Bentley Continental GTC - Diamond Black. 30+ hrs

[Jimmeh]

Hi all. Another VAG entry for you!

Bentley Continental GTC – Diamond Black. A 30+ hour ‘White Detail’

Time is money. Because of that, the car in question visits the local handwash station most weeks as it’s too easy. £20, ten minutes… Job done! The trouble is, as we all know, both the automated and hand-wash stations do no go for our cars in the long run. If it’s not the array of scratches left on the surface then it’s the strong acidic cleaners that will corrode and damage any britework, trim, polished wheels and other delicate areas.

The Bentley was booked in to be brought back to ‘better than new’.

Car came to me on recommendation from the previous Diamond Black Continental that I’d worked on:

Video highlights:

‪Bentley Continental GTC - WhiteDetails‬‏ - YouTube


Product

• 303 Convertible Cleaner
• 303 Fabric Guard
• 3M Glass Cleaner
• 3M Ultra Fina
• AutoGlym Vinyl & Rubber Care
• AutoSmart Hazsafe
• AutoSmart Reglaze
• AutoSmart G101
• AutoSmart Tardis
• AMDetails mild clay bar
• Belgom ALU
• Dodo Juice Born To be Mild pH neutral shampoo
• IPA (isopropyl alcohol)
• Jeffs Werkstat Acrylic Prime
• LTT Auto Ultra Foam
• LTT Auto Ultra Protect
• Meguiars All Season Dressing
• Meguiars Super Degreaser
• Menzerna 106 FA Final Finish
• Menzerna 203 Power Finish
• Menzerna 3.02 Intensive Polish
• Menzerna S500 Fast Gloss
• Raceglaze Black Label Concours Wax


On inspection:

Swirling and random scratches:

Polish residues from previous sessions:

It’s worth noting that the wheels were being sent for a refurb the following week.

Cleaned with Bilberry safe wheel cleaner, tar deposits treated to AutoSmart Tardis and metal filings lifted with Iron-X:

Tyres soaked and scrubbed to lift engrained dirt and arches flushed with Meguiars Super Degreaser.

Convertible hood wetted, 303’s cleaner applied and agitated with an AutoGlym fabric sponge. Rinsed at low pressure.

Front end, mirror caps and windscreen covered in AutoSmart Hazsafe to soften the bug remains. Rest of the vehicle was foamed to help lift surface dirt before a thorough pressure wash session to remove as much ‘damage material’ off of the bodywork as possible.

Using a merino washmit, Dodo Born To Be Mild and the two bucket approach, the car was washed from top down.

Tar deposits dissolved with AutoSmart Tardis (always tough to spot on a black car!)

I noticed the lower metal trim pieces were ‘oranged’ at the top. Lots of inorganic build-up that needed removing… 20 seconds after applying Iron-X, it’s clear that it was a worthwhile job (product is clear but turns purple/red as it begins to break down any stubborn, baked on particles)

With half of the decontamination process complete, it was time to pull the car indoors for claying – the removal of organic surface contaminants.

Outside for a glance at the defects in the mid-morning sun:

Now under the forced artificial lighting:

 

[Jimmeh]

A bit of an etching here (bird bomb)

With some deeper scratches that will require some special attention:

Paint thickness readings a little higher than normal – Bentley seems to be quality throughout.

After messing about testing various pad and polish combinations, I settled on a green 3M Cutting pad with a mix of Menzerna 3.02 Intensive Polish and Menzerna S500 Fast Gloss for some extra ‘bite’.

For such an aggressive polish and pad combination, the finish was superb:

Later refined on a Lake Country green finishing pad with Menzerna’s 106FA Final Finish.


The bonnet, it’s huge, but those edges, they’re tricky! You can’t simply run your 5/6” pad over the sloped edge and hope to correct the sides. A smaller spot pad and an individual approach was needed here to gain the safest, best correction.

Before/After:

With the slight curve in the middle of the bonnet, it was tough to capture a ‘true’ 50/50 shot. Here’s an attempt but also a few befores and afters…

Starting to work down the O/S/F wing.

Again, pad choice here was critical. A timely process throughout because of the varying angles that simply cannot be hit ‘as one’.

50/50 between O/S door and the wing:

The small ‘spot pad’ work was carried out with Lake Country’s orange polishing pad and the same Menz 3.02/S500 combo as before. Later refined with Menz 106FA on the green finishing.

 

[Jimmeh]

Up and over on the A-pillars, they were suffering from both swirling/scratches but also hardened bug splats that have accumulated over the years.

