This was a very special car and detail for me. I grew up with a Countach poster on my wall (as well as some other cars) and I have always loved these things. The car was built not thinking of practicality or comfort, they wanted a car to stand out, be outrageous, and that is what they got. The Countach is not for everyone but to me its an amazing piece of automotive history and I am truly honored to have been given the chance to spend 3 days 1 on 1 with her.
When she came in on the transporter the paint was in rough shape. Old, hazy, swirled up single stage paint that needed A LOT of work! I came up with an estimate that I thought would be good for the amount of work. A week later the detail started and I had to up the quote. I have never changed up the price on someone but never having truly detailed a Countach, I highly underestimated the amount of work that would be involved. I have done light detailing on them before but nothing like this. I received the go ahead with the new price and the real work began. The areas on the engine deck lid between the slats and the walls had to be hand polished since no machine would have fit in such a tight area. I went in to the shop on Labor Day to get those areas out of the way. I knew no one would be there so it was nice to have that time just me and the car and no distractions. With the other cars I had scheduled, I had to leave the car till Wednesday before the rest of it was done. The side mirrors were removed and lots of tape was used. The LHR21, PC, and a 2" pneumatic orbital from HF were all used to get this thing were it needed to be. 3 days and close to 30 hours later we finished up and sat back while admiring her true beauty. I should have pushed the detail to 4 days just to keep my sanity but the schedule is busy and we had to push to get her done.
Working on single stage paint is amazing. The correction you get is phenomenal and it is so rewarding. The gloss, shine, glow, and how deep the paint looks is something you won't find on clear coated cars. Don't get me wrong, new cars look great when done right but single stage just has a look you can't duplicate. On to the pictures...
Process on exterior:
Wash with ONR
Clay megs white using Touch as the QD
re wash
taping and side mirror removal
After a couple of test panels, we went with S3Gold and 5" Spider pads on the LHR21, 4" LC yellow pads on the PC, and 2" pads for the pneumatic. Most areas required 2 passes with S3 to really knock out the imperfections
Reflect was used to finish down.
105 and 205 were also used
Eraser
and the final touch was Cquartz Finest
The wheels were polished as well with Reflect and coated.
Interior:
HD Total
1Z leather cleaner/conditioner
Carpets shampooed
There was a lot of haze all over the car, under the fluorescents you can clearly see.
This is before the polishing
And same area after
After the front was done you can see the glossy finish that it should have.
Some of the tight areas on this car.
The wing was in bad shape
Another shot of the imperfections on the wing
Looks horrible under the lighting
After everything was done, CQF was the obvious choice
CQF being applied to the roof, had to open the doors to not lean on them.
CQ Dlux being applied to the wheels
When she came in on the transporter the paint was in rough shape. Old, hazy, swirled up single stage paint that needed A LOT of work! I came up with an estimate that I thought would be good for the amount of work. A week later the detail started and I had to up the quote. I have never changed up the price on someone but never having truly detailed a Countach, I highly underestimated the amount of work that would be involved. I have done light detailing on them before but nothing like this. I received the go ahead with the new price and the real work began. The areas on the engine deck lid between the slats and the walls had to be hand polished since no machine would have fit in such a tight area. I went in to the shop on Labor Day to get those areas out of the way. I knew no one would be there so it was nice to have that time just me and the car and no distractions. With the other cars I had scheduled, I had to leave the car till Wednesday before the rest of it was done. The side mirrors were removed and lots of tape was used. The LHR21, PC, and a 2" pneumatic orbital from HF were all used to get this thing were it needed to be. 3 days and close to 30 hours later we finished up and sat back while admiring her true beauty. I should have pushed the detail to 4 days just to keep my sanity but the schedule is busy and we had to push to get her done.
Working on single stage paint is amazing. The correction you get is phenomenal and it is so rewarding. The gloss, shine, glow, and how deep the paint looks is something you won't find on clear coated cars. Don't get me wrong, new cars look great when done right but single stage just has a look you can't duplicate. On to the pictures...
Process on exterior:
Wash with ONR
Clay megs white using Touch as the QD
re wash
taping and side mirror removal
After a couple of test panels, we went with S3Gold and 5" Spider pads on the LHR21, 4" LC yellow pads on the PC, and 2" pads for the pneumatic. Most areas required 2 passes with S3 to really knock out the imperfections
Reflect was used to finish down.
105 and 205 were also used
Eraser
and the final touch was Cquartz Finest
The wheels were polished as well with Reflect and coated.
Interior:
HD Total
1Z leather cleaner/conditioner
Carpets shampooed
There was a lot of haze all over the car, under the fluorescents you can clearly see.
This is before the polishing
And same area after
After the front was done you can see the glossy finish that it should have.
Some of the tight areas on this car.
The wing was in bad shape
Another shot of the imperfections on the wing
Looks horrible under the lighting
After everything was done, CQF was the obvious choice
CQF being applied to the roof, had to open the doors to not lean on them.
CQ Dlux being applied to the wheels
