Ferrari 575M Maranello 30k renovation

Apollo_Auto · 07-17-09, 04:50

Howdy all! Let me start by saying that I'd love to have ANY Ferrari, but to be able to park this one at my house every day, I'd even give my neighbor's first-born son... I met the owner of this car at the Ferrari weekend that I went to a couple of months ago and all brown-nosing aside (he'll never see this post anyway so...), he's the coolest disgustingly rich person I've ever encountered. We didn't speak much at the party because after washing 14 Ferraris I was a bit too busy making sure my chair didn't walk away while sipping on Chivas and toaking on a fatty-bo-batty Cuban. We had a nice conversation at the racetrack the following Sunday and he was very interested in what I could do with his car. He first showed me the rock chips in front and asked me what my opinion was and I told him that I would have it repainted, but then warned him that if he ever sells the car he may have problems because the buyer will think it was in an accident. His reply was, "Oh, I'm never selling this one."

So as agreed on the track, he brought his car in a couple of weeks ago, I arranged to have the front bumper resprayed first to allow aple enough time to cure before the clear bra guy came to do his magic (does a great job and leaves very minimal scratches... and hooks me up with alcohol... isopropyl

can't get it in this country for some idiotic reason). So with the bumper resprayed, the service guys got cracking on the 30k service including brake pad replacement, new Pirellis, oil change, etc., etc. After they were finished the clear bra guy came to cover the front bumper and the next day I started. This car is a 2005 and though not a "daily" driver, it gets used. The owner dropped this car off at the same time he picked up his new California (this one) I made "sometime in the summer" arrangements to come out to the countryside for a washing tutorial with him. Anyhoo, enough of my lip, here's the point:

The fornt hood scoop was repainted inside, though I didn't get pictures

The carpet on the back deck was a bit dry-rotted so we tore up the rest of it and re-glued it.

While gluing, I started getting the urge to break open a couple of glow sticks and turn on some techno music so I decided to step out of the car and enjoy the lights instead while Zsolti sniffed... I mean "finished" up...

Dirty rims and grease from the new tires

Ugly water spots in the boot that were cleared up with InstaFinish #15 and a foam applicator

After everything was cleared up I applied some Collinite 885 to the entire boot.

All finished and shiny. The door shuts got the same treatment.

Woah horsey! What's that I see?? Could that be some automatic car wash bristles caught in the emblem like the others that I've seen?? Yup, that's exactly what it is... and nobody has seen this until now?? Pfft.

Here's another one...

Some carnage under the "Crime light"

These also needed some attention

Holy melted gumballs, Batman! By the shape of this I thought it was some kind of leaf or something at first, but then realized that it was a melted piece of gum... along with A LOT of counter-weight glue

:.

An aerial view

And what was lurking behind it...

All cleaned up! First I cleaned the rims with APC and brushes then wiped them clean with a retired MF. After that, I used a clean MF to strip off the top layer of counter-weight glue so that the adhesive remover could penetrate it. You just have to rub the top part basically and it's all downhill from there... well compared to stripping off the top part

.

Since I don't have a wash facility and use ONR to do these cars, I obviously didn't have a PW to handle all the dirty work for me so this was all cleaned by hand and then dressed with IF Super Protect All.

After all the rims were cleaned they were treated with 2 coats of Liquid Glass.

Apollo_Auto · 07-17-09, 04:52

Some racetrack spaghetti removed from the inside of the wheel wells

Back wheel well also cleaned up

The tires were put back on and torqued to 110.

Me sweating like the pig that I am in the 38 degree heat...

Some gratuitous porn for you all... this is a pearl white Scaglietti with a chocolate-flavored interior.... DROOOOOOL!

Just to remind you of this car's condition I took some more pics outside

... remember, it's driven quite often!

Here's some pictures outside of the passenger side after polishing. I started with InstaFinish #2 and a polishing pad, but got some weird results. I tried the method that I used with Scholl S03+, but it didn't work as well this time because IF flashes much quicker than Scholl. I tested another panel, trying to compensate for the quick flash time and it came out almost perfect but I decided to stop there because experimenting on a car that costs more than my house didn't seem like a really good idea. Anyway, I continued the car with Scholl S03+ and a polishing pad applying a lot of pressure (probably 30 lbs or more) for a couple of passes to cut out the scratches then once I saw the polish starting to flash I stopped, cleaned the pad and the continued at the same speed and then worked my way down to the jeweling process... I must say (though I know I can do this with IF, too I just have to get the timing right), I'm completely AMAZED at the correction I got with ONE step with S03+!!!! I took out a MINIMUM of 92% of the scratches with this polish and finished up 100% hologram-free! The remaining 8% couldn't be taken out because they were just too deep. Sometimes I needed to make 2 passes with this technique, but still, it was a "one-step". Here's some pics in the sun after this one-step process and an IPA wipe.

No those aren't holograms between the sun shots; that's merely the reflection on this car. Trust me, hologram-free.

The tricky parts on this car were done with a 4" Scholl finishing pad and the same technique.

Bottom of the car all taped up with electrical tape ready to be repainted. This was a tedious process because I had to make sure I didn't stretch and deform the tape, but I also had to keep it taught to ensure an even line. The surface was prepped with panel wipe.

Apollo_Auto · 07-17-09, 04:53

First coat applied

Also first coat

Still a bit wet in places but it dried very evenly.

OK here's the afters, enjoy! Oh the LSP was Dodo Juice Supernatural!

All packaged up waiting for the owner to pick up his "new" car on Monday!

Here's a walk-around under the "Crime Light"

YouTube - maranello walk1

Here's another one without the "Crime Light"

YouTube - maranello walk2

Thanks for reading and to all the Playboy subscribers, thanks for "reading"!

- Jesse

dsms · 07-17-09, 05:02

Top notch correction once again. Beautiful resto!

I cant get over the Scag though!

bufferbarry · 07-17-09, 05:04

Im speechless! my god that is one of the best i have ever seen. damn dude your on a roll with these cars. Jessie seriously from one to another. Thats was awesome thanks for the post. Did you get that jerky yet?

Apollo_Auto · 07-17-09, 05:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by dsms

Top notch correction once again. Beautiful resto!

I cant get over the Scag though!

Thanks Dave! Sickness, no?? Not as if the pearl white finish wasn't enough, but the chocolate interior... :accident while sleeping:

Apollo_Auto · 07-17-09, 05:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by bufferbarry

Im speechless! my god that is one of the best i have ever seen. damn dude your on a roll with these cars. Jessie seriously from one to another. Thats was awesome thanks for the post. Did you get that jerky yet?

Thank you very kindly Barry! So buddy, I've given the postman one last chance for delivery before I plant drywall screws in his femur, but he's still holding out on me... if it arrives next week I'll stitch his pinky back on for free! Will inform

!

David Fermani · 07-17-09, 05:46

Man - That thing was hammered!!! Great resto work.

Jakerooni · 07-17-09, 06:03

30 G's for a service call? That's more than most cars we all drive LOL. Awesome save on that thing Jessie. What was that coating on the bottom you applied? Is that something made for the ferarri's or is it affordable to put on alot of different cars (I can see a huge market in the used car business around here for a coating like that)