Again, more spot pad action:

Before/After:

And the leading edge, polished by hand and Menzerna 203s. Before/After:

Lower down at the A-Pillar base:

Mirrors:

Lower rear quarter on the O/S:

…really starting to pull the metallic ‘flake’ out now.

Another delicate area; strip between the boot-lid and the light cluster. Before/After:

The arch edges, because of their ‘proud faces’, were tackled with more spot pads.

And refining things down with Menz 106FA before another IPA wipedown to check correction levels:

Compared to that of the above section on the bootlid:

50/50:

Boot lid 50/50, after some heavy hitting (but treading carefully of course as it is plastic)

IPA:

Rear light clusters tidied. Menz 203s on the Lake Country polishing pad:

 

[Jimmeh]

Rear end complete (minus the bumper):

Working back down the N/S, completing the work on the bonnet:

And then a bit of a 50/50 on those massive sills:

Front bumper:

#


With the front registration plate removed, the plate housing was given a few passes:

‘Nose’ on the bonnet:

Rear bumper:

Note to self. When removing the remaining glue residues on the back of a registration plate, do not ‘scrub at’ with your own thumb. Use somebody else’s! Man blister! (this happened on Day 1, it is now Day 3 (ouch!))

With the machine work complete it was time to start the tidying up process.

Engine first:

 

[Jimmeh]

Rest of the vehicle then rinsed heavily, concentrating on panel gaps and crevices to remove any dusting, trapped polish etc.

Water sheeted to aid the drying process before moving back indoors to blow-dry the vehicle with the ‘Black Baron Vehicle Dryer’.

Once IPA’d (to remove any remaining glue/polish residues) a fine coat of Black Label Concours wax was applied:

Exterior britework, such as the beastly front grille, was hand cleansed and protected with Jeffs Prime.

Before/Afters:

Various other external trim attended too (exhausts, wheels, tyres and arches etc) before moving on to the interior.

Cream (although it does look amazing) is a bit of an impractical colour – especially for a daily drive!

Dirty, ‘shiny’, leather:

And other areas that require attention:

 

[Jimmeh]

Starting off by brushing all loose gubbings from the sides of the leather seats; quite amazing at the build-up in here sometimes.

With LTT’s Auto Ultra Foam, I worked my way round…

Dirty water collected from the cleaning of the seats:

Other leather areas attended to with LTT’s water-base kit.

Steering wheel behinds:

Wooden and chrome trim polished, again, with Jeffs Prime

Voila, as new.

The interior really was an amazing place. The attention to detail and the quality… So much leather! (I counted at least 13 cows!!)

With the last few remaining jobs ticked off, the car was rolled out into the sun.

Remember this?

Remember this?

Brought back in, wiped down and now sat ready for collection (~32 hours later)

A thoroughly enjoyable turnaround.

Many thanks for reading,

Jim.

 

[StateOfPlay]

Thanks for posting all those pics, I really enjoy seeing the difference on those before and after shots.

It does look like better than new, so job done!

Bet your client is well chuffed!

 

[gary3306]

WOW!! What a fantastic job. A brilliant thread.

 

[FranA3]

awesome work jumbo top notch as usual matey

 

[Cabbyfan]

I never fail to be impressed by the results you get, amazing stuff ! Wish I had the kit and the space to do mine.

 

[butler2.8i]

Stunning finish Jim, top class attention to detail as always

 

[S3 Rav]

Great work as always mate

 

[toastyhamster]

What did the owner say?

 

[Jimmeh]

Cheers guys.

It was a most enjoyable job for once - everything went my way for a change which was nice!

Owner v.happy - family has a bit of a collection but for now, booked their RR.Vogue in for similar treatments.

Jim

 

[FranA3]

Cheers guys.

It was a most enjoyable job for once - everything went my way for a change which was nice!

Owner v.happy - family has a bit of a collection but for now, booked their RR.Vogue in for similar treatments.

Jim

good time bud , how is that blister looking now popped it yet ??

 

[drmole]

as always jim very nice work and wa a car to have in ur portfolio be nice to see the rolls too

 

[ahsan82]

amazing work, top quality :thumbsup:

 

[Paullie]

What an epic detail, Jim! I know how much pleasure it gives me to stand back and admire the humble job I do of detailing my own car, so I can't begin to imagine how much 'grin factor' and satisfaction it must give you to complete a project such as this and to stand back and really look closely at what you've achieved. You did REAL good, Buddy. Didn't like the look of your sore thumb afterwards, though, lol.

 

[S3 AUO]

Stunning job as usual Jim,
Always a good read / view

 

[Willsey]

What a right up! Must take a lot of reminding to photograph every section of the car! I tried and kept forgetting..

Excellent job matey top stuff!

 

[NHN]

Fantastic job mate, really up there with the best