The Road to Cavillino complete (177 pictures) 1 wk from show

**Todd@RUPES** · 10-08-2007, 08:38 AM

Updated 10/21 30 new pics on post 5

This weekend, I had the chance to spend three long days (about 28 hours total) preparing a 1984 Ferrari BBi for the Cavallino Concours show in south Florida in January. The goal was to get it about 90 percent done (minus the under carriage, which will be done a little later) for the Winter Park Concours show in a couple weeks. This way, the owner and I will know what we need to work on for Cavallino. I am very excited by this opportunity. The only road block has been the owner, because we would chitchat about cars for a couple hours at a time!!! VERY COOL.

The 1984 Ferrari BBi (Berlinetta Boxer injection) was the last year for the style, which started as the 365 GT4 in 1973. This car was Ferrari`s first mid engine road car, and featured a flat twelve cylinder (taken from the F1 cars of the time). It took a while to convince Enzo Ferrari to built a mid engine car, but with the success of the Lamborghini Miura, Ferrari had to fight back. This particular 1984 was a "grey market" car, imported from Europe, so doesn`t have the awkward American bumpers.

The `84 Ferrari BBi was also the last of hand built bodies, which adds to the romance of the car. The bodies where shaped and sculpted by artists, using metal working tools to hammer perfection into existence. Amazing and completely hand built! The engine is a fast (very fast for 1984) 5 liter, full injected flat twelve, developing 340 horsepower (back when a Corvette made about 220), pushing the BBi to 60 in under six seconds and to top speed close to 180. Back when this car was built, its easy to imagine Enzo Ferrari in all his fury screaming at his workings, making sure everything was to his specs and perfect. My goal was simple, to make Enzo proud.

Over the course of 3 days, I was able to spend a lot of time working towards that goal. I will update this thread later (and ask a mod to change the title) as I get pictures from the Winter Park Show, then the undercarriage detailing, and finally in January, from the Cavallino Concours, where we (the owner and myself) plan on taking platinum!

Day One, October 4th, 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM

Process and Product Outline

Wipe car with Zaino Z6 to clean off any dust and dirt from the body

Tape car with 3M Blue Painter`s Tape

Polish with

3M Extra Cut Compound on a Lake Country Orange CCS 7 1/2 inch pad on the

Hitachi at 1800 RPM

Menzerna SIP on a Lake Country Orange CCS 7 1/2 pad on the Hitachi at 1200 RPM

3M UltraFina on a Lake Country White CCS 7 1/2 pad at 1800 RPM, brough down to

1000 RPM to refine the polish

*after each pass, the paint was inspected with Xenon light, and additional passes where

made to ensure all defects where removed

Hand Polish all impossible to reach areas with

Menzerna SIP using a terry cloth

Zaino Z-PC using a Meg`s FoamApplicator Pad

Headlights/Tailights polished with SIP/Orange, Plasticx with PC/White

50/50 wipedown

Wash with Zaino Z7, using a two bucket method

Inspect in direct sunlight for any remaining marring

This Ferrari was still had the original single stage Rosso Corsa lacquer, which polished beautifully, but was SUPER thin on some edges. Some edges didn`t even have paint! There are also some runs in the paint that the owner and I decided to leave be, as they are there from the factory, and as such, add the absolute charm of this car.

Some pictures from in the early morning sun. The soft lacquer paint mars easily, and despite showing only 4000 miles on the odometer, the Ferrari had moderate to heavy swirling in places.

Under the halogens...

After one pass of 3M Extra Cut...

Polishing by hand in the numerous creases, crevices, and hard to reach spots found on the gorgeous hand scuplted Italian body.

Polishing with SIP on the Hitachi. Care was taken to tape off all creases and edges, to avoid polishing thru the thin, soft laqcuer.

Inspecting the finish with a Brinkman Xenon

Back to work! When I tell you every square inch of the Ferrari was polished swirl free, I`m not kidding

The air conditioned garage I had the pleasure of working in....

Under the halogens and perfect!

These next two shots cleary show the amazing correction ability of 3M Extra Cut 3000, but also the limitations. The swirls where blasted away, but the paint still had micro marring (compound hazing) that needed to be dealt with.

I was constantly checking my work in the sun light as well, checking and rechecking areas and truly aiming for a perfect finish. Since the sun was overhead, it did give a better account how truly marred the finish was to begin with.

