La Bella Firma by Bella Macchina (100+ pics/video)

TH0001 · 06-05-08, 03:38

Bella Firma (bèlla fēr-ma)- ITAL. Beautiful Signature
1)A signature of intense beauty
2)To work with such resolve that the end result is an object of pride
3)The pinnacle of signature look of Bella Macchina; the pinnacle of perfection.

The Boxer Berlinetta was a series of road cars built by Ferrari from 1973 until mid 1984. The “BB” series of cars was a major step forward for Enzo Ferrari, who was originally opposed to the idea of a mid engine road car. Competition from Lamborghini’s mid-engined Miura and a lot of convincing from his engineer’s pushed this model into production.

The first series of cars where named the 365 GT4 BB and featured a 4.4L Flat 12. Over the production run from 1973-1976 only 387 GT4 BBs where built. We are fortunate to have detailed one for the world famous Cavallino Classic: Concours De Elegance in which it won Silver placing with minimal paint polishing and a light clean up. The second series of cars debuted in 1977 with the engine pushed to 5.0L and name reflecting the increased displacement: 512 BB. The styling was altered with new front and rear fascias as well as the reduction in the number of tail lights, from six to four.

The final series debuted in 1981 with the advent of fuel injection dubbed the 512BBi. We also had the distinction of detailing two of these cars for the Cavallino Classic: Concours De Elegance, both placing.

This particular model is a 1979 BB in Rosso Corsa red with a 5.0L F12 producing an extremely high (for the time) 340 horsepower @ 6200 rpm and 333 ft. lbs. of torque at 4800 rpm. For contrast a base model Corvette struggled on with 190 horsepower and Ford’s Mustang had a top engine choice of 140 horsepower. The F12 also features dry sump oiling and a five speed transaxle. The interior keeps with Ferrari tradition in surrounding the driver and (lucky) passenger with the finest hand stitched hides at every stop, with out ever losing it is purpose as a driver’s car first and foremost.

Consisting of over 100 separate steps and designed to prepare cars for concours events, our Bella Firma package is a 50 hour plus detail executed to be the finest detailing service in the world. The following write up is designed to be a pictorial account of nostro orgoglio, our pride… La Bella Firma: The Beautiful Signature by Bella Macchina.

Here is the lucky recipient, a 1979 Ferrari 512BB. These cars where never intended for the American market and thus where grey market and unique. Only 192 Ferrari 512s where built and I am unsure how many where federalized in ’79.

There was lot of dirt and grime in the seams and jambs of the vehicle.

The Ferrari opposed 12 cylinder was also in rough shape, never having been detailed in almost 30 years.

Also the wheels had strange substance, later to be confirmed as brake dust.

Before polishing the paint or getting into the meat and bones of the detail, it is important to take your time and carefully wash and cleanse every area of the exterior of the vehicle that dirty could be hiding. We generally start out Lavaggio a Mano premium hand wash by thoroughly cleaning the smaller, more concentrated areas first.

All of detailing lays in the prep work. It is important to thoroughly clean the tire before applying any dressing to ensure it looks its best and lays on the rubber correctly (to lengthen durability as well as prevent sling). Brian uses a Meguiars’ Tire Brush to scrub the tires with Optimum’s Power Clean.

Here Brian works to thoroughly agitate P21s Wheel Gel in every crevice of the wheel. Using a wet Swissvax Wheel brush ensures a slight lather which seams to increase the cleaning power of the gel. An EZ Detail Brush and various short hair flexible brushes allow for cleaning behind the spokes and around the brake calipers.

Working the gel into a lather…

After rinsing the wheels and tires, we cleaned the wheel wells. (In general we are working at different steps so as we circle from tire to tire we overlap. If you are working by your self it would make sense to do the wheel wheels first, so you are not rinsing the dirt from the arches over your clean tire.). A 7/1/2 mix of de-ionized water/Optimum Power Clean/Meguiars’ APC is sprayed and agitated with a various short bristle brushes.

The lower rocker panels where lightly misted with super diluted Meguiars’ Safety Degreaser (50:1) to loosen any and all grime.

After jetting the surface with de-ionized water, we washed with Zaino Z7 soap using the two bucket method.

Certain trim was removed, such as the license plate and license plate frame.

Numerous vents and tight areas where agitated with a natural boar’s hair brush…

A natural sheep skin mitt was used as the wash medium, with special care used to make all areas of the car where completely clean and free of grit and dirt.

