3 Ferrari Corrections: 2 F430's and one real bad orginal paint Boxer

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In 1984 Ferrari rolled out the last of its ‘hand built’ road cars ending a tradition started when Enzo Ferrari would fix the bodies of his Alfa race cars. The 1984 512 BBi (Boxer Berlinetta injection) was the last car beat into existence by Italian craftsman working with dollies and hammers. If you imagine the scene you can almost hearing Enzo screaming in the background.

This particular car was in terrible shape, covered in scratches, swirl marks, acid rain damage, rain etching, and a fine blanket of white overspray… Luckily Brian Brice was able to corridinate his schedule and able to lend a much needed hand on this Boxer.

Some of the before photographs…

Here is a picture in the early morning sun, AFTER being washed. You can see some water spotting/etching as well as a fine white mist of overspray.


Another picture of the same area, again showing swirls/overspray/grayness


The paint on the sides of the Ferrari was as bad as the paint on the horizontal panels… Only slightly more difficult to photograph, the paint had overspray, trails, scratches, and a gray haze…










Wash Process

-Hand wash using two bucket method with P21S total auto wash
-FK1 USA three stage decontamination wash
-Menzerna 7.5 Wheel Gel on wheels and tires
-Dried with waffle weave towels and wiped down with 91% Isopropyl Alch.

After using some aggressive chemicals to thoroughly strip and clean the paint any previous oils and glazes where removed. In the ‘flesh’ the paint looked even worse and was border line horrid. The previous buffer trails must have been used with a glaze that filled in a lot of the defects. Here is what the paint really looked like!









Pre Polishing Prep-Lightly ‘sand’ remaining orange peel with Micro Abrasive 4000 grit
-Clay using Clay Magic ‘Red’ Clay with Meguiar’s’ Last Touch QD
-Bathe paint with 91% Iso-Alcohol
-Mask trim, rubber, edges, and corners with various thickness 3M Blue tape

After preparing the Ferrari for surgery we took paint thickness readings, averaging between 5.4 mils and 8.3 mils

After masking half of the trunk cover (front hood) we worked on a test section, trying different combinations to massage the 25 year old paint and restore its original (if not better then original) gloss. After trying several polishing compounds on various cutting wool pads it became evident that the severe water etching on the front trunk and the roof would require significant wet-sanding to remove.

The original single stage paint also because to dot or dimple along the doors and side panels, so we decided to level these as well.

Paint Correction Process

-Wet-sand with various sheets of paper including
-3M 1500 grit
-3M 2000 grit
-Meguiar’s’ 2000 unigrit
-Meguiar’s’ 2500 unigrit
-Meguiar’s’ 3000 unigrit

-Compound and cut paint with 3M Extra Cut 3000 x 2-6 passes
-Polish paint with Mark V ‘Uno’ 1-2 passes
-Refine paint with Mark V ‘Uno’ 1 pass
-Jewel paint with 3M UltraFina 3000 1 pass

Notes: Paint was measured after each step. Paint was also wiped with 91% Alcohol after each polishing session to ensure true results and to ensure that this paint was truly restored and refinished.

Paint Correction in Process-Pictures

This picture from the door shows the black ‘dimples’ or pitting in the process of being removed.


Another picture from a similar area…


It is going to get worse before we can make it perfect


I was lucky to have the help of Brian Brice from Finer Finish. I snapped a photo of him working out some deeper defects with 1500 grit on the trunk cover.


The hood was a mess and it was difficult the to gauge the acid water etching removal so we often had to sand it, cut it to restore gloss, sand it again, etc….


After sanding we could cut the hood to restore gloss and mark remaining water marks…


Then sand them again…


Once we where comfortable with the removal we processed to sand the rest of the paint level and use finer and finer grits to ensure a perfectly flat and level surface.


Finishing with 3000 grit…


The roof also received the same treatment…


A good 50/50 shot of the roof while Brian continues to work on the hood (which took a full 10 hours of his time to get our desired results)…


The tools of the trade…



Passenger side door after sanding…


After cutting and polishing…

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And after perfecting and jewelling…


I documented the work with a couple more before/after shots on various parts of the Ferrari.

















