel joins?

I assume Ken is asking about the areas that are masked up and wondering if they miss out the preparation so when you remove the tape they are not as shiny as the bulk of the panel?

[e600]

mattf93 said:

e600 said:

Went to Cliveden yesterday for lunch with Mrs e600. Nice drive around Surrey and Berkshire pre and post lunch.

Spotted a DB9 convertable in the car park, so the Vanq' wasn't the only star present.

Which vanquish have you got the 'new' one e.g. 2012 on or the 'old' one that was in die another day?

Generation 1, DIe Another Day. Love it, to me the shape is simply the best. As good as the generation 2 Vanquish is its biggest problem was being called a Vanquish

[mikey k]

cockneyplayboy said:

Collinite is one of the most unpenetrable waxes I have come across and certainly for the money there is nothing close to it in that bracket. SO I always use this to seal in then put a whole host of various top coat waxes over it, depending on the car.

I've used a couple of coats of Collinite 845 on alloys on many cars.
Its good for 20k miles before it needs redoing

[Ken Figenus]

mikey k said:

I've used a couple of coats of Collinite 845 on alloys on many cars.
Its good for 20k miles before it needs redoing

Bought :-)

[mrpseudonym]

Ken Figenus said:

Bought :-)

+1 thanks for the tip cockneyplayboy

[cockneyplayboy]

RichB said:

cockneyplayboy said:

Ken Figenus said:

Stunning looking finish mate. ... how do you deal with the panel joins you masked up?

...Not sure what you mean about dealing with the panel joins?

I assume Ken is asking about the areas that are masked up and wondering if they miss out the preparation so when you remove the tape they are not as shiny as the bulk of the panel?

Thought thats what was meant.....

As I say, when I move to the next panel the tape comes off and where the tape was gets the treatment so nowhere is missed. You just mask up the bit you have completed as you go along, it wont harm it as its special low tack detailer tape. Then you do the final hand coats with no tape on at all so you get even coverage and no product build up.


SORRY someone asked me about wheel sealant.... I used to use the Poorboys Pink wheel sealant but I now find a spray on SONAX is so much better and gives great beading! Ironically it needs applying a little more often than the Poorboys but when its on it does a far better job so I prefer it. Just spray it onto the wheel or a cloth then wipe and leave! You can buff if you wish but not necessary. But the wheel needs to be dry remember that.

kbooker said:

Question for cockneyplayboy, I'd like to improve the cosmetic appearance of some alloy suspension and engine components, I'm told a steam cleaner will give good results? Any experience or other ideas that don't involve massive amounts of elbow grease? thank you

AS FOR the question about the steam cleaner, I havent tried one on the alloy parts and I am not sure if I would want to as it may clean to start with but long term would it aid corrosion...? Perhaps, perhaps not. All I can say is if you do use one make damn sure you leave it ULTRA dry and I would then give it some elbow grease with something like Meguires metal polish or better still, the old fasioned AUTOSOL which is messy as hell but the original and the best for cleaning anything metal!
............ but then if you are going to use it then you may as well do that from scratch and forget the steaming IMO

Happy Detailing all!

Edited by cockneyplayboy on Wednesday 25th November 09:54