Rolls Royce Ghost

[Jimmeh]

Rolls Royce Ghost – Bodyshop neglect

After leaving the Rolls Royce approved bodyshop following some light repairs and arriving back at the owners house, it was noted the car seemed to lack clarity and whilst handing over the car, dull patches were spotted as it came off the covered transporter.

Not happy about the condition the car had been delivered in, the owner had Rolls pick the car up to take away and finish the job properly. Another four weeks later and its delivery day. (Take two!)

The owner of the Ghost is now furious. No excuses for the condition the car had been left in. It was bad the first time round but upon their second attempt, it was truly unforgiving. The delivery driver claiming it just needed a “quick wipe down” *whilst throwing a bit of AutoGlym around marring the panels even more*

Long story short, the car wasn’t going back to Rolls Royce. Que WhiteDetails.

Upon inspection:

The bodyshop defects will be revealed a little later once the wash stage is out the way.

I was only asked to carry out repairs to the damaged areas left by the bodyshop’s doings. This included, the boot lid, N/S rear quarter, N/S rear door, N/S front door, N/S front wing, half the bonnet and the roofline.

Starting with the wheels, these were cleaned up with Megs APC and various brushes.

 

[Jimmeh]

Vehicle had to be moved forwards to allow me to clean the area that was being blocked by the enormous calipers.

Front end was covered in bug splats. G101 applied and left to dwell for a minute or two…

Snowfoam delivered to act as the pre-wash and help emulsify any surface dirt.

Snowfoam rinsed off at high pressure – further snowfoam application was given to aid the ultra slick wash with Dodo Juice’s Born To Be Mild shampoo.

Washed via the two bucket system..

The Ghost was clayed at this point to remove any bonded contaminants but only being 7 months old, and, with half the car having fresh paint, there was very little to remove.

Clay lube residues rinsed and vehicle dried with ultra plush towels and the Black Baron Vehicle Dryer.

A priceless bit of kit, it really is. (Especially for the mammoth grille up front!)

OK. So, after a quick jig, I leave the car in the sun to show the bodyshop horrors. (Please bear in mind this is a 7 month old £200k+ Rolls Royce)

 

[Jimmeh]

Paint thickness readings of the nearside were all over the place:

This shot shows the point at where the rear quarter had been compounded down to (but not making it all the way to the bottom) You could clearly see every pass that the machine polisher had made.

 

[Jimmeh]

After some work on the boot lid and the rear quarter, we’re left with this 50/50:

Night and Day difference and it shows how much the bodyshop defects were stealing the true colour and clarity hidden beneath.

On most of the panels I could get away with only using a mild finishing polish and polishing pad. Some areas suffered badly though from sanding marks and deeper niggles which required chasing a little further.

A 50/50 between the two doors:

Smaller spot pad work:

 

[Jimmeh]

Outside to check my progress:

Rear wing before:

And after:

This made me laugh; they obviously didn’t ‘polish’ the whole bonnet - they just did a little area on the left hand side lower quarter:

Similarly, the boot lid only suffered in a small area but both panels were refined as one to give the finish that it should have been left with at the bodyshop.

Before on the N/S front wing:

After:

Lower down on the sills lots of rough sanding marks were still present:

To improve, this required stepping up to FastCut+ on a light cut pad and the refining later with Menz 203s.

Readings:

Door before and after:

Look real closely and you’ll see we’re left with deep pig-tailing from the DA sanding stages.

Bonnet refined nicely:

Roof befores:

 

[Jimmeh]

Roof afters:

Although not one of the areas of concern, the lip of the rear bumper had a couple of light nicks too it.

Before/After:

And Before/After:

Much improved.

Once all the machine work had been completed the paintwork was wiped down to remove polishing oils and BlackFire’s “Wet Diamond” All Paint Protection was applied by DA.

Glass cleaned. Tyres dressed. Exhausts polished.

9 hours later, a Rolls Royce Ghost looking like it should:

What a car.

Thanks for reading.

Jim

 

[1210tech]

Nice work Jim

I was down at Rolls Royce in Ascot last week working on a Phantom Drophead and had a look at a Ghost and to be honest wasn't very impressed with the interior for a 200k+ car, it is very BMW 7 series don't you think?

 

[S3 Rav]

Great work mate.

 

[N8]

Nothing short of epic as usual Jim

 

[Sarah's A3]

Wow! What a car indeed and what had they done to it! Awful!!! But once again what a fabulous job you have done! You're a real star!

 

[Jimmeh]

Many thanks guys.

1210tech, I can't comment. Never been on the insides of a 7-series! There were some nice touches though - serious amounts of leather in there too!!

 

[heli_madken]

Amazing Jimmeh those 50/50 shots are possibly the biggest difference I have ever seen. What a sorry state of affairs for Rolls Royce, can you imagine if some of the old craftsmen who created Rolls in the past could see the condition that car reached its owner in

You were worth your weight in gold to that owner Jimmeh hope they paid you well!!!

 

[rjm180]

Excellent job, nice pics too. Lovely car

 

[quattrojames]

You do some awesome jobs mate, what a cracking business you've built up - much respect :thumbsup:

 

[Ash B]

Amazing work as always Jim, good write up and photos. My favourite has to be the 50/50 shots such a huge difference

 

[Shez]

Amazing as always Jim, lost for words. Hope to see you at ADI if your going.

Was the number plate AS 1 (Alan Sugar)?

 

[Jimmeh]

Not Alan Surgar's Shez, no lol.

I've been meaning to get this up for a while, here's a wee vid of the Ghost whilst in direct sun:



As always, thanks for the great compliments guys. Exciting times for me at the minute, all will be revealed soon.

 

[Nilz]

WOW!!!!

 

[johnnythepie]

Gorgeous job.My detailing friend has a similar vehicle come in every other week for a spruce up.The owner had spent around 250 k on the car and took it for a few albanian sandwashes before deciding on having it done properly.Dopey twats did the body with truck wash!! which stripped the chrome wheel inserts!!Having had them replaced by Rolls, they used some sort of acid adhesive to stick them on, which dribbled out and corroded the alloys turning them green!Having cleaned the residue, he found that the powder coating was peeling from around the insert, and still the adhesive was leaking out due to the centrifugal force when driven.So the owner is fuming, and both he and my mate visited the dealers to do battle.Talk about poor service and being looked down upon!Whilst theremy mate tore apart the standard of prep when the car leaves the dealership, and was aghast at thw emplymet of monkeyworld behind the scenes.Any how.The battle is on for a full set of wheels!.By the way Jimmeh, is it true that RR dont do paintchip sticks for thier cars, or is the dealer having a laugh??

 

[Marky_J]

Epic results there - well done! It's absolutley appauling what a prestige company such as Rolls Royce are happy to say is acceptable.