Even the tightest areas where refinished to the same level as the rest of the paint. Bella Macchina does not cut corners, but rather compound, polish, jewel, and perfect them.


The interior needed a fair amount of work as well.

Interior Process/Pictures

-Vacuum thoroughly, blowing out cracks, crevices with compressed air.
-Clean leather hides thoroughly using a stiff brush and Gloss-It Satin Leather Cleaner
-Condition leather hides with Gloss-It Satin Leather Polish
-Clean all interior plastic and rubber with 1Z Plastik Reineigher
-Condition all interior plastic and rubber with 303 Areospace Protectant
-Condition weather stripping with 1Z Gummi Pfledge
-Polish and seal interior glass with Werkstat Prime
-Polish interior metal and bright work with Mother’s Mag and Alum

Before pictures show the leather in grimy condition




50/50 Shots of the leather being cleaned...




Interior after photographs…






Final Detailing and LSP Process

-Engine and trunk wiped down with Meguiar’s’ APC 10:1 and dressed with
Meguiars’ Hyperdressing 3:1
-Paint and body rewashed with Blackfire Gloss Shampoo
-Two coats of Blackfire Wet Diamond Sealant via Porter Cable/Gold Pad
-Two coats of Blackfire Midnight Sun Carnauba wax
-One coat of Zaino AIO followed by one of Rejex on wheels
-Three coats of Zaino Z16 on tires
-Windows sealed and cleaned with Werkstat Prime
-Plastic reflectors and light covers/tail lights sanded with 4000/6000 grit
Micro abrasive and polished with Menzerna PO83

The trunk and engine detailing wasn’t too involved as both where clean to begin with. While we certainly cleaned them up, the work was as intensive as a concours level detail that we usually perform.







After the paint re-leveling and washing the sun peaked out for a couple minutes (the previous two days had been over cast and rainy). We tried to capture some sun shots but were foiled for the most part.







The only two sun shots, both after polishing but before washing the dust off.

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Final Photographs

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This Rosso Corsa F430 was in rough shape as far as the paint with numerous RIDS, scratches, and wash induced swirling. Overall it took me the better part of 18 hours to get to Bella Macchina’s Gold standard, which is about 95-99 percent perfect. Also included in this detail were a full Leatherique treatment and interior detail as well as the engine compartment. Unfortunately because of the time I was not able to get a lot of sun shots of the after, and because of the pace I had to work, not a lot of process pictures as well.

Before pictures







First the Ferrari was washed with Gloss-It Gloss Shampoo using the 2BM and my Karcher. The wheels were dosed with P21s Wheel Gel and agitated inside and out, including the calipers. The tires and wheel arches were cleaned with Meguiars APC+.

Claying the Ferrari with Zaino Z18 revealed little contamination (some focused on the rear bumper) of note. Meguairs’ Last Touch 1:1 was used for lubrication. Finally the Ferrari was wiped with alcohol and taped off.

The correction was straight forward and took around 12-13 hours, with only isolated areas along middle of the doors and rear vents requiring more then one cutting pass.
3M Extra Cut (Perfect It 3000) on a Lake Country Purple foamed wool was first used to cut the paint (again some areas required 3-4 passes). This was followed by Menzerna PO83 on a several Lake Country Green Eurofoam pads. Finishing was via a prototype finishing polish on a prototype Lake Country ‘gray’ foam pad. The paint was checked with alcohol wipe downs after every step and constantly measured for paint film removal.

After a pressure rinse to remove loose dust, and washing the paint with Zaino Z7, I applied two layers of Blackfire Sealant via a porter cable with a Gold Lake Country Pad. This was topped with two coats of Blackfire wax.

The wheels polished up nicely by hand with Zaino All In One, then received two coats of Rejex. The tires where dressed with Zaino Z16 Perfect Tire Gloss for Three coats. The wheel wells received Meguiars’ Hyperdressing, cut 3:1.

I didn’t take any photos of the interior (which was in nice shape to begin with, a beautiful combination of tan and black hides with red stitching. Everything was wiped down; the leather received the two stage Leatherique treatment. 303 was applied to all rubber, trim, and plastics, as well as the dash top.