Here is the side of the hood after being polished with Extra Cut and SIP. Because of the soft lacquer and moderate cut of the Orange Pad (used with SIP) there was some faint micro marring, though the surface did appear hologram free. I would follow with UltraFina to ensure that all micromarring was removed and the car was 100 percent hologram free.

And finally a 50/50 shot of the sorts, as the left side has been polished the right side hasn`t...

My son stopped by to make sure his daddy was doing a good job (and to bring me burger king as well!)

He also checked out the owners 328 (which will get the full treatement next year for Cavallino)

Here are the products that where used. What isn`t shown is about 10 other orange pads, as lacquer seems to "gum" up the pads much quicker.

I pulled the BBi back out of the garage to wash it, and also inspect for any swirling in the paint.

A couple pictures after washing with Z7 to remove any dust and polishing residue.

**Todd@RUPES** · 10-08-2007, 08:40 AM

The end of day one....

Day Two, October 5th, 9:00 AM-12:00 PM 1:45 AM-7:00 PM

Product and Process Outline

Wipe car with Z6 to remove any dust that may have settled

3 layers of Zaino Z5pro (ZFX enabled)

Wash wheels with ONR

Wheels recieved 3 layers of DeepFinish Deep SWAX

Exhaust and Center Hubs polished with DeepFinish Deep Chrome

*the inner exhaust tips where heavily souted and needed a pass of Menzerna IP to

remove the grit, over 45 mintues was spent just cleaning the inside lips!

Door jamb plates sanded with 2000 grit in areas to remove scratches, then polished with

DeepFinish Deep Chrome to a perfect shine

All interior metal levers, strikers, and emblems polished with DeepFinish Deep ALUM

Tires recieved 3 coats of Zaino Z16 *45 minutes apart*

Leather cleaned with Z9 and a soft toothbrush

Leather conditioned with Z10 x 2

Plastic lenses where lightly polished Meg`s PlastX

Meg`s Natural Shine on interior plastic (about 4 square inches, the rest is leather!)

Notes: I had the pleasure of meeting with Angelo (ZoomZoomMazda) in the morning and also had to take a break at lunch to run to a local Chevy dealer about getting a paint defect in my brand work car fixed (they will have to repaint the rear). I bought the car the night before.

Applying the ZFX enabled Z5pro...

Wiping off the the third coat...

Reflection after the third coat...

The leather was painstakingly cleaned (about 2 hours) with a soft bristle and Zaino Z9.

Polishing the door latches with Deep Chrome

Some scratches in the door plates where lightly sanded away and polished with SIP by hand. Then Deep Chrome brought the stainless plates back to a high gloss...

Even the ashtrays where removed and polished back to their orginal luster.

The outside brushed parts of the latches where cleaned, and the chrome sections where polished...

It was getting late and sun was starting to go down, so I pulled the BBi outside to snap some photos before it was completely dark... Not bad for 23 year old, single stage lacuqer, when polished to perfection...pretty wet huh?

**Todd@RUPES** · 10-08-2007, 08:41 AM

end of day two...

Day Three, October 7th, 8:00 AM-4:30 PM

Product and Process Outline

Wipedown with Z6 to remove dust

3 coats of ZFX enabled Z5pro

Carpets removed, vaccumed, and shampooed with Meg`s APC 10:1

Engine degreased with Meg`s Super Degreaser

Engine metals polished with Deep Chrome/Deep ALUM

Engine and Front Trunk plastics/hoses dressed with Meg`s Hyperdressing/ Zaino Z16

Dressed weatherstripping with Z16

Door Jambs/Creases polished with Z-AIO by hand, followed by Z5pro

Tires recieved 2 more coats of Z16 *45 minutes apart*

Wheels recieved 2 mores coats of DeepFinish Deep SWAX

The engine was remarkably clean for a 23 year old car, but there was some grease and dirt in the valley. This was sprayed with a mild cut of Super Degreaser, agitated with a brush, and vacuumed clean. Here is a before picture...

Another before picture of the glorious Flat 12, you can see that the trim was lightly oxidized, and it looks like somebody previous forgot to remove all the polish...

The carpets where removed piece by piece...

and shampooed. The floor board was vacuumed as well, and detailed using Megs Hyperdressing to restore a factory satin finish...

Weather stripping that could be removed was lighty pryed loose and the paint work was cleaned underneath to remove 23 years of grim and dirt. The weather stripping that was glued on was cleaned with q-tips to remove the dirt that sneeks behind the trim and paint.