After the majority of the car using a high speed leaf blower, we elected to ensure the 30 year old paint was deep cleaned by using Finish Kare’s Decontamination System. It is a three stage cleansing system designed to remove all fall out and contamination from the pours of the paint. The process starts by working Stage One: #1119 Soil/Coating Remover into the paint for five minutes then rinsing clean, followed by Stage Two: # 883 Steel Iron Rust Remover for an additional five minutes, finally rinsed clean with #118 PH Neutralizer. This system was followed with Sonus Gray Clay using Blue Magic Clay Lube (which did not pick up any contamination but did remove some light over spray from the lower driver side panel).

Now that we had the vehicle and the pours of the paint clean it was time for a very thorough inspection of the paint work and other surfaces. Keeping in mind that this Ferrari is 30 years old and the current owner has owned it for only a year, it is very important to look over everything, trying to decode the past and look for areas of concern. It is up to us to find the history of the paint job so we can take the Ferrari to its fullest potential.

In this pic it is very clean that this area had been color sanded or repainted. The headlight cover had powder runs (as well as weather stripping which had pink power staining) from obvious color sanding which paint measuring revealed to be a repainted area on the passenger side front fender.

The paint’s surface was inspected using a variety of lighting conditions including natural, halogen, and high density. 30 years of use was very evident in the large amount of various defects. Then entire surface was heavily swirled, but these lighter defects where the least of our problems. Large amounts of scratches in various depths ran across the paint, resembling the interstate system across our map. Clearly the last several decades had not been to kind to the surface of this beautiful machine.

Through the clouds some deeper circular marring could be found.

Even when viewed through tree cover, millions of microscopic scratches could be seen arching across the surface.

Using a hand held HID light revealed the deeper defects, each piece of marring represents a rather deep scratch and this Ferrari was covered in them.

TH0001 · 06-05-08, 03:39

The worst damage to the paint started above the driver’s side head light cover and ran straight back across the roof. On the roof the straight line scratches where deep enough to feel a finger nail.

Picture from the driver’s side roof…

Here is the general condition of the paint as the best I could capture it in direct sunlight, though even this doesn’t tell the whole story.

Here is a video clip in which I try to capture the extent of the damage.

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To prepare this Ferrari for major paint surface surgery it is very important to tape up the 30 year old trim as well as any sharp edges and body lines. The Ferrari Boxer was the last hand built Ferrari (with body’s shaped by artisans using dollies and mallets) and are notorious for having very thin paint on the edges.

Brian drawing a line with 3M’s blue painters tape over the stripping.

In this video clip I speak about the importance of properly taping the Ferrari.

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With the vehicle preparation over, it is time to be to correct and revitalize the paint’s surface. Paint gauge reading we consistently inconstant which is typical of a hand painted Ferrari, and it is also important to remember that the paint is will be 30 years old very soon, so it is better to massage then cut.

Using Menzerna PO83 as a baseline with a white LC pad allows me to gauge the relative depth of the defect and get a feel for how the paint will re act to various polishing steps. A pass over a test section did reduce the swirl marks but unfortunately did not remove nor lessen any of the deeper scratches. This paint required heavy compounding, which is where we ran into a road block.

The paint was very soft and did not respond well to heavy compounding, as the abrasives in various compounds (even when applied with foam pads) would leave rings (like an Audi symbol chained together) through out the paint that proved very stubborn to remove. Using various wool pads would also instill similar marring, which means where limited in how aggressive we could go. Using Menzerna P083 and a green pad seemed to be the most aggressive we could get, and even this was incredibly slow going and did not have the cut to remove the deeper scratches.

After several hours of frustration, we settled on to a combination that worked best in terms of paint re-leveling, using a two step compound process. Meguiars’ M95 was applied with 3M Wool Pad at 1500 RPM to level the deeper defects. The rings installed in the paint where removed using a Meguiars’ So1o Wool Pad using Menzerna PO83 at 1700 RPM backed down to 1200 RPM. Several passes of each where required to keep us heading in the right direction. When going this aggressive on older paint it is vital to take your time and keep the heat level down, while constantly measuring the depth of the paint to keep the paint removal in the safe zone. A classic such as this Ferrari can only have original paint once which is why it demands the finest care.

The compounding and defect removal is the most important step as any defects that remain will be visible after the polishing is complete. After thoroughly compounding the Ferrari we rewashed it to remove any compounding dust. At this point we had over 14 man hours into the paint and where making good progress in aiming to restore this paint to perfection. Constant inspection and checking of paint depth is mandatory in re-leveling of this nature.

P083 was leaving a great surface given that it was being used on a wool pad but still required two to three applications with a green German pad and various RPM to remove any traces of marring from the compounding step. At this point the day was long and I had to continue on my own. After a fifteen minute break (it was 8:30 PM at this point) it was back to work.

