So after being told off many of times by various CSnet members, I thought it's only right I share my latest creation with you all.
It's been a long time coming but I'm finally in a nice, modern, (cold) spacious unit. Be sure to befriend "Jim WhiteDetails" on Facebook as theres daily 'behind the scenes' updates, pics etc http://www.facebook.com/jim.whitedetails
Grab a brew, it's a long one:
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Ferrari* 360 Modena – a 5 day “White Detail”
Firstly, a Happy New Year to all! What a way to kick off 2013… Not only is the first job of the year an Italian sports car, it’s also the first in the new White Details studio! That’s right! A new year, a new unit.
So, without further ado, it’s with great pleasure I welcome you to White Details’ new headquarters. (Located a mile off the A1 north of Newark on Trent, postcode NG23 6)
The 12 year old Ferrari was pencilled in for the complete works; a “White Detail” (including full G-Techniq surface coatings for maximum long-term protection). My aim, to restore the vehicle throughout. Back to better than its original showroom condition…
“Quite a claim?” you may shout. Not really, no! You’d like to think a new car, whatever the price-tag, will be pristine, defect free and perfect in every way! This, unfortunately, is rarely ever the case…
A fitting example, have a flick through this Ferrari 458 Italia report (a £220k super car) that was just 2 days old - http://www.whitedetails.co.uk/index.php?id=162 Requiring 16 hours to get right after the supplying Ferrari Dealership ‘getting it wrong!’.
So, in dodging the bad weather, the 360 was dropped at White Details and left for the week.
Initial thoughts, “hey, this is a clean car…” However later unveiling lots of nasties in the paintwork including masking marks, overspray, fisheyes, buffertrails and these sanding marks found on the front bumper:
Tuesday morning, starting the wash sequence with some ‘wheels off’ action. Arches flushed, later dressed. Wheels deep cleaned, later protected. Calipers spruced, later polished.
It looks like the wheels had previously been resprayed… Not too many contaminants to deal with though.
Before/after:
A few sections of wheel weight glue to remove (well done to those who’d previously tried ‘hacking’ these off with god only knows what tool (see scratches))
And a tar remover in action dissolving the odd lump of road tar.
Ohh, oh… yep, confirmed… Wheels have been refurbed. On the car!!! Not ideal.
Silver overspray on rear passenger side brake caliper: (later removed with thinners)
And a quick peak in the ‘bay to check it over:
Dull, slightly dusty. Not a biggy.
With the wheels back on the car and correctly torqued, AM Foam was delivered to pre-soak and soften surface grime.
Whilst the intricate hard to reach areas were lightly tickled with a soft detailing brush and additional degreaser.
Given a thorough rinse to ensure surface is free of debris and washed with the two bucket system, a washpad and AM Bubbles.
Whilst still outside, stray tar spots were chemically removed and iron filing were treated to a fallout remover.
Inside, all exterior surfaces are clayed with mild detailing clay to pick up any remaining contaminants that must be removed before polishing commences.
A few spots of sap were removed and the odd blister of red(!) (front bumper respray; de-nibbed a few high spots)
Blown dry to remove all traces of water/drips and manoeuvred into position ready for polishing.
Delicate areas taped and defects inspected:
A good mixture of swirling and random deep scratches:
“Scrubbing” induced scratches from previous removal of double side tape in rear registration plate housing:
Masking marks and overspray:
Fisheyes:
And the washed out front end suffering from heavy unfinished DA sanding marks literally robbing the finish:
So, with that noted, a delicate approach was taken. The car has seen paint previously (bonnet, wings and bumper (no doubt because of stone chipping!)) and with several difficult, ‘hard to access’ areas, (vents, ducts etc) a plan of attack was required and various tools/products unveiled.
Starting my paint correction high on the roof with a DA polisher and microfibre cutting pads. Albeit needing two hits, the results are good.
Before/after around the fuel filler cap:
After DA compounding, a fine haze can be left behind. Requiring further refinement (rotary) to burnish to a sharp lustre and defect free finish.
Before/after refinement:
In completing the NSR quarter, a 50/50 was visible between the completed panel and the untouched passenger door.
Continuing down the NS, a few tighter areas were hit. Before/after:
Even in the hard to reach vents, correction was good.
Once finalised, the NSF wing made the bumper look a little tired, lazy and dull!!
Bumper taped ready for a 50/50. Sure enough, massive improvements were made.
The horizontal edge around the bumper had a tight lip that I struggled to hit properly. A mini-wool pad was used to dig through the lip and remove remaining sanding marks that before weren’t accessible.
Before/after:
More before and afters from the front bumper:
Bringing the first day’s polishing to an end, the bonnet was tackled and I then decided to have a rest and lay down the G-techniq protection on two of the wheels.
Bonne before/after:
With the wheels off, the calipers were cleansed and arches dressed.
G-Techniq C5 Wheel Armour applied to complete wheel surface.
Rise and shine, day 2, back to polishing.
There were some good (deep) marks down the OS quarter.
And requiring a rotary extension with a steady hand to safely correct the ‘hidden’ bits.
Before/after:
Before/after:
Some more extension work:
NS complete:
Ferrari badges removed to ensure true correction.
Light clustered freshened up after a two stage machine polish:
With the rear bumper complete, the machine work was about finished…
Before packing away, the exhaust box was given a quick fettle with a soft pad and metal polish.
A (blurry) 50/50:
After a dust down, panel wipe and tidy, the rest of the bay was polished and dressed where appropriate.
This, leaving the car stripped, defect free, ‘clean’ and ready for protection.
…even without its luxury layer of wax or ceramic sealant, its super glossy and slick already!
Squeaky clean and free of oils, the paintwork was coated with G-Techniq C1 Crystal Lacquer.
“The ultimate paint or grp coating. C1 Crystal Lacquer chemically bonds to become the new surface layer of your car/boat/ plane giving unrivalled UV resistance, dirt repellency, easy clean and swirl resistance. Lasts up to 10 times longer than dealer applied products”
With this applied, the paintwork was now left for 12 hours for the coating to cure, harden and set. Still, plenty left to do!
Badges polished up ready for refitting.
Remaining two wheels removed, arched dressed and protection applied.
Glass cleaned throughout. Here’s a 50/50 from the underside of the engine lid:
G-Techniq G1 Clear Vision applied to all exterior panes.
G-Techniq C4 Permanent Trim Restorer used to fresh the tarnished milky look black plastics. 50/50 on rear splitter:
Tool kit given a wipe over:
Interior dusted, scuffs and marks removed. Leather deep cleaned and protected with G-Techniq L1 Leather Guard.
Door shuts polished with AF Tripple:
Removal of plastic carpet film; something that should have been done properly before the car left the dealership back in the year 2000!
Throughout, there was quite a collection!
With the coatings now set, a final wipe with G-Techniq C1.5 Silo Seal was given.
Now all that’s left is to grab a handful of after photos. Not bad for a 12 year old, eh?
There we have it. My first step into the New Year. A job that I thoroughly enjoyed and look forward to seeing the owners’ reaction on collection…
Thanks for reading – feel free to share/comment/like/retweet!
Jim, WhiteDetails.
