Ferrari California , Paint Correction

[CosminTX]

*A big THANK YOU to MobileJay and Jesse (Apollo_Auto) for their moral support

Brand new car , but with defects from factory ... Haze! BIG TIME!

At first look the car finish looks "perfect", but is not.

Mission: Focus on Paint, remove haze and light swirls , random scratches and deep scratches.

the car is a daily driver!

http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/ProReflection/California%20lady%20in%20red/gf02.jpg

Car got a good jet of water to remove any loose dirt from it, after that the wheels got some foam action , i use a solution with dawn , apc+ and hyper car soap for foam to remove all the previous wax from the paint.

the wheel walls got some brush action and was dress with 303 protectant. the weels got optimum car wax.

http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/ProReflection/California%20lady%20in%20red/gf01.jpg



http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/ProReflection/California%20lady%20in%20red/gf03.jpg



http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/ProReflection/California%20lady%20in%20red/gf04.jpg

Foam Action

http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/ProReflection/California%20lady%20in%20red/gf05.jpg



The car got dry with blower , 20 minutes

http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/ProReflection/California%20lady%20in%20red/gf06.jpg



http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/ProReflection/California%20lady%20in%20red/gf07.jpg

after dry , i tape most of the panels lines and rubber trims, also the hood, mirrors and front 1/4 panels was clear bra , so got tape too.

http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/ProReflection/California%20lady%20in%20red/gf08.jpg

i pull the car inside and use Led lights , halogen and Camera Flash to see the defects , I WAS SCARED! is like a horror movie on such car.

http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/ProReflection/California%20lady%20in%20red/gf09.jpg



http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/ProReflection/California%20lady%20in%20red/gf10.jpg



http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/ProReflection/California%20lady%20in%20red/gf11.jpg



http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/ProReflection/California%20lady%20in%20red/gf12.jpg



The first thing i did was to remove 2 scratches from the rear panel , i use some meguiar`s 105 on a microfiber towel and i rub it by hand till disappear and i fallow with dual action polisher with polish pad and meguiar`s 205

http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/ProReflection/California%20lady%20in%20red/gf13.jpg



http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/ProReflection/California%20lady%20in%20red/gf14.jpg



http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/ProReflection/California%20lady%20in%20red/gf15.jpg

Next step was some random scratches on driver door where i use Meguiar`s 105 and polish pad fallow by meguiar`s 205 on polish pad

all with dual action polisher.here is the before/after pic

http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/ProReflection/California%20lady%20in%20red/gf17.jpg



http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/ProReflection/California%20lady%20in%20red/gf18.jpg



everything else got 1 or 2 passes with meguiar`s 205 on polish pad.

http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/ProReflection/California%20lady%20in%20red/gf19.jpg



http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/ProReflection/California%20lady%20in%20red/gf20.jpg



http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/ProReflection/California%20lady%20in%20red/gf16.jpg



When done with polishing i remove all the tape clean windows , and i apply protection: 2 coats of blackfire done with microfiber applicator.

Clear bra got clean with plexus , and as protection opti-seal , also all the lights got opti-seal.

Here are the AFTERS , with some sun shots too :D

http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/ProReflection/California%20lady%20in%20red/gf29.jpg



http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/ProReflection/California%20lady%20in%20red/gf22.jpg



http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/ProReflection/California%20lady%20in%20red/gf24.jpg



http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/ProReflection/California%20lady%20in%20red/gf23.jpg



http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/ProReflection/California%20lady%20in%20red/gf26.jpg



http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/ProReflection/California%20lady%20in%20red/gf21.jpg



http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/ProReflection/California%20lady%20in%20red/gf25.jpg



http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/ProReflection/California%20lady%20in%20red/gf28.jpg



http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/ProReflection/California%20lady%20in%20red/gf30.jpg



http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/ProReflection/California%20lady%20in%20red/gf27.jpg

[JohnKleven]

Great work. Unless the owner specified, I would definitely have put a nice nuba on that paint instead of a synthetic. That thing was tattered....





John

[buiyahkah]

wow! i can`t believe THIS is his daily driver!! very nice work cosmin

[a_guerrajr]

are you in downtown austin?

[imported_Shaun Carollo]

599 daily driver; must be nice! Great work.

[CosminTX]

are you in downtown austin?



i just move in Austin 2 months ago.

i am Mobile , i service Austin Area



yeah Tony , daily driver , u should hear the exhaust...lovely.

[2MnyToys]

599 daily driver; must be nice! Great work.



Actually it`s a California.

[CosminTX]

Actually it`s a California.



:2thumbs: and a daily driver .....:bounce

[Nagz]

looks great man! how long did you wait between BFWD applications?

[Scottwax]

Looks like the move to Austin is treating you well. :)

[CosminTX]

Looks like the move to Austin is treating you well. :)



Austin is cool , good market :D , from what i see is a lot of need for quality car detail is where i may fit in or at least i try to.

[Scottwax]

Austin is cool , good market :D , from what i see is a lot of need for quality is where i may fit in or at least i try to.



Oh yeah, thanks for the referral, looks like I`ll be doing the car in a week or two. :)

[Apollo_Auto]

You`re very welcome, glad I could help :)!A couple of tips if I may: 1. It looks great an very glossy, but don`t forget that this is a ceramic finish and it`s not so easy to correct, especially with a DA. As far as my sources are concerned and from my experiences, from 2010, the paint on Ferraris is even harder so that makes it even worse for us. I`ve already polished 5 Italias so I can confirm that. The finish that you have here is a bit "etched", which tells me that the polish wasn`t properly broken down or was allowed to dry before completing its cycle.



http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/ProReflection/California%20lady%20in%20red/gf15.jpg



The finish isn`t "uniform". Todd Helme posted a Mustang recently where he described his method fro using a DA to achieve a perfect finish so take a look at that for some pointers or contact Scottwax because I think he also uses a DA often.



Also, don`t forget to do an IPA wipe after polishing! The car may look great after polishing, but don`t forget that polishes contain oils and most contain wax also, which means that they can fill. So when you finish polishing and start spreading the wax, the solvents in the wax will affect the oils and wax that were left by the polish thus giving that "perfect finish" some swirls (like in the next picture, there are still swirls on the pillar).



http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/ProReflection/California%20lady%20in%20red/gf24.jpg



Don`t think I`m picking on you ;). I`m just giving some constructive criticism. Also, if you`re using a DA, there`s no need to tape the car ;).



- Jesse

[Mobilejay]

Looks good Cosmin, good pointers Apollo. You are welcome but I didn`t really do anything. LOL

[CosminTX]

Also, don`t forget to do an IPA wipe after polishing! The car may look great after polishing, but don`t forget that polishes contain oils and most contain wax also, which means that they can fill. So when you finish polishing and start spreading the wax, the solvents in the wax will affect the oils and wax that were left by the polish thus giving that "perfect finish" some swirls (like in the next picture, there are still swirls on the pillar). Don`t think I`m picking on you ;). I`m just giving some constructive criticism. Also, if you`re using a DA, there`s no need to tape the car ;). - Jesse



few things here too and details i didn`t post :

i don`t do weekend warrior jobs anymore , full time in detailing so time is money , my customer is happy , the car is daily driver so swirl free is not in case even if is a ferrari , plus wasn`t schedule for swirl free , so no reason to be an heroic autopian.

i will not IPA and mess the finish on anything. using any machine on trims will cause damage sooner or later i don`t want to take the chance! plus tape keep dust away from places...

and at the end i saw the car again and the hardtop is all trash ,the car got some car cover that scratch all the work from last time..and this time will need compound not just light 205 polish.

thank`s

Cosmin