Envious Detailing: 1987 lamborgini Countach

toyotaguy · 05-14-09, 10:35

1987 Lamborghini Countach

A little background on this car:
“The Countach was the predecessor to the very successful Miura. The body was designed by Marcello Gandini at Bertone, and given a mid-engine layout in two-door coupe configuration. It featured an attractive and curvaceous body with elegant lines and fitted with modern mechanical components and technology. The engine was mounted longitudinally and replaced the transverse layout of its predecessor. The transmission was now fitted in front of the engine offering excellent weight distribution. Power was sent to the rear wheels through a driveshaft, which ran in its own tunnel in the engine's sump. Top speed was achieved at nearly 200 mph with zero-to-sixty taking under six-seconds.” (conceptcarz.com)

Now, for the detail portion of this magnificent car!

Upon arrival, I was told the car was in really good condition! Well, this is what I arrived to:

The car is kept inside a "bubble" which has an air filter attached to it. This "bubble" prevents anything from falling on the car possibly damaging it, scratching it, denting it, etc. It was pretty neat "unveiling it" when I got there.
After we took it out of its "bubble," I could tell there were some paint issues
Under the halogens and LED lights, this is what I was greeted with:

Once I figured out that the car wasn’t in a truly great condition, I pulled it out into the sun and this is what I was dealing with:

I knew it was going to be a couple of days, so I got started right away!

toyotaguy · 05-14-09, 10:36

After “wiping” down the car, (because the car cannot be washed traditionally due to expensive electrical parts directly below the vents), I proceeded to clay the car to rid it of any bonded contaminants. I chose a light duty clay bar since the finish on the car was relatively smooth to the touch already. The clay took little time as not much was on the paint!

After evaluating the paint with different lights, at different angles, I came up with a game plan to attack the paint, all the while still maintaining the integrity of the paint! With a car this rare and in this condition, I didn’t want to remove a lot of paint. The future resale value of the car depends on all conditions of the car, including the original paint, which this car has - single stage!

I came up with a game plan that required four steps of compounding/polishing. My process was the following:
PC/M105/LC orange 5.5" x's 2
PC/Menzerna SIP/meguairs yellow pad
PC/Menzerna FPII/LC blue pad
Wolfgang Fuzion hand applied

The 105 steps knocked down everything except for the really deep scratches. I knew that removing those would have required a wool pad, more 105 hits and possibly some wetsanding! I would have done it, but I only had two days with this car, and I wanted to keep the integrity of the paint! The SIP removed the haze left over from the 105 with ease and finished down almost lsp ready, yet, as we all know, there is a need for a final polish on most paints! After hitting one panel with menzerna FPII, I could really see a difference in clarity, gloss, depth, and wetness! At that point, I knew it was going to be a huge difference. What I didn't know what just how big of a difference Wolfgang Fuzion would make! WOW, I never had the same results on other cars I have used Fuzion on! Using Fuzion on this car proved to be the ticket! Incredible wetness was added to the paint on this rare exotic!

With all things said, here are the final pics of this beautifully built 1987 Lamborgini Countach!

OK one more final shot...this one is on my desktop!

RickRack · 05-14-09, 10:53

Wow, that's alot of work for only 2 days!!!

The turnaround is amazing!! You should be proud...

Doesn't look like a very easy car to detail, but you made the car look like it just rolled out of the Lamborghini factory.

Nice work!!!!!

jordanrossbell · 05-14-09, 10:55

Awesome car, cant say i have seen one of these before...nervous working on it??

toyotaguy · 05-14-09, 10:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by RickRack

Wow, that's alot of work for only 2 days!!!

The turnaround is amazing!! You should be proud...

Doesn't look like a very easy car to detail, but you made the car look like it just rolled out of the Lamborghini factory.

Nice work!!!!!

Thanks Rick, I added it up, a total of 16 hours was spent on this car from start to finish with about 1 hour taken out for pics, prep, talking. i credit the rockstar and redbull, with about a gallon of water each day, and eating. I cant tell you how much better working is when you are eating. I have tried doing 8 hours on no food just to get the car done in time...never again!

Quote:

Originally Posted by jordanrossbell

Awesome car, cant say i have seen one of these before...nervous working on it??

At first, I was a little nervous, but after the first panel, I was completely in my element!

S2K2004 · 05-14-09, 11:26

Even the idea of washing a car like that makes me nervous. Though with the weird electronics issues it sounds like a prime candidate for weekly ONR washes.

mrclrider · 05-14-09, 12:08

you must be very skilled with the PC, I do not know how I would get that machine around all crazy angles...damn good job!!!

Saleenfan · 05-14-09, 12:15

looks great O and also the Countach was the successor not the predecessor of the miura

Got Wax · 05-14-09, 12:20

Hey,
You polished so hard that you rubbed away the motor!!

toyotaguy · 05-14-09, 12:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrclrider

you must be very skilled with the PC, I do not know how I would get that machine around all crazy angles...damn good job!!!

the tighter areas were done by hand. I mainly use the PC, rotary only comes out occasionally for me. I have it down to a science...lol

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saleenfan

looks great O and also the Countach was the successor not the predecessor of the miura

I just took that quote from conceptcarz.com

Quote:

Originally Posted by Got Wax

Hey,
You polished so hard that you rubbed away the motor!!

the owner is replacing the clutch and getting some motor parts plated...he said getting the motor out was a PITA! he had to install a winch setup on his 2 post lift just to get it out at weird angles since the motor and trans come out as one!