The engine was first agitated with P21s TAW, then pressure rinsed clean. 303 and Meguiars’ Hyperdressing was applied to the various dark trim. The frame rails received Zaino AIO. All glass was cleaned with Gloss-It Gloss Enhancer spray.

Some after photos of the paint (before sealing)…











Some of the after photo’s of the F430’s 4.3 liter 490 horsepower V8.





The stainless steel muffler was hand polished with Mothers’ Mag and Aluminum polish.











I finished the Ferrari as the sun was going down on day two. I did try to get the best possible shots given the lighting.





















These two photos do a good job in showing the depth of the reflection. The first show shows crisp reflections, but the emblem (which the camera sees as MUCH closer) looks out of focus.


Focusing on the emblem knocks the reflections out of focus, because they appear much further (or deeper into the paint) away.

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This Black F430 was done solo as well and actually done two days previous to the red F430 above.

The paint on this ‘Nero’ Ferrari had a lot of micro hazing and some hologramming, but over all wasn’t terrible, although short of its ultimate potential. The passenger side door was slightly rough, and the paint was worse then it appears in the pictures.









The door (which has a little touch up work) was really the worst area of this Ferrari, but overall the damage did not penetrate too far into the clear coat.



The Ferrari was first washed using Turtle Wax Ice using the 2BM and my Karcher. The custom wheels, tires, and arches were cleaned with Menzerna 7.5 Tire and Wheel Cleaner. Light deposits of road tar were removed with SCG Road Grime Destroyer. The paint was clayed with Z18 for good measure, although no contamination was found.

Polishing was first handled by MarkV MV350 on a Lake Country Orange pad. Following a wipe down, prototype Lake Country pads and prototype polishes were used to finish the paint out to perfection.





This picture shows a 50/50 of the hood under HID lighting.



The same area in the sunlight.

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The correction took the better part of day, about 13 hours in total. The Ferrari was rewashed, then 2 coats of Blackfire applied via PC using a gold Lake Country pad. At this point we called it a day.



Day two started early with 2 coats of Blackfire Midnight Sun carnauba wax for two coats. The black hides of the interior were cleaned with Gloss-It Leather Polish (cleaner) and Protectant (conditioner). This product works extremely well on dark leather as it doesn’t streak in my experience and leaves the hides very soft.

Interior carbon fiber was hand polished with Menzerna PO85u, then topped with Blackfire Sealant.





The wheels received two coats of Rejex and the tires received Meguiars’ Endurance Gel. The wheel arches were dressed with Meguiars Hyper Dressing. The engine was wiped down and trim dressed with Meguiars’ Hyperdressing. Glass was cleaned with Gloss-It Gloss Enhancing Spray.



Okay some after shots…

[rydawg]

Very nice work my friend!

[lt1_man]

Great work as always Todd. When you wetsand is there a different in the unigrit and just normal sand paper?

Brandon

[Holden_C04]

That Boxer was hammered, Todd. Absolutely hammered, and you brought it back to life. Fantastic work as always.

[toyotaguy]

damn sexy cars

[BAKER]

Beautiful work, you used Blackfire Sealant on these three cars. Is that a regular product for you? I have it and find it very easy to use.

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Originally Posted by rydawg

Very nice work my friend!

Thanks Ryan, I appericate it of course!

Originally Posted by lt1_man

Great work as always Todd. When you wetsand is there a different in the unigrit and just normal sand paper?

Brandon

Brandon, I have found that removing sanding scratches left behind from the Unigrit paper is much easier. It finishes the paint off much more even, IME.

Originally Posted by Holden_C04

That Boxer was hammered, Todd. Absolutely hammered, and you brought it back to life. Fantastic work as always.

Thanks Tyler. It would have been very coo if you could have made it down!

Originally Posted by toyotaguy

damn sexy cars

Agreed!

Originally Posted by BAKER

Beautiful work, you used Blackfire Sealant on these three cars. Is that a regular product for you? I have it and find it very easy to use.

I'm a product junkie. I love the way it applys with a lake country gold pad, so I am enjoying using it for the time being. Very slick looking and very nice.