Polishing every jamb and lip with Zaino AIO..

The grim and dirt that accumulates in lips of door seams was polished away to a brilliant luster..

Polishing the inside of the headlights..

Polishing the aluminum wheel arches...

Half and half of the aluminum plating in the various nooks in the engine compartment...

Plating before...

After...

4 hours in the engine bay later... All bolts, metal wires, trim, plating, nuts, screws, ect where polished and all the plastics, rubber, and black trim was dressed with Z16 or Meg`s Hyperdressing (4:1) for a satin look...

The front trunk... All trim was covered in Z16, the fans, shrouds (inner and outer) where cleaned and dressed with Hyperdressing (about 2 hours spent in here)...

The underside of the trunk/hood and engine cover where cleaned and dressed with Hyperdressing...

Okay some after photos in the sunlight, day three comes to an end. We are ready for Winter Park :woot:, but not quite ready for Cavallino!

**Todd@RUPES** · 10-08-2007, 08:43 AM

**Todd@RUPES** · 10-08-2007, 08:44 AM

*** UPDATE 10/21/2007***

Winter Park Prep and Show

Day Four: October 18th, 2007

Day four began three days out to the Winter Park Concours Show. This was a big event as it was the lead into the Cavallino Show. We figured that this would be a good test, and point out any weeknesses with Cavallion getting closer.

For day four, I had planned to increase the Zaino coverage to build more wetness/depth into the paint (if it was possible), touch up any spots, and get the interior sorted better. I was lucky to have Brian (VaSuperShine) help on the interior, since, from personal experience, Brian can take interiors in a the "next" level.

I started around 10 A.M. with a Z7 wash with a foam gun to rid the Ferrari of any dust. Then I sheeted the water off, and gently wiped the surface down with Z6. Then I applied 3 coats of ZFX`d Z2pro, followed by clear seal, and a Z8 final wipe. The paint was stunning!!!

Brian showed up and went to work on the interior, using a mydrid of products to take the interior from 99 percent to beyond perfect. It was very cool to watch a master at work!! We spent and hour touching up the emblems, finding little spots of dirt, cleaning the luggage, spare tire, ect...

Process/Procedure

Wash with Zaino Z7 and a foam gun

Z6 Wipe down

Z2pro (ZFX) x 3

Z-CS

Z8 wipedown

Optimum Leather and Vinyl on the orginal toolcase

Z8 wipe down on the orginal tools

Megs ACP wipe on the orginal spare tire and rim

Deep Finish Deep ALUM on spare tire hub

Z18 on spare

Deep Finish Deep SWAX on spare rim

303 Protectant on uncovered surfaces

Interior...

Bryans SECRETS!

Z7 with foam gun...

Zainoed to the extreme...

I removed the spare tire cover and spare tire to vacuum the holding area...

The orginal tool kit bag was removed and the tools removed from it before being cleaned and conditioned...

The tools where wiped down with Z6 (I may repaint and refinish them before the show in Cavallino)

Everything cleaned and put back together...

After Brian spent hours on the interior, perfecting the carpet by shampooing, brushing, and vacuuming, he used a very unqiue technique to remove the loose fibers, bringing the carpet`s orginal vibrance back. Very cool!

This picture is after just the kick panel!!!

The picture shows a spot I missed. It didn`t look this "bad" in person, but it could be better...

Before

After (A q-tip and a little Meg`s APC)

Front of the spare tire after being detailed...

Back of the spare tire after being detailed...

The front trunk and tire after being detailed...

The front with the spare tire covered...

The front with the spare tire removed...

Brian`s master work on the carpets...

23 year old leather perfected by Brian

The original "grey market" speedometer..

Loading up the trailer and heading to Winter Park for the initial test...

Pictures from the Winter Park Concours

October 21st, 2007

We learned that we would be going head to head vs. TWO previous Cavallino Platinum cars... Oh jeezed, I hope we did are homework (and prep!!!)

All the work under the hood led to a factory fresh look!

**Todd@RUPES** · 10-08-2007, 08:45 AM

Day Five, January 18th, 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM

Process and Product Outline

Wipe car with Zaino Z6 to clean off any dust and dirt from the body

Wash undercarriage with a combination of alkaline soap and various brushes, rinse and repeat x 3

Clean aluminum parts with 0000 steel wool and alkaline soap.

303 Areospace Protectant on all plastic and rubber.

Zaino Fusion Z-PC via PC and LC Blue Pad on a couple ligh spots on the B pillars

Zaino Z5 pro x 2 (zfx`d) to paint.