Polishing the paint with PO83 brought a huge amount of gloss back into the single stage paint, but also revealed areas where some deeper scratches remained on the hood, roof, and sides. After checking the paint depth, I elected to wet sand the areas with Meguiars Uni-Grit Sand Paper in 2000, 2500, and 3000 grits.

Here is a picture of the hood after receiving spot sanding.

This process was repeated over much of the hood and driver side fender, as well the entire roof to remove the deep scratches. Unfortunately when the paint was highly polishes the reaming RIDs where very apparent.

The rear bumper was a mess, with thousands of deep scratches and one area with a very bad blend mark from a possible touch-up painting.

The area about an inch closer then the light shows the blend mark…

…which was sanded with 2000 grit until level then followed with 2500 grit until smooth?

On the other side of the bumper were deeper RIDs and a noticeable “haze” in the reflection of the paint from thousands and thousands of micro scratches.

The scratches where removed by sanding…

And the haze was removed by compounding and polishing the paint, similar to the rest of the body. This left the refection of the UV lights on the ceiling as well as the popcorn texture very sharp in the paint.

At 2 A.M. it was time to call it a night. All of the RIDS and scratches had been removed, either by sanding, compounding, or a combination of both and most of the paintwork had been polished.

Day two started at 8 AM with the advent for finishing a couple area’s with PO83 before moving on to jewelling the paint’s surface to an extremely high gloss.

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After finishing the entire surface with P083 using a combination of green German foam pads (both 6.5 inch and 4 inch) we began jewelling the paint’s surface and ensure it was microscopically perfect using Menzerna P087mc on a red LC pad. Side by side we tested Menzerna PO85rd on a red LC pad and found that this gave us a slightly sharper, more reflective surface as it seems to level the paint just a little truer.

When PO85rd is worked into the paint properly and broken down completely it will leave a translucent film and an extremely high gloss on the paint’s surface.

You can see the clarity of the paint restored (30 year old paint) and the sharpness and color range that probably hasn’t been seen since one of the Ferrari artisan’s laid out the enamel by hand three decades ago.

TH0001 · 06-05-08, 03:41

With majority of the exterior wrapped up we had the pleasure being joined by Autopian Detailer’s Angelo (zoomzoommazda) and Eric (black745) who volunteered their time and came to hang out. Angelo was also instrumental in providing some additional PO83 as our quart had not shipped in from Autogeek as of yet.

The plastics of the exterior (headlight covers, reflectors, markers, and taillights) where polished with Caswell’s Blue Compound using a Caswell string buff on a power drill to restore the original gloss of the plastic. This was followed with Menzerna 106FF by rotary with a blue CCS spot pad to remove any compounding haze and increase the gloss further.

The factory wheels responded well to a hand buff with Zaino All-In-One, then where topped with 2 layers of Zaino’s Z5pro. The center lugs where hand polished with Mother’s Billet polish. The tires received 3 coats of Meguiars’ Hot Shine Tire dressing, the first two coats applied with a microfiber and third with a foam applicator block. After being allowed to set for 3 hours the excess was wiped clean to ensure a very even and natural look on the rubber.

Plastic window trim was cleaned with Jeff Werkerstatt Prime and coated window trim received 1Z’s Gummi Pfledge. The wheel arches where treated with two coats of 303’s Aerospace Protectant.

Angelo spent close to two hours cleaning the front grill and the horns and components behind it, removing 30 years an 8000 km of grime.

The after photo does not reveal the quality of work Angelo did because of the rock chips and road abrasion, but you would eat off on any area.

The trunk was disassembled by removing the spare tire, tool kits, and carriers. Unfortunately there was a lot of compound splatter (from the previous polishing attempt) that took a little elbow grease to remove from the weather stripping. Meguiars’ APC was used (7:1) to wipe and clean every area in the trunk in combination with q-tips and various brushes. The cooling fans where wiped with Meguiars’ Safety Degreaser, then all the black work was treated with 303’s Areospace Protectant. 1Z Gummi Pfledge was used to treat all the weather stripping.

Blk745 (Eric) or Hercules works up a good sweat in the 100 degree heat in the garage vacuuming the very difficult carpeting.

The spare tire was removed and cleaned with P21s Wheel Gel. The tire was scrubbed with Emmin Fabrick tire cleaner and rinsed clean.

Before

During

The tire dressed with Meguiars’ Hot Shine and being carefully laid back into the very clean trunk.

The original tool kit was removed and taken apart. Each tool was polished with Mother’s Mag and Aluminum hand polish.

The felt was vacuumed clean then the polished tools where returned to their homes.

The tire changing kit’s tools where cleaned as well.

The leather was cleaned with Zaino Z9 and conditioned with Zaino Z10 before a final wipe with 303’s Areospace.

