Well I can honestly say that I've never been a big Ferrari fan, but spending a lot of time with this one certainly changed my mind. The older Ferraris just didn't really "catch my eye" and they really weren't really geared towards comfort. The 599 definitely breaks the mold though; comfort, style, elegance and 620 reasons not to take the family wagon to work... a true gentleman's Ferrari. On to the detail. The car had some pretty bad RIDS all over it and was generally "hazy" from the other scratches, but being that the car is less than one year old and that it's a daily driver (scratches are inevitable), the owner and I agreed that a "deep" correction wasn't necessary. By deep I mean that there were some deep scratches that remained after the polishing. Now in the future when it needs to be polished again, I'll still have plenty of clear to play with. Here's some before pics of what I was up against:
Day 1
Some muck left in the badges
Looks like someone used that colored wax crap...
Some cowboy polishing burns...
Wax residue
My usual pre-polish snow foam mix of Organizone No-Touch snow foam (10%) and HD Extra degreaser (5%)... both 100% biodegradable, I love this stuff
The wheels and tires were cleaned with Organizone GS-1, which is also 100% bio. This stuff is also awesome because it's got a ph value of 12.5, but when diluted even with 1% water it goes down to 7 making it safe for ceramic brakes.
Had to break out the waterproof gloves for this one as it was bowls cold outside!
I soaked the clay in warm water to prevent scratching and had to switch pieces about every half panel, as it was rock hard within seconds. Not too much contamination.
Hmm, buffer trails...
Not so visible in this light but if you look closely you can see some of the RIDS.
Generally hazy finish.
Mucky...
Bug marring on the clear bra. The clear bra will be replaced soon, because it's become quite worn within a short period of time and really makes the front of the car look awful.
I hate the hard water in this country!!
I started my test area with a Riwax finishing pad and some Insta Finish Micro Cut (cut 1 out of 5). I knew it wouldn't do a thing, but force of habit told me to start with the least abrasive combination... I think I even heard the ceramic finish call me "stupid" after a couple of passes
. I then stepped up to Insta Finish Swirl Away (cut 2 out of 5) and that didn't do a thing either. Then I hit it with a Riwax polishing pad and Swirl Away, but that didn't get me where I wanted to be either so finally I tried Insta Finish Buff n' Shine with the polishing pad and it did the trick. This stuff adds some healthy oils to the paint and leaves a great foundation for wax. I worked the polish in with about 4 passes at 600, taking advantage of the cutting power before it diminished. Then I sped up to 900, 1200 then back down to 900 finishing it up. This left me with very minimal marring and some Riwax and Scholl finishing pads with Insta Finish Insta Cut #30 finished things up like a champ. Some random polishing pictures.
After about 5 passes with Buff n' Shine and a polishing pad
Next 2 pics, finished up with Insta Cut #30
Night, night! See you tomorrow...
. I suspect that it would work, but then again maybe not because I tried it with the foam applicator and wasn't getting anywhere...
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