Zaino Z2 pro x 1 (zfx`d) to paint

Zaino Z8 final wipedown.

Deep Finish Deep Swax to rims (outside and in).

Meguiars #16 to wheel well lips, door jambs, hood and trunk jambs.

Meguiars Pro Line Window Cleaner on glass.

Zaino Z12 Glass Polish by hand on waterspots on window

Q-tipped entire car, inside and outside, upside and underneath.

I started at 7:30 by wiping the car down lightly with Zaino Z6 to remove the light dust that had settled on the exterior and wiping the interior down with Meguiars` Quik Interior Detailier. The carpets where revaccumed.

The paint received an additional 3 coats of Zaino. In the interm, since the last show, the owner of this Ferrari had some pretty cool pictures hung in the garage, so I decieded to capture some reflections of the vintage Ferrari`s that adorn his walls.

The original plan was to drive the car to a lift to clean the undercarriage. Because of the weather (and impending rain) I choose to drive the car on to ramps and squeeze underneath. About 4 hours where spent, contourting my arms and hands to ways that I didn`t know possible.

Here is the transaxle cover and transmission case before...

After...

Here is 50/50 (the far area hasn`t been done) of the pan after a LOT of scrubbing with 0000 steel wool and degreaser.

Different view...

Finished up...

The rest of the undercarriage was mostly black plastic belly pans that where scrubbed and treated to 303. Because of the tight fit under the car, I couldn`t document with photo`s how I had planned to. Sorry.

So now it was time to find any surface that wasn`t perfect and spend as much time to make it perfect.

The inside lips of the exhaust tips had some light carbon staining that 0000 steel wool removed (in combination with Meguiars NXT All Metal Polysh). The left side has been down, the right still has the light staining on the inner lip. The difference is small, but perfection is the goal.

In my search for any dust or dirt, I found some hiding behind the mirrors!

A q-tip and some Meguiars APC (10/1)...

Perfect (minus the dried APC which, of course, was removed)

Other mirror...

All connections, crevices, and any spot where dust or grim might have worked its way into was q-tipped with APC, then treated with 303.

Wheel well lips and all jambs recieved a coat of M16 on top of the Zaino.

Almost done... Looks great right...

Wrong.. twenty four years of grim had found its way into some pretty tigher areas...

So the big stuff was vacuumed away...

My favorite, q-tips...

Perfect....

And dressed with 303...

And so the process repeated on every square inch of the car...

Including the windshield wiper...

**Todd@RUPES** · 10-08-2007, 08:46 AM

The big, Flat 12 Ferrari engine...

The emblems...

and the interior...

Every square inch of the body has taken to its highest potential, is 100 percent swirl free and extremely glossy. Not bad for 24 year old paint

So as the day wound down, I pulled it outside for the final after pictures...

The big show is only a week away, so wish us look, and hopefully the final update will include the platinum award. Thanks for looking

**Todd@RUPES** · 10-08-2007, 08:47 AM

Spot resevered for Cavallino Show Pictures

**jtford95** · 10-08-2007, 10:19 AM

Dude, that is awesome!!!! I don`t think the prancing horse looked that great when it was new.

Fantastic work!!!!:woot: :waxing: :buffing: :clap:

**imported_GregCavi** · 10-08-2007, 10:35 AM

OMG! I don`t even know what to say!! That is absolutely incredible, Todd. You`re the man!

Greg

**Anosmiac** · 10-08-2007, 10:45 AM

Beautiful work on an equally beautiful car. I recently worked on a 1949 Mercury with single stage paint, and although I feel that it requires a bit more work, the results compared to clear coated finishes is not comparible. Single stage polishes up so much more clear, and you showed that with this detail!

**DaGonz** · 10-08-2007, 10:48 AM

:xyxthumbs Absolutely incredible work! :xyxthumbs

**imported_themightytimmah** · 10-08-2007, 10:48 AM

That`s hands down the most thorough job I`ve seen. I`ve never seen red get wet like that without a glaze/carnauba either.

**imported_Dave1** · 10-08-2007, 10:49 AM

Absolutely stunning.........

Just top of the line in everyway...........Your work is incredible.....

**LucentTeg** · 10-08-2007, 11:00 AM

Amazing work. I would love to have a car that looked like that but then I could never drive it like it was meant to be driven. I guess I would have to have two.