The leather tire bag was placed under the spare tire…

And the tool kit strapped down in its carrier.

The interior of the Ferrari was in good shape (compared to the initial condition of the exterior) to begin but now looked a little out of sort compared to the brilliance of the paint. During the first day, compressed air was used to blow out any dust and grime from any vents or crevices. After cleaning the seats and leather it was treated with Leatherique’s Revujinator Oil and left to dwell overnight. The second day saw the leather treated with Zaino Z9 and Z10, then topped with 303’s Areospace Protectant.

Angelo working Z10 into the leather hides…

The carpeting was removed and the floor boards cleaned with APC. All the interior metal was polished with Mother’s. The glass was cleaned with Meguiars’ Proline Window Cleaner, then sealed with Werkerstatt Prime and topped with Optimum Spray Wax.
Work continuing on with a little help from some quality autopian’s.

The engine was in as rough shape as the rest of the Ferrari. The carb cover’s where peeling so we removed them and sanded them with a scuffing pad before Angelo laid down some hi temp paint, matched to the original finish.

TH0001 · 06-05-08, 03:43

With the exterior, trunk, and interior near completed we pulled the Ferrari out into the sun to observe the paint after wiping it with a prep solvent.

With day two winding to an end we pulled the Ferrari back in and had a quick discussion of which pre wax treatment to use. After some thoughts we decided nothing looked better on single stage then Meguiars’ classic glaze, M07. The oil rich glaze increased the color range of the paint and gave it very deep appearance which would compliment or wax of choice, the ultra deep and clear P21s 100%. By the time we finished it was late, but I was able to capture a few pictures that show the range of color, clarity, and depth of the paint before we lost light for good.

Day three started with a very thorough engine bay detailing. One of the challenges of detailing the motor of this fine vehicle is that it cannot be rinsed with water. Having 30 year old electronics means that care has to be used on every step. Here are some before shots of the engine.

The process was to spray Meguiars Super Degreaser (10:1) on various areas of the entire block and use a variety of brushes to agitate the grease and grime, before extracting the slurry with a wet vacuum. Then de-ionized water would further agitate the left over residue and be extracted. It was extremely time consuming working around all the angles for the transaxle and opposed engine block.

After degreasing the engine and surrounds, the aluminum cradle was polished using Deep Finish Deep Alum and various polishing pads by hand.

50/50 behind the motor.

Before

After

The spark plug wires were wiped with lacquer thinner. All bolts and latches where hand polished and all black work was wiped with Meguiars’ APC. Weather stripping and smooth rubber was treated with 1Z Gummi Pfledge and the remaining was wiped with 303’s Areospace.

Here is a 50/50 of the Gummi Pfledge (it dries a little more satin)

After 7 hours of scrapped knuckles and a sore back I was ready to re-install the freshly painted air-box covers. However the holder nuts looked terrible, so I refinished them by hand (amongst 15 other nuts and bolts from the engine compartment).

Here is before/after shot of the nuts.

First the face of the nut is re-surfaced by scrubbing face down against a scouring pad, then twisted at the end to keep the original circular pattern from when they where originally machined.

Then a little Mother’s polish is applied to the scouring pad and the nut is worked against it until perfectly level.

At this point the face of the nut is wiped against terrycloth using Mother’s until it bleeds a thick film of black and looks fresh and detailed.

Done…

This process was repeated for various nuts, screws, and bolts…

Finally…

TH0001 · 06-05-08, 03:47

Finally the rear license plate holder and screws where polished and reinstalled…

The sun was bright and going down and time was late so I did my best to capture some after photos of the car…

Finally some parting shots from the last night, safely tucked away in the garage and awaiting pick up…

The total hours invensted into the detail approached 53, makening this the most laborous of our details yet. I am truely grateful for the help of Eric and Angelo, and of course Brian.

Che Bella Macchina

Todd

detaildoc · 06-05-08, 04:10

Wow! All I can say is wow!

Amazing work

. The videos are great also, very informative.

jimmie jam · 06-05-08, 04:20

sorry only one word to describe this masterpiece. WOW.

Kenney · 06-05-08, 04:35

WOW! great job!

Did you polish the taped edges by hand or just leave them alone?

Thanks

MotorCity · 06-05-08, 04:38

The most entertaining Bella Machina thread yet.. the attention to detail in both the physical work, methodology and documentation is superb.

The owner is truly lucky to have his machine perfected!!

TheMethod · 06-05-08, 04:40

Lost for words... amazing.

lecchilo · 06-05-08, 04:46

Another WOW here... nothing beats a properly polished single-stage red paint... nice write-up as well

jswift2000 · 06-05-08, 04:47

Speechless....